Install all mods, then start new game? Or do it incrementally?

[Glanzer]

I've read several places that suggest not installing all your mods at once but rather do them incrementally and test them as you go.  But now that I'm reinstalling everything from scratch and using the SR:LE guide to help me I'm not sure what the "incremental" approach really means.  Does it mean:

• Install a few mods, then create a new game and test them, then exit WITHOUT saving the game.  Then install a few more mods, create a new game, test a bit, then exit again WITHOUT saving the game.

Or does it mean this:

• Install a few mods, then create a new game and test them, then SAVE the game.  Then load a few more mods, open your previously saved game and test the new mods, then SAVE the game again.  Etc...

Inquiring minds want to know!

[Glanzer]

85 views so far but no takers huh? OK, then what do you think about this answer...

 

I'm thinking BOTH approaches should be followed.

 

Rationale: It's important to see if you are able to get a playable game as you go along. In addition, as sets of mods are tested, you should keep track of any anomalies you have to fix or tweak. For example, MCM entries that need to be changed to prevent mod conflict.

 

Once all the testing is done, then you should finally start a brand NEW game and use your previous install/tweak notes to configure and tweak the MCM menus, set your timescale, change the default keyboard shortcuts for the mods you use, whatever...

 

Sound good to anyone?

[Roogal]

If you are following the STEP or SR:LE to the letter there should be no reason why you cant install all the mods at once and configure everything exactly how each guide says. If you want additional mods then yes I would install them incrementally and test each one.  However you can do some tests in TSEedit for plugins and boss will show some mods that have errors too so that is another way to test for errors but the best way is obviously by playing the game.   Personally 90% of the extra mods I have are just texture mods so if you do that I wouldn't even worry about it unless you have a really old graphics card or less than 2GB of vram.  Obviously there is still alot more like script loading to worry about but you can read more about that elsewhere.

[Aiyen]

You should always do it incrementally.... for the very simple reason that no matter how good the guide, you are going to mess something up! Staring at T5E and the guide for a few hours will make most people just brain fart, and go into auto edit mode and do something wrong! :)

 

And catching silly mistakes mid process makes them a lot easier to find then when everything is installed. The better at installing and maintaining mod lists you get you can do bigger increments.