RTFM: A guide for those new to modding.

[WandererZero]

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of people and especially new folks, struggle with modding. This is not a guide per se. There are plenty of guides on how to install AAF, or Animations, enable Papyrus logging or how to get CBBE working...think of this as more of a "best practices" manual...and in many ways just as important as any guide you will read.  

 

The first thing to understand: Crashes happen. Crashes to the desktop are a fact of life when modding any Bethesda product. In 5 Billion years, when the Sun expands and eventually destroys the Earth, the last person playing a Bethesda game will still encounter crashes. This is the bane of  playing these games. You have to learn to cope on some level, but...don't despair. There are steps you can take to mitigate and even help yourself. Adopting some or all of these will help. 

 

I follow some basic rules for modding, as well as some personal rules. But let's begin. This may run long, apologies in advance. 

 

My rig: 
I run an overclocked i7 6700K, 32 GB RAM. GTX 1080 8GB, also overclocked. My overclocks are stress tested and stable. My chipsets hover around 27 to 29 C while idle. CPU is water cooled with an AIO, nothing special. My GTX is air cooled with an aftermarket fan. Sounds impressive right? It's really not. While Fallout 4 can run on a wide variety of hardware....it still can be a punishing experience. There are spots in downtown where my FPS will drop like a Raider hit with a fatman shell. Good hardware is nice, but it's not the be all/end all. 

 

My mod load: 
I run well over 200 mods. That's not including ESL's. I have a lot of clothing mods converted to ESL. Now for the important bit: I keep careful watch not only over what I install, but in what order I install things. I use Mod Organizer 2, but I used to use NexusModManager. Ultimately, you should use the mod manager you're comfortable with...but please, use mod management. Manually installing mods is a thing you can do, but nobody really recommends it as a general rule. 

 

Rules I follow: 

So, there are ways to mitigate and keep your crashing down. In the early days, I used to crash here and there; like many others, downtown was often the trouble, typically due to drawcalls, spawns, etc. I also used to get a lot of "line of sight" crashes. Where everything is humming along, and you look a certain direction and BAM....CTD. Over time, as mods got more stable, and best practices started evolving....I started doing little things to keep my crash load to a minimum. The goal here, again...is best practices. These are things you should be doing generally as you mod, install mods, and keep your install healthy. 

 

Rule #1: Stop flogging save files.

 

Seriously. Stop this. I get that people get attached to their toons; I do too. It's cool. However, counterpoint: If you're on a PC, with Looksmenu, Game Configuration Menu, and Cheat Terminal, and ESP Explorer... you can whip up a new character that can replace your old toon, with all the same gear and experience in about 15 minutes.  Yes, your quest trail is lost but so what? Think of it like New Game Plus. Or get StartMeUp and try something new. Don't @ me with "ZOMG, BUT THAT'S CHEATING".... if you've been playing since day one, and you haven't opened the console...you honestly don't know what you're missing. You paid for the content, expand your horizons here. I see folks asking for support on saves they've had since release day, with multiple mods installed/uninstalled...over all this time. Stop. Flogging. Saves. Recreate your character, but stop flogging save files.

 

Yes, there are people who successfully keep their saves tidy and neat and clean....with a minimum of problems; but listen carefully: Such folks, and their saves are the exception, and not the rule. Many of those folks running very old save files are more often than not wizards of the realm. They have a lot of experience, and they understand the game, the engine and the formats better than most. You'll get there someday too. But for now, realize that it's quicker, easier to recreate than it is to try and resurrect a dead save. 

 

Rule #2: LOOT is not a solve all.

 

Don't @ me with how LOOT is GREAT, or LOOT IS TERRIBLE, YOU SHOULDN'T USE IT! I do use it. Sparingly, but I use it on occasion. But then you know what I do? I still look over my load order and make corrections. I  re-organize stuff I know LOOT misses, or may have messed up.

 

Important point, pay attention:  There is no such thing as a program that will magically make your load order 100% trouble & crash free. Understanding your load order is crucial. 

 

Rule #3: If you use ENB, SweetFX, Reshade:

 

I use ENB, with a preset. There are about 4-5 different places I need to go in order to make sure my video runs right. Oh, so you turned off VSync huh? Where? In ENB? In the Fallout.ini? In NVidia Profiler? You still need to cap it, and you need to touch your configs to harmonize things, otherwise you're gonna have a bad time. If you update your Nvidia drivers, double check your profile again in Profiler....because NVidia sucks at retention. 

 

 

Rule #4: Try Fallout4ConfigTool.exe:

 

Learn what the main settings do, and make sure you tune things to again, harmonize with your setup. Learning how to tune Fallout 4's performance is one of those things that can become a rabbit hole, but you should at least try to make sure everything is at least generally tuned. Bilago's tool is really good for this because many of the the settings have well written tooltips telling you what they do, and what will and will not impact performance. 

 

Rule #5: Adding Mods. 

 

Add one mod at a time.

Add one mod at a time.

grabs you by the sides of your head and stares into your skull, speaking in a demonic voice:  ADD ONE MOD AT A TIME.

 

Add one, see what things are like, then add the next. Don't go "mod shopping" and add a bunch of stuff like you're a kid in a candy store. This will only accomplish two things: 

 

1. You will start to experience problems. 
2. You will drive people crazy when you ask for help, because like you, they'll have no idea what could be causing the issue with so many different mods being installed at the same time. 

 

It will needlessly complicate your effort to get help when a problem does occur, and what can wind up happening is...your problem does not get solved and people on both sides wind up frustrated. It's a sucky thing. Don't go for the sucky thing. Add only one mod at a time. 

 

Rule #6: Updating.

 

If you rely on F4SE mods (and I do) make sure you have yourself set to not to update. Only update when your F4SE mods have updated. Might take a week or so. Make sure you track those mods on Nexus and LoversLab. When you see all those lovely F4SE mods in your track list at the top....update.

 

Keep a backup of your Fallout4.exe in case your game gets updated accidentally. While I know there is a mod which makes a backup of the Fallout4.exe....I would encourage you to make a folder in your game directory and make a copy yourself. I've had automatic solutions fail. If you do it yourself, you know it's done and can rest easier. 

 

Rule #7: Keep Multiple Saves, don't rely too much on autosaves.  

 

Keep multiple saves via Esc-> Save, or use AutoSaveManager if you can. Sometimes, saves get borked. Even mine. This is why I try to make sure I have a good line of saves to fall back on. This is less of a problem if you stop flogging saves, and only have a couple playthroughs. 

 

Rule #8: Learn to read the whole post/description of the mod you're about to install. 

 

There aren't enough humans in the world with fingers for me to count the number of times I, or someone else could have avoided a bug or issue that was actually not an issue had a I read things completely. We're all guilty of this, but many of us don't like to admit it. I've done it, you've done it, everyone has done it. Just remember, if you don't read the instructions....you're already a step behind. 

 

 

These days, I rarely CTD. When I do, it's because of recent updates...or because of a new update that's introduced some kind of a bug. Even downtown, there the FPS can get so low you have to dig to find them....I rarely CTD, and when I do, it's almost always a sight line CTD. A reload later, I'm fine. I live by these, they're the law and they're not hard to follow. I didn't always have the rig I have now, I started with Fallout 4 on a Lenovo Laptop with an NVidia GTX970M, wanna talk about fun...A lot of it is learned common sense, when you get right down to it...but if nobody shares their hard won knowledge...nobody benefits, and the problems compound themselves. 

 

Anything to add? Feel free! The more people share their experience with just modding in general, the better it gets for new folks, and the ones who try to help. 

 

Cheers! 

[Orkekum]

Sorry for stupid question.

And sorry for limited english vocabulary as English is not my language at home.

 

What does "

On 4/9/2019 at 2:16 AM, WandererZero said:

Rule #1: Stop flogging save files.

 mean? 

What do you do when you Flog(?) saves?

[WandererZero]

2 hours ago, Orkekum said:

mean? 

What do you do when you Flog(?) saves?

Keep using them. You shouldn't get attached to Save files. I know folks who keep trying to load old saves from years ago. It's relatively easy to recreate a character, especially now. I never get too attached to save files anymore. If they won't load, they won't load....if they have weird dependencies attached, I just start a new game.

 

There's nothing wrong with wanting to load older save files. But supporting them is, in many cases impossible...especially old ones.

[Orkekum]

22 minutes ago, WandererZero said:

Keep using them. You shouldn't get attached to Save files. I know folks who keep trying to load old saves from years ago. It's relatively easy to recreate a character, especially now. I never get too attached to save files anymore. If they won't load, they won't load....if they have weird dependencies attached, I just start a new game.

 

There's nothing wrong with wanting to load older save files. But supporting them is, in many cases impossible...especially old ones.

ah that, thanks a plenty for answer!
 

[riheyedi]

Fallout 4 is still a puzzle for me with the fashions on this site, I'm using Mo2 and I'm doing fine with Skyrim and the special edition.

I've been trying it for hours and then I'll come back a few months later and try again but I can't get it to work.

I don't understand English very well, maybe that's where it comes from, but why isn't there a package like Skyrim?

Is there a tutorial ? or better yet a fashion list that I can see the ones that need to be installed.

I had found one on this site but the modes are not up to date and so nothing works.

I would have liked to know also if it's wanted like this guide that doesn't say the modes to install nor their order? 

 

[Indarello]

7 hours ago, riheyedi said:

Fallout 4 is still a puzzle for me with the fashions on this site, I'm using Mo2 and I'm doing fine with Skyrim and the special edition.

I've been trying it for hours and then I'll come back a few months later and try again but I can't get it to work.

I don't understand English very well, maybe that's where it comes from, but why isn't there a package like Skyrim?

Is there a tutorial ? or better yet a fashion list that I can see the ones that need to be installed.

I had found one on this site but the modes are not up to date and so nothing works.

I would have liked to know also if it's wanted like this guide that doesn't say the modes to install nor their order? 

 

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/139374-aaf-up-to-date-adult-oriented-setup-guide-18032020/

[Bidlink]

thanks for this! ill be sure to use it for when i do get fallout 4 again

[BillyG]

On 4/8/2019 at 11:16 PM, WandererZero said:

Rule #5: Adding Mods. 

 

Add one mod at a time.

Add one mod at a time.

grabs you by the sides of your head and stares into your skull, speaking in a demonic voice:  ADD ONE MOD AT A TIME.

 

 

Well, yes, that sounds reasonable. Has anyone ever done that :-p and calculated the time it takes to hundreds of mods installed one by one with intermediate playing tests?

 

An alternative seems to be to read through some guides of mods known to work together (like the STEP guide), and when installing othere mods to really check the compatibilty list and look if there are conflicts in xedit.  Always keep backup profiles (in MO2) like "working mod list on xx.yy.zz" so you can backtrack when things got screwed up, and then isolate the problem by deactivate half of the new mods to box in the problem.

 

Personally, I'm installing tons of mods at one time - which does screw things up - just to have a look at them, many are not worth keeping anyway or do about the same thing like the tons of DD npc conversation mods. But after some time, I settle for a stable combination. A modded Skyrim SE and FO4 seems to be a lot more stable than FNVW was.

[WandererZero]

2 hours ago, BillyG said:

Personally, I'm installing tons of mods at one time - which does screw things up - just to have a look at them, many are not worth keeping anyway or do about the same thing like the tons of DD npc conversation mods.

 

Except, this was written for new folks...who are new to modding...and lack the following:

• A well versed and working knowledge of what mods are available.
• A well versed and working knowledge of things like load order.
• A well versed and working knowledge of things like which mod manager works best for their needs.
• A well versed and working knowledge of what kind of game type they're looking to build for.
• A well versed and  working knowledge of mod related vocabulary, of words like 'xedit', 'STEP', 'MO2', 'DD' etc.

I realize that perhaps with your reply, you meant well, however...let's cut to the chase: This guide wasn't written for you.

 

It was written for people who are new to the table. What's reasonable to you, or me isn't relevant. It's not. This guide is aimed at people with no working knowledge, or best practices. I add tons of mods at a time too. But I also know what I'm doing.

 

"It works for me" is the most abjectly stupid response one can give to someone looking for help to solve a problem. If this guide helps a new user to stop, add a mod or two, then proceed to the next bit of what they want...(and this guide has done that...) then it's a success.

 

The alternatives you mentioned, work for someone who has that built up bank of knowledge already....for most newcomers, they're pointless. So, again, while you meant well...the points I posted are valid, reasonable, and even helpful for the people who help, who are sitting in #fallout4-talk on the LL Discord server, as well as some of the more popular mod discords. 

 

I speak from experience when I said this:

On 4/8/2019 at 6:16 PM, WandererZero said:

1. You will drive people crazy when you ask for help, because like you, they'll have no idea what could be causing the issue with so many different mods being installed at the same time. 

 

It will needlessly complicate your effort to get help when a problem does occur, and what can wind up happening is...your problem does not get solved and people on both sides wind up frustrated. It's a sucky thing. Don't go for the sucky thing. Add only one mod at a time.

 

Because I and others have encountered this time and again. Typically from new users, and it's exacerbated by the fact that some sites, and software make it appear as if Modding is just plug and play.

 

It's not.

 

Anyhow, appreciate your sentiment, but it's really irrelevant here, and to this guide.

 

Cheers.

Edited August 8, 2021 by WandererZero

[BillyG]

17 minutes ago, WandererZero said:

Anyhow, appreciate your sentiment, but it's really irrelevant here, and to this guide.

 

Well, thanks for your reply, I'm leaving my reply above in this thread anyway in case someone new wants to have a perpective how it could be done when being less new. Personally, I have done it differently back in the days even when I was new - so ymmv.

[brawlgasm]

brand new to modding coming from console and just built a pc. i know im going to make that kid in a candy store mistake trying to get my game ultra modded like others

[WandererZero]

2 hours ago, brawlgasm said:

i know im going to make that kid in a candy store mistake trying to get my game ultra modded like others

[georgechalkias]

Funnily enough, I did half of these mistakes, heh. I'm new to modding as of 2nd January of this year and... yeah. I was like, wow lots of mods! Download, download. Downloaded 50? I'm gonna play for 10 minutes. Close. Download 50 more fancy mods.

 

Repeat it till you reach up to 240 mods and suddenly you start crashing. Actually, I would probably be crashing into 50-100 mods already if I was actually playing instead of being busy mod-shopping. You can't know if a mod is crashing your game until you truly play the game for 1hr or less.

On top of that, there are plenty mods you barely play with or experiment around. For example, I wanted to play Sims Settlement 2 but I never did so its mod install was useless/burden.

 

Due to random weird crashes (most notable mesh nif crash), I decided (with some convincing my some cool modders) to give up the save, uninstall every mod and start loading five by five. 

Furthermore, what I do is this;

 

Now, I got a few questions if you don't mind answering.

1. Is it bad to install/load mods 5 by 5 and test running through the map (most notably near Bunker Hill and Boston/Diamond City - where I kept crashing)? Should I install one mod per time instead? What I do so far is 5 per test.

For example; load 5 mods. New save (using SKK Fast Start), go to areas suspected of crash, save game. Gun/run around the suspected crashy areas at least 3-5 times (by loading to save). If no crash, move to next 5 mods.

 

2. How do you test your game and see if it crashes? Do you go to known crashing places and go gun-blazing, run around the area/city, etc?

That's what I do atm; I start from Bunker Hill and gun/run through Boston and Diamond, maybe surrounding areas. If no crashes, I try the run again for 3-4 times even if that will take me 20 total minutes of testing. How do you test? How long do you test before deciding it's time to install your next mod?

 

3. How do you know if Mod1 should be sorted in load list behind Mod5, hypothetically speaking? I've no idea how mod management works, ngl.

 

I wish I read this guide before experimenting with the mods, aahhhh. @WandererZero

 

Weirdly enough, I would crash fairly randomly. Like, say you go to Location 1, you crash. You load, go there again, no crash. You load to previous save, go to Location 1 and no crash yet again. You do that twice more again until you crash on the third try. You don't crash on 4th and 5th time till 6th time. Why's that? A NPC tried to spawn with an outfit/hair/tattoo/weapon that is broken enough to cause crashes?

Edited January 10, 2023 by georgechalkias

[WandererZero]

26 minutes ago, georgechalkias said:

Now, I got a few questions if you don't mind answering.

1. Is it bad to install/load mods 5 by 5 and test running through the map (most notably near Bunker Hill and Boston/Diamond City - where I kept crashing)? Should I install one mod per time instead? What I do so far is 5 per test.

For example; load 5 mods. New save (using SKK Fast Start), go to areas suspected of crash, save game. Gun/run around the suspected crashy areas at least 3-5 times (by loading to save). If no crash, move to next 5 mods.

 

Texture mods? Might be okay. Script heavy mods? Not so much.

 

Until you learn more about load orders, and how management works...as well as developing a basic understanding of what kinds of mods can be dumped in easily (like, for instance, a texture mod) and which will require going slow (like a script heavy mod, or say...installing FNIS in Skyrim, or AAF in FO4) then you absolutely should stick to doing one at a time. It's going to save you time in the long run. Especially when it comes to sorting, and re-arranging load orders.

 

26 minutes ago, georgechalkias said:

 

2. How do you test your game and see if it crashes? Do you go to known crashing places and go gun-blazing, run around the area/city, etc?

That's what I do atm; I start from Bunker Hill and gun/run through Boston and Diamond, maybe surrounding areas. If no crashes, I try the run again for 3-4 times even if that will take me 20 total minutes of testing. How do you test? How long do you test before deciding it's time to install your next mod?

 

Again, it depends on what I'm testing; and again...you need time to learn how different kinds of mods affect things. If I am dropping in something with a new location, or textures...I go to that area, and check everything..what I am often looking for there are broken precombines, etc. As for length of time....if you're able to play the game for a few minutes....you should be fine. Check that the functions for the mod you installed work, etc.

 

26 minutes ago, georgechalkias said:

 

3. How do you know if Mod1 should be sorted in load list behind Mod5, hypothetically speaking? I've no idea how mod management works, ngl.

 

You can start with LOOT, but when it comes to things like, again....textures, you want to make sure they're placed lower in the load order to they overwrite what it is you're trying to replace. Same with scripts in some cases as well.

 

33 minutes ago, georgechalkias said:

I've no idea how mod management works, ngl.

 

Pick one. Either Vortex or MO2 and learn. I tend not to coddle folks on this point. Learning how to use a mod manager, and more importantly....how and why it does what it does...is critical. As much as Nexus, Wabbajack, etc tries to promote the idea that modding is plug and play...

 

IT. IS. NOT.

 

There's a learning curve, there's almost always going to be the need to tweak here and there. So pick a manager, learn how it works, and why. Learn about load orders, and why you want mods higher (loading first) or lower (loading last, and potentially overwriting parts of mods higher up in the LO) in the LO. Learn about solving file conflicts. Learn how to use Bodyslide. If you're in Skyrim...learn how to use FNIS. If you're in Fallout 4, learn how to use AAF and XML load orders.

 

Understanding these things is not a 5 minute read. It's a process not unlike playing the game: as you learn, you gain experience...as you gain that experience...you're able to "level up" so to speak, and do more and more advanced stuff with modding.

 

There's no plug and play. There's no easy answers. There's no magical vibrator of INT+10 that will turn you into a mod master.

 

It takes time, patience, and effort.

Cheers! ?

WZ

[Miauzi]

Vor 15 Minuten sagte Georgechalkias:

Komischerweise habe ich die Hälfte dieser Fehler gemacht, heh. Ich bin seit dem 2. Januar dieses Jahres neu beim Modden und ... ja. Ich dachte, wow, viele Mods! Herunterladen, herunterladen. 50 heruntergeladen? Ich werde 10 Minuten spielen. Nah dran. Laden Sie 50 weitere ausgefallene Mods herunter.

 

Wiederholen Sie es, bis Sie bis zu 240 Mods erreichen und plötzlich abstürzen. Eigentlich würde ich wahrscheinlich schon in 50-100 Mods krachen, wenn ich tatsächlich spielen würde, anstatt damit beschäftigt zu sein, Mods zu kaufen . Sie können nicht wissen, ob ein Mod Ihr Spiel zum Absturz bringt, bis Sie das Spiel wirklich für 1 Stunde oder weniger spielen.

Darüber hinaus gibt es viele Mods, mit denen Sie kaum spielen oder herumexperimentieren können. Zum Beispiel wollte ich Sims Settlement 2 spielen, aber ich habe es nie getan, also war die Mod-Installation nutzlos / belastend.

 

Aufgrund zufälliger seltsamer Abstürze (am bemerkenswertesten Mesh-NIF-Absturz) entschied ich mich (mit einigen überzeugenden einigen coolen Moddern), das Speichern aufzugeben, jeden Mod zu deinstallieren und fünf mal fünf zu laden. 

Außerdem mache ich folgendes;

 

Nun, ich habe ein paar Fragen, wenn es Ihnen nichts ausmacht, sie zu beantworten.

1. Ist es schlecht, Mods 5 mal 5 zu installieren/laden und das Laufen durch die Karte zu testen (insbesondere in der Nähe von Bunker Hill und Boston/Diamond City – wo ich immer wieder abstürzte)? Soll ich stattdessen einen Mod pro Mal installieren? Was ich bisher mache, ist 5 pro Test.

Zum Beispiel; 5 Mods laden. Neu speichern (mit SKK Fast Start), absturzverdächtige Bereiche aufsuchen, Spiel speichern. Schießen/rennen Sie mindestens 3-5 Mal um die mutmaßlichen Absturzbereiche herum (durch Laden zum Speichern). Wenn kein Absturz, fahren Sie mit den nächsten 5 Mods fort.

 

2. Wie testen Sie Ihr Spiel und sehen, ob es abstürzt? Gehst du zu bekannten Absturzorten und schießt mit Waffen, rennst durch die Gegend/Stadt usw.?

Das mache ich atm; Ich starte in Bunker Hill und schieße/laufe durch Boston und Diamond, vielleicht in die Umgebung. Wenn keine Abstürze auftreten, versuche ich den Lauf 3-4 Mal erneut, auch wenn ich dafür insgesamt 20 Testminuten benötige. Wie testen Sie? Wie lange testen Sie, bevor Sie entscheiden, dass es an der Zeit ist, Ihren nächsten Mod zu installieren?

 

3. Woher wissen Sie, ob Mod1 hypothetisch in der Ladeliste hinter Mod5 einsortiert werden sollte? Ich habe keine Ahnung, wie das Mod-Management funktioniert, ngl.

 

Ich wünschte, ich würde diese Anleitung lesen, bevor ich mit den Mods experimentiere, aahhhh. @WandererZero

 

Seltsamerweise würde ich ziemlich zufällig abstürzen. Angenommen, Sie gehen zu Standort 1, Sie stürzen ab. Sie laden, gehen Sie wieder dorthin, kein Absturz. Sie laden zum vorherigen Speichern, gehen zu Position 1 und noch einmal kein Absturz. Das machst du noch zweimal, bis du beim dritten Versuch abstürzt. Sie stürzen nicht beim 4. und 5. Mal bis zum 6. Mal ab. Warum ist das? Ein NPC hat versucht, mit einem Outfit/Haar/Tattoo/Waffe zu spawnen, das kaputt genug ist, um Abstürze zu verursachen?

 

Well - the thread is 1 year old

but also I have over 250 mod in my installation and I proceed in a similar way - albeit different in some details from the thread opener:

 

to point 3. how do you know?

from the description of mods - there is plenty to read and understand - but something like this takes time and experience

some things are quite simple:

A framework - i.e. something that provides a framework for other mods to make them work - must of course always be loaded by the game BEFORE the mods that depend on it (this framework).

A language mod - which, for example, provides subtitles in German for me - must of course always be loaded AFTER the mod - for which it provides this

other things can be quite complex - so there are mods that "overwrite" certain things of another mod and thus a third mod accesses the wrong data/content (models, textures, etc.).
Then one often reads -> please put BACK in the loading sequence as far as possible
you often have to do this "manually" - since the (automatic) mod organizer cannot recognize such things

and you have to dare to ask in forums - but please always state very precisely what kind of problem you have...
...and don't get angry if the helpful other side can't see through the crystal ball what's going on in detail
("Do you have a crystal ball - do you have a goddamn crystal ball" - "Mine is in the workshop")

 

---

to point 3.
testing:

no - there is NO standard procedure
just a few things that seem logical:

Mods for clothing, armor, etc.
install, build models (body slide)
Start the game and build things (if that's possible) or cheat on the console
use - e.g. put on armor

Ouestmods
install, start the game and "play" the quest
I'll take the mod "Depravity" as an example

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35513

Testing is easy
-> if the little girl is not standing on the street in concord - the mod is not installed
-> if you can't talk to the little girl about her "boyfriend" Murphy -> the mod is buggy

Mods that change the landscape
is probably quite obvious - that something is wrong if the landscape is not changed

etc. etc.

 

----

to point 1 ALWAYS test complex mods INDIVIDUALLY

so if you have 50 new mods - it may take several weeks - or you risk...

 

[georgechalkias]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Very helpful!

 

1 hour ago, Miauzi said:

 

Well - the thread is 1 year old

but also I have over 250 mod in my installation and I proceed in a similar way - albeit different in some details from the thread opener:

 

to point 3. how do you know?

from the description of mods - there is plenty to read and understand - but something like this takes time and experience

some things are quite simple:

A framework - i.e. something that provides a framework for other mods to make them work - must of course always be loaded by the game BEFORE the mods that depend on it (this framework).

A language mod - which, for example, provides subtitles in German for me - must of course always be loaded AFTER the mod - for which it provides this

other things can be quite complex - so there are mods that "overwrite" certain things of another mod and thus a third mod accesses the wrong data/content (models, textures, etc.).
Then one often reads -> please put BACK in the loading sequence as far as possible
you often have to do this "manually" - since the (automatic) mod organizer cannot recognize such things

and you have to dare to ask in forums - but please always state very precisely what kind of problem you have...
...and don't get angry if the helpful other side can't see through the crystal ball what's going on in detail
("Do you have a crystal ball - do you have a goddamn crystal ball" - "Mine is in the workshop")

 

---

to point 3.
testing:

no - there is NO standard procedure
just a few things that seem logical:

Mods for clothing, armor, etc.
install, build models (body slide)
Start the game and build things (if that's possible) or cheat on the console
use - e.g. put on armor

Ouestmods
install, start the game and "play" the quest
I'll take the mod "Depravity" as an example

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35513

Testing is easy
-> if the little girl is not standing on the street in concord - the mod is not installed
-> if you can't talk to the little girl about her "boyfriend" Murphy -> the mod is buggy

Mods that change the landscape
is probably quite obvious - that something is wrong if the landscape is not changed

etc. etc.

 

----

to point 1 ALWAYS test complex mods INDIVIDUALLY

so if you have 50 new mods - it may take several weeks - or you risk...

 

 

That's right, actually.

When I installed new outfits, I just spawned them and wore them on. No issues. Same for weapons, new companions (Heather, Ellen), etc.

What issue I started to face (before eventually removing every mod and start loading few by few) is that I would get random crash when near/in cities. Logs would say Mesh Inf crash with LooseFileStream : 2 error. I initially suspected it was because of CBBE, BodyTalk3, 3BBB, OCBP, etc but it could be something else of course. 

I could list more but this is another topic to discuss haha.

Which is why I asked how mods are generally tested.

 

Ty once again!

[Miauzi]

Vor 11 Minuten sagte Georgechalkias:

Danke für die Antworten, Jungs. Sehr hilfreich!

 

 

Das stimmt eigentlich.

Wenn ich neue Outfits installiert habe, habe ich sie einfach gespawnt und angezogen. Keine Probleme. Gleiches gilt für Waffen, neue Gefährten (Heather, Ellen) usw.

Das Problem, mit dem ich konfrontiert wurde (bevor ich schließlich jeden Mod entfernte und nach und nach zu laden begann), war, dass ich in der Nähe von / in Städten einen zufälligen Absturz bekam. Protokolle würden sagen, dass Mesh Inf mit dem Fehler LooseFileStream : 2 abstürzt. Ich vermutete zunächst, dass es an CBBE, BodyTalk3, 3BBB, OCBP usw. lag, aber es könnte natürlich etwas anderes sein. 

Ich könnte noch mehr aufzählen, aber das ist ein anderes Thema, über das wir diskutieren sollten, haha.

Deshalb habe ich gefragt, wie Mods im Allgemeinen getestet werden.

 

Ty noch einmal!

 

 

the downtown boston thing is quite complex - we had a thread on it just recently

please read and maybe you can find one or the other hint that will help you

 

 

[WandererZero]

6 hours ago, Miauzi said:

Well - the thread is 1 year old

but also I have over 250 mod in my installation and I proceed in a similar way - albeit different in some details from the thread opener

 

Indeed.

 

When I started the thread I was running about 250 mods or so.

 

My current LO in Fallout 4 is 523. It's my second build out. My current LO for Skyrim SE is 682. Both of them have a pretty good mix of ESP's and ESL's. Since the advent of ESL, I try to avoid merging if I can. Not that it's necessarily hard, more like...it's an annoyance I don't want to have to deal with. Circling back.

 

Both Skyrim and FO4 run fine for me. I need to rebuild my TTW (Tale of Two Wastelands) build at some point, but other than that...I rarely have issues with Bethesda games anymore when modding. The last big annoyance I had was when I hit the .ba2 limit in Fallout 4, because I forgot there was a limit on .ba2's. But hey, I'm old. Sometimes I can't hear myself think over the sound of my arteries hardening.

 

When this guide was pinned, it was then (and is now) meant as more of a "best practices" guide, rather than some static list of things to do.

 

That said, I should perhaps edit and update the top post. I'll try to get around to doing that in the next day or so. It's not that anything has really changed per se...but, I probably have some more experience I can add to it for new folks finding their way here, and looking for advice on starting out.

 

Cheerio!

WZ

[Daangerousda]

On 8/8/2021 at 12:11 PM, BillyG said:

 

Well, yes, that sounds reasonable. Has anyone ever done that ? and calculated the time it takes to hundreds of mods installed one by one with intermediate playing tests?

 

An alternative seems to be to read through some guides of mods known to work together (like the STEP guide), and when installing othere mods to really check the compatibilty list and look if there are conflicts in xedit.  Always keep backup profiles (in MO2) like "working mod list on xx.yy.zz" so you can backtrack when things got screwed up, and then isolate the problem by deactivate half of the new mods to box in the problem.

 

Personally, I'm installing tons of mods at one time - which does screw things up - just to have a look at them, many are not worth keeping anyway or do about the same thing like the tons of DD npc conversation mods. But after some time, I settle for a stable combination. A modded Skyrim SE and FO4 seems to be a lot more stable than FNVW was.

I agree, I install over 100 mods all at once to get all my AAF working , then test and make sure before adding content mods, which is when I begin testing between mod installs.  Secondly, You don't need an I7 processor over clocked, or a 1080 GTX GPU.  I play on a Core 2 Quad Extreme 9650, 8 gigs ram at 800 mhz, and until a couple weeks ago my GPU was a GTX 750 ti 2 gig memorey.  I streamed, recorded, web cammed,  and upload to PH as a varified model on a 13 year old Dinosaur.

I don't want people to get discouraged because they have much weaker machines.  AAF works perfectly on much older machines when you follow the "The Fucking Manual" exactly.  So, for people on regular old PC can compare their machine to this, my 13 year old home made PC That simply flies through the game in any area, max settings, even downtown while streaming /recording/ and fighting / web camming , full suit AAF on max Ultra settings.

 

This is an example of my current streaming capability on oldy:  WARNING! DISTURBING PUSSY STRETCHING FOOTAGE   https://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=655adf8d9312d&t=27

 

Fallout is not nearly as demanding as some would have you believe;  This is my over decade old home made computer specs: 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Daangerousda
forgot previous RAM count

[pulledpork]

Thanks for the guide, I think it's very good too. It helps and simply offers valuable tips