Quick question, peeps.

Is there a way to publish a mod in a way that's private?

I'd like some selected people to test my mod while I'm developing it without the whole world pointing and laughing.

If not, is there some other way I can export it so I can upload it somewhere else for people to download?

Thank'ee
BEAR

Just package up yourmod.esp with the assets, then just email it to your testers (or if its too big, upload it to rapidshare or another hosting site, then send them the link)

- Hypno

So it's as simple as zipping up mymod.esp and telling people to unpack it in their data folder?

Thanks hypno88.

yep. So long as they don't start handing it out to friends or whatever, only they have access to it.

I wouldn't be too concerned with that here. Everyone in this community had to start somewhere.

People here will genuinely try their best to help you see your modding endeavours become reality. I myself, have been on the receiving end of an abundance of aid, and never once has anyone ever been condescending.

From time to time people will even upload broken mods in a plea for testers to help diagnose problems (my own mod Mzandahrk was initiated to the interwebs for this reason), so don't be afraid of reaching out to the community.

Best of luck!

I know I've asked some phenomenally stupid questions here and no one's ever laughed. Don't ever be afraid to look dumb, chances are for every little thing you couldn't figure out, a dozen more people couldn't figure it out either and were too afraid to ask for help. A week or a month or six months from now, those people will be desperately searching Google and this forum looking for an answer to the very question you asked. I know I've learned a lot from other people asking (and answering).

It depends on what your mod does. You also need to include any scripts, meshes, textures, etc. added by your mod, if any. If your mod adds dialogue, you'll probably need to include the voice files and a http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1417941-dialoguequest-bug-solution/ If you have a lot of these assets, http://www.creationkit.com/Archive.exe is a good tool for packaging up all of them--you'll be left with just mymod.esp and mymod.bsa. And http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25859/ can generate a SEQ file, and also http://www.creationkit.com/TES5Edit_Cleaning_Guide_-_TES5Edit.

I'm pretty sure you can upload it on the Nexus and only give permission to named folk of your choosing, to access the mod while it's in beta. Of course, the testers will also need Nexus accounts.

I have used Steam Workshop for this in the past, it makes the process pretty easy. Just make your file "friends only". This assumes that your friends list has the people in question you want to share the file with, and your friends list doesn't contain people you don't want to give file access to. However, I keep my friend list pretty tight.

I typically use dropbox for handing out files this way. Integration with Windows makes it a very speedy process.

I'll second this suggestion.

Added bonus, I'm already using it for that exact purpose.