I have taken this down for a bit while I re-work it!

Shortly after putting this file up I found a better way to create the delta (XDelta3 makes the patch a lot smaller) and found a small but serious bug in that, if you haven't already started the SI quest, it never starts. So I've cleaned at least one thing too much.

I'm not sure what or why, but it didn't do that in earlier processes, so I'm sure I can fix it... Till I do it's not worth the bandwidth other people trying... I think.

Description Short
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Split Shivering Isles ESM for v1.2.0416 English into separate Oblivion.esm and DLCShiveringIsles.esm.

Description Long
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Okay, so I've only just got the Shivering Isles expansion, and I was dismayed by the fact that it actively makes massive modifications to my main Oblivion.esm file.

The ramifications of this (as many have pointed out) are huge!!! Every mod you create or edit with the CS is linked to that Oblivion master file... if you have Shivering Isles version of it, there is no saying you won't accidentally distribute records from SI to people who don't have it, or that your mod won't be dependant on people having SI. (unless you are really good at using other tools to determine EXACTLY what is in your mod)

As far as I could see, the fantastic plugin format in Bethesdas' engine doesn't need it to be done like that either. So I kept my backup esm, and made a comparison of it with the new one. Yep, lots of it's the same. So I tried to make an add-on master that only has the Shivering Isles stuff using the normal mod cleaning methods.

This didn't go so smooth as both before and after files are HUGE! Every automated tool I used ended up giving an out of memory error. However, TES4Edit could highlight the changes and similarities. Using this I removed all records that where in the original, manually.

Now I play with an Oblivion.esm and a DLCShiveringIsles.esm, this way I can disable Shivering Isles and know that there is no SI content what-so-ever in my game.

As this turned out to be quite a bit of effort, I'm attempting to share this with you in as copyright friendly a manner as possible. Therefore, THIS WILL ONLY WORK IF YOU HAVE THE English v1.2.0416 SHIVERING ISLES installed on you machine.

Advantages
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You can work on mods in the TES CS and KNOW they don't require SI to work for other people.

You can disable SI any time you want, and KNOW that your save game will not be reliant on SI.

You can test Mods against SI and Oblivion to aid compatibility with either version.

Disadvantages
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Mods unaware of this set up may expect to find records in Oblivion.esm which have now been moved into DLCShiveringIsles.esm.

I've not seen this happen, but if an ESP or ESM file is tagged as using Oblivion.esm as it's master, it may not find what it's looking for there. In such circumstances TES4Geko or similar tool could be used to add DLCShiveringIsles.esm to that files list of masters, or if it is a plugin (ESP) then simply removing any ESM masters should resolve the issue, as all active ESMs master any active plugin.

Tools Used
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TES4Geko
TES4Edit
XDelta3
BSDtar
InnoSetup

WARNING
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I will stress, just one more time, that you CANNOT USE THIS WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN the ENGLISH TES IV Oblivion WITH SHIVERING ISLES expansion PATCHED to version 1.2.0416

Next I will warn that this does CHANGE THE FILES PROVIDED BY BETHESDA on your hard drive. So making sure your original install discs are in order is a very good idea.

I provide this in the hope that it may be useful to someone else. I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THE USE, OR MISUSE OF THIS PATCH MAY CAUSE.

Contact
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Having said that if it breaks your machine tumble dries you cat or Faxes the dog to Mongolia, I am interested to know what bugs or issues arise from playing and / or moding with this configuration.

Since most of this modification had to be done manually, it is entirely possible that I have made mistakes, and am eager to see that, where-ever possible, these are put right.

I'm also keen to hear of any ideas concerning better ways to do this, distribute the file, or achieve the same thing a different way.

Please send a message to "bobsobol" (without quotes) on the TES NEXUS forums (http://www.thenexusforums.com/)

Thanks, and enjoy.