Fixing confused and confusing STEP Wiki for Skyrim LE

[Darklocq]

The LE instructions need some basic cleanup.  People following STEP for LE are being misled into 2.2.9.2 base install instructions, per-mod instructions that no longer match it but match 2.10.0, and a STEP Compilation install that contains material they already manually installed (or which conflicts) from the 2.2.9.2 obsolete instructions.  The current/final version for LE should be listed as 2.10.0.

 

* SkyrimLE:2.10.0 has a release date of June 11, 2017. It was last substantively updated 15 June 2017 or 21 March 2019 (depending on your definition of "substantive")‎.

** It has many changes reflected in the forum discussions, in per-mod instruction pages, and in the composition of the LE version of STEP Compilation.

 

* SkyrimLE:2.10.1 has a release date of November 23, 2015; that's the same as 2.2.9.2, but appears not to have been released at all. I.e., it's an error.

** Lists significant changes like "We have replaced Skyrim HD with Skyrim Realistic Overhaul has our baseline for all textures", etc., but these are not reflected in the corresponding changelog, and actually appear to be changes made in 2.10.0.

** Worse, they do not actually appear in the instructions below the intro material (e.g. SRO is never mentioned again, and Skyrim HD is still in there), so this appears to be a copy-paste of 2.2.9.2 which was given a new intro then abandoned (though its text does not perfectly match that of 2.2.9.2, so I guess some twiddles were made to it here and there before it was dropped). Why this was attempted with 2.2.9.2 instead of 2.10.0 as the base to work from is a mystery.

** 2.10.1 changelog last substantively updated: 16:30, 2 September 2017. It lists no changes to the main STEP page, but only to per-mod instruction pages, and these appear to be correct. They seem to be changes that really pertain to 2.10.0 and maybe a bit of post-release tweaking.

 

* SkyrimLE:2.2.9.2 (i.e. what would be 2.9.2 if the new version scheme had been retro-applied) has a release date of November 23, 2015, which appears to be correct. It was last substantively updated 12 July 2016 or 3 March 2017 (depending on your definition of "substantive"), so it entirely pre-dates 2.10.0.

** Like "2.10.1", it is out of step (pardon the pun) with forum threads, per-mod instruction pages, and STEP Compilation. It is barely distinguishable in most details from 2.10.1, but very different from 2.10.0 which is later than 2.10.1 despite the earlier version number.

 

 

It appears to me that:

 

1)  2.2.9.2, currently listed as the current/final STEP guide for Skyrim LE, is actually obsolete compared to 2.10.0, since various changes listed for 2.10.0 did in fact result in changes to various instructional subpages for particular mods, and these instructions match the setup conditions for 2.10.0, not 2.2.9.2.

 

2)  Various consensus discussions appear to support the changes that were made between 2.2.9.2 and 2.10.0, e.g. returning to SRO over Skyrim HD.  Similarly, the changelog for 2.10.0 and the ersatz 2.10.1 make it clear that mod-specific subpages were updated for 2.10.0 and maybe a bit after it, and even STEP Compilation was updated with new integrations in response, so 2.2.9.2 is telling people to separately install various things that STEP Compilation already has or will replace.  People should NOT be following 2.2.9.2.

 

3)  2.10.0 should be "advertised" as the final version for LE, in place of 2.2.9.2.  (Main STEP page would need an update in this regard, and things like the "View the current changelog instead" links are wrongly pointing to 2.2.9.2's changelog.)

 

4)  2.10.1 is a mangled, abandoned draft (based on the wrong older version to begin with), and should be deleted, or hidden, or blanked and redirected to 2.10.0, or renamed to 2.10.1_draft and have a banner at the top saying it's broken, or something, so no one ever tries to use it. It should not retain a release date of November 23, 2015, since it was not in fact released.

 

 

Side notes: It is unhelpful and misleading to suggest that the latest version of STEP for LE "is out of date" and "may contain information that is incorrect or not in line with the current state of the game". The game Skyrim LE is not the same game as Skyrim SE, and attempting to follow STEP instructions for one when you have the other is going result in total failure. It would make much more sense to:

 

A) Modify this message to point directly to the last/current version on a per-game-engine basis (2.10.0 for LE), and use that banner on all old versions.

 

B) On the final version for LE (2.10.0), use a custom banner stating that work on STEP for LE has stopped with that version, and that STEP recommends migrating to SE, for which STEP is providing continued updates.

 

 

I would be happy to help with stuff, but do not have write access to the wiki. I'm still studying the page-naming, categorization, templating, and other structures on this site (I do have lots of MediaWiki experience, though).  My current personal project is drafting up a "STEP Beyond" tutorial on setting up Skyrim LE (for now - SE to follow later) based on latest STEP for that engine, updated to account for new stuff like HDT-SMP, Nemesis, etc.  I.e., I'm basically working on "SkyrimLE:2.11.0" in STEP terms.  In the course of trying to follow SkyrimLE:2.10.1 and SkyrimLE:2.2.9.2, comparing them with each other, I noticed that the per-mod instruction pages no longer agreed with either of them, and eventually figured out that the real final version of STEP for LE is 2.10.0.  Ended up having to start over from scratch following 2.10.0.  :-/  People who dwell in the forum might have already known all about this stuff, but visitors to the wiki just looking to set up their game are not going to be aware of any of it, and are being directly misled that 2.2.9.2 is current/final for LE.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Darklocq

[z929669]

The latest LE guide is 3.0.0 ... it has been months since that post

https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimLE:3.0.0

[TechAngel85]

V2.10 is the latest version of the LE Guide. Our links are pointing to the wrong guide. I've brought it up to Z. We're in the middle of some pretty heavy wiki development so wires likely got crossed somewhere. It'll be fixed when soon.

[Darklocq]

Noted!  And I see what you mean by major changes.  Whole new domain and look-'n'-feel, even.  :-)

What's the procedure for becoming a wiki editor here?  I don't mean to make drastic changes to things, but would at least like to fix some typos. 

I actually put my 2.10.0 re-built on hold and played other games a while, but am now back to firing up Skyrim again, so we'll see how that goes.  I'm still going to work on a "STEP Beyond" or "Step 2.11" for LE, whether that ends up hosted here or not.  There's so much awesome recent-ish stuff to add to an LE game these days, and a zillion mods not working in SE yet if ever, that LE isn't going to die any year soon.  One just needs a lot of memory management! 

[Darklocq]

Yep. (I was off doing other games for a while).  I'm presently in the midst of a STEP 3.0.0 installation of LE right now.  Exciting.  Well, tedious, but my anticipation level is high. :-)