I am aware that the typical way of loading ba2 files into your game has been done in the past through a .esp file. However, there is no official way to create an esp properly for Starfield. This plugin is a .esm file for a reason. I can go into detail as to why this is the case but I would rather direct to a more authoritative source that can explain it in better detail. Below is a link to documentation published by the xEdit team themselves. Please read it in it's entirety before commenting.
I advise you to peruse the entire document, and others on the xEdit GitHub and Discord, so as to have a more complete understanding of the current state of xEdit's development as it pertains to Starfield modding.
Basics creation question using xedit -starfield how to use a dummy esm (nexus) to add to my texture mod? just so it saves using the starfieldcustom ini. the two main game esm files loaded in the xedit along with the dummy esm renamed to my mod
in the CK i just used to hit save and it was done?
whats the process using xedit ? can some one please enlighten me?
So all I have to do is rename the esm with the first letters of the mod with all the b2 files, and it will know to ignore the variations in the names and load them all? That is really handy, if that is the case. I imagine I will confirm it works how I think before you get around to seeing this, but presuming it works, thanks a bunch!
Forgive my ignorance but for clarifcation sake, if I'm using several HDTP texture packs (ex. HDTP - Humanoids, HDTP - Critters and Crawlers, etc) would I be able to use one 'catch-all' esm under the name 'HDTP.esm'? Or would I need specific ones like 'HDTP - Critters and Crawlers.esm,' 'HDTP - Humanoids.esm' etc?
I'm 99% sure you need 4 different copies of the .esm, renamed them properly. Like "HDTP - Humanoids - Textures.esm" etc. I'm about to test it with High-Res Ship Interiors mod.
So I need to pay attention to those hyphens! I did not quite realize that. Still, pretty cool. In fact, could I just rename the author's ba2 files to follow the hyphen requirement?
If using Plugins.txt, as is recommended by the xEdit team, whichever esm is listed below will overwrite the one above it.
Please just use different esm files for the different author's texture mods. It will make your life a lot easier. The esm I provide here does not contain any game records that can hurt your save in any way. You can add and remove this empty esm as many times as you want.
The game may tell you an esm is missing if you do remove an empty texture-related esm and launch a previous save. That is standard practice by the game engine to make sure you don't fudge your save with plugins that contain game records. This is not one of those plugins.
Well, for what it is worth, it seems to work the way we talked about. Renaming works too. Really makes handling some of those super large texture mods a lot easier to handle. I make my own pretend mod by copying all the different ba2 files and one master esm for a particular author and then stuff them all in the same vortex staging folder. Works like a charm.
By disabling the actual mods in vortex but leaving them there, I am still able to know when they have been updated. After updating, I copy the file over to the master staging file and delete the file from its original staging file. As long as that real version of the mod is disabled, there are no problems using my master staging file. Updating continues to notify me of an update even though the real version is disabled.
One thing I have to remember is to disable the new updated file as vortex automatically enables any updated files. To keep track of this and new mods, I sort by installation date. The new updates will be the most recent (also helps me remember what new mods need to be added to plugin.txt.
21 comments
This will direct to the relevant part about .esm usage:
The Case for Exclusively Supporting .esm Files in Starfield
I advise you to peruse the entire document, and others on the xEdit GitHub and Discord, so as to have a more complete understanding of the current state of xEdit's development as it pertains to Starfield modding.
in the CK i just used to hit save and it was done?
whats the process using xedit ? can some one please enlighten me?
Thanks
Mod - Textures1.ba2
Mod - Textures2.ba2
Mod - Textures3.ba2
Mod - Textures4.ba2
Name the ESM:
Mod.esm
This should load all 4 of them with 1 plugin.
@VikMorroHun
In the case where the author has special naming for each individual ba2, yes, you would need to have a separate plugin for each ba2.
So long as the naming before the ba2's first hyphen matches your plugin name, you are safe.
ThisIsARenamedMod - Textures.ba2
ThisIsARenamedMod.esm
Mod HD - Author 1's textures.ba2
Mod HD - Author 2's textures.ba2
Mod HD.esm
And lets say that they were both editing the same textures? Which would have precedence? Or would the esm just not work?
Please just use different esm files for the different author's texture mods. It will make your life a lot easier.
The esm I provide here does not contain any game records that can hurt your save in any way.
You can add and remove this empty esm as many times as you want.
The game may tell you an esm is missing if you do remove an empty texture-related esm and launch a previous save.
That is standard practice by the game engine to make sure you don't fudge your save with plugins that contain game records.
This is not one of those plugins.
By disabling the actual mods in vortex but leaving them there, I am still able to know when they have been updated. After updating, I copy the file over to the master staging file and delete the file from its original staging file. As long as that real version of the mod is disabled, there are no problems using my master staging file. Updating continues to notify me of an update even though the real version is disabled.
One thing I have to remember is to disable the new updated file as vortex automatically enables any updated files. To keep track of this and new mods, I sort by installation date. The new updates will be the most recent (also helps me remember what new mods need to be added to plugin.txt.