Load order question and unpacking BSAs

[Glanzer]

I'm getting back into modding after a 4 year hiatus. After doing some research on mod order and BSAs I came to the following conclusion, but I want to be sure I'm correct. Can someone comment on the accuracy of what I've written below?

 

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If the files are in a BSA, the BSA loads at the same time as its corresponding ESP.

If the files are loose, they load in the order that the mod is listed in your mod organizer.

 

Now for an example... Let's say you have 2 mods with these contents:

 

MOD1: 1.esp, 1.bsa

MOD2: 2.esp, 2.bsa

 

Then let's suppose that LOOT sorts the plugins like this:

 

2.esp

1.esp

 

Even though the mods in your mod organizer are listed with MOD1 first then MOD2 second, the plugins are NOT loaded that way! And since BSAs are loaded when their corresponding ESP files are loaded, it means the files in the BSAs would be loaded in this order:

 

2.bsa

1.bsa

 

Hence, if 2.bsa had meshes, textures, scripts, etc. that conflicted with 1.bsa, THEY WOULD BE OVERWRITTEN BY 1.bsa, even though the mod in your mod organizer has MOD1 listed first (i.e. with lower priority).

 

But let's say you extracted the contents like this:

 

MOD1: 1.esp, loose files for MOD1

MOD2: 2.esp, loose files for MOD2

 

LOOT would still load the plugins in this order:

 

2.esp

1.esp

 

But the loose files would be loaded in a different order like this:

 

loose files for MOD1

loose files for MOD2

 

Which is the OPPOSITE LOAD ORDER THAN BEFORE. And instead of the files in MOD1 being the winners, the files in MOD2 are the winners.

 

This is why it's generally a good idea to have the mods in your mod organizer ordered in the same way LOOT organizes their plugins.

[myztikrice]

All bsa files are loaded before any loose files.

 

.bsa files are loaded in the order that corresponds to their .esp order. .bsa's without a corresponding .esp are not loaded

Edited July 26, 2020 by myztikrice

[Glanzer]

Wow I didn't know that about the requirement for ESPs with BSAs. That's why I always see directions for unpacking BSAs after deleting dummy ESPs.

[notho99]

So loose files get loaded after BSA's regardless of the load order, is there a load order for loose files and if not, what if there is a conflict between loose files?

[Glanzer]

No, loose files get loaded AFTER BSAs regardless of the load order. If there is a conflict between loose files, the last ones loaded "win" (get priority).

 

So what about conflicts between files in a BSA and loose files? Do the loose files always win since they load last?

[IsharaMeradin]

When it comes to conflicts:

Latest BSA content to load takes priority over any previous BSA content.

Loose files take priority over any BSA content.

Latest installed loose files will take the place of any previously installed loose files (when installed directly to data folder)

Latest loaded loose files will take priority over any previously loaded loose files (when using a mod manager with virtual management system i.e. Vortex / MO2)

 

Whether manually installed loose files take priority over loaded loose files (or vice versa) depends upon how one arranges the priority and / or rules with their mod manager containing a virtual management system.