question about mods SSE compared to Legendary

[Booneblaster]

so i used to play legendary with quite a lot of mods from nexus and MO. for me, this was complicated, I do not speak PC and it was painstaking to solve some issues.

i recently got SSE on sale and wanted to have some mods for some new fun on skyrim. so i decided to just simplify and use easy-subscribe steam mods. OH. I can't. there is only something called bethesda net. WHAT?

i was under the impression that SSE was better for modding now, because that is where the focus was in the community for like 3 years now. was i wrong? is modding on bethesda net any good? or should i go back to nexus? because it seems steam mods are not even usable on SSE which was a revelation to me.

by the way. i'm mainly interested in mods that add activity to skyrim, such as travelers and more random encounters/battles/civil war occurrences. i also like a good werewolf overhaul. did i waste my dough on SSE? not being able to use steam workshop to mod was a real shocker. do people recommend sticking with old legendary for modded plays or is Bethesda Net decent enough?

thx for your inputs.

[Lady Aeleanor]

Originally posted by Booneblaster:

i recently got SSE on sale and wanted to have some mods for some new fun on skyrim. so i decided to just simplify and use easy-subscribe steam mods. OH. I can't. there is only something called bethesda net. WHAT?

Nexus. The in-game mod manager is horrible. Useless. Use Nexus mods and Vortex. Or MO2. You'll be far better off.

[TheRandomGuy]

Both Skyrim Legendary Edition (Old Skyrim, or Oldrim for short) and Skyrim Special Edition (SSE) can be modded with Vortex from Nexus Mods.

SSE DOES have the In-Game Bethesda Net Modding built-in, but it's generally limited to smaller mods. A few big ones, like Beyond Skyrim Bruma and Wyrmstooth are on there though.

Nexus on the other hand is generally to the go-to for PC modding on Skyrim and the vast majority of other games.

One big difference is that some mods on Nexus require SKSE, which just recently got updated. It's the Skyrim Script Extender, and as the name suggests, it expands scripts and therefore what mods can do. The downside is that whenever Bethesda updates the game it tends to break and require an update itself.

A good example of mods that use SKSE are things like SkyUI (changes the menus and UI) , Matter of Time (Adds a clock widget to the UI), Racemenu (adds more appearance options), XP32 Skeleton (Animation and models), and so forth.

There are also script extenders for Fallout 4, Fallout New Vegas, and Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Pretty much all Bethesda games have them as external mods.

As for your needs.

For travelers and immersion I'd recommend the mod "Immersive Patrols", it can be found on both Nexus and Bethesda net.

For Werewolf Overhauls I'd recommend "Moonlight Tales : Special Edition", adds a whole perk tree (like what Dawnguard has for Vampire Lords) for Werewolves.

[Booneblaster]

Originally posted by Lady Aeleanor:

Originally posted by Booneblaster:

i recently got SSE on sale and wanted to have some mods for some new fun on skyrim. so i decided to just simplify and use easy-subscribe steam mods. OH. I can't. there is only something called bethesda net. WHAT?

Nexus. The in-game mod manager is horrible. Useless. Use Nexus mods and Vortex. Or MO2. You'll be far better off.

i see, i see. thx. didn't know there was an MO2. and i saw this vortex thing, no idea what it's for. is it a must have? or is it an alternative to MO?

[Booneblaster]

Originally posted by TheRandomGuy:

Both Skyrim Legendary Edition (Old Skyrim, or Oldrim for short) and Skyrim Special Edition (SSE) can be modded with Vortex from Nexus Mods.

One big difference is that some mods on Nexus require SKSE, which just recently got updated. It's the Skyrim Script Extender, and as the name suggests, it expands scripts and therefore what mods can do. The downside is that whenever Bethesda updates the game it tends to break and require an update itself.

right, so if i want scripted mods, i need SKSE and likely, SkyUI which will not be on bethesda net. but thats good to know i can use SSE with nexus. I think that is where i got the idea that modders had moved to SSE. a lot of those mods were specifically for SSE or had been re-done for it. And yes, i used to use quite a few of those mods. skse, skyUI, racemenu. xp32..... that was always a bucket load of problems despite being the only mod to effect appearance or animations other than racemenu. i'll check out the moonlight tales. i used to use uh.... can't remember what it was called. but it gave a huge perk tree for the werewolf. but sometimes you just want to try ALL of them. i'm a sucker for new perk trees.
then again. sometimes vanilla sky makes a good argument for itself. modded skyrim can actually feel... less... than vanilla. or am i alone in that theory? still. despite wanting to play vanilla, mods always creep back in for some reason.
i wanted SSE because i was useless at installing an ENB. never could follow the instructions all the way because they always left the realm of plain english.
anyways, thanks. i'll be going back to the nexus.

[alexander_dougherty]

To teh OP.

Steam Workshop has been buggy for Skyrim since launch.
Bethesda.net not much better, but even a bit better is better.

Nexus Mods and a mod manager is a better way to go, you don't need to pay a subscription, and they are virus checked.... just make a backup after you download.

[Cochise]

Just don't install the game etc under the C;/ programs directory if you are going to mod....

[Lady Aeleanor]

Originally posted by Booneblaster:

i see, i see. thx. didn't know there was an MO2. and i saw this vortex thing, no idea what it's for. is it a must have? or is it an alternative to MO?

Yes. It's also a mod manager. Having used both MO2 and Vortex, I prefer Vortex. Both are good, and a matter of personal preference. I just found Vortex to be simpler to understand and use.

Originally posted by Booneblaster:

i wanted SSE because i was useless at installing an ENB. never could follow the instructions all the way because they always left the realm of plain english.
anyways, thanks. i'll be going back to the nexus.

I highly recommend Youtuber Gopher's series of videos "Vortex For Beginners". He shows how to use Vortex to install ENBs in one of the series' videos.They're a worthwhile watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kbOteChLJE&ab_channel=Gopher

[Booneblaster]

thanks everyone. good advices