I'm new and I have a few questions.

[jeruk3]

Hi, before I start, let me tell you that I'm entirely new to the Nexus and that I don't have a single clue as to what I'm doing.

So before I ask my question, I apologize if this question has been asked many times.

 

My question is: Will mods downloaded from Steam's workshop for Skyrim interfere with mods downloaded from Nexus?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Georgiegril]

Any two mods might interfere with each other, depending on what files they affect.

 

However, there are fairly significan differences in how mods are treated by NMM and the Workshop:

1. The workshop will automatically update your mods. This can result in crashes or other problems if the new version is not compatible with your other mods.

2. The workshop will delete a mod from your data folder if the auto removes the mod on the workshop--this can also cause crashes.

 

Alternately,

NMM will alert you when there is an update to a mod you downloaded using NMM, but it allows you to decide when and how to update. This is especially useful, since in some cases the update is best applied after a clean save, or requires special handling of any sort. Or if the mod makes a great many changes, you can opt not to apply the download until you are ready to start a new game.

 

You may see that I am pretty opinionated against the workshop-- it is because I had several game breaking problems when the workshop updated or deleted mods. Nothing is more frustrating than having to start over because a change was made outside of your control. I heartily recommend using the Nexus only, although I appreciate that steam is making an effort to support modding, personally I think their application is just too clumsy.

 

To experience the pleasures of a modded game while minimizing the hassles, I recommend:

1. Use NMM for mods.

2. Before adding any mod, read every single word available on the mod page--the description, required files, installation instructions, readme, and discussion thread. Follow instructions exactly.

3. Add mods only one or two at a time, and not until exiting the cave at Helgen.

4, After adding a mod, run BOSS, read the log it generates and address any messages it gives you.

5. Play a bit to make sure everything is working before adding any more mods. If you notice a problem, you only have a couple mods to look at this way.

6. The more mods you have, the greater the chance that you will experience some kind of conflict, but patient and careful installation of mods may prevent you from long and frustrating troubleshooting later.

 

Here are some useful links for you:

BOSS (it's a regular program, not a mod. You install and run it from your desktop or wherever.)

Bben's help guide has solutions for a bunch of common issues.

 

If you run into a problem, the best method is to stop playing, don't add mods, search for a solution in the forum or google, and then if you don't see anything relevant, post a concise and polite question with as much relevant information that you have.

 

Anyway, that's my advice. I hope it helps you!

[SpockST]

I am also new and found an interesting artifact of the NMM quite by accident. This will probably NOT be applicable to 99.9% of NMM users but, to the few who find themselves in the same situation, it could proovequite invaluable.

 

Note to Moderators: This looked to me like a logical place to post this. If you feel it would be better elsewhere or even on its own, please feel free to move it.

 

I installed Skyrim via Steam and then installed the NMM with several interesting looking Mods. I played Skyrim, with the Mods active, quite successfully. Now starts the "fun" ... NOT!

 

I was having problems with recurring MS OS Updates. I constantly got the same ones wanting to download and install over and over. Not being of sound mind, something caused me to think that a Full System Restore from the original system disks would clear up the problem.

 

Over a period of about 3 days I performed the System restore a total of 4 times trying to get a stable WinXP Home install that would upgrade to a WinXP Pro version. I finally gave up trying to upgrade to Pro and finally got a stable system.

 

One f the first things I did was reinstall Skyrim ... or so I thought. Steam had other ideas. I finally realized that there was an uninstall option available when I inserted the disk so, taking a chance, I uninstalled the game that was supposedly all there and ready to play. When I re-installed it, everything went as normal.

 

I quickly re-installed NMM and noted that all my Mods were still there, after all, I had saved everything to a separate harddrive so I wouldn't lose anything, right? When I tried to play Skyrim I noticed that none of the Mods I had activated were actually displayed in the Plugins list!

 

To make a much longer story at least a little shorter, I found that I had to Deactivate and then reactivate each Mod in order for it to appear in the Plugins list. This is why I think this post may help someone in the future.