Help me avoid rookie mistakes (SSE)

[Wejjoo]

Hi,

I don't know if this topic should have been in troubleshooting, but since I do not have a specific problem with a mod i decided to post it here instead.

I'm relatively new to modding but have researched a fair bit and have gotten better at it as I've progressed. After a couple of days learning all the tools and looking for different mods I finally feel satisfied with the mods I've chosen and I now want to start playing the game. However, I read somewhere that uninstalling a mod with scripts will result in a corrupted save and will require a clean install. Is this true? I'm almost certain that I've tested a mod with scripts and then decided to uninstall it. Are my saves corrupted? I have one save that CTD when I load it, but that one wasn't created with all the current mods.

Should I just do a clean install, finish Helgen, and install all mods after that?

I've done various things to make the game more stable, I'm not sure if it's relevant for this topic but I'll list them anyway.

- Used LOOT for load order

- Used Wrye Bash to both check for old plugins and to get a bashed patch (However this patch was made before I was finished with my mod list)

- Individually checked all plugins in SSEEdit to make sure that they were form 44

- Updated some plugins that only were .nif in form 43 by extracting, nifoptimize, save in CK64 etc.
- Used SSEEdit to clean automatically and manually for everything, no warnings in LOOT
- Used a patcher found on Nexus that detected all patches needed

- Used BethINI to optimize INI settings

 

I haven't played long enough to see any serious problems, and from what I've played so far, everything seems to play nice and the game seems stable, but I'm not sure if I'm making a rookie mistake somewhere or if it's just general knowledge that you always make a clean install when you've decided on the mods you're going to run

Thanks

Edited August 19, 2018 by Wejjoo

[HadToRegister]

Always remake your Bash Patch when adding/removing mods.

 

Yes, you shouldn't remove mods in the middle of gameplay, it's the worst thing you can do

 

One more rookie mistake, is you posted about Skyrim Special Edition, in the Skyrim forum, instead of the Skyrim Special Edition Forum :laugh:

[gromulos]

you can VERY easily check to see if your saves are broken with one handy tool :smile:

 

Wrye Bash / Smash - link in my siggy :smile:

 

1) when you open Wrye click on the saves tab up top

2) colors explained - worst to best:

 

red = start over, period

Orange = broken, "recommended" to start over

Green = usually this just means the load order was changed and you "should" be ok :smile:

Purple = 100% good to go :smile:

 

also "HadToRegister" was correct on all points

 

The fact that you're "already" working with .nif files means you are FAR ahead of most "beginners" lol :D

Edited August 19, 2018 by gromulos

[Wejjoo]

Hey,

Thanks for both answers. I didn't realize that there was a SSE forum, my apologies.

What is considered middle of gameplay? Is it a save or a game installation? I only have "test" saves right now that I can delete without any regrets. I haven't started my "main" save yet. If I start a new save and don't change any mods or anything after creating it, will it be fine?

I checked the saves tab in Wrye Bash. Every save was green or blue

[HadToRegister]

Hey,

 

Thanks for both answers. I didn't realize that there was a SSE forum, my apologies.

 

What is considered middle of gameplay? Is it a save or a game installation? I only have "test" saves right now that I can delete without any regrets. I haven't started my "main" save yet. If I start a new save and don't change any mods or anything after creating it, will it be fine?

 

I checked the saves tab in Wrye Bash. Every save was green or blue

 

"Middle of gameplay" = a character that you're seriously invested in, and are working on the main quest and side quests that's level 10+

 

It sounds like you're going about it the smart way with Test Characters and seeing which mods you like/dislike, rather than investing time in a serious game while adding/removing mods.

What I usually do is save a character with no mods, right before the point where you can make changes to the looks, and name etc (Like in Oblivion before you leave the sewers, or Fallout 3 before you leave the Vault etc)

That way, you can add mods to that character that is a clean save, then test out mods, as long as you don't overwrite that original save.

That way, you can just quit and you'll still have the clean save to work with if you want to try new mods etc.

[Wejjoo]

 

Hey,

 

Thanks for both answers. I didn't realize that there was a SSE forum, my apologies.

 

What is considered middle of gameplay? Is it a save or a game installation? I only have "test" saves right now that I can delete without any regrets. I haven't started my "main" save yet. If I start a new save and don't change any mods or anything after creating it, will it be fine?

 

I checked the saves tab in Wrye Bash. Every save was green or blue

 

"Middle of gameplay" = a character that you're seriously invested in, and are working on the main quest and side quests that's level 10+

 

It sounds like you're going about it the smart way with Test Characters and seeing which mods you like/dislike, rather than investing time in a serious game while adding/removing mods.

What I usually do is save a character with no mods, right before the point where you can make changes to the looks, and name etc (Like in Oblivion before you leave the sewers, or Fallout 3 before you leave the Vault etc)

That way, you can add mods to that character that is a clean save, then test out mods, as long as you don't overwrite that original save.

That way, you can just quit and you'll still have the clean save to work with if you want to try new mods etc.

 

 

Thank you so much, it feels comforting to know that I seem to be on the right way. After downloading a couple more mods and changing stuff around, I finally feel completely satisfied with my mods. I checked the save tab in Wrye Bash and they have changed to orange but I still have one blue. Should I delete these saves and start a new one, one that I can make my "main" if I don't add any more mods to it?

 

I also made a new bashed patch in WB.

 

Thanks again for all the help, much appreciated, makes getting into things like this much easier and understandable :smile:

Edited August 19, 2018 by Wejjoo

[gromulos]

personally I would delete the orange saves and just start a new character, anything in wrye that is orange or red "usually" means disaster, BUT since they were previously green or blue before you installed those mods, and not RED, you can try them and see if they will load :)

Edited August 19, 2018 by gromulos

[Wejjoo]

personally I would delete the orange saves and just start a new character, anything in wrye that is orange or red "usually" means disaster, BUT since they were previously green or blue before you installed those mods, and not RED, you can try them and see if they will load :smile:

 

I'm going to delete them and start a new "main" save, but I was wondering if everything is good to go if I start a new one, or if it will be corrupt because the other ones are corrupted.

[gromulos]

a new save should NEVER be corrupt unless you're either missing a needed file or program like SKSE or SKYui if you use mods that need that

[Wejjoo]

a new save should NEVER be corrupt unless you're either missing a needed file or program like SKSE or SKYui if you use mods that need that

 

Okay, thanks. I've started playing now and everything seems to work. What is the optimal way of saving games to avoid corruption? I know that I should stay away from autosaves and quicksaves, but is it dangerous to overwrite the same save multiple times? Since I'm not yet sure how stable the game is I save a lot.