BSA files: I'm clearly doing it wrong, here.

[Edmania]

So, in order to use the animation for the one-handed crossbow mod, I had to learn how to unpack (and repack) the animations file Skyrim uses because for whatever reasons Oblivion's folder system is so yesterday.

 

I got the BSAopt program and followed the steps exactly here. I don't think I got that much wrong but I'm still clueless.

 

Now here's what I've been having trouble finding, information on repacking these things. The BSAopt method reduces the filesize to obscenely low amounts (and testing it gives predictable results, everybody be T-stancing) whereas the Archive.exe method is...kind of confusing and I have no idea if I did anything right? (I guess it did export a .bsa file...) But trying that one makes everyone T-stance too. I doubt it's a matter of me messing up changing the animations (I only had to change the staff animations, I don't think this should be messing up EVERY animation) so it's got to be something to do with this process of repacking (or I just got it wrong from the start unpacking.) What's the most recent/trustworthy method for doing this?

[Jokerine]

Well, I do personally use Archive.exe for this. I learned with a tutorial but the blog hosting it seems to be gone so I'll type it out for you.

 

- First, make a folder on your desktop called something like "my mod" or whatever. Then make a "Data" folder inside, and inside put your "meshes", "textures" or whatever else folders, in the very same order and location they are in your actual Skyrim "Data" folder. That is important! This is basically a mirror of your work. This is needed to prevent Archive.exe from trying to cram your whole Data folder into the new bsa file :laugh:

 

- Next, fire up Archive.exe. Click Edit -> Add Directory and then navigate to your new Data folder you created on your desktop (not the one named after your mod - the one inside it). Click on it so it's selected and click OK.

 

- Archive.exe will load the stuff you want to pack up. Check if you want to make sure everything is in there, and if it is, click Edit -> Check All Items. Then tick the components of your bsa file - meshes, textures, whatever. If you have scripts, tick "misc" as well.

 

- Now, simply click File - Save As and navigate to wherever you want to store your bsa files. Don't worry, you can move them later. They are usually named the same as your mod's esp. Then wait for a bit until the bar at the bottom is full (it usually just gets stuck saying something about renaming if I remember correctly, but once the bar is full, the process is complete).

 

- Then test it out! I'd recommend moving your loose files somewhere outside of the data folder and testing with your bsa only to make sure it's working. When it comes to uploading your mod to the Nexus, make sure to include both bsa and bsl files in your download.

 

Hope it makes sense. I'm not very good at writing instructions :smile: Let me know how it goes.

Edited November 14, 2014 by Jokerine