Adding Mods to existing save

[pizentios]

Good day!

I have been thoroughly enjoying the game so far. I've got a small server setup for my friends and I, with a few mods. I've realized there are a few other mods that I wouldn't mind having installed as well, but I have been hesitant to just blindly install them because of my experience with other games and bringing mods into an existing game. I assume I can make a copy of the game and test installing the mods I have in mind but wanted to ask if there is a commonly excepted procedure by the community for doing so. 

 

My searches have really only yielded results regarding installing mods on a new save, hence my reaching out here on the forums for guidance. I am curious to know if there are certain types of mods that should only be installed on a new save (things that might affect tree and plant spawns for example, things like Wildcraft), or if it just would mean that the new plants etc would only spawn in places that haven't been visited before. 

 

Thanks for any guidance in advance, Happy Gaming

 

PS: feels good to be on a forum again, the current landscape of reddit/twitter etc imploding makes me pine for the days of yore when forums were how we all communicated

[Streetwind]

When installing mods on an existing save,
- some mods simply just work, and
- other mods will not work fully because they rely on world/terrain generation to enable their content, but
- no mods will cause problems with your save

When removing mods from an existing save,
- a few will be possible to remove without a trace,
- a few will cause your world to no longer work, and
- most will cause a graceful failure state where they can be removed just fine but leave behind invalid blocks with missing textures

[Thorfinn]

42 minutes ago, pizentios said:

or if it just would mean that the new plants etc would only spawn in places that haven't been visited before. 

This. If the mod affects gameplay (like Wildcraft does with berry bush clippings), that will take effect immediately on adding the mod, even in your established region, that is, you will no longer be able to just uproot bushes and move them about. (Sort of. The intent was to get rid of that, but there are circumstances where you can still move them.) But, yeah, you will have to explore new areas to get the new plants or blocks.

Some other things may act strangely. For example, you might have to pick up an oven and place it back down to get ACA/EF's new features.

[pizentios]

Thank you both for the answers. 

12 minutes ago, Streetwind said:

When installing mods on an existing save,
- some mods simply just work, and
- other mods will not work fully because they rely on world/terrain generation to enable their content, but
- no mods will cause problems with your save

When removing mods from an existing save,
- a few will be possible to remove without a trace,
- a few will cause your world to no longer work, and
- most will cause a graceful failure state where they can be removed just fine but leave behind invalid blocks with missing textures

Glad to find all that out, thanks very much for your timely reply!

11 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

This. If the mod affects gameplay (like Wildcraft does with berry bush clippings), that will take effect immediately on adding the mod, even in your established region, that is, you will no longer be able to just uproot bushes and move them about. (Sort of. The intent was to get rid of that, but there are circumstances where you can still move them.) But, yeah, you will have to explore new areas to get the new plants or blocks.

Some other things may act strangely. For example, you might have to pick up an oven and place it back down to get ACA/EF's new features.

good to know, thankfully ACA/EF are among the mods I already installed at world generation. 

 

Thank you both for your replies!