AutoTest

AutoTest

In-game automatic testing framework for Bethesda games

When modding a Bethesda game (Skyrim, Fallout...) there comes a time when the game becomes unstable.

This unstability comes from the complex interactions different mods can have, and the difficulty in integrating those interactions, in terms of game objects' properties, scripting, files priorities.

A lot of tools in the modding communities already tackle this issue by providing a lot of checks between mods and their files.

Other tools also offer automatic patches to make mods integration easier.

However some issues are too complex to be diagnosed only by looking at the esp files or the load orders.

For such problems the gamer has to test in-game: load different locations, fly around a little bit, check NPCs interactions, etc...

All those in-game tests are really time consuming, and some of those tests could be automated.

The purpose of AutoTest is to provide a simple in-game testing framework that can execute some of those tests automatically.

This can save hours of manual testing to have a better confidence in a game's stability.

The list of games that are eligible to this tool (non-exhaustive list):

• []Skyrim Special Edition - Tested successfully.

  []Skyrim - Not tested yet - Feedback welcome!

  []Fallout 4 - Not tested yet - Feedback welcome!

  Requirements

  1 tool and 3 mods are needed for AutoTest to work:

  • []SKSE to support a lot of scripting. - You have to install on your Bethesda game.

    []PapyrusUtils to interact with external JSON files for tests run and statuses.

    []SkyUILib to provide a nice menu interface. - This can be installed for both Skyrim and SkyrimSE.

  • ConsoleUtil to execute some commands that are not accessible in Papyrus.

    Installation

    AutoTest packages are downloadable from Nexus Mods.

    Once requirements are installed, you can use AutoTest either by copying its package content to your Bethesda game's Data folder, or by using its packaged content with a mod manager like ModOrganizer.

    AutoTest is a tool for gamers that want to test the game stability, using in-game testing. Therefore it has to deal with CTDs and must rely on a configuration that is the least intrusive to the game.

    For this purpose, the main way to use AutoTest is by using JSON files to pilot the tests to be run and check the tests statuses later.

    Alternatively, an in-game menu in a test cell can also be used to configure those JSON files and run tests.

    Command consoles can also pilot the tests execution.

    The Modsvaskr is a tool that can also use AutoTest based on your mods and provide you with much more poten