What does a clean install of a mod mean?

[Dumbo Octopus]

A mod's installation instructions say to do a clean install and load order optimization. Does it mean clean install of Skyrim or of the mod (if clean installs of mods exist)?

[Nazenn]

Does it say clean install or clean save?

[Dumbo Octopus]

Originally posted by Nazenn:

Does it say clean install or clean save?

Clean install

[Nazenn]

No idea. That makes no sense to me. Which mod is saying that, if you can provide a link I may be able to figure it out from that

[Dumbo Octopus]

I was planning on getting just Elisif because you know vanilla Elisif...
Anyways:

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53152/?

Install instructions from the page:

Installation :
Please do CLEAN INSTALL and LOAD ORDER optimization.
[NMM]
Download via NMM or drag the archive into NMM and activate.
Simple and easy to implement in Fomod.　

EDIT: I'm using MO but that works with installers anyways

[Nazenn]

I dont know, thats totally illogical to me. Just install it like normal XD

[Dumbo Octopus]

Alright, thanks!

[Iceira]

Originally posted by Dididoo:

Originally posted by Nazenn:

Does it say clean install or clean save?

Clean install

it means it will be buggy if previous mod version is not removed first. ( some mods has uninstall functions inside McM menu )

then start game then save game ( no quick save F5) and quit skyrim

then install new mod as fresh first time use, that is what "clean install or clean save" means

gl with it.

but other then that , and clean save means also you can go back to this game if you discover that all game is corrupted ( its a modder way to say to you, if anything goes wrong restore this game )

[Yunan]

Hey if you just want Elisif here are some other options.

Toccata:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61140/?

Avelyn or Elisif:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63903/?

Also look alot better in my opinion.

[Nazenn]

Just to note as well, a 'clean save' which should not be done as thats poor practice and can still lead to issues. There is no such thing as a 'clean' save, once a mod is in your game, keep it there.
Thats not what I suspect the author means though as they specifically mean 'install' rather then save in the context the OP gave me

[Dumbo Octopus]

Originally posted by Cament:

Hey if you just want Elisif here are some other options.

Toccata:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61140/?

Avelyn or Elisif:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63903/?

Also look alot better in my opinion.

I wanted a more subtle change to Elisif, I've seen the others :)
Avelyn looks a bit too different for me and I've got Toccata as a follower.

[Dumbo Octopus]

Originally posted by Nazenn:

Just to note as well, a 'clean save' which should not be done as thats poor practice and can still lead to issues. There is no such thing as a 'clean' save, once a mod is in your game, keep it there.
Thats not what I suspect the author means though as they specifically mean 'install' rather then save in the context the OP gave me

Clean save? Like a backup you go back to from before installing a certain mod?

Originally posted by Iceira:

Originally posted by Dididoo:

Clean install

it means it will be buggy if previous mod version is not removed first. ( some mods has uninstall functions inside McM menu )

then start game then save game ( no quick save F5) and quit skyrim

then install new mod as fresh first time use, that is what "clean install or clean save" means

gl with it.

but other then that , and clean save means also you can go back to this game if you discover that all game is corrupted ( its a modder way to say to you, if anything goes wrong restore this game )

Ah, I thought it might be something like that. Thanks!

[Nazenn]

The method that Iceira described, the clean save method, should not be used and also isn't what I suspect the author means in this context

[Dumbo Octopus]

Originally posted by Nazenn:

The method that Iceira described, the clean save method, should not be used and also isn't what I suspect the author means in this context

Sorry, for clarification, how do you make a clean save? I don't really understand Iceira's description. I got that a clean save is a save you go back to when other saves are corrupted?

[Nazenn]

The idea of a 'clean save' is a 'clean' way to remove a mod.
So the idea is that if you have a previous version of a mod installed and you can't directly upgrade ( a rare occurance) or if you just want to uninstall a mod, you disable the mod in game if you can, save, quit, disable the mod in your mod manager, save, and you have a 'clean save'
However this method doesn't mean you can remove mods safely, the data from the mod is still in your save and can cause issues.
If you want a stable game, you cannot uninstall mods mid game.

[Dumbo Octopus]

Ah, I get it. What about making backup saves from before you installed the mod, and if anything goes wrong uninstalling the mod and going back to the save without the mod's data? I often see people recommend doing that.