Hey, just a quick question regarding permissions. I've edited the skull image you've used and with any luck I'll be placing it in a mod (see here http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1899290-necromancy-mod-resources/#entry16455474). I was just wondering if this is okay with you or who ever the original image belongs to.
I got a few questions Are BSAs not reccomended to Merge.. I only merge ESP because I keep getting errors with BSA and i avoid scripts too. SO what do i do if there is a mod with BSA>?
As far as I know, BSAs are fine to merge (in fact, some people even save time and space by injecting loose texture replacers, etc., into the Bethesda BSAs). Archive invalidation allows loose files to overwrite BSAs but the game engine treats loose files and BSAs the same - as one giant directory tree.
Skyrim only loads a BSA if one of two (three if you use Mod Organizer) conditions are met:
1. If the BSA is specified to load in your .ini files (you can see where it specifies the vanilla BSAs), 2. If the BSA is paired up with an ESP with the same name (and this doesn't mean just rename the BSA either - it has to be literally linked via BSAOpt), 3. If using Mod Organizer, you can put a checkmark next to the BSA under the archives tab.
A lot of the errors with BSAs are caused by people merging the ESPs and then, because it is no longer linked, the BSA is no longer loaded. This, for the most part, is why I wrote this guide. The guide, itself, is geared toward mods with BSAs in particular, but also helps you tidy up 'loose file' mods as well.
As far as script avoidance, yes, heavy scripts and poorly-written scripts can break your game, but that shouldn't make you gun-shy about scripts overall. After all, scripts are the lifeblood of the game. Without them, the game itself wouldn't work. Many authors put their scripts into the BSA so they won't be lost or overwritten or anything and, just like I mentioned above, you break the link to the script, you break the mod. Packaging and pairing the two back up makes sure that they continue using 'the buddy system' even after merging.
I have been looking online for a video TUT on the merging myself and only found the one from the author of the script for tes5. I Have had alot of hit and miss with the Merging and WOw This greatly solved my concerns about merging Mods... Ill have to read the PDF more than a few times because that link you speak of is never mentioned by anyone else> and it seems like there is away around that issue of the mod not working after a Merge
im Currently trying to Make An 512 mod Skyrim work LOL I got about 20 merges into one mod and that was my 3rd attempt.. is there a recommended limit for merging or should i play it safe? I did all weather that supports COT but isnt COT and it worked perfectly.
the 'linking' is apparently just a BSAOpt thing. Others say simply matching up the names will make it load.
As for filesizes, yes. Look in the Creation Kit wiki - there are max filesizes for both BSAs and ESPs. And remember, the more mods you merge into one, the more chance there is for a foul-up even if it says 'zero errors' due to internal overwrites.
Best bet is to keep merges small for testing and to group 'like mods'
You missed one specific thing: The Merge Plugins script will copy+rename Voice/Texture/Mesh data which is in file-specific directories (e.g. facegendata, voice fuz files) if present in the mods being merged to directories and filenames matching the merged plugin & its forms, respectively. This means you should advise users to also package these files from the "overwrite" tab as well, if they wish to have a functioning merged plugin which has any sort of NPCs edits in it.
It's basically the word 'Whisper' in the dragon tongue. I'd have to go back and pair up each letter in the image with the corresponding letter in the dova font I installed and then look the words in the wiki. iirc, it comes out to 'voice is silenced'.
11 comments
Thanks
I got a few questions
Are BSAs not reccomended to Merge.. I only merge ESP because I keep getting errors with BSA and i avoid scripts too.
SO what do i do if there is a mod with BSA>?
Skyrim only loads a BSA if one of two (three if you use Mod Organizer) conditions are met:
1. If the BSA is specified to load in your .ini files (you can see where it specifies the vanilla BSAs),
2. If the BSA is paired up with an ESP with the same name (and this doesn't mean just rename the BSA either - it has to be literally linked via BSAOpt),
3. If using Mod Organizer, you can put a checkmark next to the BSA under the archives tab.
A lot of the errors with BSAs are caused by people merging the ESPs and then, because it is no longer linked, the BSA is no longer loaded. This, for the most part, is why I wrote this guide. The guide, itself, is geared toward mods with BSAs in particular, but also helps you tidy up 'loose file' mods as well.
As far as script avoidance, yes, heavy scripts and poorly-written scripts can break your game, but that shouldn't make you gun-shy about scripts overall. After all, scripts are the lifeblood of the game. Without them, the game itself wouldn't work. Many authors put their scripts into the BSA so they won't be lost or overwritten or anything and, just like I mentioned above, you break the link to the script, you break the mod. Packaging and pairing the two back up makes sure that they continue using 'the buddy system' even after merging.
I hope this answer helped.
im Currently trying to Make An 512 mod Skyrim work LOL I got about 20 merges into one mod and that was my 3rd attempt.. is there a recommended limit for merging or should i play it safe? I did all weather that supports COT but isnt COT and it worked perfectly.
As for filesizes, yes. Look in the Creation Kit wiki - there are max filesizes for both BSAs and ESPs. And remember, the more mods you merge into one, the more chance there is for a foul-up even if it says 'zero errors' due to internal overwrites.
Best bet is to keep merges small for testing and to group 'like mods'
You missed one specific thing:
The Merge Plugins script will copy+rename Voice/Texture/Mesh data which is in file-specific directories (e.g. facegendata, voice fuz files) if present in the mods being merged to directories and filenames matching the merged plugin & its forms, respectively. This means you should advise users to also package these files from the "overwrite" tab as well, if they wish to have a functioning merged plugin which has any sort of NPCs edits in it.
-Mator