This is a simple article on how to check for mod conflicts. This applies to both mod users and mod creators. Knowing how to check for mod conflicts is a useful skill that will help stabilize your game and eliminate many possible crashes.
Solving Mod Conflicts
So first what you want to do is isolate which mod is causing the problems. This is a tedious process, but it's fairly simple.
If the game crashes once you test having those two mods activated, as well as Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, and your DLCs (if applicable), then you'll know those two mods conflict. I recommend checking for any compatibility patches between the two mods, as well as the mod's mod pages to check for any notes about the conflict. If there are no compatibility patches or known issues between the two mods, then decide which of the two mods you value more and get rid of the other one.
Or, if you've got any experience in the matter, create a compatibility patch yourself. If it works, you should publish it to the Skyrim Nexus so other people can benefit from the patch.
- Open up Skyrim, or whatever mod manager you use, and deactivate all the active mods you have loaded except for Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, your DLCs, and the mod you want to test. Alternatively, you can start with all your mods activated and deactivate them one by one. This will probably save you a lot of time.
- Start up the game.
- If it gets to the starting screen without a crash, then try to load a save. If it crashes then, try making a new game to see if that fixes the problem. If it does, then you may need to create a new game to use that mod. Once you've ensured that it's loading fine and without crashes (if it loads a new game then that counts) then activate another mod (and keep Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, whatever DLCs, and the mod you just tested activated). See if it crashes. If it doesn't, repeat this step until it crashes.
- Once it crashes, you'll write down or remember the mod that you just tested (the one that the crashed the game after it's activation). Now you'll keep that mod activated, and deactivate the mods that you already have activated one by one, testing the game each time.
- If the game stops crashing once you deactivate a certain mod, try deactivating all the mods you have except for the mod that just caused the crash, and the one that originally caused the crash (see step 4).
If the game crashes once you test having those two mods activated, as well as Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, and your DLCs (if applicable), then you'll know those two mods conflict. I recommend checking for any compatibility patches between the two mods, as well as the mod's mod pages to check for any notes about the conflict. If there are no compatibility patches or known issues between the two mods, then decide which of the two mods you value more and get rid of the other one.
Or, if you've got any experience in the matter, create a compatibility patch yourself. If it works, you should publish it to the Skyrim Nexus so other people can benefit from the patch.