Adding mod - can it be done in an ongoing save?

[BladeofSharpness]

Generally speaking, what is your experience about that? Obviously I'm not speaking of changing extensively a region where your character is in, but adding more NPC, equipment, tweaking or adding quests?

[Charon]

Originally posted by Al Abaster:

Generally speaking, if you add or remove mods you should start a new game.

This. The only safe mods to add / remove are usually textures :)

[Chaosium]

Adding items or NPC is generally fine. Quests or anything heavily scripted might not always work

[Xenon The Noble]

If the mod is any good, not usually a problem to add the mod to the save.
The problem comes if there is a conflict with an already enabled mod, or if the mod is borked and causes a CTD. Then you have to go back to a prior save before the mod.
I usually do a
~ save Before_New_Mod
before adding a new mod. This way, if the mod doesn't work or borks the game e.g. Workshop Plus messed up my power grids, then I could easily go back and find the last save before the mod.
Otherwise, you have to go through prior saves one by one after you deactivate the mod and seeing if it doesn't give the "borked mod not installed" message.

[globefish23]

The most important rule:
Always install one mod at a time.
That also goes for (auto) updating them.

I'm currently running 403 plugins in my load order and have never started a new game.
After 423 hours and level 101 in this playthrough I only had one issue, where an update for a mod had a gamebreaking effect on Shank in Nuka-World.

I had to troubleshoot all my mods to find the culprit by disabling/re-enabling them.
(Approximating by doing it in batches 50%, 25%, 12.5%, etc.)

[Razör]

Originally posted by Al Abaster:

Generally speaking, if you add or remove mods you should start a new game.

You can add mods at any time.

[R.O.T.O.R.]

It is generally safe to add a mod to an in progress save unless the mod specifically states it needs a new save.
However it is not safe to remove a mod from a in progress save

Of course this doesn't prevent you from doing it, it can just cause problems

[Zekiran]

I've found the only serious problem when adding something mid-game is "don't do this while you are IN THE LOCATION affected by the mod". Always head somewhere away from the affected spot - settlement mods? go somewhere that settlement is not. Always be away from it so it can load properly.

But it is definitely a good idea to have your plan of what mods you'll use from the start. Anything else is risking corrupted saves.

[Ikarus]

for me i added 2 mods. One that makes me able to craft ammo and one that gives my companions inifnite ammo and both dont work. Can someone explain why?

[Zekiran]

Originally posted by Ikarus:

for me i added 2 mods. One that makes me able to craft ammo and one that gives my companions inifnite ammo and both dont work. Can someone explain why?

Because anything can and will go wrong if you don't follow modding instructions?

Since you offer no further information such as WHICH specific mods you added, nor what launcher you're using for a modded game, or whether you installed them and they have in-game components such as a holotape to start their processing... maybe you should at least list which ones you are having issues with and what you have done specifically to fix the issue.

[Ikarus]

Originally posted by Zekiran:

Originally posted by Ikarus:

for me i added 2 mods. One that makes me able to craft ammo and one that gives my companions inifnite ammo and both dont work. Can someone explain why?

Because anything can and will go wrong if you don't follow modding instructions?

Since you offer no further information such as WHICH specific mods you added, nor what launcher you're using for a modded game, or whether you installed them and they have in-game components such as a holotape to start their processing... maybe you should at least list which ones you are having issues with and what you have done specifically to fix the issue.

I am using Vortex Launcher and these 2 mods:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/798
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6233?tab=description
for the infinite companion ammo mod i downloaded the main file and for the craftable ammo one the "-Plus x50" version. On both mod pages it doesnt have any dependencies and for installation it says to just download it via Vortex Launcher wich I did.
Edit: I am also not using any other companion mods so that cant be the problem.

[Lucus]

generally mods adding npcs, items, constructables can be added mid-game. mods that are script related depends on the mod.

mods that alter terrain and locations should only be used on new playthroughs just to avoid any potential issues.

[PeaceMaker]

As everyone has pretty much said, adding a mod is not usually a problem, taking away a mod you added usually is. Of course add the mod with some sense seeing if it may conflict with wherever you are at the time (and paying attention to what the Modder also says about compatibility).

So you must use some common sense when you do it.

[Zekiran]

The ammo crafting mod has not been updated since 2015. That mod should be completely ditched as too old to work, particularly given it's history of issues in the bug reporting area.

I would suggest that instead of those ancient and non-maintained mods, use the ROBCO PATCHER instead, though read it thoroughly first to see if it does what you want it to and has patch mods for specific things like ammo and companions.

[Nutter]

Originally posted by BladeofSharpness:

Generally speaking, what is your experience about that? Obviously I'm not speaking of changing extensively a region where your character is in, but adding more NPC, equipment, tweaking or adding quests?

It really depends. Some mods can be added during gameplay but the results may vary compared to a new game.

[ThatLazyBucket]

Originally posted by R.O.T.O.R.:

It is generally safe to add a mod to an in progress save unless the mod specifically states it needs a new save.
However it is not safe to remove a mod from a in progress save

Of course this doesn't prevent you from doing it, it can just cause problems

I would assume re-adding that same mod you removed would resolve the problems in that case?