Skywind Special Edition Resilio Installation Guide
This guide goes through the steps necessary to successfully set up Skywind for development and testing with Resilio. Read each section carefully to ensure a smooth install. Have fun!
Please note that we follow the principle of least privilege in order to prevent leaks. This means unless your work requires access to the build, you will not be given the installation code to download the build. If you think you need build access, please ask your team lead to discuss.
What Is Resilio and Why Use It?
Resilio Sync is a program to allow users to synchronize specific files and folders between two or more computers. For our purposes we can use this to distribute Skywind to team members from a single Master Install in such a way that it stays up-to-date automatically without having to manually download and unzip files. It is recommended for team members who do not typically have to modify game assets but instead typically work in a monthly esp file or whose duties don't require modifying the game at all.
Resilio dashboard showing folders that are synchronized on different computers
1: Managing Your Skyrim Installation
To begin, you will need a clean installation of Skyrim Special Edition. This can be most easily done through Steam.
Special Edition, not Oldrim.
2: Downloading And Using Resilio Sync
https://www.resilio.com/individuals/
Download and install the free version of Resilio Sync. Once open, click "Enter a key or link" in the "+" menu.
2. Ask UCM or your team lead for the access key and enter it here. This key is a read-only key, meaning that any changes you make will NOT propagate up to the Master Install all Resilio builds are sync'd to, nor will it propagate out to other Resilio users.
3. After entering the key, Resilio will prompt you for what folder to sync to, choose your top-level Skyrim Special Edition folder. It will automatically beginning syncing your installation with the Master Install, overwriting everything that was previously in that installation.
Make sure it is the TOP LEVEL Skyrim folder!
4. Grab a snack, watch a movie, or take a good nap, the initial sync will take a while. Once it is finished, however, subsequent updates will be downloaded to your install automatically and without any additional work on your end.
Please note that the Resilio build contains everything contained in the Toolkit needed for work on the game:
SKSE
Engine Fixes (Part 2)
Creation Kit Platform Extended (Successor to CK Fixes)
xEdit
One example of what you could be doing while the build is installing
3: Keep In Mind
Resilio is technically a private peer-to-peer download (aka, a torrent), and as such please leave Resilio running after it has installed the build for the benefit of other team members who will be partly syncing to your build as well. The more people running Resilio the faster updates propagate out.
2. During the initial sync Resilio can sometimes throw an error indicating that it cannot download a file. This is either because that file is in use by another program or there is a chance of a false error appearing when Resilio is trying to download a large file (like our .esm file). This error can be ignored and will usually resolve itself. If it doesn't resolve after an hour or so, alert your team lead.
3. After the initial sync you may occasionally see a "conflict" warning. This means that a file has been edited on your local installation making it different from the same file on the Master Install.
If you DID NOT modify the file intentionally and do not want to keep whatever changes you have locally, you can click "Revert" when it prompts you, reverting that file to the version on the master install.
If you DID modify the file and want to keep your changes, click "Ignore" to disregard the conflict warnings and keep your modified file.
4. Activating and Launching
1. The next step is to activate the Skywind.esm and SkyUI_SE.esp files. This can be done by using a tool such as the Nexus Mod Manager or Mod Organizer 2, or editing plugins.txt directly. It cannot be enabled properly using the in-game mod menu.
2. You are now ready to launch the game! First, launch the game normally once (through Steam), just so that the launcher appears and your graphics settings are initialized. You can close this without actually starting the game.
After that, always launch Skywind through SKSE using the skse64_loader application or by selecting SKSE in your mod manager.
3. You are now also ready to work on Skywind in the CK! When you start working on your plugin, be sure to only load the stripped Skyrim.esm and Skywind.esm. Do NOT load Update.esm or any DLC masters, or your work may have to be thrown out!
Your load order should have Skywind.esm in the 05 slot, and SkyUI_SE.esp in the 06 slot.
5. Optional: Stop Steam from upgrading Skyrim and the Creation Kit
If you never want Skyrim or Ck to update go here:
%\steamlibrary\steamapps (wherever that might be on your computer)
Each game corresponds to an appmanifest file and ID. Steam IDs for Skyrim and CK are:
489830 for Skyrim
1946180 for CK
Right click the files and set them as read only. If you start Skyrim/CK you might get an error message that Steam couldn't update them, but that's the point. The applications will still run as expected.