Skyrim Modding and how to reduce load order nicely on Skyrim SE
It's been awhile since I wrote a post here, so I'd like to cover a few tricks for reducing one's load order on Skyrim Special Edition.
There is a program written for merging plugins I used to use, but I have since discontinued use, it tends to bug out quite a bit despite Skyrim SE native support.
Instead, I recommend the following:
1. Turn small mods in ESL files in the Creation Kit: The ESL limit is far higher than the ESP limit, and if the mod is under 4000 lines of content, this should work quite nicely.
2. Merge Plugins xEdit Script; While written for Oldrim, it works fine for Skyrim SE, but I have some caveats I must mention.
A. Refrain from use on mods with BSA archives: The BSA structure is bit different on SE, and while merging many non BSA mods into one mod that uses a BSA and replacing the name of the merge mod with the name of the mod needing the BSA should generally work, the other way round tends to cause a lot of issues.
B. Save the original mods in case things break: This goes without explanation.
C. Make sure the mods don't have too many overlapping conflicts: While inevitable for leveled list mods and the like and thus generally benign save any edits that wind up the loser of the conflicts, this can cause issues if things like facegen data clashes, resulting in black faces and and other anomalies
D. Patches are generally safe to merge: So long as they have small changes and the above stricture on overlapping conflicts is kept to a minimum, mods with a ton of patches like Legacy of the Dragonborn can have their patches shrunk down to one file.
E. DON'T merge ESMs or master mods: Just don't if they have subordinate mods that require them. If this is not the case, you can still do this, but mind the above caveats.
F. ESLs don't merge: You will crash xEDIT.
G: Use LOOT to reorder mod order after you are done, Wrye Bash is also useful for making sure mod order is proper.
There is a program written for merging plugins I used to use, but I have since discontinued use, it tends to bug out quite a bit despite Skyrim SE native support.
Instead, I recommend the following:
1. Turn small mods in ESL files in the Creation Kit: The ESL limit is far higher than the ESP limit, and if the mod is under 4000 lines of content, this should work quite nicely.
2. Merge Plugins xEdit Script; While written for Oldrim, it works fine for Skyrim SE, but I have some caveats I must mention.
A. Refrain from use on mods with BSA archives: The BSA structure is bit different on SE, and while merging many non BSA mods into one mod that uses a BSA and replacing the name of the merge mod with the name of the mod needing the BSA should generally work, the other way round tends to cause a lot of issues.
B. Save the original mods in case things break: This goes without explanation.
C. Make sure the mods don't have too many overlapping conflicts: While inevitable for leveled list mods and the like and thus generally benign save any edits that wind up the loser of the conflicts, this can cause issues if things like facegen data clashes, resulting in black faces and and other anomalies
D. Patches are generally safe to merge: So long as they have small changes and the above stricture on overlapping conflicts is kept to a minimum, mods with a ton of patches like Legacy of the Dragonborn can have their patches shrunk down to one file.
E. DON'T merge ESMs or master mods: Just don't if they have subordinate mods that require them. If this is not the case, you can still do this, but mind the above caveats.
F. ESLs don't merge: You will crash xEDIT.
G: Use LOOT to reorder mod order after you are done, Wrye Bash is also useful for making sure mod order is proper.
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