Step 1: Preparations
Before You Begin
Before you get started installing or playing Zenithar's Forge, it’s important to note a few things:
Info boxes provide additional information that you should be aware of.
Important notices warn you when you should pay extra attention.
Warnings alert you of vital steps that cannot be ignored. Ignore the warnings at your own risk.
- During installation, you should read the Important Mods page to see all the changes the modlist makes to Skyrim.
- Autosaves are disabled in Zenithar's Forge. Make the quick save button (F5 key by default) your best friend. Additionally, save before entering loading screens. If you want to save after a loading screen, wait at least 30 seconds first. Do not save during combat.
- Zenithar's Forge runs in exclusive fullscreen mode. Changing it to borderless or other options is not recommended.
Useful Links
Hardware Requirements
| FG's Specs | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Ryzen 9 3900X |
| GPU | RTX 3080 10GB |
| RAM | 32GB |
| Storage | 2TB NVMe |
Above you'll find the specifications for the computer that the modlist was built on, which is ForgottenGlory's personal desktop computer. The list runs acceptably to ForgottenGlory on that hardware. Why don't we have recommended hardware listed? Mostly, it's for our own collective sanity. If we listed recommended hardware and estimated performance and then someone comes in and gets a different experience, then to them, what we've advertised isn't what they experienced. The simple truth of the matter is that everyone's performance and expectations for performance are different, and we simply can't account for all possibilities. To one person, 50FPS might be perfectly acceptable while to another it's completely unacceptable.
Ultimately, you'll have to try the list and see if the performance meets your expectations. If it doesn't, you'll need to make your own tweaks and experiment to figure out what works best on your specific hardware and software configuration.
Software Requirements
Skyrim: Special Edition
ForgottenGlory's modlists all require an up-to-date, English version of Skyrim: Special Edition on Steam in order to be installed. The fastest way to do this is to verify your installation through Steam.
If you have purchased Skyrim: Anniversary Edition or purchased the paid DLC for Anniversary Edition, the list can still be installed. However, none of the Creation Club content will be used while playing the list.
All downgrading of files is handled by Wabbajack, you do not need to manually downgrade anything.
Pagefile Configuration
Bigger Skyrim modlists need a lot of memory, and when there is not enough available it may fail allocating more. To fix this, you'll want to have a bigger pagefile.
A pagefile is a file on your disk Windows will use when there is not enough RAM available.
Never disable the pagefile - this may lead to various issues on your system, including Skyrim crashes.
If you've never touched the pagefile, or you're experiencing memory-related issues, try performing the following steps:
- Press Windows + R on your keyboard and enter
sysdm.cpl ,3 - Under the Performance section, press
Settings - Go to the Advanced tab at the top, and at the Virtual Memory section press
Change... - Disable
Automatically manage paging file size for all drives - Set a custom size for your fastest drive (ideally, the drive you will install the list to) and increase the initial and maximum size to be at least 20GB (20,000 MB).
- Restart your computer to make sure the changes have taken effect.
If you have more than one drive, try enabling it for at least one more drive as a backup (make sure it has a decent bit of free space, like 15GB). Set the size to System managed size.
Microsoft Visual C++
Microsoft Visual C++ is required by Mod Organizer and related programs, including the modlist. Download and install it from here: Microsoft Visual C++ x64
Microsoft .NET Runtime
Microsoft .NET Runtime is also required by Mod Organizer and some tools used by the modlist. Download and install .NET v5.0 for BOTH Console Apps x64 AND Desktop Apps x64 from here: .NET Runtime
Nexus Premium (Optional)
Nexus Premium is not required to download or install the list, but it does allow Wabbajack to automatically download mods from Nexus. It is strongly encouraged that you have Nexus Premium when installing the list. You can login to Nexus through Wabbajack in the Settings menu.
Skyrim Setup
The following steps will generate the files and folders needed for the list to install properly.
- Select The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition within your Steam Library, and update it if necessary.
- Click “Play”.
- The Skyrim launcher will offer to auto-detect your settings. When this happens, click “OK” and then click “OK” again.
- Click “Exit” to exit the Skyrim launcher.
Make sure Skyrim: Special Edition is the latest version (1.6.1170) in Steam. If you’ve manually downgraded the game or haven’t updated yet, use Steam’s “Verify Game Files” feature to update the game.
Make sure Skyrim’s language is set to English. (Right-click on Skyrim in Steam > Properties)
The Steam menu for its overlay and the Language menu.
Wabbajack Preparations
We’ll now setup the folders needed for the installation to proceed smoothly.
- Create two empty folders: “Wabbajack” and “Zenithar's Forge” at the root of the drive you'd like to install the list to.
The two folders in the root of example drive F:
You CANNOT place the Wabbajack or Zenithar's Forge folders inside:
- Program Files or Program Files (x86), or their subfolders;
- the Users folder, or its subfolders;
- the Steam folder, or its subfolders;
- the Skyrim Special Edition folder, or its subfolders;
- the Desktop folder, or its subfolders;
- the Documents folder, or its subfolders;
- any folders with non-English characters;
- any cloud storage folders (e.g. Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.);
- inside one another (e.g.
[install drive]\Wabbajack\Zenithar's Forge).
- Download the latest Wabbajack from their website: Wabbajack.
- Put the Wabbajack.exe in the “Wabbajack” folder.
Wabbajack.exe in its folder.