ESM vs ESP

[SkjoldBjorn]

I searched the forum for a similar post, but nothing gave me the answer i wanted, the info i got so far is:

 

 

1. You cannot use convert to .esm if you have modified vanilla objects, not even records, everything linked to vanilla assets changes the records, like adding masters, linked ref etc.Not even moving objects will work, i tried this myself, moving objects for example underground to preserver vanilla assets to prevent glitches and bugs etc. Did that work out well for you? Nope. I had to revert back to .esp.

 

2. there is no real difference between .esm and .esp except for the following:

a) .esm will load before any .esp

b) .esm will let other modders make mods based on yours

c) it will be easier for you to patch your mod without touching the original .esm and get feedback from players and change things accordingly

d) You can have multiple changes in one mod by making many different .esp's like many of the mods on nexus have, take for example Climates of Skyrim that have many .esp's that only changes smaller things like darker dungeons and darker nights.

 

For me this only looks like an .esm is better in certain situations, not all the time, so why does people freak out of your mod does not have an .esm?

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[David Brasher]

People have no reason to freak out if your mod has no .esm. They are being foolish. Ignore them. Most mods have no .esm.

 

Before they fixed the navmesh bug, things like dungeon and house mods needed to have .esms for their navmesh data. But new mods in these genres no longer need .esms. If you are building certain kinds of modders resources and you use an .esm, they will be easier for other modders to use, and your work will be spread more widely. If you update your mod a lot, then it might be easier for you to have the portion you never update be in an .esm.

 

You usually don't need an .esm.

 

What kind of a mod do you have? That might give us an idea of whether or not there would be any advantages to having an .esm for that mod. But if you have researched the matter and can't think of any advantages for your particular mod, then I bet there aren't any.

Edited October 1, 2012 by David Brasher

[SkjoldBjorn]

Well, my WIP plugin currently introduce dynamic lighting around skyrim, it is a bit like Lanterns of Skyrim, but mine also changes the mesh appropiate for what time of day it is. So i removed the flame effect from 1 lantern and several other candles that did not have an "off" model to make this happen. That is what my mod's main purpose will be, and yes, im working on doing this for all places around skyrim, though only exterior cells. So i have changed some vanilla lighting in this mod that for some reason was a little buggy (did'nt emit light on land mesh for example, not shadowcasters, just normal lights) so i have removed little in vanilla worldspace, but i had to replace or delete some of the things to get everything right, so i might as well just use an .esp for this i think. Instead of removing items from vanilla space i have moved them underground for example, though this does not help old savegames unfortunatly, i tested on one of my old savegames, a few objects appeared inside one of mine, but any player can just use a "disable" command ingame to get rid of those though. I have also added a few things to the worldspace, i put up a few walls around winterhold that looks like ruins so the city would look more like it once were a city, and Morthal also got a few ruined walls, but other than that mostly just lights in exterior cells and a script linked to all that controlls them.

 

So all in all i see no reason for an .esm, i was just wondering why some people seemed afraid of things like an .esp not acompanied by an .esm. Thanks for giving me some clarification on that btw.