Bit of Confustion, Step + other mods + wrye bash?

[ashton]

Hey so i've been modding skyrim for past couple of days according to https://wiki.step-project.com/STEP:2.2.9.1 and there's been couple of confusing issues. I've reached the point where i'm supposed to create wrye bash patch and i feel i can't put my questions aside anymore.

 

For now i've been following guide as is, even though many mods had compatibility options for mods i'm planning to install (like extra support for falskaar or wyrmstooth) or some options i'd like to add to game but they were not recommended during guide. In many cases i didn't know if that'd cause problems later or simply because step is about keeping close to vanilla.

 

Anyway. At this point i'm a bit confused wether i should keep on going, create wrye bash patch, and later reinstall those mods with extra options or maybe do it before creating bashed patch ?

 

I'm using mod organizer so reinstall shouldn't be an issue.

 

Also are there any real good reasons for using bashed patch ? I know it's better to have less mods, but i dunno how hard i'm gonna mod my game, i figured i'd tackle the issue if i actually have issues with the game.

 

Also i ain't sure if following the guide to the letter is exactly what i want i might find some mods that seem to fit me better which aslo causes me some confusion, wether i should use wrye patch. For step patches i figured there shouldn't be too much trouble as long as mods in patch description are installed. However if i end up wanting to change a mod that gets bashed it might end up causing more confusion later.

 

Urgh sorry if i sound paranoid but there's been too much follow the guide and not enough explaination for the steps taken and those questions have been tormenting me for a while.

 

 

Btw, i've been wondering about using pnp since it has some nice looking models, but it seems it might cause issues with armors ? If that's the case i'll pass but if it's only for some perverted extras than i might consider adding it.

 

Also, i've been planning to add some story mods like helgen reborn, interesting npcs or faction mods that overhaul or expand factions, i think some of those had also compatibility options in some patches i've ommited. Same with vampire/werewolf overhauls which i'm planning to customize a bit. Any issues to expect ?

 

I also noticed there's not been much options in ruffled feather patch, when i checked the settings there's been quite a lot of interesting options still i went with recommended just in case. Should i expect any problems if i reinstall with different options later ?

 

In case of texture patches i weren't sue about getting some lower res, i've got gtx 970, i5 3570k and 16gb ram. Still i do play in 1080p and figured texture changes will be easy so i left it as is and they're unlikely to cause issues withs saves so i figured i'd upgrade them if i feel the recommended ones are too low.

 

Anyway, any recommendations how to proceed ? I'm getting so confused it's getting hard to think straight.

[Nozzer66]

Ok. You need to be methodical here.

 

Add as many of the STEP mods you're going to add first. Then add anything non STEP you're looking at after that. Go back and add any needed compatibility things you wish/need to use if you've not added them already.

 

If you're not using the full STEP Extended, then you'll need to choose the correct STEP patch to fit your situation. The page on the guide shows you how to do this.

 

Then shove the whole load order through TESVEdit and have a quick peek to see if there's anything showing up as conflicting. Feel free to come in here and ask if you're not 100% sure.

 

Then do the Bashed patch, which I wouldn't run without on any large mods list.

 

Follow that up with all the other patches like DynDOLOD, Dual Sheath and so on as well as anything else you've added.

 

Jump in game and make a throwaway character. Use a few coc console commands to run around the map quickly and see if anything looks awry. You're looking for things like missing textures, general missing things, overlapping things cause of two mods shoving stuff in the same place, etc. The MFG Console mod can help here as if you find something that looks dodgy clicking on it in the console can tell you what mod adds it and other things about it. Fix any issues by making your own patch or altering load orders, ensuring BSA's are ticked etc.

 

Once you're happy, fire up, make your desired char and hack away.

 

I'd suggest any issues you do find will likely be with mods added on top of STEP. Look at those ones first.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Nozzer66

[VonDoom]

Don't have the time to respond to everything right now, but essentially you should always use a Bashed Patch, regardless of whether you do the full STEP setup or not. Among other things, it fixes up the leveled lists from your mods so they won't overwrite each other -- meaning that items won't get distributed properly if you don't create a Bashed Patch. There is probably more to it, but I'm not really an expert.

[ashton]

Thanks

Now all my doubts how to proceed are cleared :)

Thanks a lot :)