"One of the files that "DB_Delay_YourChoice_EN.ESP" is dependent on has changed since the last save" - How?

[Kraggy]

I posted about this in the chat section for this mod I first saw this problem with, https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46533?tab=posts&BH=1, but I now have it with another mod so it seems this is an installation problem rather than a mod.

 

I'm using the GOG GOTY installtion which includes the game and expansions and the 'official' mods. When I take that 'vanilla' installation and add the mod I just mentioned and then run the game I get a pop-up dialog which says "One or more plugins could not find the correct version of the master files they depend on", and in Warnings.txt I get this:

 

"One of the files that "DB_Delay_YourChoice_EN.ESP" is dependent on has changed since the last save.
This may result in errors. Saving again will clear this message but not necessarily fix any errors.
One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information."

 

Now, if I were loading a Save then it would be pretty obvious what the problem is ... EXCEPT that this is happening when the program is loading, before even reaching the Main Menu.

 

Clearly therefore the error message isn't correct, there isn't a 'last save' which can contain an out of date reference, so what is the actual problem? Is there any way to discover the dependency that fails (why, oh why do programmers output defficient messages which pretty much leave the user in the dark???).

 

The file dates of the base game files all seem correct (being in 2002 and 2003 when the base game and then the expansions were released), while all the 'official mods' are dated in January 2000.

 

Can anyone shed any light on what is going on here and how I can go about trying to resolve it?

 

Thanks.

[Necrolesian]

I don't use that mod, but it sounds like it was created with an old version of Morrowind/Tribunal (before the most recent official patch), and so your master files have a different file size than what it expects. Updating the plugin's masters in Wyre Mash should fix the problem, or you can open it in the Construction Set and save it.

[Kraggy]

Ah, I didn't think of that explanation, I can see what you're getting at, certainly the second mod I mentioned I was having the same problem with was dated many years ago.

 

I'll poke around as you suggest, I'm not overly botered about using this mod per se and would go withou tit but clearly there's something here I need to understand.

 

Thanks for your comments.

[Necrolesian]

The plugin probably (but not necessarily) would work correctly in-game (and if it doesn't, updating the masters wouldn't fix the problem anyway). Updating masters just gets rid of that error.

 

Basically the plugin contains data about the master files (morrowind.esm, tribunal.esm) that it depends on, including the name of the master and the filesize. If it was made with older versions of those masters, the filesize is different, so it throws the error. Updating masters just changes the part of the plugin that says what its master files are with the correct filesize of the current master files.