Modern Combat

Melee combat has been modernized with the help of BFCO, a modern MCO replacement for all intents and purposes. For those unfamiliar, it allows for jump attacks, swimming attacks, and attack speed buffs on movesets.

World Overhaul

Expanded cities, new dungeons, and unique mashups for several locations.

New Quests and Lands

Completely new questlines, characters, locations, and lands to explore.

Survival Elements

Temperature, hunger, and fatigue systems remain true to vanilla, and fast travel requires travel packs.

Visual Overhaul

The ENB preset used is based on Rudy ENB, but has many custom changes to both the weather and ENB itself for a completely unique experience. Textures have been hand selected from hundreds of different mods, making sure everything is as consistent as possible.

Lore-focused

Most, if not all, content that has been added is well within the bounds of the established lore.

Development Setup

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4090
• RAM: 64GB DDR5 6000MHz
• Storage: NVMe SSD
• OS: Windows 11 64-bit

Performance Notes

• Resolution: Tested at 4K (3840x2160)
• Memory Usage: ~40GBs of RAM used while playing
• Performance: ~40 FPS exteriors & ~60 FPS interiors

Basic Requirements

• Skyrim Special Edition + Paid Anniversary Upgrade (Steam version)
• Wabbajack
• Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables

Storage Requirements

• Downloads: ~500 GB
• Install: ~716 GB
• Temp Files: ~100 GB (on OS drive)
• Pagefile: 40 GB
• TOTAL: ~1.3 TB

Wabbajack requires around 30-40 GB of space on your main OS drive for temporary and working files during the installation.

Storage Requirements

• Downloads: ~469 GB
• Install: ~821 GB
• Temp Files: ~100 GB (on OS drive)
• Pagefile: 40 GB
• TOTAL: ~1.2 TB

Wabbajack requires around 30-40 GB of space on your main OS drive for temporary and working files during the installation.

Manual Downloads (if needed)

Sometimes mods fail to download for various reasons, I will update and include said mods here if they fail frequently for many users:

• Kaidan
• High Poly Head v1.4 (SE)
• Paragon Sparrow Huntress
• Halos Poser Pack
• Mofu_EldenRing Attack Animations GreatSword SE MCO
• Neko's Poser Pack

Post-Installation Setup

Game Folder

Twisted Skyrim uses a Wabbajack feature called Stock Game to keep your Skyrim installation clean. All the files that you need to run the list are in a folder called Stock Game. You don't need to copy anything at all.

Antivirus Exceptions

Generally speaking, using Windows Defender is advised as it is a solid antivirus software that will have minimal interference with the game. Antivirus programs can be notorious for false flagging MO2's VFS as problematic, causing crashes or other problems. Antivirus programs like BitDefender, Norton, and Webroot are especially aggressive, and you will very likely need to fully remove them from your PC in order to actually launch the game through MO2.

If you use Windows Defender, it is advised that you set up an Exception for the modlist. To do this follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows Key
2. Type "Windows Defender" in the search bar and select "Windows Security"
3. Click on "Virus & threat protection" in the left pane
4. Click the "Manage settings" option under "Virus & threat protection settings"
5. Scroll down to "Exclusions" and click "Add or remove exclusions"
6. Windows Defender will prompt you with a run as administrator screen, just hit yes
7. Click the "Add an exclusion" button at the top and choose "Folder"
8. Navigate to your Install folder for the list and click "Select Folder"
9. (OPTIONAL) You can repeat these steps for the other executables: ModOrganizer.exe

Widescreen Fixes

Basic 21x9 support is included in the list. Enable the mods Edge UI - Modern Skyrim Interface 21x9 & Edge UI - Explorer Addon 21x9 in MO2

Controller and Gamepad Setup

This list will NOT officially add any controller or gamepad support. Currently the game crashes with a controller plugged in and honestly I'm gonna keep it like that cause I like it.

Starting the Game

Head over to the installation folder and locate an executable named ModOrganizer.exe and launch it.

Loading Your Saves and Saving

Autosaves are disabled, make sure to save often and safely. Safe saving implies saving 20 seconds after loading screens, before combat and before starting any major quests.

I highly recommend if you want to reload a save at any point to restart your game before doing so. See here for more information on why. Technically you should be fine, as thousands of people have never encountered this bug on any wabbajack list. This is more of a FYI on the best saving/loading practices.

Overview

This section will cover the absolute basics of the list. I suggest reading, or at the very least, skimming, all of the linked mod pages in this section if you are unfamiliar with the following mods.

Core Overhauls

Twisted Skyrim uses the entire simonrim suite, except for Arena, Blade and Blunt, and Candlehearth. I highly recommend getting familiar with all of his mods. This modlist also has survival mode enabled by default. It makes use of Survival Mode Improved, Starfrost, and Journeyman. To disable survival mode for your playthrough, simply uncheck the checkbox in settings while in game.

Combat Foundations

The following mods are considered the "foundations" of the combat and gameplay for Twisted Skyrim:

BFCO - Attack Behavior Framework

Introduces attack commitment to the game, for both NPCs and the Player. If you're familiar with MCO, this will be right at home for you.

• Time your attacks precisely, aggressive NPCs can and will take advantage of poor planning.

Stances NG

Adds 3 different stances, which contain unique moveset for each weapon type.

• Shift + X to swap stances.

TK Dodge RE

Adds dodging to the game

• Adds I-Frames, which you should take advantage of.
• Costs stamina, or magicka depending on your class, be sure to manage your resources wisely.
• Need the infiltrator perk in order to dodge.

Combat Pathing Revolution

It basically completely overhauls NPC AI in combat. TL;DR it makes them much smarter and is designed specifically for MCO/BFCO.

Precision - Accurate Melee Collisions

Adds accurate melee collisions to the game.

• You can very easily miss attacks if your sword does not directly collide with an enemy, make sure to be precise!
• Hitstop: if you hit a wall your sword will bounce back and prevent you from attacking for a very brief time.

Maxsu Poise & Modern Stagger Lock

Implement a Poise system. Poise Health can be seen on the Special Bar of TrueHUD (the yellow bar above Health on player and target widgets).

Additional Combat Mods

• SCAR brings movesets to NPCs
• Ultimate NPC Dodging brings dodging to NPCs, makes fights less 2 dimensional, and of course more difficult

Leveling and Progression

Twisted Skyrim uses static skill leveling and experience to manage skill levels. Experience also handles regular xp gained, you can only gain xp from killing enemies, completing quests, and discovering new locations.

Skills & Perks

Paragon is the main perk overhaul used for Twisted Skyrim. It builds off of Adamant handling all perks except magic perks. Entire new skill trees are also added with the help of custom skills framework, you can access these using the tween menu as normal. You will also start with a power called "Destiny", you get 1 Destiny Perk point on level 1, level 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 for a total of 7 points, spend these wisely.

Stamina & Resource Management

Paragon also overhauls other aspects of the game, including general resource management. Light attacks, drawing a bow, reloading a crossbow, sneaking, and jumping all now cost stamina. Sprinting costs have been adjusted, power attack costs have been adjusted, and reaching 0 stamina gives you a debuff that lasts 10 seconds(or regenerating 50% of your total stamina) that nerfs physical and poise damage dealt, along with movement speed. Make sure to read Paragon's mod page for more information.

Acheron & Death

Thanks to Acheron, instead of dying you will enter a downed state until your followers clean up the fight, the bandits rob something from you, or a good samaritan rescues you and you end up in an inn. Dying to a creature will result in normal death, and a game restart is recommended after actually dying to avoid long-term issues. Acheron also has a couple other features, you can enable hunters pride(shift+g) which causes enemies to go into a similar downed state rather than dying. From there you can execute, rob, revive, drain(vampire), and capture. You can capture up to 3 enemies at once which get put in a special inventory that can be accessed with shift+h. You can then sell these captured enemies at a market which is located east of windhelm.

Difficulty

As said previously, I highly recommend having a follower, or multiple. Playing solo in this list is possible, but not recommended and will increase the difficulty significantly.

Twisted Skyrim has a unique approach to difficulty, putting an emphasis on resource management, making sure enemies aren't sponges, and intelligent AI.

AI Behavior

To elaborate on AI more, put simply, they are much more aggressive. They use all spells they have in their arsenal unlike vanilla, attack you if you aim a bow at them, use different potions, and make use of dodging.

Poise System

A poise system has been added, and if the enemies (or yours) poise gets broken, a stagger will occur which is an opportunity for you, or them to attack without punishment. Archers can take advantage of headshots to deal bonus poise damage to keep them off of you for longer.

Key NPC Overhauls

• SkyValor changes experience gain, damage, health pools, resource regeneration, and much more.
• Dragon War completely overhauls dragon behaviors and resistances. The dragon fights are much more unpredictable and difficult.
• Skybane - The Logic of Death completely overhauls NPC resistances. Everything now has a weakness, but also will have resistances. This means that carrying multiple damage types is highly recommended.

Potions have been significantly buffed due to the damage and health changes by SkyValor, and I highly recommend staying stocked up.

Performance and YOU

I suggest getting an overlay that lets you see GPU & RAM usage, CPU usage, despite what people think does NOT matter for gaming. If your GPU usage sits at or above 98% consistently, then a GPU upgrade would help the most. If your GPU usage sits consistently sits BELOW ~98% then a CPU upgrade would benefit you, the ONLY CPUs I will recommend are the x3D chips from AMD (5800x3d, 7800x3d & 9800x3d). If your RAM is always filled, or almost always filled, a RAM upgrade would likely reduce stuttering.

Contents

• Modifying Game INIs
• Modifying ENB
• Disabling ENB (Optional)
• Tintmask Resolution
• LODs (xLODGEN, TexGen, DynDOLOD)
• VRAMr
• Upscaler Info

Modifying Game INIs

MO2 uses a profile system, which means any ini edits you make will only effect that profile you are currently on, make sure you are on the desired MO2 profile before continuing. MAKE SURE MO2 IS CURRENTLY CLOSED

Modifying ENB

Disabling ENB (OPTIONAL)

1. Navigate to the Stock Game folder. Mine is here: E:\Twisted Skyrim\Stock Game
2. Change d3d11.dll to d3d11.dll.bak This will need to be done every update

Tintmask Resolution

1. Go to E:\Twisted Skyrim\mods\Vanilla Warpaints Absolution\SKSE
2. Open SKSE.ini
3. Change iTintTextureResolution=4096 to iTintTextureResolution=2048 *Note, this can go lower, if you really need the performance drop it to as low as 512(vanilla)
4. Ctrl+S to save
5. Exit

LODs Generation

This section covers generating LODs for better performance vs quality balance. This is an advanced topic that requires careful following of instructions.

Deleting Outputs

1. Locate the mod ParallaxGen Output open it by holding CTRL and double clicking it. Delete everything in the folder.
2. Do the same for the mods xLODGEN Output Road Output TexGen Output & DynDOLOD Output
3. Disable the mod ParallaxGen Output after deleting its contents

Generating ParallaxGen

1. Launch ParallaxGen from the dropdown menu in MO2, once opened select Start Patching
2. Ignore any warnings/errors and once its done select any key on your keyboard to close the command prompt
3. Reenable ParallaxGen Output and make sure its plugins are enabled and loaded last in the plugins tab of MO2

xLODGEN

1. Select the drop down menu in MO2, select edit in the Arguments section on xLODGen, make sure it looks like this: -SSE -o:"C:\Users\jlbom\Desktop\xlodgen" changing the given directory to match a similar place on your computer OUTSIDE of MO2. I recommend keeping it at your desktop.
2. Hit apply and ok.
3. Enable the mod xLODGen Resource - SSE Terrain Tamriel if its not present in the load order, download from here select the SSE Terrain Tamriel Extend version to download, install and enable it within MO2.
4. Make sure the plugin SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm is enabled in the right pane of MO2 (plugins list).
5. Launch xLODGen within MO2
6. Copy the settings below EXACTLY:

7. Select Generate on the bottom of the screen and wait for it to finish.
8. Once finished, locate and open the output folder, Cut (ctrl x) and paste it (ctrl V) into the mod xLODGen output within mo2.

9. Use ACMOS Road Generator to generate roads
10. Disable the mod xLODGen Resource - SSE Terrain Tamriel

TexGen & DynDOLOD

These tools require precise configuration and can take several hours to complete.

TexGen Configuration

1. Right click SKSE Output and select Open in Explorer.
2. Follow this directory C:\Twisted Skyrim\mods\SKSE Output\SKSE\Plugins\GrassControl.ini.
3. Open GrassControl.ini.
4. Change DynDOLOD-Grass-Mode = 1 to DynDOLOD-Grass-Mode = 0
5. CTRL+S to save, then close.
6. Go to DynDOLOD's mod page click manual download and extract the contents to whatever drive you want. Make sure that it is the root directory of that drive such as C:/ or D:/
7. Where ever you extracted DynDOLOD, navigate to DynDOLOD_SSE.ini.
8. Open the file
9. Set Expert=0 to Expert=1 & Level32=0 to Level32=1 & TreeLODComplexAtlas=0 to TreeLODComplexAtlas=1
10. Save the file with ctrl+s and close it.
11. Configure MO2 executables to point to TexGen and DynDOLOD binaries
12. Clear TexGen and DynDOLOD output folders
13. Launch TexGen within MO2
14. Make sure it matches the settings below EXACTLY:

15. Click start and wait for it to finish.
16. Copy the output to TexGen Output mod folder

DynDOLOD Configuration

1. Launch DynDOLOD within MO2
2. Right click the top left box and hit Select all
3. Select the Medium preset in the top right
4. Scroll all the way down in the section in the middle
5. Double click tree and change LOD Level 32 to Billboard6 from whatever it is.
6. Click ok
7. Double click \ and change Lod Level 32 to Level0 from whatever it is.
8. Make sure the rest matches the settings below EXACTLY:

9. Click ok and wait for it to finish. If it fails and errors on anything, that means you made unauthorized modifications to the list and I will not help you.
10. Copy the output to DynDOLOD Output mod folder
11. Refresh MO2 by clicking F5 or just restart MO2
12. Enable the plugins DynDOLOD.esm, DynDOLOD.esp & Occlusion.esp
13. Make sure at the bottom of your load order you have the following plugins: ParallaxGen.esp PG_1.esp DynDOLOD.esp Occlusion.esp ←---- MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN THAT ORDER

VRAMr

A tool that I've never personally used, but have heard it works fairly well. VRAMr

VRAMr includes a user guide on the mod page, you should direct any and all questions towards the mod author on how to use it. Using this tool is unofficially supported by me(TwistedModding) and therefore I will not help you get it up and running.

With that said, it can take VRAM usage down as much as 10 gbs and make the list playable on much lower end hardware. It can take several hours and will significantly increase the amount of space needed for the list since (i think) outputs all textures to a new mod instead of replacing existing ones (which is a good thing, just takes up space obviously).

I'd suggest only running this if the rest of the performance guide did not do a good enough job at making the list playable on your hardware.

Upscalers

Both Puredark's and Doodlum's upscalers have issues of their own that may cause crashes or other oddities when using them in this list, I DO NOT recommend using either. You can try lossless scaling, but I haven't had amazing luck using it and getting good results in my own game.

Crashes & Technical Issues

Q: What do I do if my game crashes?

A: Post the crashlog, found here C:\Users\{USERNAME}\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE, along with any changes done to the MCM or modlist to the GitHub issues page or in the discord support channel.

Q: My game is loading forever at the main menu and/or crashing before it.

A: If you are 100% sure you read through the entire readme and have all prerequisites, the only way to fix this is to reinstall Windows.

Performance

Q: What is performance like?

A: Extremely system dependent, see the readme for my specs and recommended specs.

Q: What can I do to improve performance?

A: Follow the ENTIRE performance guide. This will significantly improve your frames for those who care more about framerate than visuals.

Q: How can I change the resolution?

A: Open the folder F:\Twisted Skyrim\mods\SSE Display Tweaks\SKSE\Plugins open the file SSEDisplayTweaks.ini set BorderlessUpscale=false to BorderlessUpscale=true & change your resolution to the desired.

Gameplay Mechanics

Q: What mod is it that makes favorited items/potions/quest items show on my character?

A: Immersive Equipment Displays. You can open the menu with Left Shift+Backspace to customize what you want to show and what you don't want to show. You can also use IED to determine weapon positioning (if you want weapons to be sheathed on back for example).

Q: When do dragons start spawning?

A: By default, dragons are set to begin spawning once the player reaches level 10. Dragons do however have set spawns in certain parts of the map, along with dragon burials. Venture carefully.

Q: What is the Pilgrim skill / How do I access the Pilgrim skill tree?

A: The Pilgrim skill is added by Pilgrim - Custom Skills Framework Addon and acts as the way to progress the religion mechanic in the list. You can access the skill tree by using the Pray power while sneaking.

Q: How do I set up the quick wheel?

A: There is extensive documentation on the mod page here.

Character Creation & Appearance

Q: Why do I have two sets of ears?

A: Go to the Hair tab in racemenu, facial hairs, then change the slider to 6.

Camera & UI Settings

Q: I don't like the 3rd person camera stuff, how can I change it?

A: Open up the MCM look for smoothcam and either play around with the settings on the currently selected preset, or try swapping to one of the other presets included.

Q: How can I change the first person camera settings?

A: Open the console and type ic menu. Alternatively, you can simply disable Improved Camera in mo2.

Q: What mod unpauses the menus?

A: Skyrim Souls RE Updated, you can tweak its settings in C:\Twisted Skyrim\mods\Skyrim Souls RE - Updated\SKSE\Plugins\SkyrimSoulsRE.ini. From here you can modify which menus stay paused or unpaused.

Q: Why do I have a box in the top right of my screen, or why is my UI not at the edge of my screen?

A: I only own 16:9 monitors and I don't care to support ultrawide, especially when there aren't patches for all the UI mods that I use.

Quest Mods

Q: I can't find Altano in the Windpeak Inn. / How do I start VIGILANT?

A: VIGILANT requires the player be level 25 or higher, completion of The House of Horrors, Kindred Judgement (End of dawnguard DLC), and Censored Fate (DAC0da).

Q: How do I start dAc0da?

A: dAc0da requires the player to be level 25 or higher, completion of The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, The Eye of Magnus, and Arniel's Endeavour.

Profiles & Installation

Q: How do I swap to the NSFW profile, or vice-versa?

A: Open Mod Organizer. Somewhere along the top will show what profile you have selected, by default it should be Twisted Skyrim SFW. Just swap the drop-down and select the profile you want. It is not recommended to swap to the sfw profile, from the nsfw profile mid save. Swapping from the sfw to nsfw profile should work just fine; however, in both of these instances you are on your own for any issues that may arise. I'd recommend viewing the safe-save guide.

Installation Issues

Q: Install failed cause of google drive saying too many requests (or something similar)

A: Try this.

Q: Install failed because "Could not find a part of the path"

A: Delete the file mentioned in the log. Close and reopen Wabbajack, then rerun the installer with the same paths set. Make sure you have at least 80 gbs on your C drive, and plenty of space on your installation drive. If it keeps failing delete the entire Temp_BSA_FILES folder, close and reopen wabbajack, then rerun the installer again. If it continues to fail, restart your PC.

Known Issues

[Insert Male NPC] looks like he has tits / has a really big chest and arms!

Solution: Change their OBody preset, do not report this as an issue to me, OBody has no way to filter for males and disable the "push up" effect.

Interactive Mod Browser

Here is an exhaustive list of all the mods present in Twisted Skyrim.

Direct Link: View on Load Order Library

Discord Support

For both installation and gameplay support, please join the discord server.

Join Waking Dreams Discord

Ask questions in the Twisted Skyrim support channel

Bug Reports

Report bugs and crashes in the Discord server:

Report Issues

Please include all relevant information for the bug. A proper bug reporting guide can be found here: Bug Reporting Guide

Support Development

Support the continued development of Twisted Skyrim:

Support on Patreon

Support on Ko-fi