Updating Mods ? - [SOLVED]

[FightCat]

Are we supposed to update mods as their new versions come out via NMM or should we expect a new version of STEP to make sure of which mod version to go with ?

[Farlo]

This question can be answered either way, and it really depends on how comfortable you are with modding.  

 

First off, I'd highly recommend you ditch NMM and use a proper manager such as Mod Organizer or Wrye Bash.  They have a bit of a learning curve (the latter moreso) but they're way more powerful and are required to update mods without the possibility of breaking them.  For instance, if you install Mod A which uses some various texture files, then you install Mod B that uses those same textures NMM will simply overwrite Mod A and not bother to keep a backup.  Then if you update Mod A to a new version, it'll simply overwrite Mod B's files again.  This means you'll not only have a lot of issues keeping them updated and working correctly, but if you ever decide to remove Mod A it won't replace it with Mod B, so both will be broken.  With MO and WB each mod is managed independently and even though you'll have to manually check for updates you'll never have to worry about overwrites.

 

On the the actual question.  As I mentioned above, if you're comfortable modding there shouldn't be a huge issue with updating as long as you follow any instructions the mod may require.  Obviously if the mod introduces new features (especially on the scripting/ESP side) then you may run into problems.  Assuming you're using a proper mod manager then it should be really easy to install the update as a new mod "on top of" the old version to do a little testing and then replace the old one when you're sure it'll work.  If you're not comfortable with the modding procedure (or continue to use NMM) then it might be best to just leave it all alone.  Unless the version you grabbed has a bug that we didn't know about when we wrote the guide then you won't be missing anything.  

 

All that said, if you do decide to update a mod and something abnormal happens, please come back and make a post in the mod's thread (use Search!).

[FightCat]

Thanks for the comprehensive answer.