Bethesda has re-released Skyrim for every electronic device in living history, including the trusty microwave. As for the Special Edition on PC, many wondered why the company even bothered since graphics are only marginally better, but what makes this latest version so good is the addition of 64-bit support. This unlocks the full potential of Skyrim and its modding community, enabling for a more stable experience. We'll show you how to install mods and completely change Skyrim.

This is because there's a lot of them: more than 28,000 Skyrim mods to. 2011-released game look better than even the 2016 Special Edition version. Vanilla Skyrim refuses to allow such sacrilege, but Reverse Crafting.

Products used in this guide

• Buy Elder Scrolls for Steam: Skyrim Special Edition ($30 at GMG)
• Managing your favorite mods: Vortex (Free at Nexus Mods)

How to install mods for Skyrim Special Edition

In this guide, we'll be using Vortex (previously called Nexus Mod Manager), which is universally recommended to keep things organized and to make installing larger packages an absolute breeze. Nexus is a dedicated platform for modders to release and update their mods for various titles, including Skyrim Special Edition. As well as publishing their content, Nexus also enables for discussion, feedback, support, and more. The website is fairly easy to navigate with most mods correctly categorized for convenient filtering.

Installing Vortex

1. Register an account on the Nexus website.
2. Download Vortex (Nexus Mod Manager).
3. Install and then run Vortex.

4. Click on Dashboard.

5. Select Scan for missing games.

6. Click on Settings.

7. Select the Mods tab.
8. Set where you want mods to be installed.

We need to run Skyrim SE to the main menu before activating mods, so give the game a boot to initial menu (through Steam) and then quit. This will create the much-needed .ini file for editing and will ensure we don't run into issues with mods not working correctly at a later date.

Installing Mods

Now it's time to select and install some mods. We rounded up some of our favorite Skyrim mods to get you started.

1. Search for mods on the Nexus website.
2. Carefully read through the description of each mod.

3. Choose the Files tab.

4. Select 'Mod Manager Download' on the correct file(s) you need for the mod.
5. Wait for the mods to download in Vortex.
6. Select a mod you wish to install and choose 'Install'.

Once you have a few mods downloaded you may notice the load order start to populate. Vasco da gama keygen software. This list is important because some mods and files need to be loaded by the game in a specific order. Mod authors generally offer information in mod descriptions on the Nexus should their files require to be configured in a set order, and there are even tools available like LOOT that can check to see if there are any problems with your setup.

Modders create and release extra content for fun and for the love of scripting, but leaving an endorsement or even a donation can provide much-needed feedback, especially if you've enjoyed hours of entertainment because of said mod(s). Leaving a few dollars can really make their day, but do consider at least leaving a comment and endorsing their work. Skyrim wouldn't be the same without its excellent modding community.

What you'll need to mod Skyrim

You're going to need a copy of Skyrim Special Edition.

RPG

Skyrim Special Edition

One of the best RPGs on the platform

Skyrim has been around for nearly a decade, which is hard to believe for some who have poured thousands of hours playing as a character in the Nord world. Playing on PC allows you to install numerous mods to further enhance the experience and allow you to continue playing way beyond completing the main questline.

Skyrim offers hundreds of hours worth of entertainment, which can be further expanded through the installation of mods. Whether you enjoy wielding massive axes, conjuring deadly spells or sneaking around and silencing your foes, there's a playstyle for everyone to enjoy, allowing anyone to craft their own adventure in this massive fantasy world.

XFX Radeon RX 5700($350 at Amazon)

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 is the new mid-range card that offers high levels of performance at a more affordable price. If you plan on modding Skyrim, you'll need a GPU like this to handle more heavy installations.

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The best pre-built PCs you can buy to play Skyrim: Special Edition

Skyrim: Special Edition requires some considerable PC specifications for a smooth experience, especially if you plan on modding. Luckily, with a desktop PC, you can

• 3Porting Skyrim mods to SSE
  • 3.4Bugs and how to Fix them

Overview

This mini guide will show you how to port your Skyrim mods to Skyrim Special Edition (SSE). I am assuming that you know how to make mods for Skyrim and use the Creation Kit.

This is a work in progress. I will write down here any new findings, as for the time being I've only ported some mods adding NPCs.

Required tools

• Creation Kit: Creation Kit for Special Edition is available via the Bethesda.net Launcher (which is itself available from bethesda.net)

Porting Skyrim mods to SSE

Install the original Skyrim mod in the SSE folders

The easiest way of doing this is using Nexus Mod Manager.

1. Launch Nexus Mod Manager for Skyrim Special Edition
2. Click on the green arrow (Add Mod from File)
3. Select the zip file containing your Skyrim mod
   1. If the Skyrim mod is packed in BSA format, first unpack the BSA, and then pack the esp file + the loose files into a zip file, as SSE cannot read the Skyrim BSA files
4. Install the mod

The mod won't work in SSE right now, but you need to install it in the SSE folders for being able of editing it with the Creation Kit.

Open the mod in the SSE Creation Kit

1. Launch the SSE Creation Kit
2. Load the Skyrim esp file and set it as the Active file
3. Change something, for example, the name of an item (don't change any ID), and change it back to the original name, so the CK things that your esp file has changed
4. Save the esp file

This will save the esp file in a format that works fine with SSE. For NPCS, it also will create/update the facegen data (meshes and textures) of the NPCs added or modified by the mod. There is no need to use the CTRL+F4 keys to do that.

Now you can test the mod in game and see if it works as intended.

Pack the mod for SSE

To pack the mod for usage with Skyrim Special Edition:

1. Use as a base the files of your mod for Skyrim
2. Overwrite the Skyrim file with the new SSE file you just saved
3. For mods adding NPCs or replacing vanilla ones: Overwrite the old facegen data for Skyrim with the new facegen data generated when saving the esp file for SSE

And this should be it :)

Bugs and how to Fix them

NPCs pink face (face texture not loading)

For XboxOne, the face texture detailmap does not seem to work properly (it works for PC, though). To fix this bug, paint all the details on the face texture and use the default blank detailmap for all NPCs.

Vanilla NPCs with black or pixelated face

Installing two mods that modify the face of the same vanilla NPC will result in the NPC having a completely black or pixelated face, in some cases the modified NPC may have red lines across his/her face. To fix this, when packing the mod:

• Copy the facegen data the Creation kit has generated under YourMod.esp folder (where 'YourMod' is your mod), to the Skyrim.esm folder, both for meshes and textures.
• Add only the facegen data under the Skyrim.esm folder. Don't add the facegen data under the YourMod.esp folder, even though the Creation Kit has created those files.

Bald character (hair mesh not rendering in game)

Some meshes that worked in Skyrim don't work in SSE and become invisible when viewed in-game. To fix this, load the mesh in the last version of NifSkope and:

1. convert all NiTriStrips to NiTriShape in nifskope (spells -> batch -> triangulate all)
2. make all NiSkinPartitions without strips (spells -> batch -> make all skin partitions, change 18 to 60) (it is normal for the nif to turn black at this stage)
3. add tangents to all meshes that don't have them (except for body/head meshes) with spells -> batch -> add tangents and update (in my case, the mesh turned black at this stage, but it worked fine in game)

If on the last step the whole screen turns black then this process didn't work and you will need to use outfit studio: Open the nif in the latest version of outfit studio, save as .obj file. Then you will have to export as an SSE nif. This means re-doing all weighting, collision, etc. so it may not be possible for all files, but for most armor, outfit studio's automatic weighting should work fine.

'Exploding' outfits

Some of the outfit meshes made for Skyrim 'explode' (i.e. some vertices go to the infinite and the mesh looks as if it had exploded) when used in SSE. To fix that the easiest way is using Ousnius' SSE NIF Optimizer. This tool fixes most of the problems with Skyrim meshes.

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