Changing Which Exe to Point to

[Mikarri]

Firstly, I hope I have the correct forum for this question.

Secondly, I have heavily modded my copy of Skyrim and I was wondering if there was a way to have Steam point to the Skyrim script extender launcher instead of the default exe file. Many mods won't work unless I open the game using the script extender instead of the normal exe launcher (which I'm sure everyone knows).

It's a small thing, but in the interest of ease I like using Steam to launch all my games and having one game sitting on my desktop annoys me lol

Thanks in advance.

[TirithRR]

There is a way, I did it once, but it was a bit complicated and ended up being annoying so I undid it.

It involved renaming the Skyrim launcher exe to something else, then putting the SKSE exe as the launcher, and then you had to make a config file to trick it...

I succeeded doing it on my Desktop, and didn't want to do it on my Laptop cause the benefits just weren't there.

(The instructions were found via searching through Google).

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

You can try editing the appmanifest to point to a different exe, but the process is complicated F:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps <<<<< look at that folder and search for your game's app id.

[yoshi]

Originally posted by Falcon PAWNCH:

Firstly, I hope I have the correct forum for this question.

Secondly, I have heavily modded my copy of Skyrim and I was wondering if there was a way to have Steam point to the Skyrim script extender launcher instead of the default exe file. Many mods won't work unless I open the game using the script extender instead of the normal exe launcher (which I'm sure everyone knows).

It's a small thing, but in the interest of ease I like using Steam to launch all my games and having one game sitting on my desktop annoys me lol

Thanks in advance.

Hia

[TirithRR]

I used Nexus Mod Manager a LOT so I just always launched SKSE through NMM instead of directly through Steam.

[Mikarri]

Ok thanks guys. Sounds like it'd be a bigger hassle than it already is lol so oh well.

[Kyalliara]

SO far, I haven't seen any freaking specifics. Renaming a file and getting it to WORK means using a specific filename, right? So, could someone please tell me how I'm supposed to get SKSE to work in a step-by-step process? Because I don't use any mod managers, and I've done it once before manually. However, in an effort to get rid of a glitch, I unintentionally defaulted the original filenames and NOW I'm screwed, since I can't find the link to the step-by-step process. So, please! Someone, tell me how to get SKSE to work!

[Lunarnova]

I know Im a bit late, but

this worked for me:

-Go into game folder
-delete the exe (in this case SkyrimLauncher.exe or SkyrimSELauncher.exe depending on if you have special edition or not) and rename SKSE loader to that exe's name *MUST BE EXACT* (in this case rename it SkyrimLauncher.exe or SkyrimSELauncher.exe again depending on if you have special edition or not)

Now when you push play in steam it will open SKSE loader, rather than non SKSE.

[Argus]

Originally posted by Ace:

I know Im a bit late, but

this worked for me:

-Go into game folder
-delete the exe (in this case SkyrimLauncher.exe or SkyrimSELauncher.exe depending on if you have special edition or not) and rename SKSE loader to that exe's name *MUST BE EXACT* (in this case rename it SkyrimLauncher.exe or SkyrimSELauncher.exe again depending on if you have special edition or not)

Now when you push play in steam it will open SKSE loader, rather than non SKSE.

Thanks , that helped!

[Gordonsleeman]

Originally posted by Ace:

I know Im a bit late, but

this worked for me:

-Go into game folder
-delete the exe (in this case SkyrimLauncher.exe or SkyrimSELauncher.exe depending on if you have special edition or not) and rename SKSE loader to that exe's name *MUST BE EXACT* (in this case rename it SkyrimLauncher.exe or SkyrimSELauncher.exe again depending on if you have special edition or not)

Now when you push play in steam it will open SKSE loader, rather than non SKSE.

worked like a charm thanks

[junkymana]

A few years late, but I will put what helped for me after failing with everything else.

In resume is by creating a symlink and then replacing the original .exe file.

Link at the bottom on how to create a SymLink with descriptive images. I will describe it here too, but I thought it might be usefull for someone who could get confused with words or who is non native English speaker like me.
Now, I will just describe the steps from the program that helps you to create the symlink rather than the command prompt option (link also at the bottom). For some reason, even following tutorials, Windows wasn't allowing me to make the symlink with cmd.

Right, so here I go:
- First you want to download a program to create a symlink called "Link Shell Extension"
- Once you've download and install the program, go to the file you want to really execute (or point to from steam).
- Right click on the file and find "Pick Link Source". This will make your .exe the source of the link you are going to create. And the program MUST BE INSTALLED for this. You won't see this option otherwise.
-Ok, now right click again where you want to create the link. If it is the same folder, right click anywhere inside that folder and look for "Drop As" following to choose "Symbolic Link".
- Now find your original .exe (the one that steam is using) and rename it to something else. This way you can still re-use it by renaming it again if something goes wrong or if you simply want to.
- Finally rename your SymLink to the EXACT SAME NAME as your initially original .exe
- Start the game from Steam and see if it's actually working

This should run the file you want to as a sort of shortcut.

Here is the link of the website I used to follow the steps for the SymLink:
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

And while the link is mentioned in that site, I will still put here to download the program:
https://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html

I know some people just rename their .exe to be like the original one, but the problem with that is that if the .exe you want to use is using other files that will need that .exe, then they won't be able to find it as it has been renamed. So by creating the SymLink you are running the file through a Link that uses the name of the original .exe. Like a shortcut option. I don't know, I think it can be safer.
I was needing this metthod for a game that was using a modyfied .exe with using different .dll in order to make the game more stable.

Anyway, I hope it can be usefull for anyone.
Have fun!

[twas]

Originally posted by junkymana:

A few years late, but I will put what helped for me after failing with everything else.

In resume is by creating a symlink and then replacing the original .exe file.

Link at the bottom on how to create a SymLink with descriptive images. I will describe it here too, but I thought it might be usefull for someone who could get confused with words or who is non native English speaker like me.
Now, I will just describe the steps from the program that helps you to create the symlink rather than the command prompt option (link also at the bottom). For some reason, even following tutorials, Windows wasn't allowing me to make the symlink with cmd.

Right, so here I go:
- First you want to download a program to create a symlink called "Link Shell Extension"
- Once you've download and install the program, go to the file you want to really execute (or point to from steam).
- Right click on the file and find "Pick Link Source". This will make your .exe the source of the link you are going to create. And the program MUST BE INSTALLED for this. You won't see this option otherwise.
-Ok, now right click again where you want to create the link. If it is the same folder, right click anywhere inside that folder and look for "Drop As" following to choose "Symbolic Link".
- Now find your original .exe (the one that steam is using) and rename it to something else. This way you can still re-use it by renaming it again if something goes wrong or if you simply want to.
- Finally rename your SymLink to the EXACT SAME NAME as your initially original .exe
- Start the game from Steam and see if it's actually working

This should run the file you want to as a sort of shortcut.

Here is the link of the website I used to follow the steps for the SymLink:
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

And while the link is mentioned in that site, I will still put here to download the program:
https://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html

I know some people just rename their .exe to be like the original one, but the problem with that is that if the .exe you want to use is using other files that will need that .exe, then they won't be able to find it as it has been renamed. So by creating the SymLink you are running the file through a Link that uses the name of the original .exe. Like a shortcut option. I don't know, I think it can be safer.
I was needing this metthod for a game that was using a modyfied .exe with using different .dll in order to make the game more stable.

Anyway, I hope it can be usefull for anyone.
Have fun!

thanks, this helped me solve some of the problems i was having with stalker soc!