dMenu NG

An unofficial modern standalone DLL update of dTry/D7ry's dMenu for Skyrim SE/AE, with expanded input, configuration and integration capabilities.

Important

Get end-user downloads and installation support from Nexus Mods. A GitHub source checkout is not a complete player installation. Original dMenu is still required for its base assets and content; dMenu NG replaces and extends the DLL/runtime portion.

What is dMenu NG?

dMenu NG updates the standalone DLL for dMenu, originally created by dTry/D7ry. It retains the original dMenu asset setup while adding support for modern Skyrim SE/AE runtimes, improving controller and text input, and expanding custom settings pages and their configuration options.

This is an independent, unofficial project, not an official continuation or an endorsement by dTry/D7ry. This repository provides source, API documentation, and reference build instructions. Normal player installation starts with the original dMenu and the dMenu NG package from Nexus Mods.

Highlights

Area	dMenu NG capabilities
Compatibility and stability	CommonLibSSE-NG port for modern SE/AE runtimes; strict startup callsite validation preserves compatible pre-existing SKSE hook chains. Crash and safety fixes cover AIM spawning, settings handling, and newer game versions.
Controller and input	Gamepad navigation, separate gamepad toggle/modifier bindings, and a gamepad hint toggle.
Text entry and IME	Native IME input for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text fields, plus a built-in on-screen keyboard for controller text entry.
Localisation and fonts	Translations through Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/translations.txt, improved glyph coverage, and custom font support.
Custom settings	Expanded custom mod settings functionality, including grid layouts.
Settings frontends	Native dMenu settings with optional FLICK and SKSE Menu Framework frontends using the same settings model.
Media and hints	Animated custom-settings previews using flipbook, GIF, WebP, and WebM media.
INI persistence	Safer saving edits existing INI files instead of rebuilding them from scratch.
External API	A versioned interface lets other SKSE plugins open, close, toggle, and query dMenu without simulating a hotkey.

Integration Overview

Choose the interface that fits your setup. Native dMenu is always available; the two external frontends are optional and can be installed together.

Frontend	Requirement	Purpose
Native dMenu	Built-in standard interface; normal dMenu asset setup	Browse and edit custom settings directly in dMenu.
FLICK	Optional; install FLICK separately	Access the same parsed custom-settings pages through FLICK's interface.
SKSE Menu Framework 3	Optional; install SKSE Menu Framework separately	Access the same settings through the Mod Control Panel.

Optional Settings Frontends

dMenu custom settings remain the canonical settings model. FLICK and SKSE Menu Framework are alternate interfaces to those settings. They operate on the same dMenu settings and target INIs, with the existing dMenu persistence behavior; they do not create separate configuration stores.

Neither framework is bundled with dMenu NG or hard-linked into dmenu.dll. Native dMenu remains usable when both are absent, and either or both can be installed alongside it. The integrations discover the frameworks through their public APIs.

The screenshots below show example custom settings pages supplied by other mods and presented through dMenu NG's integrations. Click a screenshot to view its original size.

FLICK

With FLICK installed, dMenu NG exposes its parsed custom-settings pages through FLICK while retaining dMenu's existing settings and INI persistence behavior. These examples show Wheeler Styles and Wheeler Controls pages.

SKSE Menu Framework 3

With SKSE Menu Framework 3 installed, the same dMenu settings are available in its Mod Control Panel. Changes use the shared settings model and the same target INIs as native dMenu. These examples show Wheeler Controls with gamepad bindings and Wheeler Styles with grouped settings. The integration uses the framework's public API.

Installation Layout

Install the original dMenu first, then let dMenu NG overwrite the plugin files. Nexus runtime archives include the compiled plugin; the source repository does not track dmenu.dll. The installed layout should include:

Data/SKSE/Plugins/dmenu.dll
Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/dmenu.defaults.ini
Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/hint_media.ini
Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/translations.txt
Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/customSettings/...
Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/docs/...
Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/hints/...

Keep dMenu NG below the original dMenu mod in your mod manager so this DLL takes priority. The dMenu NG archive contains its DLL and the NG runtime additions listed above; it does not redistribute the original mod's base assets.

For localisation support, make sure the included translations.txt file is present in:

Data/SKSE/Plugins/dMenu/translations.txt

External API For Mod Authors

dMenu NG includes a small versioned API for SKSE plugins that need to open, close, toggle, or check dMenu without simulating the configured hotkey.

Public header:

src/include/dmenu_api.h

Main exported functions:

dMenu_OpenMenu()
dMenu_CloseMenu()
dMenu_ToggleMenu()
dMenu_IsMenuOpen()
dMenu_IsReady()
dMenu_SetMenuOpen(bool open)
dMenu_GetApiVersion()
dMenu_GetInterface(uint32_t requestedVersion)

See README_dmenu_api.md for the SKSE messaging and export lookup examples.

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 with the C++ desktop workload
• CMake 3.22 or newer
• vcpkg
• CommonLibSSE-NG 7.2.0, checked out at 7a60f4de794095d7b0f8928d1b930a52e9a7da83
• Address Library for SKSE Plugins with the database matching the installed Skyrim executable (1.7.99 and 1.7.104 use Address Library format 5)

Skyrim runtime	Matching SKSE
1.5.97	2.0.20
1.6.1170	2.2.6
1.7.99	2.3.0
1.7.104	2.3.1

Set these environment variables before configuring:

$env:VCPKG_ROOT = "C:\Path\To\vcpkg"
$env:CommonLibSSEPath_NG = "C:\Path\To\CommonLibSSE-NG"

The configure step checks both the CommonLibSSE-NG version and exact Git revision. Supported Skyrim runtimes are 1.5.97, 1.6.1170, 1.7.99, and 1.7.104; other versions fail closed before any hooks are installed.

Building from Source

Configure without copying the output anywhere:

cmake --preset vs2022-windows -DCOPY_OUTPUT=OFF

Build the plugin:

cmake --build build --config Release

To build and run the runtime compatibility regression tests, configure with -DDMENU_BUILD_TESTS=ON, then run:

cmake --build build --config Release --target dmenu_runtime_compatibility_tests
ctest --test-dir build -C Release --output-on-failure

The DLL is written to:

build/src/Release/dmenu.dll

To copy the build output into a mod staging folder automatically, set CompiledPluginsPath to the mod root and configure with COPY_OUTPUT=ON:

$env:CompiledPluginsPath = "C:\Path\To\Your\Mod"
cmake --preset vs2022-windows -DCOPY_OUTPUT=ON

License

dMenu NG as a combined project is distributed under GPL-3.0-or-later with the CommonLibSSE-NG Modding Exception and GPL-3.0 Linking Exception (with Corresponding Source). This licensing applies because the plugin statically links CommonLibSSE-NG 7.2.0. See LICENSE, EXCEPTIONS.md, and NOTICE.md for the complete terms and attribution.

LICENSES/ preserves license texts for specifically identified upstream, API, and dependency components. The component-specific MIT, LGPL, and GPL terms apply to those identified components. Their presence does not mean the complete dMenu NG project is triple-licensed or offered under every license in that directory.

The original D7ry/dMenu source was released under MIT. Its original copyright and license text are preserved in LICENSES/D7ry-dMenu-MIT.txt. CommonLibSSE-NG license provenance is preserved under LICENSES.

The public interoperability header src/include/dmenu_api.h is separately available under MIT so other SKSE plugins can include the ABI declaration. See LICENSES/dMenu-API-MIT.txt. The API implementation compiled into dmenu.dll remains part of the GPL-licensed project.

Binary distributors must provide the Corresponding Source required by these terms. The reproducible dependency identity used by this project is CommonLibSSE-NG 7.2.0 at commit 7a60f4de794095d7b0f8928d1b930a52e9a7da83.

Each binary release should therefore be accompanied by a source archive that contains the exact dMenu NG release source and build files, the exact pinned CommonLibSSE-NG source, and the source/build material for the non-System static and header-only dependencies incorporated into the DLL. Repository links, version numbers, and commit hashes are useful provenance and reproducibility metadata, but are not substitutes for the source archive.

Credits / Permissions

dMenu NG is a modified derivative of the original dMenu mod by dTry/D7ry.

• dMenu by dTry/D7ry
• GitHub: https://github.com/D7ry/dMenu
• Original source licensed under the MIT License

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by dTry/D7ry. All original credits remain with the original author and contributors.

Thanks to dTry for creating the original mod and open-sourcing the code, and to the authors and maintainers of CommonLibSSE-NG, Dear ImGui, SimpleIni, spdlog, xbyak, nlohmann/json, rapidcsv, rsm-binary-io, fast-cpp-csv-parser, and the other libraries used by the project.

dMenu NG optionally integrates with these projects through their public APIs.

• FLICK by Fuzzlesz.
• SKSE Menu Framework 3 by QTR-Modding, with its public API.

SimpleIME compatibility was validated with SimpleIME 2.2.1 by cyfewlp JamieYin101. SimpleIME is installed separately and is not bundled with or linked into dMenu NG.

Thanks to Risasre22 risarei for the external API integration request and compatibility feedback.

See LICENSE and NOTICE.md for license and attribution details.