• Description
• Construction
• Integration
• Duplication
• Donation

Updated: August 20, 2025

This repo contains Plugins for Skyrim Anniversary and Special Edition - SKSE64AE, including a Plugin Example (Status: Tested and Working).

• SKSE64AE is an SDK created by Ian Patterson, which extends the functionality of Skyrim Anniversary and Special Edition for mod authors.
• The original SDK used for building the SKSE64AE EXE can be found here: SKSE64AE SKSE64-AE-SE
• Using SKSE64AE in your mod will then make SKSE64AE a Dependency which you must must inform your users of and provide a link to (SKSE64AE).

This mirror of the SDK is currently set to support Skyrim Anniversary and Special Edition runtime version: 1.6.1170.0 - SKSE64AE version: 0.2.2.6, other versions will need to be manually configured.
It has also been pre-configured to build Plugins and is not intended for building the full EXE (Core and Loader).

All necessary projects have been migrated to and built with Visual Studio 2022 (v143), which can be downloaded here: Visual Studio 2022

The highest version of VS officially supported before it was abandoned for CMake, is Visual Studio 2019 (v142). Building Plugins with v143 is experimental, but functioning.

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To build plugins, open "SKSE64AE-Plugins/skse64_plugins" and then open the plugin folder you want to build. EG: ez_skse64ae_plugin_example.

For "Ez" plugins, there are 2 solutions to choose from, each with their pros and cons.

• ez_skse64ae_plugin_example.sln - Links to the SDK as a .lib file, making it unlikely to encounter dependency issues while coding - but can significantly increase compile time.
• ez_skse64ae_plugin_example_lean.sln - Does not link to the SDK as a lib file, each file from the SDK that is needed in the project must be added to the ez_skse64ae_plugin_example_lean.vcxproj.

After choosing a solution, simply open it with Visual Studio and select the Configuration (either Debug or Release) and then select Build Solution.
It will then compile the code and output to a ./Builds/ folder along side the solution.
Inside "Builds/Configuration", you will find the plugin .dll file which can then be added to "Skyrim Special Edition/Data/SKSE/plugins".
Post compile options have been removed for all projects, but can be re-added in-order to automatically copy the .dll file to the game folder for testing.

<ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets">  
  <Import Project="..\..\config\_Plugins.props" />  
</ImportGroup>  

[Papyrus]  
bEnableLogging=1  
bEnableTrace=1  
bLoadDebugInformation=1  
bEnableProfiling=0  
sDefaultLogOverlay=Papyrus  

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Integrating the example plugin with Skyrim Special Edition involves creating a new Plugin Script which interfaces with the plugin dll.
To start, create a new CK Plugin.esp which can be loaded with Vortex, ModManager2, or whatever mod manager you use.
In the new Plugin.esp, create a Quest that will be used to execute a script (Note: Uncheck Run Once and Check Allow Repeated Stages for testing).
Then create a Quest Script and attach that to the Quest created above. In that Quest Script will be the calls to the new Plugin Script (dll).
This an not always necessary, but it is required for the Ez plugin example because it adds a new function to the game to print "Hello World!".

For example:

• Create a new Class Script defined in the plugin example. EG: EzSkse64aeTestClass.psc
• Add this to EzSkse64aeTestClass.psc:

Scriptname EzSkse64aeTestClass Hidden  
  
bool Function Test() global native  

• Create a new Plugin. EG: EzSkse64aePluginExample.esp
• Create a new Quest. EG: EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuest
• Create a new Quest Script. EG: EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuestScript.psc
• Attach EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuestScript to the Quest
• Add this to EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuestScript.psc:

Scriptname EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuestScript extends Quest  
  
Event OnInit()  
	; Test the new class the plugin example added  
	if (EzSkse64aeTestClass.Test())  
		Debug.Trace(self +" EzSkse64aeTestClass.Test()")  
		Debug.Notification("EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuest : EzSkse64aeTestClass.Test()")  
		Debug.MessageBox("EzSkse64aePluginExampleQuest : EzSkse64aeTestClass.Test()")  
	endif  
EndEvent  

• Use the PapyrusCompiler.exe to compile the 2 newly created Scripts into .pex files.

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Duplicating the plugin example to make your own plugin is quite easy if you follow these steps:

• Generate a new GUID for the new plugin:
  • In Visual Studio, open the "C# Interactive" window (if not opened) by pressing Ctrl+Q and typing "C# Interactive".
  • Type the following in the window and press enter:

System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString().ToUpper()  

• Save the new GUID for later use in your new plugin.

• Copy the ./skse64_plugins/ez_skse64ae_plugin_example/ folder.

• Paste it into ./skse64_plugins/ and name it without spaces. EG: ./skse64_plugins/my_cool_new_plugin/

• Open the existing example solution(s) (ez_skse64ae_plugin_example.sln and/or ez_skse64ae_plugin_example_lean.sln) in Visual Studio.

• Delete the existing ez_skse64ae_plugin_example from the solutions(s) and then save.

• Rename the example project(s) and solution(s) to your new plugins name. EG:

  • ez_skse64ae_plugin_example.sln to my_cool_new_plugin.sln
  • ez_skse64ae_plugin_example_lean.sln to my_cool_new_plugin_lean.sln
  • ez_skse64ae_plugin_example.vcxproj to my_cool_new_plugin.vcxproj
  • ez_skse64ae_plugin_example_lean.vcxproj to my_cool_new_plugin_lean.vcxproj

• Open the .vcxproj file(s) with a text editor and replace these few lines:

    <ProjectGuid>{XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}</ProjectGuid>  
    <ProjectName>ez_skse64ae_plugin_example</ProjectName>  
    <RootNamespace>ez_skse64ae_plugin_example</RootNamespace>  

• Replace "ProjectGuid" with the GUID you generated above, this must be unique to the project.
• Replace "ProjectName" and "RootNamespace" to your new plugins "short" name. EG:

    <ProjectGuid>{11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555}</ProjectGuid>  
    <ProjectName>my_cool_new_plugin</ProjectName>  
    <RootNamespace>my_cool_new_plugin</RootNamespace>  

• Open "config.h" in the plugin folder and change these few lines to suit your new plugin: EG:

// Plugin info  
#define PLUGIN_AUTHOR				"The Plugin Maker"		// Author of the plugin  
  
#define PLUGIN_NAME_SHORT			"my_cool_new_plugin"	// Plugin name without spaces - same as in the vcxproj  
#define PLUGIN_NAME_LONG			"My Cool New Plugin"	// Plugin name with spaces - shown in various places once loaded  
  
// Plugin version, Major, Minor, Build. EG: (1.0.0) equals (Major.Minor.Build)  
#define PLUGIN_VERSION_MAJOR		1  
#define PLUGIN_VERSION_MINOR		0  
#define PLUGIN_VERSION_BUILD		0  

You should then be able to open the solution file(s) in Visual Studio and then add your new project. EG: Solution Explorer -> Right-Click the solution -> Add -> Existing Project
Select your new "my_cool_new_plugin.vcxproj" or "my_cool_new_plugin_lean.vcxproj", depending on the solution file.

Select a Configuration (Debug or Release) and then Build the solution to test it.
After completion, open the ./Builds/Configuration/ folder and there should be your new dll file. EG: my_cool_new_plugin.dll

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