forcing load order, what does "fe (000)" mean?

[PUNJISTICKgg]

I know there are probably better ways to organize my load order, but up til now I've been doing it by forcing each mod to be where I want it via the "Mod Index" tab. I'm using Horizon 1.7 as my base mod, and everything works perfect right now.

 

I recently installed a couple companion mods w/ their compatible Horizon patches,(Curie makover, loving piper). However instead of having a Mod Index number like all the rest of my mods, they show this "fe (000)" "fe (001)" etc. What does this mean, and why do they show this? How can I get them where I want them in the load order?

 

Screenshot attached for reference. I need them to load down at Mod Index spots 54 and 55.

 

[rmm200]

No screen shot - but be aware ESL files (FE) are like Masters, and you can not control load order. They will always be before ESPs.

[Tannin42]

For one thing: You really shouldn't force plugins to load in a specific place.

"where I want them in the load order" doesn't really make sense, the load order is a technical thing that can make the difference between your game working correctly or not. Either plugins conflict and *need* to be in a certain order or their order doesn't matter.

Vortex is trying to enforce known requirements on the load order which you are overriding with forced indices. Best case scenario is that this does you no good, worst case is your game will run worse than if you had done nothing, either way the time you expend on doing this is almost guaranteed to be wasted.

 

The mod index is not just an indicator of the load order, it becomes part of all form ids the mod generates, like items to mod adds to your game.

E.g. if you have a mod that adds a bunch of weapons and it loads at mod index a3 then every weapon will have an id of a3xxxxxx.

 

The tab to lock mod indices is not intended to be used as a way to enforce load order. There are plugins (very rare, as in: I know of 2 across all bethesda games and one has been removed in the meantime) that may break things if during a playthrough the mod index changes. Also some mod authors write scripts that require a plugin to be at a fixed index. The locked index Vortex offers is only intended to facilitate these use cases where the index needs to remain fixed.

 

The mods you're seeing are light plugins introduced in SSE and Fallout 4 which break some of the known rules for plugins. Light plugins are _always_ loaded as mod index FE. This is enforced by the engine and can not be changed (not, through Vortex, not through any other mod manager, not by directly editing plugins.txt) unless you convert the plugin to not be light.

That's why the index lock feature doesn't work: The mod index of these plugins is enforced by the game.

 

You need them to load at mod index 54? No, you don't, because that's not possible. No one loads them at any other index than FE. Thus no one has tested them at any other index. Thus there is no way that you have a problem with it being at index FE that you wouldn't have if it was at a different index.

 

The *load order* of light plugins *can* be changed. The *mod index* can not. For light plugins these are decoupled which makes the whole load ordering process much more complicated.

[DarkDominion]

"fe (000)" "fe (001)" are .esp flagged as ESL.

 

load order is always :

.esm

.esl ( pure esl functions as an esm )

.esp

.esp ( flagged as esl )

 

if you want to adjust this you’d have to use XEdit or change the mod category

 

cheers

-=DD=-

[PUNJISTICKgg]

Thanks guys, not sure why the screenshot didn't upload, apologies for that. I read much more about the ESL files and was able to get it sorted, appreciate the help.

 

For one thing: You really shouldn't force plugins to load in a specific place.

"where I want them in the load order" doesn't really make sense, the load order is a technical thing that can make the difference between your game working correctly or not. Either plugins conflict and *need* to be in a certain order or their order doesn't matter.

 

I suppose by "where I want them" I should have said "where they need to be to not break Horizon", it took me a long time to get every mod in and working properly with Horizon, and it just so happened that these were the first two mods that happened to have the ESL flag so it was just new for me and I didn't understand it. Completely makes sense now though! Appreciate the response.

EDIT: Also worth noting, the author converted the original patch from an .esp to .esl on his own, and I'm not the only one who's had issues with it not functioning as a result. He made it an .esl in the effort of simply saving .esp space, however it seems me (and others) would have an easier time with it functioning if it was simply still just a .esp patch that I could dictate where it loads. As an .esl it's loading before Horizon, and is a patch that needs to be after it, and thus isn't working in-game. https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25353?tab=posts

[HadToRegister]

Thanks guys, not sure why the screenshot didn't upload, apologies for that. I read much more about the ESL files and was able to get it sorted, appreciate the help.

 

For one thing: You really shouldn't force plugins to load in a specific place.

"where I want them in the load order" doesn't really make sense, the load order is a technical thing that can make the difference between your game working correctly or not. Either plugins conflict and *need* to be in a certain order or their order doesn't matter.

 

I suppose by "where I want them" I should have said "where they need to be to not break Horizon", it took me a long time to get every mod in and working properly with Horizon, and it just so happened that these were the first two mods that happened to have the ESL flag so it was just new for me and I didn't understand it. Completely makes sense now though! Appreciate the response.

 

EDIT: Also worth noting, the author converted the original patch from an .esp to .esl on his own, and I'm not the only one who's had issues with it not functioning as a result. He made it an .esl in the effort of simply saving .esp space, however it seems me (and others) would have an easier time with it functioning if it was simply still just a .esp patch that I could dictate where it loads. As an .esl it's loading before Horizon, and is a patch that needs to be after it, and thus isn't working in-game. https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25353?tab=posts

 

 

Yup, he should've flagged it as an ESPfe, you can sort those, AND they don't take up a slot just like ESL

 

Personally, I refuse to use a mod that make so many changes that every single other mod needs a patch to work with it.

[spartan119990]

so if i have a mod that adds a outfit, and its mod index is "FE:007", how would i use that to add its items to my inventory using "player.additem"? (i can not use add item menu, i tried a few times, it is bugged or broken in my save, no idea why or whats causing it, so just assume that i just do not have that option at all)