wrye bash is the closest to a working solution that I've found so far.

I can run the exe via wine. It runs and displays some Skyrim folder stuff but it also runs into file path errors. Some of the file paths contain 2 "/" characters which causes errors and the "Open Folder.." dialog is missing an "OK" button and can't be used to open or select anything.

I managed to solve the dependency issues of the python version but then it runs into other errors.

Both seem like dead ends to me. How did you get yours to work?

Plugins.txt gets overwritten each time the game starts. In Starfield you have to download this thing called plugins enabler and then you can add mods to the Plugins.txt file like that.

What did you do/what mods did you download in order to get the game to load mods based off of Plugins.txt instead of clearing the contents of Plugins.txt on each launch?

Also, I tried making the file not have write permissions and then I tried making it readonly by everyone except superuser. The game still somehow erased the contents of the file. The game is installed on an ext4 volume.

Help me understand why installing mods without a mod manager is such a bad idea. Is the argument that it's too complicated to possibly keep track of all the files, with their updates and compatibilities you have to pay attention to, which is why it can't be done? Or can you actually not do it? As in there exists hardcoded measures in place to make it actually impossible to install mods without some kind of hack.

I've heard the argument for using a mod manager so that it's easier to uninstall stuff but I don't really care about this. I only want cbbe, alternate start and maybe a lightsaber mod. I fucked with mod managers for hours earlier today and got nowhere. I fail to see how any of that is easier than copy and pasting files. I can keep track of 3 mods worth of files myself.

I play Starfield without a mod manager. At no point do I ever have to deal with mod managers that don't work on Linux or programs I know nothing about borking my game files in ways I don't understand. I don't install a zillion mods or anything but i never have problems installing Starfield mods and would like to install my Skyrim mods the same way, I've been doing it this way, since non special edition Skyrim after all.

So. Did Bethesda actually put code in their game to make mods not possible to install manually, or are there just config files mod managers are editing to allow mods to get loaded? Because I think it's the latter.

This is cool and all but it's in very early alpha. It doesn't have the ability to download mods or get linked to my Skyrim game directory.

Also, MO2 seems to work by replacing SkyrimSELauncher.exe with I guess the mod manager menu. Even if this actually worked on my machine, how would you get SKSE to work? You have to replace SkyrimSELauncher.exe with the SKSE executable to get it to run.

Fuck Bethesda for ruining Skyrim mods. Guess I'll have to stick with Starfield.

Does there exist a file on the filesystem that stores the load orders? Where is the thing that replaced Plugin.txt? (since it doesn't work anymore)

When manually installing mods, what do I have to do besides putting all the respective files and folders in the correct locations? I think that's the million dollar question here.

Where can I find resources that may lead to figuring out how that stuff works? Where is the Skyrim built in mod loader? Google is no good these days. Every mod loader I've tried so far as borked my game to the point it won't even launch. After trying flatpak loot I actually have to re-download, it borked things real good. Manual installation looks like the only way.

When manually installing mods, what do I have to do besides putting all the respective folders in the correct location? I think that's the million dollar question here.

I really don't want to use a mod manager but I guess if no one posts a better fix I'll do it. The fix to get manually installed mods to work is likely going to be just 1 secret config file change, I just have to figure out what it is.

Edit: MO2 replaces the executable with an executable that I assume is the ui for MO2 which fails to run on my system. This doesn't patch out the Plugins.txt getting replaced either. I'm not sure that MO2 helps here. This is Skyrim special edition, not the original release. They made the mod situation shittier like they did in Starfield so not all of the same fixes and workarounds that have been working on Linux for the past decade still work.

Basically on a scale or 1 to 10 how hard is it to get it running on wine though? That's what I want to try to find out before buying it. Wine is a more manual approach than using proton but proton only works on games you own on steam.

Gotta love how scotus gutted a bunch of laws just to prevent marijuana from getting rescheduled. I hope this fucks up a lot of unforseen stuff further down the line.

1. Because it's a funny haha bathroom post

2. if you have to wipe with toilet paper anyway, doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a bidet?

3. Actually I'm a lemmy user, I use Arch btw, live in my mom's basement, I've never been on a date and I never go outside. Of course I've never used water to bathe before.

As a professional cat burglar, what was one of your most noteworthy heists?