[LE] Editing Mod question

[greyday01]

I uploaded a mod and on testing I found some errors I need to fix. I was wondering what kind of changes will cause problems for past saves with the mod installed.

For example one of my mannequins won't work. Can I delete it and remake it or will that cause crashes? Should I sink it below the floor instead?

Similar problem with a display for one staff. Can I delete it or should I move it?

Any other changes I should avoid?

 

[JonathanOstrus]

Impossible to answer with the given information.

 

RE Mannequins: You didn't state exactly how it's not working. Like you can't activate it to trade? It won't display items you give it? What? Assuming the mannequin could be activated and items stored, then deleting it would also delete anything that was stored. Just moving it's Z position to hide it is bad too because if things are stored you can't get them back. Of these 2 options I like the first best as it leaves less cruft. But you would need to make sure your users understand they need to get their items back BEFORE UPGRADING.

 

I'm not that familiar with the staff display. I think it just takes the item and tries to disable havok or something and pin it on the display. Presuming from my limited understanding of the display system I would guess when you activate it, nothing is happening? In which case there's no risk of an item loss due to removing the broken display and putting down a new one.

 

Both of these requires proper scripts to be attached to the played objects and it's possible they're missing or misconfigured. Which is likely the cause of your problems. And before you ask, no you can't just go put them on now and fix it. They have to be on it when the object is first seen by the game. It gets baked in the save, even if the object hasn't been loaded in a cell yet.

[greyday01]

The mannequin problem was that an activate prompt showed up when you moused over it but when clicked the inventory did not open. I redid the linked refs and activate parent and all the needed check boxes several times and it just wouldn't work. Checking with a save from before my mod was installed so it wasn't a baked in save problem. I finally moved the mannequin and Xmarkerheading below the floor and made a completely new mannequin which worked.

 

What I'm mostly concerned about are crashes to desktop if you delete something that was there in a previous save. The way you are told not to delete vanilla items in your mod, just disable them.

What are safe, crashless changes you can make. Losing items from containers isn't a concern, if needed I can put a note cautioning people to remove the containers' contents before installing.

What other changes should be avoided, or only used in new games?

 

Any advice from people who have updated their mods would be welcomed.

What not to do at all.

What can only be used on a new game.

What can be used in an existing game with precautions taken like moving container contents.

 

I've got 2 saves for testing. One made with only vanilla contents when I first reached Riverwood.

The other with many mods including mine after most quests completed for testing displays (the crown of berenziah display also isn't working, haven't tested black books or elderscrolls yet).