Question Help with switching between modded and vanilla

[taiLeaves]

Hello!

So after I heard more about Stardew Valley Expanded from a friend of mine, I went and installed SMAPI as one of the first steps to downloading the mod. I haven't downloaded everything I need for SDVE yet because I want to figure out how to switch between modded and vanilla when it comes to certain files—I plan to make a separate SDVE file and switch to my pre-existing vanilla files, keeping the latter as is. But I need a bit of help as to how to go about doing that? I've heard about making shortcuts to various versions of the game but it got overwhelming really fast. I'm not a super computer-y person and this is my first time work with game mods ever so I'm really lost. How do I go about doing that? Are there any other ways to switch between the two without uninstalling SMAPI and moving the mods to another folder? If there's anything that's really obvious to anyone who knows even a little more than I do, please point me in the right direction.

If there's any clarification I can provide, please let me know. I am currently playing on macOS and run the base game on Steam.

 

[DreamWolf]

A shortcut isn’t really necessary in my opinion, because modded Stardew Valley will load through SMAPI, which uses a different .exe. If you want to play the unmodded version, just open Stardew Valley.exe, and for the modded version, open StardewModdingAPI.exe. The main thing to watch out for is not opening your modded save file with Stardew Valley.exe, as it will load without mods and could cause issues like incorrect maps or missing items. Also, don’t open your unmodded Stardew save with StardewModdingAPI.exe if you want to keep it vanilla.

 

[taiLeaves]

A shortcut isn’t really necessary in my opinion, because modded Stardew Valley will load through SMAPI, which uses a different .exe. If you want to play the unmodded version, just open Stardew Valley.exe, and for the modded version, open StardewModdingAPI.exe. The main thing to watch out for is not opening your modded save file with Stardew Valley.exe, as it will load without mods and could cause issues like incorrect maps or missing items. Also, don’t open your unmodded Stardew save with StardewModdingAPI.exe if you want to keep it vanilla.

Thank you for the response! Where can I find the exe files? By going into the game files?

 

[DreamWolf]

I’m guessing macOS and Windows make the same Path on Steam.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley

 

[ISSsloth]

DreamWolf's solution works, but if you want to be able to open smapi and vanilla stardew through steam, you can use the wiki's guide and scroll to where it explains how to add smapi as a non-steam game. Either one works, but this is a little more work for a lot more convenience in the long term. Happy modding!