thousande Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Hi I am new to the Creation Kit and have a question How do you safely test the mod you are creating? Would eg. adding something to Sanctuary mess up my settlement / save game(s)? So far I have heard of having two Fo4 installs. One for the mod development and one for the regular gaming sessions. Is starting a new game a way to go? if I make sure to disable the mod when playing regular game. Thank you in advance for pointers and advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissingMeshTV Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 I generally will test during development by COCing into the cell from the main menu without loading a save. Most of my in-progress testing during mod creation is done this way. You spawn as an unnamed base Lvl 1 character with no inventory. It’s a good way to test easily changes you have just made, and get a general sense of how/if things are working without worrying about if something is being affected by a game save. The cleanest slate you can get more or less. I have a bat file set up with some basic inventory items I can add if needed. For gameplay testing prior to release, I have a character created with no mods active, only DLC active with a save file made just after leaving Vault 111. I use that to test full gameplay with a new game, with my current mod list activated. It’s also a good idea to test the mod with a higher level character to see how your mod works adding it mid-game. Just because you clearly state a mod should be use only with a new game doesn’t mean people will actually read or heed your advice. Testing with multiple installs is always a good idea, on totally different computers with varying hardware specs if possible. I test on a low end potato laptop, a mid-range tower and my high end “main” machine. You get a much better idea of how the mod will perform with different hardware configs. Have at least one install and/or game profile with no mods or ENB installed to test with, and always make sure at least one install up to date with the latest and greatest FO4 version. I tend to let my “main” FO4 install used for gameplay lag behind a bit in updating until I know all the F4SE related mods I use have been updated. But I have another install that isn’t modded which gets updated ASAP to use for testing. You will of course develop a workflow that best suits your own habits and preferences, but testing on as many installs and/or computers as possible is extremely helpful. EDIT: The kind and amount of testing will really depend on the type of mod you are making. A heavily scripted quest mod will obviously need a more rigorous testing regimen than a LooksMenu preset, just as examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKKmods Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Doing a full mainquest run through with no mods* and named console saves at every stage change may be OTT, but that's what I have. MQ102 09 cleanMQ102 15 cleanMQ102 20 clean & etc (*) except bEnableConsoleMenuDuringSurvival=true to get the actual console to save in survival of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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