Suggestions on How to Make Your Life Easier When, not if, You Have Problems

When modding Skyrim you are always going to run into "issues." Some of these are going to be more of a problem than others. This post details some of the things I've learned to do (or others have learned to do and suggested to me) in order to make hunting my problems down a lot easier. The reader is likely to note that any number of the suggestions given here were also given for other purposes on other posts. Be that as it may, all of these suggestions are made with the idea that, when the time comes to hunt down the problem and fix it, I want the path to the solution to be as simple and straightforward as possible. 

1. First, and foremost, once you have a stable load order (or starting from scratch have just finished following Donttouchmethere's guide) only add a few mods at a time!

More specifically, try not to add more than 5-10 mods onto a stable load order at any one time. This keeps the number of potential culprits down when things go south. When you have something happen, you will have only a small pool of mods to look at for the cause making finding the problem much simpler.

So, you ask, which is it, five mods or ten? It depends largely on the type of mod that you are loading. As a general rule, and to avoid controversy using terms like "resource heavy", I suggest that you look at the number of lines of dialogue that the mods add. So, bearing in mind that there are further guidelines that deal with this below, if a mod adds no dialogue at all (like an armor or weapon mod) I would be looking at going for the upper limit and maybe even a couple more. If, on the other hand, I am looking at a mod that has several thousand lines of dialogue (oh yes, these exist) I would suggest loading only that mod and the mods it requires (if you don't already have them). In my experience, the more lines of dialogue a mod has, the more complex the mod is in general and the more likely it is that something will go wrong (not so much with the mod itself but with the manner in which it interacts with other mods). And with those in between and with a mix of mod types I would suggest going for a number of mods somewhere in the middle.

2. Check for mod updates.

Whenever a mod that you are using does an update you will want to update to the newer version because your other mods are going to update and may depend on the newer material.

On the other hand, unless you are a masochist or enjoy being a beta tester, I encourage you to wait until the mod's support thread indicates that any issues with the update have been resolved. This typically takes 2-4 weeks.

2a. Early releases.

Stay away from mods that are in alpha unless testing mods and solving problems is something that gives you joy. I also generally recommend against beta versions of mods except where the author is evidently a perfectionist and is not going to call the mod complete until given a medal for extraordinary mod development for it. It is not hard to find out how long the author has had the mod in beta (shoot, Nexus Mod Manager is still officially in beta, for example).

A special piece of advice that Donttouchmethere asked me to add: "for nexus mods: if it needs more than 3 patches ruuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

3. Be certain that any mod you add has had a recent update and still has someone monitoring it (so there is support thread help) or has proven to be extremely stable (this last may be difficult to come by).

Recent is, of course, with a game that has only been out a few years, a relative term. Again, to be more specific, I would avoid any mod that has not had an update within the last three years. The presence of the mod's author on the support thread (or someone who has taken over that role from the author) would make me more comfortable with using that mod. If I go to the support thread and the last post by anyone is over a year old or the author (or their delegate) hasn't been on for 2 years I would stay far away from that mod. Having said that, there will always be exceptions and, if you have a strong recommendation from someone you trust, go for it. You can always go back to the person whose recommendation you took and ask them what went wrong.

4. Limit the number of mods that do the same thing.

While you may want to add many mods that do the same thing eventually in order to get just the effects that you want, it is prudent to add them one at a time. In that manner, if an issue arises, you will have a much better idea from where it comes. Mods types that fit this include:

> one weather mod

> one light mod

> one NPC replacer

> one AI overhaul

> one armor/weapon replacer

> one water mod

> spell mod

> idle replacer

5. A couple of last thoughts (Miscellany).

If you add a mod that has soft requirements it is a good idea to load at least one of those requirements. Some mods need at least one (any one) of their soft requirements in order to work properly. While this is not always true, loading one is prudent.

Be very, very careful when loading any mod that might overwrite your skeleton. In general, this should be considered as a mortal blow against using the mod if it says it will do this. However, a good mod author can overwrite the skeleton but you should be aware that you may very well be asking for problems if you use it.