Guide : Modding Tools, Tips and Resources (v1.6)

[Nazenn]

If you are here to find out what your ESSENTIAL tools are to make skyrim run properly with mods : You MUST have LOOT, a mod manager, Wrye Bash and The Unofficial Patches.

Contents

Use Control + F to search for a specific category.

Introduction and Links

Mod Managers

• Data Files - Not advised
  
• SPECIAL : Wrye Bash - Everyone must have + Workshop users
  
• Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) - Beginner modders
  
• Mod Organiser (MO) - Advanced modders

Tools and Utilities and their Uses

• SKSE and SkyUI's MCM (The Essentials)
  
• LOOT and BOSS
  
• Tes5Edit Basics
  
• Save Game Script Cleaner

Tips and Other Useful Knowledge

• Manually installing Unofficial Patches
  
• Safe usage of the Skyrim Workshop
  
• ENBs and/or SweetFX

Version History and Credits

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Introduction and Links

I have written this, primarily, as a guide for new people coming into modding Skyrim who are experiencing troubles understanding all the various methods and tools that they need to have access to in order to make skyrim not only stable, but function. Despite this I also hope that it will be useful for others who may not be new to modding, but may not have the best grasp on the various tools.
Here I hope to provide not only an overview on what each tool does, but also why you should be using them, and also why it is important to be using them properly. To this effect I have also provided visual tutorials where possible, both in image form, and also by linking to various video tutorials, to try and make it easy for a variety of people who learn via different methods, and also for those who may not have English as their first language.

I have written this in the discussions section, as opposed to the guides section because honestly its incredibly difficult to find anything useful in the guides, and this gives people more chance to see and comment on the matter. I apologise for some very long winded explanations, but I personally don't believe in dumbing things down, or writing a guide where you have to go to Google for half the details. Using Control + F will greatly help your efforts to find specific information on this page. To achieve this level of quality, some of this guide is also posted in the comments below due to steams restriction on how long posts can be.

If you're looking for more information in regards to some of the more intricate details of modding, such as memory management utilities and mods, mods for low end computers and about .ini editing, please visit my other post.

Advanced Tips: Memory, .ini's and Myth Busting
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/619573787397876592/

If you are looking specifically for information regarding the safety of certain mods, please consult this post as well:

Masterlist : Dangerous, Outdated and Superseded Mods
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/523890681422555089/

I would also like to provide thanks to Ilja and jjb-54, both of their efforts towards this community have been immensely helpful and also have furthered my knowledge on the matter. Ilja also has two great guides that you can also consult for various other things:

Welcome to Skyrim: New player spreadsheet
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/594821545176386165/

Small list of little big mods for Skyrim (patch and tweak mods)
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/34094415774892758/
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=375836621&insideModal=1

Another good resource for beginner modders is Gopher's videos on YouTube. Here is the link to his playlist for Beginners Guide to Modding Skyrim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QinA4qD6hXM

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Mod Management Utilities

Here you can find information on all of the core mod management utilities and their various pros and cons, as well as information on other uses that they have. It is important to have a mod management tool even if you are only using mods from the workshop, or only have ten mods, because it allows you to quickly see your mods, without errors, and easily enable or disable them if you need to test various things, or wish to remove them from your system. It also allows you to see the order of your mods without bugs.
The important thing to note is that mods for Skyrim are not, and never will be, just plug and play, despite how other workshop games work. It is important that you're mods are loaded into the game properly, and that you keep track of your mods and what they do. This is why mod managers are helpful and necessary.

Data Files - Not Advised

Meaning the Data Files that you can access via the normal Skyrim Launcher. While this isn't specifically a mod management utility, I am including it here for the sheer purpose that most people will know of it, and it's important to know why it is not the best tool to use for managing the load order of your mods.

The Data Files is the official option for managing your mods. However it comes with several problems. The core one being, that by default, all mods that are unselected are automatically relegated to the bottom of the list, despite if they have been sorted into a different spot by yourself, or a tool such as LOOT (more on LOOT) later. This means that you can't just sort your mods and then freely untick and retick mods without having to sort them all over again. This is not only tedious, but introduces the possibility of bugs. Data Files also really likes to retick mods that you have unticked previously in another mod utility which can also cause a lot of problems with saves. It also has no system for warning you on if one of your mods is missing another mod that it requires to load (called masters, such as a mod requiring you have the dragonborn dlc, but you not having it ticked)
CLICK HERE FOR A VISUAL EXAMPLE OF THIS PROBLEM[imgur.com]
It is best to never use or go into your Data Files via the launcher to prevent the possibility of bugs.

To see problems with the Data Launcher not updating mods properly specifically about the workshop, please click the guide link below to see Ilja's post on the recent workshop issues.
Help thread: CK/Workshop update problem
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/611701360834184285/

SPECIAL : Wrye Bash - Everyone must have + Best for Workshop modders

Download Wrye Bash here[www.nexusmods.com]
The reason I have given Wrye Bash (Sometimes called Wrye Smash) the special tag is because of a simple reason :
everyone who mods their game, regardless if they use another tool to manage their mods, should also be running Wrye Bash.

Wrye Bash allows you to generate a special mod called a Bashed Patch (formatted as Bashed Patch, 0.esp). It also has a very visual interface where you can clearly see what mods are missing masters (red squares) and what mods might be out of order. More about this can be read in the Wrye Bash Readme[tesfans.org]. This makes it a very good basic alternative to the Data Files for people only using Workshop mods, or those without a heavy load order. I personally used Wrye Bash as my primary mod manager for several months while doing manual installation of mods and can vouch for its quality.

On the matter of Bashed Patches : Skyrim has an odd way of loading data. All data for the game is kept in records, and skyrim will only load one copy of each record every time it loads.
Certain data, the data relating to the parts of the world that level around you, are kept in lists. For example, what vendors can sell you, what items you can find in chests, what gear NPC's spawn with, What items you find in the world, what level NPCs spawn at, is all kept in their own lists of data. If you have two mods editing the same levelled list, the mod that is loaded last will win, no matter what, making the rest of the mods lists useless.
For example, if you have a mod that adds 2000 gold to every boss chest (by editing the boss chest's levelled list), and another mod makes it so that you get more weapons in boss chests, if the mod that adds gold is loaded last, you will get the gold, but no weapons. If the mod that adds more weapons is loaded last, you will get your weapons, but will only get the standard amount of vanilla gold. This goes for pretty much anything that levels with you in the world, from NPCs, spells, vendors, chests and even NPC loot.

Bashed Patches reads the levelled lists from all your mods and merges them together so that the list that skyrim reads will be the generated list that all of the information, so you will get your weapons AND your gold. Bashed Patches do this for a lot of things, so regardless of what mods you run, chances are you will need a Bashed Patch to make them run nicely together.

When you first load Wrye Bash, an unticked mod will be added to the bottom of your list called Bashed Patch, 0.esp. When you right click on this and select Rebuild Patch it will bring up a window. Certain mods can also be fully merged into the bashed patch so they are no longer taking up space in your load order. These mods are marked with green text. If you have a mod that can be merged it will bring up a window asking if you want to merge them, hit okay, and then go down to the bottom of the next window and hit rebuild patch and let it run. This is all you need to do. Bashed Patches do not require any manual troubleshooting or other fiddling with, it is entirely automatic.
CLICK HERE FOR A VISUAL GUIDE OF THIS PROCESS[imgur.com]

PROS

• Very easy to use
  
• Visually warns you of problems
  
• Generates a Bashed Patch, and only way to do so

CONS

• Limited support for automatic installations of mods

Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) - For Beginner modders

Download Nexus Mod Manager here[www.nexusmods.com]
This is the only mod manager on this list I have absolutely no experience with so apologies if this section is a bit bare.
Also please note I am only talking about the latest STABLE release here, the alpha version which adapts some more advanced features is not yet stable enough to be promoted as a full mod manager for new users.

It is also important to note this : The Nexus is FREE.
The initial screen that appears with payment options when you sign up is just for premium accounts and you can easily skip it, you do NOT have to pay any fees, ever, to use Nexus mods or use their manager.

Nexus Mod Manager is one of the most common mod managers for people to use. Its main benefit is that it is directly linked to the Skyrim Nexus[www.nexusmods.com] and therefore makes installation very easy. You can just click the Download with Manager button[imgur.com] found on almost every nexus mod to download it via NMM and not have to fiddle with files yourself, which makes it just as simple as downloading a workshop mod. Activating and disabling mods is also as simple as double clicking them.

Similarly to Wrye Bash, NMM has a very visual interface which is very good for those who are new to modding, and is a great first step especially for those who may not be using many heavy duty mods. For those who many not be confident with their computer skills, this is probably your best option.
Gophers tutorial on NMM is particularly helpful for understanding the basics of NMM and how it's helpful to have a mod manager of this level when you get deeper into modding and you have mods flying everywhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqtmSUsFhg

PROS

• Simple to use with a visual interface
  
• Linked to the nexus with lots of support given for it
  
• Tells you when your mods need to be updated

CONS

• Still in Beta and there for can, and occasionally will, have its issue while installing/removing and downloading mods (crashes/glitches etc).

Mod Organizer (MO) - For Advanced Modders

Download Mod Organizer Here[www.nexusmods.com]
Mod Organizer is both the most advanced tool, and the most complex tool on this list, but it is also the manager that is least likely to result in any bugs or problems in your game.
Unlike other mod managers, and the workshop, it doesn't install mods into your base Skyrim installation Data folder which is where Skyrim reads all the mod data from. Instead it installs all your mods into separate folders and then creates a 'virtual list' that skyrim reads to know where to get its data from instead. This means that there is absolutely no risk of your mod files being overridden, lost, or left behind when uninstalling or installing mods which makes it incredibly safe. This is generally most important when dealing with mods that are very heavily scripted, as losing files for these mods can break your game.

Unlike NMM as well, because its installing mods to different folders, as opposed to over the top of one another, it gives you greater control over which files are overridden. Say you install SkyUI, a popular mod that overhauls every UI system in the game. You also decide that you want Atlas Map Markers, a mod that adds in map markers for a few hundred other items unmarked in the main game. If you install SkyUI after Atlas with NMM or manually, it will override Atlas' files, and you have to uninstall and reinstall Atlas over the top of SkyUI to fix it. With MO, all your mods are listed in one big list, and to change the order of mods, to avoid these conflicts, you simply have to change their position in the list. (The little lightning bolt shows Atlas is being overriden[imgur.com]. When you move it under SkyUI it instead this will show that Atlas is overriding SkyUI instead[i.imgur.com].)

Its other core benefit, is that because it's using a file to point towards the mods you're using, it can set up separate profiles for your mods. This means that you can set up a profile for your Mage character, and your warrior character, and have different mods active in each profile with no conflicts, and no chance of having mod files leaking through from the other profile. You can also make your saved games only show up in that profile, and even create duplicates of profiles. Duplicates allow you to create another profile, with the exact same information in it as your other profile, so that you can use that for bug testing, and don't have to mess up your main profile with your character on it. Profiles Button is here which brings up the configuration menu.[i.imgur.com]

The only thing with MO, is because it installs mods separately instead of into the data folder, all programs that you run for your skyrim management must be loaded into and through MO by listing it as an Executable file[i.imgur.com] and then Selecting it from the drop down menu[i.imgur.com] and hitting run.
Gopher has done an amazing tutorial on MO here for people to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4ZQpzf_iAE&list=PLE7DlYarj-DcLS9LyjEqOJwFUQIIQewcK&index=1
MO itself also has its own little inbuilt scripted tutorial that you can go through by Clicking on the button shown here[i.imgur.com]

PROS

• Never lets your mod files delete or override other mod files
  
• Profiles to help manage your different characters and save games
  
• Full Nexus support for the Download with Manager button

CONS

• Will throw out an error during SkyUI installation even if you have installed SKSE, just ignore the error
  
• Sharper learning curve then other mod managers
  
• 32 bit program, so will take longer to run skyproc patchers due to limited memory

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[Nazenn]

Tools and Utilities and their Uses

This section will detail all the other little tools and utilities that you should be using alongside your mod manager. While Wrye Bash should also be listed into this section, I didn't want to split it into two areas and have people risk glancing over the bashed patch information.

SKSE and SkyUI's MCM (The Essentials)

Download SKSE here[skse.silverlock.org]
SKSE is one of the core utilities that most people will end up using. SKSE allows for better scripts and more versatile scripts to be used in skyrim via a new launcher that will load the new scripts and the ability to use them. Not only does this allow for a lot more versatile scripts for mods, it can also be helpful as some mods and patches can be done as SKSE plugins, rather than as a mod with an esp which would take up space in your load order. Patches like Safety Load, and mods like Skyrim Community Uncapper[www.nexusmods.com] use this feature.

The main feature that SKSE is used for though, is the ability for SkyUI[www.nexusmods.com] to load and utilise its Mod Configuration Menu, along with its other UI improvements. The MCM is an incredibly useful utility that allows for mods to have an in game settings menu to configure and tweak the mods with, rather than having to use tedious console commands, or just a 'it is how it is' approach. This feature not only allows some very clever mods to let you to completely configure it (such as Aeonbarr[www.nexusmods.com] where you can set his entire appearance via MCM[static-3.nexusmods.com]), but also for some incredibly complicated mods to have debugging menus and options included in the game to ensure the mod runs smoothly (Civil War Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com] now includes this feature to track and prevent bugs from occurring).

SKSE also allows you to create a memory patch .ini file which allows you to increase the amount of memory that the game can use to reduce the possibility of memory based game crashes.
Ilja's guide "SKSE, memory and skse.ini" can be viewed here for more information on how to set this up

LOOT and BOSS

A core part of making your game work with mods, is the order that those mods are loaded into the game by, also known as load order. Load Order is the list of .esm and .esp files that you see when you open your Data Files, Wrye Bash, the plugins tab or NMM or the right pane of MO. If your load order is wrong then mods have a chance of being overridden, not working at all, or even completely breaking your game and save files.
Load order is what helps your game load in certain trees over others, make sure that all the right mechanics are in place for your combat, ensure your skill trees are being edited properly, and that spells are using the right sound and doing the right damage and a hundred other things. Load order is absolutely essential to making sure that your mods are not only loading properly and doing what you actually installed them to do, but that the game is able to understand the data inside of them properly without causing glitches. Certain mods must load after others in order to function properly, not only that mods must load after their master files, but some mods will cause bugs if loaded after others.
A popular occurrence of this is the Unofficial Patches. The Unofficial Dawnguard Patch (UDGP) must be loaded directly after Dawnguard.esm, and before Hearthfires.esm. This is because Hearthfires edits some of the same data that Dawnguard and the UDGP does, and in order for the Unofficial Patch to function it must be after its master, but in order for Hearthfires to function it must be after the UDGP so that its data takes priority.

To this effect a tool has been developed to help you effectively manage your mods and put them into the right load order. This tool is called LOOT (Load Order Optimisation Tool).
Download LOOT here[loot.github.io]
The previous version of this tool was called BOSS (Better Oblivion Sorting Software).

BOSS is now outdated by over a year and should not be used

It's important to note this because many places that have not yet been updated are still recommending that you use BOSS. The way that BOSS worked is that it had a manual list that was updated by hand to list what order all mods should be loaded in, either by category or making sure that certain mods were definitely loaded after another, such as our example above with the Unofficial Patches. This list is no longer being updated. It means that any new mods that need a specific load order will not be detected by BOSS and will just be dumped to the bottom of your load order, creating conflicts that will not be solved and likely result in bugs.
LOOT avoids this by using its ability to read the data of your mods to detect automatically where some mods should go, instead of relying on a list updated by hand. Using the example from earlier, of SkyUI and Atlas Map Markers, BOSS would have to be told, by you or the developers, that Atlas has to be loaded after SkyUI. LOOT instead just reads the data from both mods, sees that Atlas only looks at the maps, while SkyUI looks at all of the interfaces, and makes a judgement that Atlas should go after because it's a more specific mod and would be redundant if loaded after SkyUI. This both makes LOOT more accurate, but also means that it can sort mods that have just been released.

To sort mods, load up LOOT (Through MO if using MO as your mod management utility). Hit Sort Plugins and wait for it to finish loading. When it does it will bring up a big window showing the suggested load order. You may want to check this for any mod conflicts, but otherwise hit apply and you are done.
CLICK HERE FOR A VISUAL EXAMPLE OF THIS PROCESS [imgur.com]
While some mods still may require manual sorting, which will usually be listed on the mod's description if that mod absolutely must be loaded under another mod, LOOT will handle most of it. For example, I currently have three mods (out of 245 plugins for the character in question) I have had to manually set the load order for in LOOT. The rest of them sort fine. If you need to set a manual load order for a mod, load up LOOT, hit Edit Metadata. Select the mod in question from the list, go to the Load After Tab, hit the Add Plugin button at the bottom and copy the name of the .esp file into the Filename section and save it.
CLICK HERE FOR A VISUAL EXAMPLE OF THIS PROCESS [imgur.com]

Gopher also has a great video tutorial on why Load Order is importaint here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzsBKYUrcbE
And how to use LOOT here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzoyWugzZAw

(Note: For those using Mod Organizer. MO comes with its own inbuilt Sort button at the top of the right pane. While this can be useful on a small load order or for very quick testing purposes, this is an outdated version of LOOT and you should still be loading LOOT through MO and running that instead of relying on the built in version)

Tes5Edit Basics

While most of Tes5Edits features are far more advanced, its base function of loading mods can be very helpful for even a beginner modder.
When you start Tes5Edit it will bring up this window[i.imgur.com]. This is all of your mods, in their correct load order, and properly ticked or unticked, aka it is showing you your mods as skyrim itself would read them. Hitting OK will start the process of Tes5Edit loading your mods. If it can load them fine, you will end up with this screen[i.imgur.com] and a message at the bottom saying something akin to [00:34] Background Loader: finished.

If you have a mod with a major error in it, or a mod missing its master files, you will instead get this screen[i.imgur.com], and this log output. You can see from reading the log that the error occurred while loading RealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp which tells you that this is the problem mod
(In this case, Realistic Water itself doesn't have any problems and will load in your game fine, I purposefully made it cause an error by removing its master for the sake of example)
While Wrye Bash is quicker and more useful for visually seeing which mods are missing masters, if you have other problem mods, Tes5Edit is useful and it will stop loading on the exact mod that is causing the problem and gives you a good place to start troubleshooting. Tes5Edit will also not warn you if a mod has a master that is not activated, but is in the plugins list, because it will automatically load it for you. It is only helpful for finding missing masters that are flat out not installed, or for finding mods that have other errors in them that will result in a crash at run time (bad edits, problem data etc).
More information on using Tes5Edit, specifically on how to clean mods, and when you should, along with what the terms are can be found here:

Advanced Tips: Memory, .ini's and Myth Busting
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/619573787397876592/

Save Game Script Cleaner

Download the Save Game Script Cleaner Here[www.nexusmods.com]
Please do not use if you are unfamiliar with how scripts work in a game. An important thing to note here is that there is NO safe way to uninstall most mods. While a lot is said online about clean save procedures and save game cleaners, any mod with an .esm or .esp file attached will leave data in your save game no matter what method you use, which can cause problems down the line. The only mods you can guaranteed safely remove from the middle of a save game are mesh and texture replacers.

That being said, this tool does have its place. After a while of playing skyrim, Skyrim's script system (also known as papyrus) has a tendency to leave scripts flying around or not activate or deactivate them properly. This can occasionally lead to some buggy behaviour as these orphaned scripts that aren't attached to anything hang around in your save. This tool can clean them up, but please be aware, if you are unsure about the nature of scripts, and cannot safely troubleshoot yourself, please do not wildly go using this tool and then complaining that things are broken.

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[Nazenn]

Tips and Other Useful Knowledge

Manually installing the Unofficial Patches

I now have much more comprehensive information on the Unofficial Patches in a dedicated post to it that can be found here:
About the Unofficial Patches - Info for new players
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/613956964579064476

Please read the information in the link above carefully and thoroughly before starting to mod your game as the USKP should be a core part of any load order. If you make an informed decision not to use the patches, as is your right, be aware that it is a lot of bugs that we then have to account for when troubleshooting, and as a result we will usually ask you to install them before we will look at other causes for bugs, as its over 15 THOUSAND fixes that they include from small fixes with mesh positioning to major problems with scripting and stability.

The patches also make several other patches mods entirely redundant[afkmods.iguanadons.net] to help you save room in your load order.

If for some reason you are incredibly adverse to using the nexus and/or a mod management tool (Nexus is free and safe), then your other option is to manually install these patches. By picking one of the download sites from the link above, you should be given an archive file. Using a program such as WinRAR, unzip the files. By navigating to your skyrim installation directory, go to your Data folder, and simply place the contents from the extracted folder there.
There should be a .bsa, .esp, .bsl and a .ini file that need to be copied. The docs folder is just for your own knowledge, not needed for the patch to run.
CLICK HERE FOR A VISUAL EXAMPLE OF THIS PROCESS [imgur.com]
This same process goes for all manual mod installations, and to get good at troubleshooting mods, and especially troubleshooting the installation of mods, getting familiar with the Data Folder is a good idea.

(Note: For MO users, you will not have your mods in your Data folder as stated above. You can instead see what your Data Folder looks like to skyrim by clicking on the Data tab on the right pane[i.imgur.com])
(Side note: Arthmoor and the Unofficial Patches team recommends against using another mod on the nexus called SMPC as it overrides a lot of the data from the USKP. You can read why by clicking here[afkmods.iguanadons.net]. Support cannot be offered to those who run SMPC because of the instability of the mod.)

Safe usage of the Skyrim Workshop

As I'm sure many of you are aware, there has been many debates for and against using both the workshop and the nexus. I'm staying out of that debate, this section is only for making sure those who DO use the workshop, either for the good exclusive mods on there or those who only use the workshop, use it safely and for providing hints to help overcome the various problems with the workshop itself.

The core, and biggest problem with the workshop, is that if a mod updates, the workshop with automatically updated all of that mods files on your computer for you.
The workshop cannot detect :

• if the update will break your game.
  
• if the update will end up being incompatible with your other mods.
  
• if you have the requirements to run the updated files (such as if the new version of the mod has updated to have Dragonborn as a master, and you don't have the dlc).

The workshop not only cannot detect these things, it will not notify you of which mods have updated (unless you watch the little bar at the bottom of the default launcher very carefully every time you load it).
The usual, and easiest way to get around this is to subscribe to a mod, run the launcher and let it download, and then go back and unsubscribe to the mod. This will stop the mod from updating automatically but also means you have to manually record the date you installed the mod and check for updates, an unfortunate limitation of the workshop.

A secondary problem that many people are encountering at the moment is the current workshop bugs and instability introduced in an update at the start of this year.
The workshop underwent an update with the intention of removing the previous file size limit for workshop mods, and also removing the limitation on mods that used esm files being uploaded. While this allowed a much broader variety of mods to be uploaded, it also broke the entire workshop installation system, resulting in hundreds of people posting help requests when the workshop suddenly uninstalled their mods and broke their games, or subscriptions stopped working, and even the case where mods would no longer install at all. These bugs are still in the workshop system and still affecting users, both new users and hitting users for a second or third time, to this day. Ilja has written up a detailed guide on potential solutions to the issue if you do get struck with it that you can find below

Help thread: CK/Workshop update problem
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/611701360834184285/

Please be aware though, these issues are not going away and both Bethesda and Valve have refused to act on it. The only way to prevent your game from being broken is to get your mods from a more stable platform such as the nexus.
For mods that are workshop exclusive, If you are using a mod manager (such as NMM or MO) as listed above, a good idea is to then take the files that have been downloaded for that mod (Usually a bsa and esp with the same name), package them into an archive and then install them through your mod manager so that you can more easily remove them if you need to instead of having to do it manually all the time.

ENBs and/or SweetFX

(Please note, I will not be showing how to install ENBs or SweetFX in this section. If you wish to install them, I will be making the assumption that you have the knowledge you need to do it yourself.)
Anyone who has been around on the forum for a decent amount of time knows that ENBs are one of the singularly most suggested visual upgrades for modders. ENBs do look absolutely fantastic but do come with a tradeoffs that they can have a hit on your fps depending on your rig, mods, and which ENB you are using. Sometimes this can be as small as 5 FPS, others as big as 30 FPS. Most lower end rigs also usually can't run them.

A good alternative is SweetFX. Unlike ENBs which work by recalculating shadows and applying shaders, SweetFX uses more simplistic measures to achieve a very similar look. Below is a video done by Brodual (a channel that focuses on mod reviews and displays) to show a comparison between one of the most popular SweetFX settings, I Can't Believe It's Not an ENB[www.nexusmods.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX_EXKTqyOY

The sequel mod to I Can't Believe It's Not an ENB, ICBINE 2[www.nexusmods.com], is my SweetFX setting of choice at the moment. Both of these presets focus on a fantasy feel, with ICBINE 2 being a bit softer compared to the original. Another popular one that takes a more realistic feel is D.E.R.P Realistic SweetFX[www.nexusmods.com]. Other presets can be found throughout the Nexus and on the SweetFX[sfx.thelazy.net] website itself.

SweetFX presets usually come with no FPS drop, except on very low computers where you may get as much as 5 FPS, which is still not much. It not only makes it a good alternative for those who struggle to run an ENB without sacrificing some of their mods, or those who run a very bare bones game on low graphics because of their computer.

However, it is worth noting, that even if you do not wish to use an ENB for its visual enhancement features, ENBoost[www.nexusmods.com] is a tweak that turns off all graphics settings, but keeps the memory management ability of the ENB tool active, which can help you have a smoother game overall.

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Version History and Credits
1.0 - 11/12/14 - Guide Posted. Thanks to 0perator 88, Ilja, jjb-54.
1.1 - 11/12/14 - Cleaning up Formatting. Revision to the CONS section of NMM thanks to the suggestion and knowledge of Lordbufu. Restructure of the Introduction and Contents.
1.2 - 12/12/14 - Further revision of formatting and information. Refinement of information in the workshop section.
1.3 - 13/12/14 - SKSE section added. Further refinement of information in the workshop section.
1.5 - 15/12/14 - Reorganised the guide to have one post per section due to posting length restrictions and legibility. Added in some new links, fixed formatting.
1.6- 5/7/15 - Review of all current information. Updated heading, Updated LOOT section, updated Unofficial Patches section. Included links to new guides and resources. Rewrote the workshop specific section. 

[Lordbufu]

Nice guide, missing just one small thing though.
"Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) Cons:"

- Still in Beta and there for can, and ocasionally will, have its issue while installing/removing and downloading mods (crashes/glitches etc).

Would suit a lot better then just the few files it leaves behind every once in a while, for me on 64B Win7 the biggest issues is random crashes or glitches like not being able to select an option for overwriting files during installtion scripts because the GUI glitched out (or random crashes if you start downloading to much mods).

[Nazenn]

Originally posted by Lordbufu:

Nice guide, missing just one small thing though.
"Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) Cons:"

- Still in Beta and there for can, and ocasionally will, have its issue while installing/removing and downloading mods (crashes/glitches etc).

Would suit a lot better then just the few files it leaves behind every once in a while, for me on 64B Win7 the biggest issues is random crashes or glitches like not being able to select an option for overwriting files during installtion scripts because the GUI glitched out (or random crashes if you start downloading to much mods).

Thank you very much for the revision information. As mentioned in the guide I have never used NMM myself, I went from manual installation with Wrye Bash straight to using MO so I don't know the program well at all. :)

[Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles]

Great info. Thanks all for sharing.

[Nazenn]

Originally posted by Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles:

Great info. Thanks all for sharing.

Thank you, hope you found it useful in some way. :)

[Black Album]

I'd like to thank you too.
You posted a link to this discussion only minutes after I asked my own question and it's already helped this newcomer to understand a little.
Now .... I may not understand what they're talking about but at least I have an inkling about what it all means ... progress ...ha ha

[JohnDoe60]

Nice!

I suggest adding...

Savegame script scalpel - Disassembler - Diagnostic Tool - Papyrus Data Transfer
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53045/?

It is just as easy to use as Save Game Script Cleaner for the basic operations (removing orphaned and active scripts), and does an analysis of the save (lets you know ahead of time whether cleaning is going to get you anything or not).

It also has some more advanced features like: a graph of past analysis so you can track the health of the save files as you fiddle with mods (useful for tracking down problems caused by mods); and the ability to import data from other saves.

What may be best about it though are the docs provided on the Nexus page - they address some of the myths about save files and explain how, why, and when, the tool should be used. In contrast to SGSC's click this button and it may make a difference' approach.


I'd handle the LOOT vs BOSS thing differently...

..buy removing the "and BOSS" text and rewriting the paragraph after "BOSS is now outdated and should not be used" so that it say something along the lines of - BOSS was made obsolete when its developers released LOOT. LOOT is the next-gen of BOSS. Whenever you see BOSS mentioned in (old and unmaintained docs) you should substitute LOOT in its place.

BOSS is history and devoting so much space to it is unnecessary. Add a link to one of the BOSS vs LOOT discussions for those people who know about BOSS and need to be brought up to speed; new users only need to know that they should substitute BOSS with LOOT.

[raubrey]

Well done!

I think you gave a good overview of WyreBash and why it is needed.
It's good for people to understand why they need something or they may not use it, myself included.

When I had a handful of mods it wasn't a big deal -- but when branching out into more invasive graphic overhauls and potentially conflicting mods, it is now apparent it is needed.

I've delayed using it myself, thinking it unneeded work. If you want an example of why it is needed I have a screenshot for you -- missing textures, which apparently wouldn't of happened if I used Wyrebash?

The dragon looks cool though. I have worse bugs than this.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=353866686

[Kelvy]

I agree well done Nazenn, ice bath for the fingers after all that typing.

[Lordbufu]

Originally posted by Nazenn:

Originally posted by Lordbufu:

Nice guide, missing just one small thing though.
"Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) Cons:"

- Still in Beta and there for can, and ocasionally will, have its issue while installing/removing and downloading mods (crashes/glitches etc).

Would suit a lot better then just the few files it leaves behind every once in a while, for me on 64B Win7 the biggest issues is random crashes or glitches like not being able to select an option for overwriting files during installtion scripts because the GUI glitched out (or random crashes if you start downloading to much mods).

Thank you very much for the revision information. As mentioned in the guide I have never used NMM myself, I went from manual installation with Wrye Bash straight to using MO so I don't know the program well at all. :)

Yw, glad to be of service :)

[Nazenn]

Originally posted by blackalbum:

I'd like to thank you too.
You posted a link to this discussion only minutes after I asked my own question and it's already helped this newcomer to understand a little.
Now .... I may not understand what they're talking about but at least I have an inkling about what it all means ... progress ...ha ha

Im glad to have helped provide some understanding to the matter. It was definitedly designed for new people to have a more in depth understanding of why these tools should be used and the benefits of each, compared to the "this tool is good use it" approach that many people get. :)

Originally posted by Kelvy:

I agree well done Nazenn, ice bath for the fingers after all that typing.

Thanks Kelvy :)
Yeah, only 4.5 thousand words, no big deal hahaha

Originally posted by Lordbufu:

Yw, glad to be of service :)

Youve been added to the credits LordBufu for your help :)

Originally posted by JohnDoe60:

Nice!

I suggest adding...

Savegame script scalpel - Disassembler - Diagnostic Tool - Papyrus Data Transfer
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53045/?

Thanks for the link. The info you provided certainly appears that its a much better alternative so Ill definitely be looking into that not only for a replacement in the guide but for my own use as well :)

Originally posted by JohnDoe60:

Nice!
I'd handle the LOOT vs BOSS thing differently...

..buy removing the "and BOSS" text and rewriting the paragraph after "BOSS is now outdated and should not be used" so that it say something along the lines of - BOSS was made obsolete when its developers released LOOT. LOOT is the next-gen of BOSS. Whenever you see BOSS mentioned in (old and unmaintained docs) you should substitute LOOT in its place.

I did spend quite a bit of time debating on if I should include the information about BOSS or not. Eventually I did because Ive seen a great deal of people say "I cant get LOOT to work so I just use BOSS instead" as I did myself for many a month, because of the lack of clear explaination about the differences between them. Also so many places still suggest BOSS due to not being outdated, I felt it was importaint to make the difference between them clear.
The aim was to make this less a functional guide, and more a guide promoting the understanding of what these tools actually are. I also didnt want to be sending people every which way to find more details, as we already have plenty of threads around that do that.
Thanks for the idea though, I may look at revising and shortening that.

[Nazenn]

Originally posted by raubrey:

Well done!

I think you gave a good overview of WyreBash and why it is needed.
It's good for people to understand why they need something or they may not use it, myself included.

When I had a handful of mods it wasn't a big deal -- but when branching out into more invasive graphic overhauls and potentially conflicting mods, it is now apparent it is needed.

I've delayed using it myself, thinking it unneeded work. If you want an example of why it is needed I have a screenshot for you -- missing textures, which apparently wouldn't of happened if I used Wyrebash?

The dragon looks cool though. I have worse bugs than this.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=353866686

Not actually sure if that is a missing texture, looks more like a shader effect. Missing textures usually present as the model being colored in a light purple sort of flat texture. Very cool looking though. XD

Thanks for reading though, knowing that it is helping actually means a lot

[0perator 88]

Looks great! Glad this is helping people! Nazenn definetly knows what he is talking about! If his advice can help someone as software illiterate as me, it can help anyone!

[Nazenn]

Originally posted by 0perator 88:

Looks great! Glad this is helping people! Nazenn definetly knows what he is talking about! If his advice can help someone as software illiterate as me, it can help anyone!

Thanks, however it appears that somehow it has deleted all my links. Gonna try and get it sorted out for you guys :)
All links appear to be fixed now :)