merging several files to make one folder

[balboa2151]

hey all.....I have a preset body downloaded with 10-15 separate armors and I have a sex animation mod that has several addon's......my question is how can I merge all the separate files to make one folder so I can keep my mod count down and not exceed the limit? for example.....can I copy the data folder from the animation addon into the main mod or do I have manually copy hkx or the pex into the main folder ? then the 15 armors I have......how can I combine all the armors into one folder? hope I explained what want to do properly? any help would be greatly appreciated.... thank you

[Oubliette]

Alright, several things.

 

1. One: the number of files you describe is nowhere near the limit. Skyrim (and all modable Bethesda games) has a limit of 255 esp and esm files.
2. Two: I would really recommend that you install all those mods - one at a time, testing in between - with NMM. It makes installation easy for beginners and will merge folders for you.
3. Three: Merging folders is easy. Look at the folder structure of your Skyrim directories and then recreate it on your desktop (ex: Skyrim folder would contain a Data folder - that should be enough to start). Open your mod downloads and check their structure, then drag them into either you fake "Skyrim" folder, or your fake "data" folder as necessary. Windows will sometimes as you if you would like to merge folders, say yes. That's how you merge a folder.
4. Four: What you're actually asking is "how to merge mods" not folders, which is far more complex and not generally advisable for beginners.

• First, you need to install the mods and all their component bits properly.
• Make sure they're all working and in order.
• Then you can merge the various esp files with several caveats: you should not merge esm files, you should avoid merging mods that do different things (body mods and animation mods for example) you should avoid merging mods that are updated often or that you will want to update later for whatever reason.
• Those caveats kind of cover all the files you want to merge so I wouldn't recommend doing so.

1. Five: to merge mods you'll need TES5Edit and a very in depth tutorial.

 

Good luck :)

[balboa2151]

thank you oubliette for replying.....I have tesedit and use it regularly....and I use wrye bash with boss.....i'm up to 230 mods that why I wanted to combine or merge some of the armor folders that are for the same preset body so I only have one folder with all the armors instead of 15 separate......all the armors ect. are already installed through nmm and work very well, also it seems like combining the armors seems easier than combining the addons for the sex mod? i'm afraid that would mess up the animations? there is no esm files just pex , hkx and esp files in the addons for sex mod....could I combine the addons into the main sex mod and not have a problem with animations? so ....by reading you directions I make one folder and name it....for example....armors.....then just copy and paste each data folder into the new folder named armors? if I do that will it overwrite the other data folders? sorry for stupid questions.....just don't want to screw anything up :blush:

[balboa2151]

ok......I created a new folder on my desktop and named it armors......I drag and dropped the data folders into newly made armor folder.......I've never installed this type of folder through nmm and installed it into skyrim.......the mods have always been WinRAR or 7zip.......can I install this type of folder using nmm? thanks

[balboa2151]

Is there anyone that can please explain to me in layman terms how to combine files to make one mod? Example .....I have a preset body......there are 10-15 armors that were made for body but they're all separate downloads.......I want to combine all the armors into one file to lower my mod count......I'm using 230 mods......can anyone please help me to achieve this? Thank you

[IsharaMeradin]

You might want to try this

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37981

 

I have not used it. I can't speak for the functionality of it. It is a script that you use to help automate the merging process of plugins in TES5Edit.

 

To reduce the number of mods you have to reduce the number of plugins (ESP files) being loaded. That requires TES5Edit. I've never merged mods and cannot give you any help in that manner.

 

However, you should note that you can have beyond 255 MODS but no more than 255 ESP or ESM files. Pure replacer mods with only files such as scripts, textures & meshes do not count towards the 255 limit.

[balboa2151]

Thank you very much for your help ISharameradin......I counted everything in nmm and came up with 230...... So to just clarify what you said........even though I have 15 seperate armor files which consist of textures and meshes they're not counted against the mod count?

[IsharaMeradin]

They only count against the plugin count IF they have plugins. Switch to your plugins tab and count those. Do not count from your mods tab.

[FaeiresQueen]

ok, i get what he is talking about say that there are 5 individual mods such as armor (each mod deals with armor, each has different meshes n textures) if u make a new folder n name it new armor or something, then drag in the different folders labeled messes or textures, would it work...say like if u already have a folder that has tons of different messes n textures in it...could u just add to it...sorry for the rotten grammar i am exhausted n have a headache...

[balboa2151]

Thats kinda what i was asking.....but i used a mod called merge plugins that IsharaMeradin recommended it it worked like a charm