A good way to test your mod safely

[thousande]

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

[MissingMeshTV]

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.

[SKKmods]

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 clean

MQ102 15 clean

MQ102 20 clean

& etc

 

(*) except bEnableConsoleMenuDuringSurvival=true to get the actual console to save in survival of course.