Pre-Installation
Modding The Witcher 3
As mentioned in the Introduction, the guide assumes that you have a familiarity with modding The Witcher 3 before beginning this guide. If you are however a newcomer to the scene then I suggest you take a little time to read through The Tome of Witcher 3 Modding. This contains a large amount of useful information on how to mod W3
Also as a gesture of good will, I suggest you endorse each and every mod you download from this guide. Most mod authors work usually with little to no pay and contribute massively to the community, as such I believe it only right we return that gesture of goodwill with endorsements to show our appreciation
Updating
If the guide updates and you wish to bring it up to the latest version here are some steps you should keep in mind:
If a mod is added ensure you find the relevant mod and install it
If a mod is updated ensure you find the relevant mod, remove the old version (Including any additional files like bin and dlc files) and install the new version
If a mod is removed ensure you find the relevant mod and remove it (Including any additional files like bin and dlc files)
Once done, download and install the latest documents from the files. Again, make sure to remove the original ones when doing this
As a disclaimer, you DO NOT usually need to start a new game if updating mid-way through a playthrough. If you do need to start a new playthrough I will state this in the changelog
Before Starting the Guide
Some steps need to be taken to ensure little to no issues arise:
Create a backup of your Steam/GOG version of W3 so that if you mess up badly you can just revert to the backup instead of having to reinstall the game from scratch
Ensure that your installation of Witcher 3 is clean. This means no leftover mod, dlc or bin files. If you're unsure then do a game file validation to clean the files or if you want to be extra careful then reinstall the entire game
Ensure you have a tool like 7zip or WinRAR at hand. This is because some mods require one of these tools to be opened and have their files extracted
Ensure you have Notepad++ at hand. You'll need this if you're looking to edit xml files
Download and install Script Merger. You'll need this for merging any conflicting scripts of mods
With all that said, enjoy the guide and good luck on the path!