How to know if mods are compatible?

[chefshat]

Sorry if this is a common question, I couldn't think of how to search it. I'm diving into SS2 for the first time and I would like to add a few other mods to improve combat and other QOL stuff. Are there any general rules for what types of mods will work with SS2 and what kinds require patches? Or maybe an actual list somewhere?

Right now I'm interested in PANPC, Better Companions, and Advanced Needs.

 

[Mystical Panda]

Im using PANPC and An76 but only working with WSFW and WS+ atm- when the load order proves stabile(which it appears to be doing) I'll add SS2 back into the mix here shortly and try another test. So far the load order is solid, but that could change. Here's a video on that- it's still uploading and YouTube will take a bit to process it for HD.

 

[phoenixsoul13]

This page on the wiki has some info about compatibilities. Also I've been using SS2 and Better Companions together for a while and haven't noticed any issues.

 

[Mystical Panda]

Im using PANPC and An76 but only working with WSFW and WS+ atm- when the load order proves stabile(which it appears to be doing) I'll add SS2 back into the mix here shortly and try another test. So far the load order is solid, but that could change. Here's a video on that- it's still uploading and YouTube will take a bit to process it for HD.

Here's a bit more additional information I didn't think to mention. It's still uploading so it'll be a bit- though it's much smaller than the previous one.

 

[Antoine Soverie]

PANPC and SS2 together might become too much at some point. Generally I wouldn't suggest a lot of script heavy mods. Same goes for most major game overhauls. Horizon had a patch but its new version might be incompatible. XDI has a patch too, it's also on the wiki. And if you're playing Depravity, you should be aware of at least one major decision in it that doesn't flow well with SS2 (nuking a certain place...). Might want to skip that part.

 

[chefshat]

PANPC and SS2 together might become too much at some point. Generally I wouldn't suggest a lot of script heavy mods. Same goes for most major game overhauls. Horizon had a patch but its new version might be incompatible. XDI has a patch too, it's also on the wiki. And if you're playing Depravity, you should be aware of at least one major decision in it that doesn't flow well with SS2 (nuking a certain place...). Might want to skip that part.

I was wondering about the script load, although PANPC's author said that a lot of people do use them together and it seems to work as long as nothing is spawning in large numbers of NPCs. I wondered if SS2 does that actually, like does it have large scale settlement battles that would crash a script-heavy combat mod?

 

[Antoine Soverie]

Kind of, without spoiling too much I guess you can expect some pretty tense battles later on, and I'd think chapter 3 will only add to that.

 

[chefshat]

Here's a bit more additional information I didn't think to mention. It's still uploading so it'll be a bit- though it's much smaller than the previous one.

So these videos seem to be about writing mods, correct? Or actually dissecting them to understand the scripts? A bit technical for me, knowing nothing about mod authoring, but maybe my original question is meaningless and there's no way to generalize about what would be compatible without actually dissecting the code?

 

[Mystical Panda]

So these videos seem to be about writing mods, correct? Or actually dissecting them to understand the scripts? A bit technical for me, knowing nothing about mod authoring, but maybe my original question is meaningless and there's no way to generalize about what would be compatible without actually dissecting the code?

Just in general- how a conflict can occur and how crashes are sometimes related to mod conflicts while often times that's not the case.

It's honestly a really tough question- which ones are compatible and which ones aren't. Some might take the easy way out and say 'most mods are', while others would say... 'give it a try'. Some mods were given a 'bad rap' as many mods that are considered incompaible will actually work- an example would be FallUI. Knowing what a mod is designed to do and what, let's say SS2 is designed to do, will help at a surface level determine the odds of a conflict. But there is still no guarantee. The rest is in the data.

There's a wiki page that has some of the more well known SS2 mod conflicts, but there's no way it can encompass every mod available. So with a bit of understanding how mods(or data) is actually selected and used by the game engine will help narrow down how and why a conflict might occur.