Creating and Installing Installing ESL mod files Guide:

ESL files have one major advantage over ESP files and that is that they do not contribute to the dreaded 255 limit for mods that the ESP files are subject to. They also have disadvantages such as they are limited to 4000 record id's, and can have issues with your load order. So choosing what mods to make ESL can be critical.

The best candidates for conversion to the ESL format is any single mod that uses only its own assets i.e. Armor Mods, or other stand-alone type mods that you don't have to worry about the load order overwriting other mod assets.

If you are going to convert a mod to ESL that you already have installed in a current game, be aware it is just like removing and reinstalling the mod, for armor or weapon mods this means you will need to reacquire the armor parts or the weapons.

Converting ESP to ESL

To convert an ESP mod to ESL just launch the Creation Kit, Loading Fallout4.esm and set the mod ESP to active. It is a good Idea to compact the ID's by going to File - Compact Active File Form IDs. then Click File - Convert Active File to Light Master. if the ESP still has too many ID's, it will generate an error and it will not create the ESL. That mod is too large to be converted to ESL. If you do not get an error the new ESL file will be in your Fallout 4\Data folder.

Activating Custom ESL files

There are two ways to Activate the ESL
1. You can manually edit the Users\Owner\Appdata\Local\Fallout 4\Plugins.txt and just change the *modname.esp to *modname.esl ( Note the " * " asterisk as Fallout 4.exe looks for this to know this mod is active als o this file is set to Read-Only so you will need to set this to writable before you can edit it. )
2. If you are using NMM 0 63.17 you can just launch or reload NMM and the new ESL will be listed after any other ESL files you may have. just check the ESL version and uncheck the ESP version.



If you don't already have the updated ESL compatable version of Nexus Mod Manager Version 0.63.17 you can get it here.

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/6086198-skse64-and-esl-support-for-nexus-mod-manager/


Known Issues:

For anyone who is having issues with adjusting the Load Order with Version 0.63.17 I am finding I have the same issue. if you have ANY Official Creation Club ESL files the New Version of NMM will no longer allow sorting of the Load Order. It is probably why they have not updated the main download for NMM. I actually have both versions installed ( just install this version to a new folder i.e. Nexus Mod Manager-63-17 ) with both versions configured to use the same mod storage folders. When I need to adjust Load Order of the ESP mods I load Ver. 0.63.14, once I have the Load Order of the ESP mods correct, (i.e. After running LOOT ), I Close NMM 63.14, then run this new version and disable the ESPs and enable the ESLs. I use this for adding new mods and ESL files and Launching the Game, as this one won't disable my ESL mods.



Check out my other mods:

Caladons Personal Portable Vault 88 http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25738/?
Caladons Stonewall Starlight Citadel Blueprint http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26296/?
Caladons Starlight Movie Screen Lightbox Wall http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26408/?
Caladons Personal Portable Vault 88 http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25738/?
Caladons Floating Castle Conquest Blueprint http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26138/?
Caladons Floating Castle Conquest Blueprint Mk 3 http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26170/?
Lysandra Lovely LooksMenu Preset http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25915/?
Modding the Singing Settler A Guide to Custom Music and .Lip Animation http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25993/?
Jetpack Sound Replacer http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26295/?