1. Install
- Revision 118 is built for Steam's Skyrim Special Edition on game version 1.7.104. Have that Steam update installed before you start, and don't downgrade Skyrim yourself: GTS switches to the older game version for you every time you play.
- Plan for about 160 GB of free space. Nexus Premium lets Vortex fetch the nearly 2,000 mods for you; without it, each one is a click.
- In Vortex, switch on Profile Management on the Dashboard, then click "Add to Vortex" on GTS's collection page and pick "Create New Profile".
- Leave Vortex alone while it works: don't click around, and carry on past any error messages it throws up.
- The Anniversary Edition Upgrade is optional. At the end Vortex asks everyone about the optional files; they're only for players who own the Upgrade.
The install guide has every step.
2. First launch
- Always start GTS from Vortex with the Skyrim Script Extender 64 tool. Set it as your primary launcher on Vortex's Dashboard first, so Vortex's Play button starts the game the right way.
- Don't start the game from Steam's Play button or by double-clicking SkyrimSE.exe: that skips the script extender, and most of GTS's code mods never load.
- The first launch takes longer than later ones. If it seems stuck loading, the game most likely wasn't started through the script extender.
- Right at the start a GTS welcome box comes up: click OK, then give the game a moment. If the box is a warning instead, stop: some of GTS's own plugins are missing.
What you'll see the first time, and when something goes wrong.
3. Pick a start
- A new game skips the cart ride. Alternate Perspective drops you in its start room, then opens character creation.
- The start room holds GTS's two big first choices: the Book of Traits (up to three traits, for keeps once you leave the room) and the Balance Gear (the Default Experience or Story Mode).
- Alternate Perspective's menu then offers 135 starts in 36 groups.
Every start, and where each one puts you.
4. The first hours
- Survival Mode is on from the start: hunger, cold and tiredness all run, you carry 100 less than usual, and you can't fast travel from the map.
- Your health hardly comes back by itself with Survival on. Bring food, potions or a healing spell.
- F5 makes a full save of its own, and opening the pause menu also saves the game.
The first hours has the keys GTS sets and adds, and what works differently from plain Skyrim.
If something goes wrong
- Crashed? Drop your crash log on the crash page. It's read in your browser and never leaves it.
- The help topics cover the problems people hit most, and the plugin check compares your plugin list with GTS's.
- Still stuck? Ask in gts-help on the GTS Discord.
- Updating to a new revision later: how to update, and what changed in each one.