First time playing skyrim

[Yozora2248]

I was hoping to get some help with Skyrim modding. I've been watching video after video on trying to learn how to mod this game directly off my steam deck but nothing I do seems to work. I was wondering if anyone could help me out with tips or anything.

[orcama60]

Yes, I can help you and follow the instructions below ( in order for you to start fresh with no file corrupted, do this first : )

a - Go to your game directory ( usually ) : C:\ProgramFiles(86)\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Skyrim Special Edition .... and delete everything and after that, delete the Skyrim Special Edition folder as well.

b - Go to : Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition ... and delete all .ini files and everything in there

c - Uninstall Skyrim from Steam and Empty your Recyble Bin / Restart your PC.

1 - Install Skyrim again from Steam
2 - Install VORTEX from NEXUS. VORTEX is a mod manager and you need it if you want to mod your game. When you install VORTEX, it will ask you if it is OK to install your Mod Staging Folder in the path that Vortex is suggesting : accept it ..... VORTEX will ask you to create your Download folder; mine is in : C:\users\myname\Documents\MY VORTEX DOWNLOADS ( that is the name I gave it ). Now you are ready to use this mod manager.
3 - Leave VORTEX open and minimize it.
4 - Play Skyrim vanilla and when you get to Riverwood, save it and exit it.
5 - Go to : Documents\MyGames\Skyrim Special Edition .... and you will see in there, your .ini files; right click on your Prefs.ini and open it with a notepad. Scroll down and under [LAUNCHER], add the line : bEnableFileSelection=1 ..... and save the file. Now you are ready to start downloading mods from NEXUS.

6 - Go to VORTEX GAMES section and search for Skyrim Special Edition and activate it. The Skyrim icon will be located in the top left corner of VORTEX. Start downloading your mods from NEXUS.

7 - Start with : Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch - USSEP, Modern Brawl Bug Fix, Cutting Room and Static Mesh Improvement Mod - SMIM, then High Poly Project, Blended Roads, Skyrim 2018 by Pfuscher ( including optional files 1.5 and 1.6 ), Skyrim 202X by Pfuscher ( this mod is huge and will install your textures and it is divided in 4 parts : Architecture - Part 1 -, Landscape - Part 2 -, Other - Part 3 - and the UPDATED file ( the main and first file and you should override all the prior ones ). From the optional files of this mod, I do recommend that you install : 7 Mountains Textures with FOMOD installer, Blended Roads Retexture ( override Blended Roads mod previously installed ), Snow Alternative 1, Whiterun City Wall - Alternative 1 - and Whiterun Street - Alternative 1 -
8 - Install Simplicity of Snow

( NOTE about Mod Skyrim 202X by Pfuscher ... he will recommend to install DYNDOLOD ... I did not cause I do not use it at all. I also, did not installed any Parallax files cause my Parallax are from other mods. Read the description slowly and decide what is it that you want to do.

After those mods, you will come to a mod that will require SKSE. As soon as you see that SKSE is required for that mod to be installed, go to : https://skse.silverlock.org and install version 2.2.5 which is the correct version for the game's version : 1.6.1130. Follow the instructions in one of 'readme' files in that page.

When one of your mods requires an ENB mod to be installed, go to :
enbdev.com/download_mod_tesskyrimse.html and download the file v0.499 ( or the one of the top of the list ); when you click on that file, you will be taken to another screen whit a drop arrow located in the bottom left corner, click on that arrow to start downloading this mod. You have to install it manually and you will install only 2 files from the WRAPPERVERSION ( double click on this file ), scroll down in the next screen and copy/paste in your game directory only the files :
a - d3dcompiler_46e.dll
b - d3d11.dll

Continue installing mods as you please from NEXUS.
Make sure that you read from each mod :
- DESCRITPION and REQUIREMENTS
- POSTS
- BUGS

My personal rule : if a mod has a lot of bugs that have not been answered by the author, I will not download / install that mod. If a mod has a lot of issues expressed by players from the POST section of the mod, I will not download / install that mod.
If the mod requires something that I do not like or that requirements also requires other mods that are suspicious or they have a lot of bugs, I will not install that mod.
Keep it simple and safe the most you can.

RED FLAGS :
There are some mods that still have not been updated or they are not working properly for the newest game's version and one of them is SSE Engine Fixes ( skse64 plugin ). This mod will install a .dll file in your game directory and personally, I used it in the past but with the new game's version, I do not feel safe using it. Not yet. It is up to you.

Last but not the least, after installing SKSE, launch the game via SKSE to find out if it is launching properly. Every 5 mods installed, launch the game via SKSE to find out if the game launchs as expected.
In STEAM : make sure that Skyrim : only update when you launch the game and never to do it in the background. NEVER LAUNCH THE GAME from Steam.
ALWAYS LAUNCH YOUR GAME via SKSE located in VORTEX.

Happy gaming.

[Lexida]

Google Skyrim STEP Guide XXXX ( XXXX = version of your game) mine is 1.6.640 so i google Skyrim STEP Guide 1.6.640