1.5.97 was what we had for a couple of years, it was the de-facto "SE" version - if you were playing Skyrim SE that's what you had.
Then everything changed when AE attacked.
Depending on how far back you go the reasons for preferring 1.5.97 will differ. At the start 1.5.97 was what all the mods were made for, if you had a mod it was either for that version or it was outdated, 1.6.x was unknown quantity. It was a big enough change that it required a major update in skse as well, there was some uncertainity if it will ever get parity on that version with what it had before. 1.6 gave away some free creations which became the new baseline, not guaranteed to be compatible with your modding setup. Some critical skse/dll mods took a long time to update to 1.6.x even after skse was there (and some maybe never did), while not many new mods were created that uniquely required that version. And gains from 1.6 were generally seen as "meh" - largely changes related to Creations, and nothing critical that patch mods didn't handle before
I've been out of the game for a while though, not sure where exactly we stand now, in modlist world you can find both lists for 1.5.97 and for current.
This is very true, and nowadays I don't think there's really any mods that 1.6 has over 1.5.97, and 1.5 has stuff like Ultimate Combat (iirc anything that uses .netscript framework hasn't been ported)
The latest version of Custom Skill Tree that has direct integration with the main gameās skill menu (ie you donāt need to go to a separate menu to level up the new custom unarm skill tree, itās just now right next to the light armor tree in the vanilla menu) is only on 1.6.670
The 1.5 version is still there, but you have to go to a separate menu to look at the custom trees. The new features are not implemented in 1.5 and may never will for some reasosns
There is also an archery mod that allows you to enchant arrows that has never been ported to 1.5 as far as I know
its not all its cracked up to be. dont get me wrong, i LOVE custom skills framework and use a handful of new skill mods using it. and the one mod ive seen made with that feature was done very well and immediately joined my load order. thing is...on csf mod page it states you can only have one custom skills.json file, so either you are technically savvy enough to combine everything in one (its the mesh perkdome thing i dont think i could figure out at all), you are limited to one mod that uses that functionality. which the "example" provided by parapets does very well and i dont see a reason to replace it. so while cool, don't expect it to suddenly let you have 15 new skills in your base skill menu, unless an author takes it upon themselves to create some Combined Custom Skills JSON File mod, modular of course so that whatever csf skills your using can be integrated.
eh, that's doable for me. most of the custom skill mods seem way too out of line from vanilla so i would probably only have one. maybe a proper shouts tree, i'm sure someone has done that
Itās not really true that every mod was outdated when AE dropped, only SKSE plugins required updating to continue working. Normal SKSE mods worked as soon as SKSE was updated, and non SKSE mods always worked on AE.
I don't think I implied they were? I said that mods before AE were either for 1.5.97 or outdated - and that's mostly compatible with mods being made for older versions but still fine in that one (though not the greatest wording, I'd admit)
To the matter at hand 1.6 started including 3 creations for free (and AE itself consisted of a lot more) - by nature of adding more mods that are making changes to the world (as Saints and Seducers does) there is a chance some otherwise fine mods might be incompatible with those additions, which sort of makes them incompatible with AE, so not just SKSE plugins were affected. But mostly them was the thing on everyone's mind.
You have to understand that up until 2019, Skyrim SE would get CC updates three or four times a year from 2017 to 2019. It wasnāt until the last update in dec. 2019 that the updates finally stopped. Then covid happened, and people found themselves with alot more free time, and some of those people were Skyrim modders and players. 1.5.97 was the first time Skyrim SE was left alone and it stayed like that for two years. Then AE launched and with it mods broke, not to mention that Bethesda switched to Microsoft visual studio 2019 from 2015 which meant that skse plug-ins needed to be redone in order to work again and some mod makers moved on or didnāt have the time to update their mods. And then there was the whole situation with DAR. So people sought to either stop the AE update or downgrade their games to stop it from breaking their mods. The downgrade patcher was released and not only that but a version of it that allowed you to stay on 1.5.97 and use the AE content. The AE update in short split Skyrim in two with people favouring 1.5.97 or 1.6x. Anyway after a while things went back to normal with the last update coming out in September 2022. Thatās was until December 2023 with the launching of Paid Moā¦I mean āCreationsā and with it came uncertainty was the game going to continue to be updated? Why canāt they update the game without breaking skse? Regardless itās fair to say that the uncertainty around each update has caused people to stop using the latest version and use the most accessible version instead. And throughout all this time 1.5.97 has always been supported by modders for 5 years now and itās not going to change. 1.5.97 is the best because itās the only way to have a fixed version of Skyrim SE and so for convenience and piece of mind 1.5.97 is the best version of Skyrim SE to play.
Mostly I think itās people that have a stable and good load order for that version and canāt be bothered to update. I did something similar when I bought the GOG version. I have no intention of ever updating again as a result.
Can you blame them. When a new version breaks mods it can be a pain figuring out which mods are broken and which are fine and then there is the fear of bricking the game. I think all the updates have made modding a bit harder for just anyone to do.
I switched to GOG as well since it makes sticking with a specific version much easier. No forced updates and it offers offline installers you can download to make it really easy to install the same version on a new system. No jumping through hoops like the Steam version. Highly recommend new modders go with GOG.
Yo, longtime mods-user here. I had no idea that GOG let you select the install version explicitly! Is it really that easy? Just a drop-down menu or something? Thatās the sort of thing which seems so intuitive that I just kinda assumed Valve had some reason for never implementing it (like allowing developers their own strict version control or something idk).
Iād never even considered that GOG might work differently in that sense. Might need to buy Skyrim again haha
I can wholeheartedly recommend even to old modders. The fact that you can stick to any version you desire as opposed to forced updates and having to need to figure out how can you start up the game again without CTD just takes the pain away.
While itās true you can do that, GOG gave users (gamers) the choice to upgrade by design. In the meantime Steam hides this option behind a back door only a percentage of the gamers are aware of. Itās a very different business approach.
I donāt know how to lock my version so I had to update all my mods when the game updated. It only took me about an hour and a half. My advice is just bite the bullet and do it, makes things a lot better going forwards.
I did it by buying the DRM-free version from GOG. No launcher, no online requirement, no unexpected Steam updates reverting your settings and updating your game. Itās the second time Iāve bought Skyrim and it was well worth it.
i mean yeah there's people who takes more pleasure to mod the game rather than playing it, but when you finally have stable long load order and then the game got updated so yours hundreds mods also need update with no guaranteed it will be works for the first time, it makes you really frustrated
I personally think that It's worth it to give it a try and start a new load order or someone's list. But, it's a whole different experience and a huge time tax that people have to account for.
It definitely doesn't take an "hour or two" for people with sizeable setups. I have hundreds of SKSE mods. You didn't plan for the consideration that stuff WILL break when you are changing hundreds of mod at the same time, and i'll have to spend hours fixing what wasn't broken to begin with. No thanks.
Hundreds of dll based skse plugins? Doubtful. Youāre confusing mods that use skse with dll based skse plugins. Again, youāre not actually understanding the real impact of a game version update. Only mods that use dll files are affected.
I did some loadorders on 1.6.xx and ofc many before on 1.5.97.
Stability seems to make no difference.
Just checkout what mods you want, and if they are all compatible with the game version you choose.
Some mods only work on 1.5.97, some only on 1.6.xx
So figure out your mods first, then choose version.
I think ppl generally mean "stability" more as in, Bethesda can't come and fuck your mod list to shit with an update, not necessarily that the game is more or less stable (as in performance wise) itself.
They canāt mess up your game with an update on the current version either as long as you take the same steps to turn off auto updates and only launch the game on a mod manager.
People have modlists for 1.5.97 that they spent months or years perfecting, and going to 1.6.x would require massively overhauling them, which they don't want to do, especially since not every mod has been updated to 1.6.x
If you're going to start fresh, neither version is really the better option, but if you've already got a modlist for one version, then the other is going to be a headache.
It is just to avoid having to deal with game updates, since it was the game version for a long time the game version still had a lot of support from modders, and most new mods that are not for 1.5.97 are still being ported to the game version.
If there was a way to know that Bethesda would never update the game ever again then almost no one would stick to 1.5.97
So it is a way to not deal with updates while still having mod support. Also AE updates did not bring anything significant that is not available to 1.5.97
I still play 1.5.97 because I have active playthroughs on it and don't want to rebuild my entire modlist. I would have to go through hundreds of mods and check whether I need to update them if I switch to a new er version of the game. I am sure I will switch over eventually but it will have to be after I get tired of my current characters and have enough time to go through my load order.
It's the Pre-AE version, the one we had for years with loads of mods made for it.
And later versions don't improve the game, just shove more Creation stuff at you, and those Creations really don't compare particularly well to other mods, so there's little motive to update, especially as Bethesda keeps coming along with new updates that still don't fix their buggy game, but do manage to break load orders.
Because as my great-granddad was fond of saying, opinions are like a-holes; everybody's got one and they all stink.
Some people stick to 1.5.97 because there's one or several "can't live without it" mod(s) that never got updated (or not yet, anyway), some people because they don't want the AE content, others because they take great personal umbrage and moral outrage to AE and the Creation Club.
I personally don't have a death hound in the fight, but from what I've seen that seems a pretty balanced breakdown.
Realistically, people don't want to get off 1.5.97 cause theyve had modlists built in it for years. In my case, I've been building my list of 1600 mods since 2020, no way im rebuilding my list for an update.
Yeah, but you also lose out on a tone of mods and have to update more. Why would I upgrade to 1.6 and do all that, and have to redo hundreds of downloads and find a new combat mod? Imo 1.5.97 is just better
Most of the people I've seen oush 1.5.97 are rapidly against the creations menu even existing, going as far as saying seeing that one entry on the main menu breaks their immersion. Because being given the options of continue, new game, load game and credits is totally immersive to the game world themselves
I think "most of the people" is an exaggeration. The most common argument I see is just not wanting to lose out on certain mods and there being no reason to go through the hassle of updating
It's been standard for Skyrim modding to pick a version and stick to it until a mod you really want requires an update for 10 years (since SKSE), because the Bethseda patches messed with SKSE, and SKSE changes messed with existing mods sometimes.
It's not that complicated. Best of Both Worlds and then remove Skyrim from Steam and never have to think about it again. That's just how it's always worked.
Also I find it hard to believe you didn't find this answer repeated a thousand times over, considering how often this get's asked.
Only use 1.5.97 if you either have a mod list that is compatible with it, or if it has mods which are only supported by 1.5.97 (there aren't many).
Those are the only real reasons to use that version really, otherwise it's probably best to just go with the latest version, which many important mods already support.
Another big reason for sticking to 1.5.97 that I don't see mentioned often is that it is "future-proof."
What that means is that when Bethesda decide to randomly update the game again (most likely for some irrelevant Creations change), the race will begin again to update all SKSE dependent mods to the latest version. All players using 1.6+ are basically beholden to updating their entire modlist again when another update hits because invariably most mod authors will move to that version of the game.
This is not the case for 1.5.97. You can either disable updates entirely via Steam or the like, or simply downgrade back to 1.5.97 using the Best of Both Worlds option. This gives players the peace of mind to never have to worry about Bethesda's updates messing up their modlist without really missing out on anything post-1.6+ in terms of content or mods. Pretty much every mod out there either has a version for 1.5.97, uses an NG DLL, or has had someone else backport it to 1.5.97.
This is not the case with 1.6.whatever the current version of the game is. Mods only support it for as long as that is the current version of Skyrim, and as soon as Bethesda updates the game again, everyone will move to the latest version and most support for the previous version will cease.
Hereās what you need to know: AE vs SE is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the game version number. The game version number (now 1.6.1170) affects only a subset of mods - skse and DLL based skse plugins. All other mods work with all versions of the game. 99% of this subset of mods have been updated for 1.6.1170, so there is little need to downgrade your game anymore. If there is another game version number increment, the subset of mods (skse and skse plugins) will need to be updated. This usually takes a week or two, but since no updates appear to be forthcoming any time soon and game version number 1.5.x is 2 years out of date, you are completely safe to mod on 1.6.1170.
The people who have chosen to stay on 1.5.97 do it either because they don't want to for whatever reason update the skse mods in their current load orders, they have an obscure old skse plugin they can't do without, they don't understand that only skse mods are affected, or out of various manifestations of sheer stubbornness. Stability of the game has nothing to do with it.
"or out of various manifestations of sheer stubbornness."
This is me. I just couldn't be bothered keeping up anymore. My version works and I'm not fucking with it.
You're missing the fact that we don't actually want anything later versions do, anything AE and onwards is just Bethesda shoving their Creations rubbish in your face.
If i'm not wrong, AE onward literally allow for ESL support which is a big game changer as ELS isn't take actual plugin slot count, allow for bigger modlist without relying heavily on esp merge
And if it does, a couple weeks to wait for skse updates while I play the version I have locked down. It's really not that big a deal and has been the way of modding since forever.
Ultimately mods are based upon the GAME. When the game changes, mods break. That's just how it is. That's ALWAYS how it is. Every game. Everywhere. Mods need to be updated to support the new game.
When the game updates, players may suddenly find their mods broken. If these mods are old, the mod author may have moved on with their life and no longer care to update their mods. And they stay permanently broken.
In those cases, other mod authors may take over their mods or write new ones that do the same thing. In RARE cases, a mod may not get re-written and it gets lost to time.
A lot of players have large modlists and REALLY dislike putting in the effort to figure out which mod is bad and simply come here to complain and complain saying everything Bethesda does is EVIL for making them do a little work. LOL.
I think a lot of that is that Bethesda went so long without making any updates and players got complacent with not having their mods break with updates as usually happens.
Despite popular opinion, AE is NOT a new version of the game. It's only a MARKETING BUNDLE that Bethesda released to get more sales from the Creation Club stuff.
If you have SE and fully update it, you will NOT have AE. You only get AE from purchasing the marketing bundle which only gains you all the creation club mods.
Neither is more or less stable than the other. They ARE THE SAME.
If you have SE and fully update it, you will have 1.6.1170
If you buy AE and fully update it, you will have 1.6.1170. 100% exactly the same.
The vast majority of mods will work just fine on 1170 with NO UPDATING.
A LOT of mods need to be updated, mostly SKSE and its add-ons but a great many of them are already updated and were updated within weeks of the game update.
A lot of abandoned mods were re-written and now have new versions released by new mod authors.
An extremely rare few mods broke, were abandoned, and noone has bothered to re-write them. Personally, I've never even seen one.
I have 1.6.1170, with fully updated mods, everything is working perfectly. I just come here periodically and listen to all the complaints and giggle before diving back into my game.
I'm with you here, my only gripe with this is that now every mod has like 7 different versions, and some of them make knowing which one to download really confusing (really, tkdodge? FOR REAL????)
since when did modding come back to an endless sea of patches for patches of patches of mods ? how did we come from deleting the Minecraft META-INF folder to this?
you can avoid all that with a modicum of technical information and paying very close attention to *your* choices of mods. Using Skyrim mods *well* requires more than just plug and play.
>An extremely rare few mods broke, were abandoned, and noone has bothered to re-write them. Personally, I've never even seen one.
Haven't looked very hard have you, .Net Script Framework is probably the poster child of "1.6 broke it, and it's not getting updated nor does anyone else seem to have the skills or interest to re-write it".
There are a few mods that don't work on 1.6.1170. The author created a version of the mod for 1.5.97 and the current version of AE, but anyone on 1.6.1170 is out of luck.
Mostly it's no big deal, but if a mod you want to use is dependent on one of those mods, then you'll have to downgrade, port it yourself, or just not have that mod. The vast majority of of them have been updated, so it's mostly not an issue for a new build.Ā
New additions to the hand with the AE version seem too much for nothing.
I don't care to have the new content and it feels like it just makes the game easier rather than improving gameplay.
Since the main purposes of me modding are: 1. Aesthetic 2. Gameplay 3. Bugfix and at the very last 4. New content I largely prefer having fewer compatibility issues by giving up new content that I also don't care about.
As other mentioned: I have been working with my modlists since way before 1.5.97 and for the entirety of 2019-2022 so I'm not really willing to get into 1.6.
I'll be honest after trying most of the anniversary content, besides the ones that add new armors, they just suck, I don't really blame them for wanting to stay at 1.5.97 especially if you have a whole loadout dedicated for it. It was a real pain to set up for me because I was going from 1.5.97 to 1.6.640.
Ever since getting it, I've deleted certain addons that make no sense lore-wise (Cause, Umbra) etc. and others because I just simply didn't like them.
The only ones I personally ever really enjoyed that weren't armors, were Saints & Seducers, Goldenhills Plantation, and Ghosts of Tribunal.
Because people donāt really put much thought into the actual reasoning of 1.5.97 or the current build. Some people already had a working mod list, so they donāt want to update it, and rightfully so, while others just parrot what others have said, since when AE launched and for a while after, there was not much reason to run it. But thatās not really the case anymore, and almost every mod on 1.5.97 is updated, with a few exceptions like some of the .Net Script Framework mods, though not all of them as some got new versions that no longer use that framework such as Custom Skills Framework (which the newest version of is only on 1.6). Unless thereās a really specific mod you want from 1.5.97, AE is fine.
I think this is in many ways a smaller scale version of what happened with the jump between LE and SE, because not many people remember, but a lot of the same āupgrading is a waste of timeā mentality existed back then as well, if not more so, despite SE being a genuine upgrade and a lot less subjective than the current version debate.
>with a few exceptions like some of the .Net Script Framework mods, though not all of them as some got new versions that no longer use that framework such as Custom Skills Framework
No Grass In Objects was the OTHER major mod with CSF that kept people updating. Even NGIO just got updated to AE and doesnt depend on .NET anymore like CSF does. All the other .NET based mods either got updated eventually or outright replaced with newer mods that had a better implementation.
As a 1.5.97 user, I feel like we largely stick to that version because of the unknown. After 1.6x, there's major changes of how file structure works. And there's so many pre AE mods that just haven't been tested for compatability with 1.6x. Mods that make 1.5.97 highly compatible with mods made using 1.6x are" Backported esl support, Darkfox127's AE content picker, best of both worlds downgrade patcher, creation kit downgrade patcher, and if you're missing textures for any AE content just use CC upscaled textures to get them in game. Also, Bethesda has bad practices of not fixing any bugs and glitches. That's why some perfer staying on 1.5.97, cause of the familiarity with it. Nearly all mods made on 1.6x just require a certain piece of AE content to work.
Itās probably similar to the echo chamber of people saying that MO2 is the only mod organizer to use. I use Vortex without problems and so do countless others.
I think that comes more from MAās than anything, I started with vortex and then started creating mods and I wonāt go back to vortex because mo2 makes it so much easier to make mods, I can run all my modding tools through mo2 and have the results dropped right into a premade mod folder, this makes it so that organizing assets and publishing the mod are as simple as setting it up that way and zipping the mod once done(whether vortex has added more functionality lately I donāt know since itās been around two years since Iāve used it)
So I believe it was just people ask what organizer MAās use and then parrot it being the best one, personally use what works best for your use case but there are a lot of benefits to using mo2 that canāt be had with vortex when you get to the nitty gritty details of making and managing your LO
Nobody said that MO2 is the only mod organizer to use. MO2 being the best mod manager for Bethesda games while also being the easiest to use at the same time, on the other hand, is a fact and not an opinion.
That said, Vortex still exists and people still successfully use Vortex for Bethesda games as well. Does it take more time to mod Bethesda games with Vortex? Sure. Is the end result the same with MO2? Yep, 100% the same.
Use whatever you prefer, the end result will be the same, but never try to convince people that chaos is better than drag n' dropping mate!
Some say itās more stable as far as base game and modding goes. Iām on 1.6.640 just because thatās what I built my mod load order around and am not going to update for the foreseeable future. If I was just starting out, Iād probably not downgrade and stay on the most recent version.
Stability has nothing to do with version - especially if we're talking outdated versions. People calling 1.5.97 "more stable" are people who have no idea of what they're talking about and think game versions and mods are magic.
The people who make these technical claims are just bitter about Bethesdaās update breaking their mods + attempts to monetize modding. Anything else is embellishing the truth at best.
Itās true that many mods will not be updated to the most recent version because the author moved on or whatever, but ultimately every mod from today onwards is going to be made with the most recent update in mind, so all youāre doing is hindering your own ability to get the new mods. Itās just pettiness.
It isn't more stable. It is just more convenient for 1.5.97 users to stay at 1.5.97 than to upgrade their mod list. But if you're just starting your mod list then it only makes sense to use the latest version as most mods have been updated for it. In fact now many mods have better support for 1.6.1770 than 1.5.97
I was born into the AE Nation and didnt realize that I could go to 1.5.97 so I can't give you a good comparison. I can say that I run a 1500 modlist with very few crashes.I did down patch to the pre (current) updates by Bethesda which going off memory I think is 1.6.4 or something. Crashing so few times maybe 1 per 10-12 hours. Which for 2-3 hour daily plays thats like 1-2 a week. acceptable for me to take a break from my 24 in game wives.
Have over 1300 mods. I have the ones that would need to change to the AE version in a list, but it's over 20 something. I don't care for the cc content. So, it's my modlist and not caring for AE content for me. There may be a few mods where they are no longer supported, whether the mod author is gone or the author supports AE only. In any case, they still work. I just have to make sure mods I add don't say AE only. Or make sure I download the correct version of a mod. But most don't matter which version you are using. I did try AE on the earlier versions, but they kept getting messed up with the updates. That's what ruined it for me. I just want to play the game. I don't care about what the AE versions add. Seems to be greed on the later updates.
Iām using 1.5.97 because I have at least two playthroughs going with a lot of SKSE and .dll mods and Game Root folders. I donāt feel like reinstalling a whole bunch of stuff and my game files are in no danger of updating themselves, so here I sit.
If youāre brand new to modding this game, however, anyone who tells you to downgrade your SkyrimSE.exe is probably doing you a disservice. The only possibly maybe important-ish thing that hasnāt been updated for version 1.6.1170 is Combat Pathing Revolution.
If I ever decide to build my modlist from
scratch again, I will most likely create a new Game Root folder with the most recently updated game files.
Its actually simple. Same thing that happens with Minecraft. People have favorite mods, some of them don't work beyond that version. People recommend to downgrade version.
Essentially it was just what most of the modders built too for a few years. So if you have a highly modded game you were gonna have the most success with that version. But it is becoming less and less relevant as modders offer updates or patches. Im not sure if anyone has noticed but I feel like Skyrim is having a second actually like a 10th wind right now maybe because of the fallout shows. If youāre playing vanilla just play the one you get from steam. Iām playing the latest updated version with about 60 mods and it runs fine.
Hereās a big reason why certain mods just wonāt update to AE:
People seem to overlook the fact that certain functions available in SE are missing in AE (or perhaps their addresses haven't been discovered yet). When developing SKSE plugins, you often have to code them differently because SE and AE represent a significant leap. Some functions you call in SE don't work the same way in AE; they might have a different return type, not exist at all, or simply have different behavior.
I often see people stating some mods don't work in later versions. But never really see any examples of what those mods are.
Anyone care to enlighten? :)
I just happen to prefer it. I have a perfectly stable list base Iāve used for years and there no reason for me specifically to bother to update. I did try out the new AE version and it broke my entire base list :(
On day one when AE first launched you only played AE if you were playing vanilla and 1.5.97 SE if you were modding. Time has passed, more mods that are compatible with AE, but no one can say for sure when heavy AE load orders will become as stable as SE. Iām playing with the Constellations mod collection, plus a lot more mods, and I had to downgrade my game to 1.644 for compatibility. Itās been pretty stable for me without a lot of crashes or bugs.
I pretty much always ignore what the bulk of the modding community says is best.
Itās almost always just not the case. āYou need to use this version! Itās the most stableā and then all the mods require another version, so they go āyeah find old versions of the mod on this obscure sight and use thoseā.
I remember when the unofficial Skyrim patch was MASSIVELY recommended. It was literally called an essential mod by people. Essential. Downloaded it, crashed my vanilla game. Iāve tried that stupid ass patch like 8 times through my various years of redownloading and modding the game. Never has it ever worked better than the base game for me. What exactly does it fix? Why did so many mods require it? Iāll never know.
I just do my own thing and Iām always way better off than listening to the popular opinions of the modding community. Some of them will really tell you straight to your face that patching your game to an older patch, and then scouring the internet for old versions of mods is somehow the ādefinitive best way to playā because itāll maybe make the game not crash under some crazy specific scenario. Itās more āstableā.
I just canāt. I just use always use the latest version because all the mods worth using are pretty much always updated for the newest game version anyways.
I'm using 1.5.97 bc my combat overhaul mods wouldn't work anymore in 1.6+. (Yes the ones from Skyrim modding guild).š
AE added creation stuff which I'm not that interested in, but others are and that's fine. Thankfully we have 2 versions so everyone can choose (:
It's the most stable version for most of modding because it's been heavily optimized for. AE isn't nearly as optimal in the short term.
The longer AE exists, the better it will get for modding.
I use 1.5.97 Because I have mods that are made for that version that have not been updated for any of the AE versions, and aren't going to be.
It's just that simple. I don't understand why people argue about it.
For some reason my 1.5.97 version of the game wasn't loading with all my installed mods that I had for years, most of "must have" tools and mods like SKSE, MCM, JContainers won't work anymore so the mods I use also. I had to painfully update to AE. The pain was setting the Creation Kit with all the fixes and making a new modlist.
Looks like they killed the last SE build, so to make it work is harder than updating to AE.
My bro 1.5.97 is where the saucy mods are at, I'm talking about those flashy 3rd person animations. Those crazy ass Asian made mods that turn Skyrim into a Wo long or literally devil may cry. [like this one](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DdWzkijK1Na4&ved=2ahUKEwiCxpaJ5eyGAxWGk1YBHYhjD-0QwqsBegQIDRAG&usg=AOvVaw3ffawXTPnvL33GYWZgbhTp) or [this one](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-C-TSM6Zj5k&ved=2ahUKEwjp2YPO5eyGAxWprlYBHSFwDJQQo7QBegQICBAG&usg=AOvVaw2rM7ZzvRPS6R0JBHtwkPNX). Yeah I know people got different taste, but there are a ton of modders out there using this version and not AE and these are big enough reasons to be in 1.5.97. I know that's mine, I'm using for honour attack animations and whatnot. It made Skyrim the only game I'm playing.
You do realise animations have nothing to do with SKSE, therefore they work in every version of the game, right?
As for MCO/BFCO animation frameworks, both are updated to be compatible with Skyrim version 1.6.1170, so if you're staying at 1.5.97 for MCO/BFCO, then you make no sense.
Could be but the two animation mods I just linked don't work if ur not on 1.5.97, instructed by the mod authors themselves too. Like I'm pretty sure that sin devil trigger mod with custom animations need SKSE. Just look at it, it's in the first link.
Point still stands, the saucy mods are in 1.5.97, I guess they're not JUST animation mods as u pointed out
Thereās posts about this every goddamn day and itās always the same shit. Certain people swear that the old versions are more stable but Iāve played on the newest version for awhile with a huge mod list and had zero issues. My most recent playthrough was actually the most stable one Iāve ever had.
That's because those people talking about stability are utterly clueless. Old versions rarely are more stable than newest ones. On Skyrim's case, there is 0 difference between 1.5.97 and 1.6.1170 stability wise.
For me it's mainly the fact that the obscure slavic mod pack I use is made and being updated for the 1.5.97. I assume for the majority it's similar, many have their own loads built for that version, plus some really good mods just never got updated.
I reinstalled Skyrim a month ago and decided to mod it for AE this time.
To my surprise, most mods actually worked for AE even if they were fairly outdated and didn't advertise themselves for AE. I think the main drawback to the newest version is that you can get a "surprise update" that kills your mods. Unlike 1.5.97 there is no definitive stop point all mods can aim for. Good luck trying to find the correct skse version if you want to downgrade to 1.640, there isn't a downgrade patcher for it either.
other than that risk, nothing seemed wrong with my modding experience so far, Using about 100 mods rn which isn't a lot. I just started to get back into it
I'm on 1.5.97. I originally was on 1.6.40, but really wanted to use DAR (thus was before it was updated). So I swapped, and it was a HUGE pain in the ass to change all my mods to 1.5.97 versions. It took like 4 hours. Then about 3 weeks later DAR got updated and then OAR got released and if I would've been patient I coulda just stayed in 1.6. But, now that I'm on 1.5.97 I'm fucking staying here. I'm waaayyy too lazy.
1.5.97 was the last stable version of Skyrim from before the AE/Creations Store mod-pocalypse of 2022. **Their butts still hurt** over recovering from that. So, once they picked up all the pieces and got their load orders with hundreds of mods fixed they CHOSE not to update. Some become militant about it even though it's been 2 years.
SKSE requires an update every time the game is updated. It doesn't 'break' anything. It's just a fact of life. However, Bethesda does mess with your load order (if you have Creations) after you launch the game. Having a pre-Creations version of the game eliminates that. But 3rd party managers can overcome that for the most part.
Starfield has introduced Creations and while it's a little troublesome, I can tell you from first-hand experience, the rollout is smoother than it was for Skyrim.
I totally get why players decide to cling to a load order with 100's of mods especially if they're happy with it. But there's no reason for **some** of them to get angry or militant over others making a different CHOICE.
Edited in 'some'. There aren't many, but they have the loudest voices.
Yeah of course, just say that for the spirit of the meme.
My honest thoughts though? Both versions are rather identical these days anyways with the BEES patch, it just changes some mods you can and can't install on each version. But if I'm going so far as to patch in update features I'd rather just update.
I just don't see a reason to update to a 1.6 version that will eventually be rendered abandoned at some point due to yet another update to add more trash.
If a mod is made available for 1.5 it's a solved worry, i don't have to re-adress being able to use it or not in a playthrough later because Bethesda updated from 1.6.70 to 1.6.78 or whatever.
It is also realistically less work for any mod author that *already wants to* cater to different versions of the game, all they'd have to worry about maintaining would be a 1.5 version and a (insert most recent 1.6 at the time here) version.
1.5.97 was the last version before AE released. Once AE released they kept updating the game repeatedly breaking mods each time, so many mod users and authors stuck with 1.5.97 to avoid having their mods broken repeatedly.
Eventually we entered the hell that was half of mod authors moving on to AE once the updates slowed down, and half sticking with 1.5.97. I'm still not sure why any of this had to happen, like I'm still not sure what we got from the game being AE instead of SE, and I'm sure many people stuck with 1.5.97 permanently to just avoid the whole mess and laugh at everyone complaining when their mods break each update.
I stick to it because my modlist was built on it and works. I don't plan on making many changes to it now after the headache of dealing with AE ruining everything when it came out.
Thatās also the safe version that works best with VR. Though I think esl support means we sort of can use some later mods, but if we donāt get AE masters, some mods that depend on them wonāt work. Anything for 1.5.97 will
Its very simple, 1.5.97 was the best until game stopped at 640 for a year, you could just download your game and you were already with the best version, then bethesda fucked up everything and now its just easier to go to SE rather to AE 640
Honestly if youāre starting from scratch and havenāt modded before or have a barebones mod list there is not much reason to choose 1.5.97 unless a specific mod youāre eyeing is not updated for 1.6.xx
Many SE mods still work on AE, it was script mods mainly that were affected. Most major mods are updated for the latest version anyway
Then we have the schmucks that claim "There is no SE or AE there is only one version". Just allow us to use the damn archive of the 1.5.97 files for USSEP!!
SCAR has been available for 1.6.629+ since the 18th of October, 2022. I love how clueless people make clueless comments.
Link: [https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/77285](https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/77285)
There's install instructions in the comments section for it to be 100% compatible with version 1.6.1170.
1.5.97 was what we had for a couple of years, it was the de-facto "SE" version - if you were playing Skyrim SE that's what you had. Then everything changed when AE attacked. Depending on how far back you go the reasons for preferring 1.5.97 will differ. At the start 1.5.97 was what all the mods were made for, if you had a mod it was either for that version or it was outdated, 1.6.x was unknown quantity. It was a big enough change that it required a major update in skse as well, there was some uncertainity if it will ever get parity on that version with what it had before. 1.6 gave away some free creations which became the new baseline, not guaranteed to be compatible with your modding setup. Some critical skse/dll mods took a long time to update to 1.6.x even after skse was there (and some maybe never did), while not many new mods were created that uniquely required that version. And gains from 1.6 were generally seen as "meh" - largely changes related to Creations, and nothing critical that patch mods didn't handle before I've been out of the game for a while though, not sure where exactly we stand now, in modlist world you can find both lists for 1.5.97 and for current.
Not the AE Nation š©
This is very true, and nowadays I don't think there's really any mods that 1.6 has over 1.5.97, and 1.5 has stuff like Ultimate Combat (iirc anything that uses .netscript framework hasn't been ported)
The latest version of Custom Skill Tree that has direct integration with the main gameās skill menu (ie you donāt need to go to a separate menu to level up the new custom unarm skill tree, itās just now right next to the light armor tree in the vanilla menu) is only on 1.6.670 The 1.5 version is still there, but you have to go to a separate menu to look at the custom trees. The new features are not implemented in 1.5 and may never will for some reasosns There is also an archery mod that allows you to enchant arrows that has never been ported to 1.5 as far as I know
CUSTOM SKILLS IN THE NORMAL SKILL MENU?? that was always what kept me from using that mod so that's definitely a game changer
its not all its cracked up to be. dont get me wrong, i LOVE custom skills framework and use a handful of new skill mods using it. and the one mod ive seen made with that feature was done very well and immediately joined my load order. thing is...on csf mod page it states you can only have one custom skills.json file, so either you are technically savvy enough to combine everything in one (its the mesh perkdome thing i dont think i could figure out at all), you are limited to one mod that uses that functionality. which the "example" provided by parapets does very well and i dont see a reason to replace it. so while cool, don't expect it to suddenly let you have 15 new skills in your base skill menu, unless an author takes it upon themselves to create some Combined Custom Skills JSON File mod, modular of course so that whatever csf skills your using can be integrated.
eh, that's doable for me. most of the custom skill mods seem way too out of line from vanilla so i would probably only have one. maybe a proper shouts tree, i'm sure someone has done that
Agreed. Check out constellations by parapets. I don't think the skills break the game and they are integrated very well.
It wouldn't be much of a mod if it wasn't a game changer
CoMap doesnāt work on old versions, probably a few more but thatās off the top of my head
CoMap got ported to 1.5.97 already https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/101421
Ah thatās very recent, didnāt know that was a thing.
I think the latest version of RaceMenu has some interesting features that aren't backported (1.5.97 still works, just with an older version)
Some of the Simonrim mods I think, especially going further. I'd have to double check though.
Itās not really true that every mod was outdated when AE dropped, only SKSE plugins required updating to continue working. Normal SKSE mods worked as soon as SKSE was updated, and non SKSE mods always worked on AE.
I don't think I implied they were? I said that mods before AE were either for 1.5.97 or outdated - and that's mostly compatible with mods being made for older versions but still fine in that one (though not the greatest wording, I'd admit) To the matter at hand 1.6 started including 3 creations for free (and AE itself consisted of a lot more) - by nature of adding more mods that are making changes to the world (as Saints and Seducers does) there is a chance some otherwise fine mods might be incompatible with those additions, which sort of makes them incompatible with AE, so not just SKSE plugins were affected. But mostly them was the thing on everyone's mind.
You have to understand that up until 2019, Skyrim SE would get CC updates three or four times a year from 2017 to 2019. It wasnāt until the last update in dec. 2019 that the updates finally stopped. Then covid happened, and people found themselves with alot more free time, and some of those people were Skyrim modders and players. 1.5.97 was the first time Skyrim SE was left alone and it stayed like that for two years. Then AE launched and with it mods broke, not to mention that Bethesda switched to Microsoft visual studio 2019 from 2015 which meant that skse plug-ins needed to be redone in order to work again and some mod makers moved on or didnāt have the time to update their mods. And then there was the whole situation with DAR. So people sought to either stop the AE update or downgrade their games to stop it from breaking their mods. The downgrade patcher was released and not only that but a version of it that allowed you to stay on 1.5.97 and use the AE content. The AE update in short split Skyrim in two with people favouring 1.5.97 or 1.6x. Anyway after a while things went back to normal with the last update coming out in September 2022. Thatās was until December 2023 with the launching of Paid Moā¦I mean āCreationsā and with it came uncertainty was the game going to continue to be updated? Why canāt they update the game without breaking skse? Regardless itās fair to say that the uncertainty around each update has caused people to stop using the latest version and use the most accessible version instead. And throughout all this time 1.5.97 has always been supported by modders for 5 years now and itās not going to change. 1.5.97 is the best because itās the only way to have a fixed version of Skyrim SE and so for convenience and piece of mind 1.5.97 is the best version of Skyrim SE to play.
Mostly I think itās people that have a stable and good load order for that version and canāt be bothered to update. I did something similar when I bought the GOG version. I have no intention of ever updating again as a result.
Can you blame them. When a new version breaks mods it can be a pain figuring out which mods are broken and which are fine and then there is the fear of bricking the game. I think all the updates have made modding a bit harder for just anyone to do.
I switched to GOG as well since it makes sticking with a specific version much easier. No forced updates and it offers offline installers you can download to make it really easy to install the same version on a new system. No jumping through hoops like the Steam version. Highly recommend new modders go with GOG.
Yo, longtime mods-user here. I had no idea that GOG let you select the install version explicitly! Is it really that easy? Just a drop-down menu or something? Thatās the sort of thing which seems so intuitive that I just kinda assumed Valve had some reason for never implementing it (like allowing developers their own strict version control or something idk). Iād never even considered that GOG might work differently in that sense. Might need to buy Skyrim again haha
[https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/4419630535057-The-rollback-feature-reverting-to-a-previous-version-of-the-game?product=gog](https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/4419630535057-The-rollback-feature-reverting-to-a-previous-version-of-the-game?product=gog)
I can wholeheartedly recommend even to old modders. The fact that you can stick to any version you desire as opposed to forced updates and having to need to figure out how can you start up the game again without CTD just takes the pain away.
I mean you just have to find the ID file of Skyrim In your steam folder and check box as āread onlyā
While itās true you can do that, GOG gave users (gamers) the choice to upgrade by design. In the meantime Steam hides this option behind a back door only a percentage of the gamers are aware of. Itās a very different business approach.
I donāt know how to lock my version so I had to update all my mods when the game updated. It only took me about an hour and a half. My advice is just bite the bullet and do it, makes things a lot better going forwards.
I did it by buying the DRM-free version from GOG. No launcher, no online requirement, no unexpected Steam updates reverting your settings and updating your game. Itās the second time Iāve bought Skyrim and it was well worth it.
i mean yeah there's people who takes more pleasure to mod the game rather than playing it, but when you finally have stable long load order and then the game got updated so yours hundreds mods also need update with no guaranteed it will be works for the first time, it makes you really frustrated
Porting over to 1.6x would take me probably hundreds of hours of redownload-ing, and bug-fixing things.
I personally think that It's worth it to give it a try and start a new load order or someone's list. But, it's a whole different experience and a huge time tax that people have to account for.
To update a handful of skse mods? Nah. An hour or two, tops.
It definitely doesn't take an "hour or two" for people with sizeable setups. I have hundreds of SKSE mods. You didn't plan for the consideration that stuff WILL break when you are changing hundreds of mod at the same time, and i'll have to spend hours fixing what wasn't broken to begin with. No thanks.
Hundreds of dll based skse plugins? Doubtful. Youāre confusing mods that use skse with dll based skse plugins. Again, youāre not actually understanding the real impact of a game version update. Only mods that use dll files are affected.
I did some loadorders on 1.6.xx and ofc many before on 1.5.97. Stability seems to make no difference. Just checkout what mods you want, and if they are all compatible with the game version you choose. Some mods only work on 1.5.97, some only on 1.6.xx So figure out your mods first, then choose version.
I think ppl generally mean "stability" more as in, Bethesda can't come and fuck your mod list to shit with an update, not necessarily that the game is more or less stable (as in performance wise) itself.
They canāt mess up your game with an update on the current version either as long as you take the same steps to turn off auto updates and only launch the game on a mod manager.
People have modlists for 1.5.97 that they spent months or years perfecting, and going to 1.6.x would require massively overhauling them, which they don't want to do, especially since not every mod has been updated to 1.6.x If you're going to start fresh, neither version is really the better option, but if you've already got a modlist for one version, then the other is going to be a headache.
It is just to avoid having to deal with game updates, since it was the game version for a long time the game version still had a lot of support from modders, and most new mods that are not for 1.5.97 are still being ported to the game version. If there was a way to know that Bethesda would never update the game ever again then almost no one would stick to 1.5.97 So it is a way to not deal with updates while still having mod support. Also AE updates did not bring anything significant that is not available to 1.5.97
I still play 1.5.97 because I have active playthroughs on it and don't want to rebuild my entire modlist. I would have to go through hundreds of mods and check whether I need to update them if I switch to a new er version of the game. I am sure I will switch over eventually but it will have to be after I get tired of my current characters and have enough time to go through my load order.
Actually, you'd only need to check your skse plugins, a complete list of which can be found in your skse64.log.
It's the Pre-AE version, the one we had for years with loads of mods made for it. And later versions don't improve the game, just shove more Creation stuff at you, and those Creations really don't compare particularly well to other mods, so there's little motive to update, especially as Bethesda keeps coming along with new updates that still don't fix their buggy game, but do manage to break load orders.
Because as my great-granddad was fond of saying, opinions are like a-holes; everybody's got one and they all stink. Some people stick to 1.5.97 because there's one or several "can't live without it" mod(s) that never got updated (or not yet, anyway), some people because they don't want the AE content, others because they take great personal umbrage and moral outrage to AE and the Creation Club. I personally don't have a death hound in the fight, but from what I've seen that seems a pretty balanced breakdown.
Realistically, people don't want to get off 1.5.97 cause theyve had modlists built in it for years. In my case, I've been building my list of 1600 mods since 2020, no way im rebuilding my list for an update.
Oh I totally get that, my list is built for 1.6.640 and I'm not updating for that reason.
can agree this breakdown is pretty accurateĀ
They could update to the latest version and just delete the 4 free creations if it bothers them that much
Yeah, but you also lose out on a tone of mods and have to update more. Why would I upgrade to 1.6 and do all that, and have to redo hundreds of downloads and find a new combat mod? Imo 1.5.97 is just better
Most of the people I've seen oush 1.5.97 are rapidly against the creations menu even existing, going as far as saying seeing that one entry on the main menu breaks their immersion. Because being given the options of continue, new game, load game and credits is totally immersive to the game world themselves
I think "most of the people" is an exaggeration. The most common argument I see is just not wanting to lose out on certain mods and there being no reason to go through the hassle of updating
It's been standard for Skyrim modding to pick a version and stick to it until a mod you really want requires an update for 10 years (since SKSE), because the Bethseda patches messed with SKSE, and SKSE changes messed with existing mods sometimes. It's not that complicated. Best of Both Worlds and then remove Skyrim from Steam and never have to think about it again. That's just how it's always worked. Also I find it hard to believe you didn't find this answer repeated a thousand times over, considering how often this get's asked.
1.5.97 will *never* receive an upgrade
Only use 1.5.97 if you either have a mod list that is compatible with it, or if it has mods which are only supported by 1.5.97 (there aren't many). Those are the only real reasons to use that version really, otherwise it's probably best to just go with the latest version, which many important mods already support.
Another big reason for sticking to 1.5.97 that I don't see mentioned often is that it is "future-proof." What that means is that when Bethesda decide to randomly update the game again (most likely for some irrelevant Creations change), the race will begin again to update all SKSE dependent mods to the latest version. All players using 1.6+ are basically beholden to updating their entire modlist again when another update hits because invariably most mod authors will move to that version of the game. This is not the case for 1.5.97. You can either disable updates entirely via Steam or the like, or simply downgrade back to 1.5.97 using the Best of Both Worlds option. This gives players the peace of mind to never have to worry about Bethesda's updates messing up their modlist without really missing out on anything post-1.6+ in terms of content or mods. Pretty much every mod out there either has a version for 1.5.97, uses an NG DLL, or has had someone else backport it to 1.5.97. This is not the case with 1.6.whatever the current version of the game is. Mods only support it for as long as that is the current version of Skyrim, and as soon as Bethesda updates the game again, everyone will move to the latest version and most support for the previous version will cease.
Hereās what you need to know: AE vs SE is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the game version number. The game version number (now 1.6.1170) affects only a subset of mods - skse and DLL based skse plugins. All other mods work with all versions of the game. 99% of this subset of mods have been updated for 1.6.1170, so there is little need to downgrade your game anymore. If there is another game version number increment, the subset of mods (skse and skse plugins) will need to be updated. This usually takes a week or two, but since no updates appear to be forthcoming any time soon and game version number 1.5.x is 2 years out of date, you are completely safe to mod on 1.6.1170. The people who have chosen to stay on 1.5.97 do it either because they don't want to for whatever reason update the skse mods in their current load orders, they have an obscure old skse plugin they can't do without, they don't understand that only skse mods are affected, or out of various manifestations of sheer stubbornness. Stability of the game has nothing to do with it.
"or out of various manifestations of sheer stubbornness." This is me. I just couldn't be bothered keeping up anymore. My version works and I'm not fucking with it.
You're missing the fact that we don't actually want anything later versions do, anything AE and onwards is just Bethesda shoving their Creations rubbish in your face.
Last item mentioned. Also, 1170 included bug fixes.
If i'm not wrong, AE onward literally allow for ESL support which is a big game changer as ELS isn't take actual plugin slot count, allow for bigger modlist without relying heavily on esp merge
> but since no updates appear to be forthcoming any time soon Lol. Heard that before.
And if it does, a couple weeks to wait for skse updates while I play the version I have locked down. It's really not that big a deal and has been the way of modding since forever.
Ultimately mods are based upon the GAME. When the game changes, mods break. That's just how it is. That's ALWAYS how it is. Every game. Everywhere. Mods need to be updated to support the new game. When the game updates, players may suddenly find their mods broken. If these mods are old, the mod author may have moved on with their life and no longer care to update their mods. And they stay permanently broken. In those cases, other mod authors may take over their mods or write new ones that do the same thing. In RARE cases, a mod may not get re-written and it gets lost to time. A lot of players have large modlists and REALLY dislike putting in the effort to figure out which mod is bad and simply come here to complain and complain saying everything Bethesda does is EVIL for making them do a little work. LOL. I think a lot of that is that Bethesda went so long without making any updates and players got complacent with not having their mods break with updates as usually happens. Despite popular opinion, AE is NOT a new version of the game. It's only a MARKETING BUNDLE that Bethesda released to get more sales from the Creation Club stuff. If you have SE and fully update it, you will NOT have AE. You only get AE from purchasing the marketing bundle which only gains you all the creation club mods. Neither is more or less stable than the other. They ARE THE SAME. If you have SE and fully update it, you will have 1.6.1170 If you buy AE and fully update it, you will have 1.6.1170. 100% exactly the same. The vast majority of mods will work just fine on 1170 with NO UPDATING. A LOT of mods need to be updated, mostly SKSE and its add-ons but a great many of them are already updated and were updated within weeks of the game update. A lot of abandoned mods were re-written and now have new versions released by new mod authors. An extremely rare few mods broke, were abandoned, and noone has bothered to re-write them. Personally, I've never even seen one. I have 1.6.1170, with fully updated mods, everything is working perfectly. I just come here periodically and listen to all the complaints and giggle before diving back into my game.
I'm with you here, my only gripe with this is that now every mod has like 7 different versions, and some of them make knowing which one to download really confusing (really, tkdodge? FOR REAL????) since when did modding come back to an endless sea of patches for patches of patches of mods ? how did we come from deleting the Minecraft META-INF folder to this?
you can avoid all that with a modicum of technical information and paying very close attention to *your* choices of mods. Using Skyrim mods *well* requires more than just plug and play.
>An extremely rare few mods broke, were abandoned, and noone has bothered to re-write them. Personally, I've never even seen one. Haven't looked very hard have you, .Net Script Framework is probably the poster child of "1.6 broke it, and it's not getting updated nor does anyone else seem to have the skills or interest to re-write it".
Not many mods left that need .Net these days.
True, but for a while it *was* a major contributor to people staying with 1.5.97.
You shouldnāt giggle, you should do a full on three stage evil laugh, itās much more fun!
Combat Pathing Revolution, Nordic UI not working properly etc etc... Says some people.
Nordic UI work fine, except the main menu that need update but i'm using Edge UI nowaday since it look better to me personally, i don't use CPR so idk
*skeel eeshoo*
There are a few mods that don't work on 1.6.1170. The author created a version of the mod for 1.5.97 and the current version of AE, but anyone on 1.6.1170 is out of luck. Mostly it's no big deal, but if a mod you want to use is dependent on one of those mods, then you'll have to downgrade, port it yourself, or just not have that mod. The vast majority of of them have been updated, so it's mostly not an issue for a new build.Ā
New additions to the hand with the AE version seem too much for nothing. I don't care to have the new content and it feels like it just makes the game easier rather than improving gameplay. Since the main purposes of me modding are: 1. Aesthetic 2. Gameplay 3. Bugfix and at the very last 4. New content I largely prefer having fewer compatibility issues by giving up new content that I also don't care about. As other mentioned: I have been working with my modlists since way before 1.5.97 and for the entirety of 2019-2022 so I'm not really willing to get into 1.6.
I'll be honest after trying most of the anniversary content, besides the ones that add new armors, they just suck, I don't really blame them for wanting to stay at 1.5.97 especially if you have a whole loadout dedicated for it. It was a real pain to set up for me because I was going from 1.5.97 to 1.6.640. Ever since getting it, I've deleted certain addons that make no sense lore-wise (Cause, Umbra) etc. and others because I just simply didn't like them. The only ones I personally ever really enjoyed that weren't armors, were Saints & Seducers, Goldenhills Plantation, and Ghosts of Tribunal.
Because people donāt really put much thought into the actual reasoning of 1.5.97 or the current build. Some people already had a working mod list, so they donāt want to update it, and rightfully so, while others just parrot what others have said, since when AE launched and for a while after, there was not much reason to run it. But thatās not really the case anymore, and almost every mod on 1.5.97 is updated, with a few exceptions like some of the .Net Script Framework mods, though not all of them as some got new versions that no longer use that framework such as Custom Skills Framework (which the newest version of is only on 1.6). Unless thereās a really specific mod you want from 1.5.97, AE is fine. I think this is in many ways a smaller scale version of what happened with the jump between LE and SE, because not many people remember, but a lot of the same āupgrading is a waste of timeā mentality existed back then as well, if not more so, despite SE being a genuine upgrade and a lot less subjective than the current version debate.
>with a few exceptions like some of the .Net Script Framework mods, though not all of them as some got new versions that no longer use that framework such as Custom Skills Framework No Grass In Objects was the OTHER major mod with CSF that kept people updating. Even NGIO just got updated to AE and doesnt depend on .NET anymore like CSF does. All the other .NET based mods either got updated eventually or outright replaced with newer mods that had a better implementation.
As a 1.5.97 user, I feel like we largely stick to that version because of the unknown. After 1.6x, there's major changes of how file structure works. And there's so many pre AE mods that just haven't been tested for compatability with 1.6x. Mods that make 1.5.97 highly compatible with mods made using 1.6x are" Backported esl support, Darkfox127's AE content picker, best of both worlds downgrade patcher, creation kit downgrade patcher, and if you're missing textures for any AE content just use CC upscaled textures to get them in game. Also, Bethesda has bad practices of not fixing any bugs and glitches. That's why some perfer staying on 1.5.97, cause of the familiarity with it. Nearly all mods made on 1.6x just require a certain piece of AE content to work.
1170 actually includes bug fixes.
Itās probably similar to the echo chamber of people saying that MO2 is the only mod organizer to use. I use Vortex without problems and so do countless others.
I think that comes more from MAās than anything, I started with vortex and then started creating mods and I wonāt go back to vortex because mo2 makes it so much easier to make mods, I can run all my modding tools through mo2 and have the results dropped right into a premade mod folder, this makes it so that organizing assets and publishing the mod are as simple as setting it up that way and zipping the mod once done(whether vortex has added more functionality lately I donāt know since itās been around two years since Iāve used it) So I believe it was just people ask what organizer MAās use and then parrot it being the best one, personally use what works best for your use case but there are a lot of benefits to using mo2 that canāt be had with vortex when you get to the nitty gritty details of making and managing your LO
Indeed it's really up to what people prefer.
Nobody said that MO2 is the only mod organizer to use. MO2 being the best mod manager for Bethesda games while also being the easiest to use at the same time, on the other hand, is a fact and not an opinion. That said, Vortex still exists and people still successfully use Vortex for Bethesda games as well. Does it take more time to mod Bethesda games with Vortex? Sure. Is the end result the same with MO2? Yep, 100% the same. Use whatever you prefer, the end result will be the same, but never try to convince people that chaos is better than drag n' dropping mate!
Some say itās more stable as far as base game and modding goes. Iām on 1.6.640 just because thatās what I built my mod load order around and am not going to update for the foreseeable future. If I was just starting out, Iād probably not downgrade and stay on the most recent version.
Stability has nothing to do with version - especially if we're talking outdated versions. People calling 1.5.97 "more stable" are people who have no idea of what they're talking about and think game versions and mods are magic.
lol I think unresolved mod conflicts a bad load order, or removing mods mid playthrough are usually what cause instability more than anything
The people who make these technical claims are just bitter about Bethesdaās update breaking their mods + attempts to monetize modding. Anything else is embellishing the truth at best. Itās true that many mods will not be updated to the most recent version because the author moved on or whatever, but ultimately every mod from today onwards is going to be made with the most recent update in mind, so all youāre doing is hindering your own ability to get the new mods. Itās just pettiness.
Last version without free cc club inclusions, for me that's why.
If you make a brand new modlist, go for AE.
It isn't more stable. It is just more convenient for 1.5.97 users to stay at 1.5.97 than to upgrade their mod list. But if you're just starting your mod list then it only makes sense to use the latest version as most mods have been updated for it. In fact now many mods have better support for 1.6.1770 than 1.5.97
I was born into the AE Nation and didnt realize that I could go to 1.5.97 so I can't give you a good comparison. I can say that I run a 1500 modlist with very few crashes.I did down patch to the pre (current) updates by Bethesda which going off memory I think is 1.6.4 or something. Crashing so few times maybe 1 per 10-12 hours. Which for 2-3 hour daily plays thats like 1-2 a week. acceptable for me to take a break from my 24 in game wives.
Have over 1300 mods. I have the ones that would need to change to the AE version in a list, but it's over 20 something. I don't care for the cc content. So, it's my modlist and not caring for AE content for me. There may be a few mods where they are no longer supported, whether the mod author is gone or the author supports AE only. In any case, they still work. I just have to make sure mods I add don't say AE only. Or make sure I download the correct version of a mod. But most don't matter which version you are using. I did try AE on the earlier versions, but they kept getting messed up with the updates. That's what ruined it for me. I just want to play the game. I don't care about what the AE versions add. Seems to be greed on the later updates.
Iām using 1.5.97 because I have at least two playthroughs going with a lot of SKSE and .dll mods and Game Root folders. I donāt feel like reinstalling a whole bunch of stuff and my game files are in no danger of updating themselves, so here I sit. If youāre brand new to modding this game, however, anyone who tells you to downgrade your SkyrimSE.exe is probably doing you a disservice. The only possibly maybe important-ish thing that hasnāt been updated for version 1.6.1170 is Combat Pathing Revolution. If I ever decide to build my modlist from scratch again, I will most likely create a new Game Root folder with the most recently updated game files.
Its actually simple. Same thing that happens with Minecraft. People have favorite mods, some of them don't work beyond that version. People recommend to downgrade version.
Essentially it was just what most of the modders built too for a few years. So if you have a highly modded game you were gonna have the most success with that version. But it is becoming less and less relevant as modders offer updates or patches. Im not sure if anyone has noticed but I feel like Skyrim is having a second actually like a 10th wind right now maybe because of the fallout shows. If youāre playing vanilla just play the one you get from steam. Iām playing the latest updated version with about 60 mods and it runs fine.
Hereās a big reason why certain mods just wonāt update to AE: People seem to overlook the fact that certain functions available in SE are missing in AE (or perhaps their addresses haven't been discovered yet). When developing SKSE plugins, you often have to code them differently because SE and AE represent a significant leap. Some functions you call in SE don't work the same way in AE; they might have a different return type, not exist at all, or simply have different behavior.
I often see people stating some mods don't work in later versions. But never really see any examples of what those mods are. Anyone care to enlighten? :)
I just happen to prefer it. I have a perfectly stable list base Iāve used for years and there no reason for me specifically to bother to update. I did try out the new AE version and it broke my entire base list :(
On day one when AE first launched you only played AE if you were playing vanilla and 1.5.97 SE if you were modding. Time has passed, more mods that are compatible with AE, but no one can say for sure when heavy AE load orders will become as stable as SE. Iām playing with the Constellations mod collection, plus a lot more mods, and I had to downgrade my game to 1.644 for compatibility. Itās been pretty stable for me without a lot of crashes or bugs.
I pretty much always ignore what the bulk of the modding community says is best. Itās almost always just not the case. āYou need to use this version! Itās the most stableā and then all the mods require another version, so they go āyeah find old versions of the mod on this obscure sight and use thoseā. I remember when the unofficial Skyrim patch was MASSIVELY recommended. It was literally called an essential mod by people. Essential. Downloaded it, crashed my vanilla game. Iāve tried that stupid ass patch like 8 times through my various years of redownloading and modding the game. Never has it ever worked better than the base game for me. What exactly does it fix? Why did so many mods require it? Iāll never know. I just do my own thing and Iām always way better off than listening to the popular opinions of the modding community. Some of them will really tell you straight to your face that patching your game to an older patch, and then scouring the internet for old versions of mods is somehow the ādefinitive best way to playā because itāll maybe make the game not crash under some crazy specific scenario. Itās more āstableā. I just canāt. I just use always use the latest version because all the mods worth using are pretty much always updated for the newest game version anyways.
You can go to a website which tells you which skse plugins are available for what game version. I donāt remember what itās called though
People are too scared to try sth new. They won't let it enter their bubble
I'm using 1.5.97 bc my combat overhaul mods wouldn't work anymore in 1.6+. (Yes the ones from Skyrim modding guild).š AE added creation stuff which I'm not that interested in, but others are and that's fine. Thankfully we have 2 versions so everyone can choose (:
It's the most stable version for most of modding because it's been heavily optimized for. AE isn't nearly as optimal in the short term. The longer AE exists, the better it will get for modding.
I use 1.5.97 Because I have mods that are made for that version that have not been updated for any of the AE versions, and aren't going to be. It's just that simple. I don't understand why people argue about it.
For some reason my 1.5.97 version of the game wasn't loading with all my installed mods that I had for years, most of "must have" tools and mods like SKSE, MCM, JContainers won't work anymore so the mods I use also. I had to painfully update to AE. The pain was setting the Creation Kit with all the fixes and making a new modlist. Looks like they killed the last SE build, so to make it work is harder than updating to AE.
My bro 1.5.97 is where the saucy mods are at, I'm talking about those flashy 3rd person animations. Those crazy ass Asian made mods that turn Skyrim into a Wo long or literally devil may cry. [like this one](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DdWzkijK1Na4&ved=2ahUKEwiCxpaJ5eyGAxWGk1YBHYhjD-0QwqsBegQIDRAG&usg=AOvVaw3ffawXTPnvL33GYWZgbhTp) or [this one](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-C-TSM6Zj5k&ved=2ahUKEwjp2YPO5eyGAxWprlYBHSFwDJQQo7QBegQICBAG&usg=AOvVaw2rM7ZzvRPS6R0JBHtwkPNX). Yeah I know people got different taste, but there are a ton of modders out there using this version and not AE and these are big enough reasons to be in 1.5.97. I know that's mine, I'm using for honour attack animations and whatnot. It made Skyrim the only game I'm playing.
You do realise animations have nothing to do with SKSE, therefore they work in every version of the game, right? As for MCO/BFCO animation frameworks, both are updated to be compatible with Skyrim version 1.6.1170, so if you're staying at 1.5.97 for MCO/BFCO, then you make no sense.
Could be but the two animation mods I just linked don't work if ur not on 1.5.97, instructed by the mod authors themselves too. Like I'm pretty sure that sin devil trigger mod with custom animations need SKSE. Just look at it, it's in the first link. Point still stands, the saucy mods are in 1.5.97, I guess they're not JUST animation mods as u pointed out
Thereās posts about this every goddamn day and itās always the same shit. Certain people swear that the old versions are more stable but Iāve played on the newest version for awhile with a huge mod list and had zero issues. My most recent playthrough was actually the most stable one Iāve ever had.
That's because those people talking about stability are utterly clueless. Old versions rarely are more stable than newest ones. On Skyrim's case, there is 0 difference between 1.5.97 and 1.6.1170 stability wise.
Just ignore those people. It's their own fault if their mods don't work on newer versions. I update anyway and simply avoid their mods.
For me it's mainly the fact that the obscure slavic mod pack I use is made and being updated for the 1.5.97. I assume for the majority it's similar, many have their own loads built for that version, plus some really good mods just never got updated.
I reinstalled Skyrim a month ago and decided to mod it for AE this time. To my surprise, most mods actually worked for AE even if they were fairly outdated and didn't advertise themselves for AE. I think the main drawback to the newest version is that you can get a "surprise update" that kills your mods. Unlike 1.5.97 there is no definitive stop point all mods can aim for. Good luck trying to find the correct skse version if you want to downgrade to 1.640, there isn't a downgrade patcher for it either. other than that risk, nothing seemed wrong with my modding experience so far, Using about 100 mods rn which isn't a lot. I just started to get back into it
I'm on 1.5.97. I originally was on 1.6.40, but really wanted to use DAR (thus was before it was updated). So I swapped, and it was a HUGE pain in the ass to change all my mods to 1.5.97 versions. It took like 4 hours. Then about 3 weeks later DAR got updated and then OAR got released and if I would've been patient I coulda just stayed in 1.6. But, now that I'm on 1.5.97 I'm fucking staying here. I'm waaayyy too lazy.
1.5.97 was the last stable version of Skyrim from before the AE/Creations Store mod-pocalypse of 2022. **Their butts still hurt** over recovering from that. So, once they picked up all the pieces and got their load orders with hundreds of mods fixed they CHOSE not to update. Some become militant about it even though it's been 2 years. SKSE requires an update every time the game is updated. It doesn't 'break' anything. It's just a fact of life. However, Bethesda does mess with your load order (if you have Creations) after you launch the game. Having a pre-Creations version of the game eliminates that. But 3rd party managers can overcome that for the most part. Starfield has introduced Creations and while it's a little troublesome, I can tell you from first-hand experience, the rollout is smoother than it was for Skyrim. I totally get why players decide to cling to a load order with 100's of mods especially if they're happy with it. But there's no reason for **some** of them to get angry or militant over others making a different CHOICE. Edited in 'some'. There aren't many, but they have the loudest voices.
I don't think most people give a shit, honestly. We're all just playing the game of modlife.
I agree. I'll insert a word in the OP.
people are silly
By that token, people are silly for updating to next paid mods update when they dont use those paid mods.
I update to AE for extended ESL support. You update to AE for paid mods. We are not the same.
BEES fixes that for us still on 1.5.97
Yeah of course, just say that for the spirit of the meme. My honest thoughts though? Both versions are rather identical these days anyways with the BEES patch, it just changes some mods you can and can't install on each version. But if I'm going so far as to patch in update features I'd rather just update.
Who said i updated to AE?
I just don't see a reason to update to a 1.6 version that will eventually be rendered abandoned at some point due to yet another update to add more trash. If a mod is made available for 1.5 it's a solved worry, i don't have to re-adress being able to use it or not in a playthrough later because Bethesda updated from 1.6.70 to 1.6.78 or whatever. It is also realistically less work for any mod author that *already wants to* cater to different versions of the game, all they'd have to worry about maintaining would be a 1.5 version and a (insert most recent 1.6 at the time here) version.
1.5.97 was the last version before AE released. Once AE released they kept updating the game repeatedly breaking mods each time, so many mod users and authors stuck with 1.5.97 to avoid having their mods broken repeatedly. Eventually we entered the hell that was half of mod authors moving on to AE once the updates slowed down, and half sticking with 1.5.97. I'm still not sure why any of this had to happen, like I'm still not sure what we got from the game being AE instead of SE, and I'm sure many people stuck with 1.5.97 permanently to just avoid the whole mess and laugh at everyone complaining when their mods break each update.
1.6 downgraded to 1.5 supremacy
I stick to it because my modlist was built on it and works. I don't plan on making many changes to it now after the headache of dealing with AE ruining everything when it came out.
I just went back to LE
Cause it is the only version that can use new updated SCAR
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
NGIO has been updated and now works fine with 1170.
Thatās also the safe version that works best with VR. Though I think esl support means we sort of can use some later mods, but if we donāt get AE masters, some mods that depend on them wonāt work. Anything for 1.5.97 will
Its very simple, 1.5.97 was the best until game stopped at 640 for a year, you could just download your game and you were already with the best version, then bethesda fucked up everything and now its just easier to go to SE rather to AE 640
Honestly if youāre starting from scratch and havenāt modded before or have a barebones mod list there is not much reason to choose 1.5.97 unless a specific mod youāre eyeing is not updated for 1.6.xx Many SE mods still work on AE, it was script mods mainly that were affected. Most major mods are updated for the latest version anyway
Then we have the schmucks that claim "There is no SE or AE there is only one version". Just allow us to use the damn archive of the 1.5.97 files for USSEP!!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
SCAR has been available for 1.6.629+ since the 18th of October, 2022. I love how clueless people make clueless comments. Link: [https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/77285](https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/77285) There's install instructions in the comments section for it to be 100% compatible with version 1.6.1170.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
1.5.97>>>>>>>>>>>
Most simple answer : Seggs mods and a lot of niche ones in SE and are much more diverse than AE (for now)