Skyrim SE: Game not launching after activating mods through NMM

Question

I have problems with getting mods to work with Skyrim. I have done the following:

1. Installed Steam at C:\My docs\Apps\Gmz\Steam (that is to say, not Program Files)
2. Got Skyrim Special Edition as a gift on Steam. Installed it.
3. Installed Skyrim Script Extender for Skyrim SE
4. Installed Nexus Mod Manager
5. Installed mod/plugin SkyUI (and also others) and activated it/them
6. Starting the game through skse64_loader.exe

My problem is that the game does not load. When I click skse64_loader.exe to run it, it does not run. When I disable the mods/plugins in NMM, the game launches as usual. I really don't get what's wrong. I have tried re-installing everything 100 times now. No difference.

Thanks!

Answer 1

This is an extremely common issue. It means that one or more of your mods is malfunctioning, usually because of a conflict between two mods. This is why the order of how your mods load in Skyrim is important, as well.

Example:

Mod A adds NPCs, and homes them at Pinewatch. It mods Pinewatch in a way that makes sense for the mod.

Mod B replaces Pinewatch with a 12 story wizard tower. It appears lower in the load order.

Skyrim then loads A, and B, and when the assets for mod A are replaced by those from B during startup, the game crashes.

That's a really rudimentary explanation and a situation that doesn't always cause a crash, but you get the idea. Other things that can cause this include trying to load an Oldrim mod into Skyrim Special Edition, major game overhaul mods conflicting, or even a patch to Skyrim that breaks certain things.

To prevent this, I follow the following steps:

1. Keep track of which mods do what and avoid situations where two mods accomplish the same basic task
2. ALWAYS READ THE MOD DESCRIPTION FOR A CONFLICTS SECTION
3. Use a mod manager like NMM
4. Use LOOT to sort the mods for you. It will not only sort your load order, but it will notify you of detected conflicts before you try to run anything.
5. Install your mods only 4 or 5 at a time, then see if you can load the game. that way, if you get a crash, you know which group of 4-5 mods to investigate.
6. Make sure the mods you have also have any compatibility patches made for them to interface with other mods installed.

When it's already happened and I'm crashing on boot or on entry to an area, I do the following.

1. Ensure all mods installed are using their newest versions
2. Untick all of my mods in my mod manager and boot Skyrim. if it works, I tick 5 mods at a time and keep booting that way until I find the one that is causing the issue
3. Look for new compatibility patches on the affected mod
4. If all else fails, uninstall the mod completely instead of just disabling it.

Welcome to modding Bethesda games.

Answer 2

This sounds like SKSE is causing the crash. That is not surprising tho: The current version of SKSE for SkyrimSE is an alpha version that contains quite a lot of bugs. It's still in development.

Current SE build 2.0.6 (runtime 1.5.23): 7z archive - ALPHA BUILD. MODDERS ONLY. DO NOT ASK FOR SUPPORT.

Source: http://skse.silverlock.org/

I'd refrain from using SKSE for Skyrim:SE because it's very likely to result in crashes and/or will only work under certain circumstances. Modding skyrim is frustrating enough, there is no reason to make it even more frustrating.

If you want to make 100% certain that SKSE is not causing the crash, install skyrim, install skse for skyrim se and then start the game without any mods. If it still crashes, it's skse. If not, you might want to post your full modding list, but I'm fairly sure its skse.

Answer 3

I found that Skyrim SE would not run through SKSE with SkyUI enabled, but it would run with SkyUI disabled. Got so frustrated until I redownloaded SkyUI, saw that the version for SE had not ever been downloaded from my Nexus account. I was trying to run the wrong version! Trying to run vanilla Skyrim mods with Special Edition can cause a failure to launch the game. I assumed something to do with my inexperience with modding PC games was to blame. (Upgraded my PC start of 2019, and have only just started playing Skyrim on PC vs PS4).

I am using Mod Organiser 2, and adjusting my load order according to the Master List document, and by adding and testing one mod at a time. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ouzi9f0dma00yhd/Skyrim%20Recommended%20Mod%20Load%20Order%20-%20Master.docx?dl=0

Why am I doing it manually? Because Loot causes an error everytime I try to use it! Ah well. At least I've been able to try out some new content already.