Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I've modded (I've been a member of these forums for a while but I couldn't remember my past login information), and my last bout was with Oblivion where I ran into a huge graphical issue I couldn't solve so I put it on the backburner for a while.

However, since I got Skyrim the other day and have been looking into modding it, I ran across the NMM which seems to be an amazingly easy tool to use for modding.

My question is, I noticed that you can use other games with it as well. Does that mean that I can use it with Oblivion and Morrowind as well and easily mod the both of them, including big mods such as the Morrowind Graphics Extender, or OOO and such?

Thank you for any help!

I have not tried it on Morrowind or Oblivion, but it's worth a shot, inho

True, I'll probably give it a go.

Is this really all I need to mod skyrim? Like can things like BOSS be installed and used with it, or is it not necessary? Is any mod available on Skyrim Nexus usable with NMM?

Depends on how much you mod Skyrim, yes, depends of how much you mod Skyrim, no.

Ohh I see, so this isn't like the "end-all" tool huh? Well if that is the case, is this still a solid base to mod with that you can use things like BOSS and Skyrim script extender alongside with?

Some people like the BAIN tools better. NMM is still a beta. I have stopped using it.

Last I checked, Wrye Bash hasn't been updated and is still lacking even the recent (notsomuch anymore) load order handling overhaul instituted in an official game patch.

Most mods need to have an install setup made specficially for NMM in order to make installing it very easy, and the tool came out around Skyrim's release. So older mods for Oblivion and Morrowind won't have support for its more complex installation features.

MGE will never be a one click install, everyone needs to generate their own distant land and set their own settings.

That's only the non-dev build. The dev build has support for the change in load order.

Ohh I see, thanks for the tips guys. So would you recommend even using NMM, or just go with the old fashioned route of Wrye Bash and BAIN ?

Oh, and would you guys recommend a play through of the game without mods first?

Absodamnlutely. It will make troubleshooting much easier should problems arise.

Gotta be honest, basic Skyrim can get a wee boring after a bit, but it's good to always know what vanilla is like before you mod. Personally I'd say at least getting the Unofficial Skyrim Patch (on Nexus) and possibly one of the lighting mods like Realistic Lighting with Customization or Ultra-Realistic World Lighting. For me personally, the bio-luminescent 'nights' in vanilla Skyrim was the most distracting thing ever. Both of those lighting mods just improve the mood of vanilla Skyrim immensely, both outdoors and indoors, day or night, without detracting from the game but making it what it should be in terms of tone.

Personally, I'd just go with Bash and BOSS.

I'm not really a fan of the x(x)MM family of programs.

I'm not a fan of NMM either. Seems like an awfully basic, stripped down version of OBMM and even FOMM...not to mention the endless problems I've had with getting it to function, as well as the complete lack of support from the author, however I did get my problems solved eventually...from someone who recognized my problem and was kind enough to offer a solution.

For the most part I stick with Wrye bash, with the occasional oddball mod that seem to install better with NMM.

Sorry, I don't mean to bash NMM, it does serve a purpose, but for the most part, I find Bash to be more useful.

Version 0.17.1 is very stable so far. At least it instantly updates with the proper version number of mods now instead of needing constant restarts like in previous versions.

I'm wondering why the SVN version of Wrye Bash with the new load order support isn't up on the Nexus as a download proper, because the currently available version as a standalone seemed to be completely unusable with its inability to use the new load order system.

It doesn't have Morrowind support, but it does do Ob, Fo3 and Nv. (Unless it has to detect that the game is installed to list it as an option, as I don't have Morrowind.

Because it's a dev build.

Thanks again for all the responses guys, I think I will do a semi-vanilla play through with just the unofficial patch and the lighting/possibly a texture mod.

So just to get organized, can I technically use NMM alongside Wrye bash and BOSS, or should I just pick one or the other from the start and roll with it? I've used Wrye Bash/BOSS in my Oblivion days, so it should come back to me fairly quick considering they work the same as they did before/

You can use them both. Despite my criticism/disappointment with NMM, it does serve a purpose...even if I think that purpose is less useful than in previous versions (OBMM, FOMM)

I've used NMM since launch day and Wrye's tools since Mash. Here's what you really need based on the current state of the game and tools (which will change over time, of course):

Wrye Bash: save game profile management, (some) installation (possibly), conflict detection, creating Bashed Patch
NMM: installation (many mods require it unless you want to try to manually repackage them), checking for mod updates automatically
BOSS: load order sorting (see BUM below)
BOSS Userlist Manager (BUM): load order maintenance (run BOSS from BUM)

Using these tools for their respective tasks should allow you to play with no troubles.

Just remember that Wyre Bash only bashes leveled lists at this time.
Install two mods that edit the same vanilla record in diferent places and the "last mod loaded wins".

Example:
Mod A edits only the damage value of the vanilla Steel sword.
Mod B edits only the speed value of the vanilla Steel sword.

You won't get both changes like you did with Oblivion, only one - whichever loads last.