BethesdaSoftworks Archive Files

[RavenWhitehawk]

Once Again I apologize for my Newbness.

 

What Are these Files used for?

Are These the Files that need to be changed for these mods to work?

 

For Example:

Oblivion - Meshes.bsa

 

The Reason I ask is because at the moment I have no Meshes Folder in my Oblivion Data File

 

:wallbash: (I just Uninstalled and Reinstalled Oblivion for the eighth time, so I pretty much have a Virgin Game) :wallbash:

 

Also, as another example:

The Natural Faces Mod has a File Called;

 

Archive Invalidation[NaturalFaces].text

 

Do the Files on this Get placed in the BSA Files.

 

Once again, I apologize, but I am really Struggling with this task of adding mods and I want so much to be able to do this.

 

I do have a messenger which I will add to my Profile if anybody would be ok with walking me through adding a mod in the messenger, I understand that you all are pretty busy with your own stuff but that little boost I am sure would help me out Greatly with understanding how to do this properly.

 

Thanks in Advance

 

Raven

[dezdimona]

dl this auto install utiity

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2097 OBMM

http://timeslip.chorrol.com/obmm_download.html

 

also once you install a mod then you'll have meshes textures etc visible in your data file

 

if you get obmm, heres how to get your mod auto installed

 

ok,click create omod,add the mod name and author where indicated.

then click add archive,the mod will then be broken down automatically.When its ready you'll see some writing in the big box under file path

Then click create omod,answer yes and omod will be created.

you'll get a green square in your mod list,click on it and then click activate!

all done! mod is now active

[SavageArtistry]

What Are these Files used for?

Are These the Files that need to be changed for these mods to work?

 

For Example:

Oblivion - Meshes.bsa

 

Think of the .bsa files as packaged directories for default content. If you were to open the meshes bsa and take everything out, it would make a Meshes directory in your Data folder with ALL of the unmodded meshes. I think bsa format is meant to keep the original content compressed. It also helps keep everything tidy by keeping original content separate from modded content.

 

The Reason I ask is because at the moment I have no Meshes Folder in my Oblivion Data File

 

Don't worry. If you install some mods I'm sure you will have yourself a Meshes folder. :P

 

(I just Uninstalled and Reinstalled Oblivion for the eighth time, so I pretty much have a Virgin Game)

 

This is good. I recommend making an unmodded backup copy of your Data directory just in case something messes up, you will be able to delete the problem directory and restore the original one. It saves reinstalling oftentimes.

 

The Natural Faces Mod has a File Called;

 

Archive Invalidation[NaturalFaces].txt

 

This file instructs the game to stop looking in the default files (the bsa files) for textures and meshes and instead look in the Data directory for modified content. This is used a lot for mesh and texture replacing.

 

Do the Files on this Get placed in the BSA Files.

 

No, and it's not a good idea to mess with your default bsa files generally.

 

Hope some of this helps.

[RavenWhitehawk]

Think of the .bsa files as packaged directories for default content. If you were to open the meshes bsa and take everything out, it would make a Meshes directory in your Data folder with ALL of the unmodded meshes. I think bsa format is meant to keep the original content compressed. It also helps keep everything tidy by keeping original content separate from modded content.

 

So in other words, it would be ok for me to Make a Copy of all of the Files in the Meshes.bsa and make a Meshes Folder in my Data Folder for Modding purposes. is this Correct?

 

(RavenWhitehawk)

The Natural Faces Mod has a File Called;

 

Archive Invalidation[NaturalFaces].txt

 

 

This file instructs the game to stop looking in the default files (the bsa files) for textures and meshes and instead look in the Data directory for modified content. This is used a lot for mesh and texture replacing.

 

For this File to tell the Game to Stop looking in the Default Files for Textures and Meshes and look for modified content in the Data Directory , Where would I place this Text file so the game will find it?

 

Thanks Again

Raven

[SavageArtistry]

So in other words, it would be ok for me to Make a Copy of all of the Files in the Meshes.bsa and make a Meshes Folder in my Data Folder for Modding purposes. is this Correct?

 

If you're intending to make something out of an original mesh, then yes you could do that.

 

Some people have technical problems which can be solved by extracting all of the bsa's contents. One time all shield meshes in my game disappeared. They were still there but the game wasn't showing them. I extracted all the shields from the bsa and that solved it, though now that I think about it, it was probably a mod conflict because I only had to do that one time.

 

 

For this File to tell the Game to Stop looking in the Default Files for Textures and Meshes and look for modified content in the Data Directory , Where would I place this Text file so the game will find it?

 

Just put it in the Data directory (not in any subfolders). The filename must be "ArchiveInvalidation.txt" for it to work. (Anyone with a different language version feel free to correct me on that.)

[RavenWhitehawk]

Some people have technical problems which can be solved by extracting all of the bsa's contents. One time all shield meshes in my game disappeared. They were still there but the game wasn't showing them. I extracted all the shields from the bsa and that solved it, though now that I think about it, it was probably a mod conflict because I only had to do that one time.

 

That is what I was Experiencing with Ren's Beauty Pack - the hair was in the Race Menu but it was not showing up on the character, so the Mystic Elf would be Bald and if I tried to use Ren's Hair on lets say a Breton the selection would be there but the hairstyle just before Rens Hairs would remain. that is what led me to the Question about BSA Files, I opened them to see what was in there and Saw that they where Paths, and I just figured since the choices where there, but the hair wasn't, that the Game couldn't find the Correct path to Follow to add the hair.

 

Thanks again Savage, I am going to try to install Rens now again, on one of my Previous Installations of these particular mods Ren's was working but other things where not and I cannot seem for the life of me remember how I got it to work, lol. but I have a bit more insight now and will try again.

 

Raven

[SavageArtistry]

That is what I was Experiencing with Ren's Beauty Pack - the hair was in the Race Menu but it was not showing up on the character, so the Mystic Elf would be Bald and if I tried to use Ren's Hair on lets say a Breton the selection would be there but the hairstyle just before Rens Hairs would remain. that is what led me to the Question about BSA Files, I opened them to see what was in there and Saw that they where Paths, and I just figured since the choices where there, but the hair wasn't, that the Game couldn't find the Correct path to Follow to add the hair.

 

I wish you'd mentioned this problem at the beginning.

 

Problems with beauty and race mods are a whole different ballgame, and if you're running more than one at a time chances are likely you'll have problems like you describe. That will have nothing to do with the game's bsa files but everything to do with mod incompatibility. There's different solutions, anything from changing load order to choosing only one race/beauty mod, to merging all your beauty mods. This is something you'll need to search, as it's been answered before and it would take a long time to explain again.

[RavenWhitehawk]

I am Making some Progress but I ran into a small Problem, explained below:

 

I wish you'd mentioned this problem at the beginning.

 

Problems with beauty and race mods are a whole different ballgame, and if you're running more than one at a time chances are likely you'll have problems like you describe. That will have nothing to do with the game's bsa files but everything to do with mod incompatibility. There's different solutions, anything from changing load order to choosing only one race/beauty mod, to merging all your beauty mods. This is something you'll need to search, as it's been answered before and it would take a long time to explain again.

 

I Apologize, Maybe that is my Problem, I am Trying to Run incompatible Mods.

 

Lets Start From the Beginning:

 

ok, I have Loaded the Beautiful PeopleV22-Male ReplacerV3 Mod (I believe this is the Robert's Male Body Replacer combined with Beautiful people) and I also have the No OMOD Version of Eyecandy. Now both Male and Female Characters have a more Natural look - with one exception - The Default eyes are not there, they appear in the RaceMenu as options they are just not showing on the Characters.

 

Any Suggestions on how to fix this? - or -

Does this mean the the above mentioned MOD COMBO is incompatible?

 

I also would like to add The HGEC Update for EyeCandy to give the Female Characters a more refined look.

 

Basically what I want for my Oblivion Characters is for them to look more natural (Both Male and Female) and at the same time be able to wear those really nice clothes and armors but all of them need the HGEC mods to fit them properly. All the clothes and armors that I have liked a lot anyway.

 

I hope I was more clear on what I would like for my oblivion game this time, and the issues I have been running into, thanks so much for your patience, Savage, I greatly appreciate it.

 

Raven

[dezdimona]

That is what I was Experiencing with Ren's Beauty Pack - the hair was in the Race Menu but it was not showing up on the character, so the Mystic Elf would be Bald and if I tried to use Ren's Hair on lets say a Breton the selection would be there but the hairstyle just before Rens Hairs would remain. that is what led me to the Question about BSA Files, I opened them to see what was in there and Saw that they where Paths, and I just figured since the choices where there, but the hair wasn't, that the Game couldn't find the Correct path to Follow to add the hair.

 

I wish you'd mentioned this problem at the beginning.

 

Problems with beauty and race mods are a whole different ballgame, and if you're running more than one at a time chances are likely you'll have problems like you describe. That will have nothing to do with the game's bsa files but everything to do with mod incompatibility. There's different solutions, anything from changing load order to choosing only one race/beauty mod, to merging all your beauty mods. This is something you'll need to search, as it's been answered before and it would take a long time to explain again.

agreed I could write a short story on cosmetic mods do's and don'ts

[bben46]

The bsa files are bethesda's own compressed file format. They are not actually physically changed in any way by mods. They are loaded first when you start the game, and the mods, in load order, overwrite portions - in memory, not on the hard drive. You may need to extract the contents if you are making a mod. But not if you are playing the game. If a vanilla mesh disappears from your game it is because a mod overwrites it each time you start the game.

 

Also, uninstalling the game using the uninstaller on the disk does not uninstall mods, your old save games or the registry entries for the game.

 

For my recommended uninstall/reinstall that does remove everything, and allows you to back up all mods & saves go here:

http://s1.zetaboards.com/TheStormRavenLibr.../1446421/1/#new