Advice for Steam Workshop Modders and Players.

[giskarduk]

Hello Steam Users and Mod Makers.

This post should probably be stickied since its a problem with steam workshop that will keep occurring due to the nature of technology, demand and busy servers. Thinkin about it, the thread should probably have a different name too, "Fixing Corrupt Mod issues" or something

After months chasing ghost issues and speaking to other players and mod makers about random issues us modders cannot confirm or fix and checking differences between the mods we send to steam workshop and the mods players receive from Steam workshop. It has been noted that the upload and download process involving steam workshop sometimes corrupts the mods, leading to unexplained problems.

This is not a rare issue and appears to be related to Server Load or Server issues more than anything. Which is a common problem and why services like steam and even Google are constantly upgrading their servers. Nothing you or I can do about it. It was far more common in the old 56k days than it is today with digital connections and better error checking.

For full price games Steam has the Verify Cache System that lets you check the game is okay and grabs the corrupt parts again to fix it. But for mods there is nothing similar. So this doc fills that gap.

I'll now give you an overview of the problem, then quote some instructions you can use to fix the problem if your a modder or player.

A word on File Corruption

IF a modder uploads a file and it becomes corrupt during the upload process, every downloader will experience the same problems. This will look like a mod bug except the modder will not be able to confirm it by testing his original and a modder should NEVER subscribe to his own mod or he risks overwriting any work in process. Re-uploading the mod is the only fix.

If a player downloads a file and it becomes corrupt during the download process. Only that user will have that problem. It will be unique to them and the odds of it striking anybody else will run in to the billions to 1 odds. Several players can there for appear to have several entirely unrelated issues with the same mod that the modder or other players cannot confirm. Redownloading the mod is the only fix for this.

Instructions.

Feel free to cut and paste this next bit in to your docs if your a modder. I recommend actually naming your mods esp and bsa files in the uninstall section if you do this so players can easily see which mod files belong to you.

Instructions on installing, removing and fixing mod issues on Steam Workshop.

Installation

Subscribe to the mod on Steam Workshop and then launch Skyrim, leave the Skyrim Splash Screen up and wait, if you look at data files the mod will appear in there when its downloaded and installed.

Uninstalling the mod

To uninstall the mod, unsubscribe from the mod on Steam Workshop and then delete the mods esp and bsa files (if it has a BSA file, some mods do not).

Edit from Breton Warrior
I would like to add that using the "delete selected item" function at the bottom of the Data Files 'splash screen' does in fact delete your local files and asks if you also want to unsubscribe that Mod as well.

Player with a Mod Problem ?

It is becoming clear that downloading from Steam Workshop sometimes corrupts the mod in random ways, causing users to report bugs the modder cannot confirm nor fix.

If you experience problems follow the uninstall procedure above but do not unsubscribe form the mod. Then wait for the files to be re-downloaded from Steam Workshop by launching Skyrim and waiting at the Splash screen as explained in the Installation section above.

The new download should fix your problem, but if you experience new problems, do this again and again until all problems are gone. Any problems that keep appearing in each download are real bugs that should be reported to the modder.


Modder getting reports about issues you cannot confirm ?

If all your users are sending you bug reports for issues you cannot confirm, then its likely your upload has become corrupted. You should re-upload the mods again to ensure the version steam hosts is fully functional. If it was the last uploaded version getting corrupted, this will fix the problem.

[calvin82]

Useful post, +rep to you

[giskarduk]

Thanks Calvin, appreciated.

I am hoping this post cuts down on the number of bug reports us modders get that cannot be traced to actual issues in our mods and the frustration players get when nobody can confirm their problems.

It affects us all after all in different ways and has done since Workshop opened. Its taken this long to post it because I needed more confirmation first. I got that confirmation today.

[Breton Warrior]

Nice One Giskard, If you do not mind I would like to add that using the "delete selected item" function at the bottom of the Data Files 'splash screen' does in fact delete your local files and asks if you also want to unsubscribe that Mod as well.

Swings and Roundabouts, both methods do the same thing just that I find doing it in Data Files feels like it is the quicker way?

Also I would like to add a seperate confirmation on this as I have been experimenting in my own little way doing much the same on Mods I noticed 'oddities' with. Just removing the files from your Data Folder causes a new download and on a few occasions has cleared the 'odd' things I was seeing. I also try to pick quieter Steam times when I'm looking at Mods to subscribe to, if I have trouble with slow browsing I do not bother with subsribing to anything at that time.

[giskarduk]

Breton Warrior

Forgot about that, thanks for the reminder, added your addition to the guide.