Leveled Lists 101 - Basic Theory

[mydah42]

I'm sure this must have been asked and answered a dozen dozen times by now. I've found that the best way to make sure I understand something is to try and explain it to someone else. Please please correct me if I have this wrong. I'm not a modder. I'm not looking to create a new mod. But I would like to understand the theory behind the things I do when I install mods. So here goes:

 

A leveled list is the list of items (armor, weapons, loot, etc) that an NPC carries. The reason it is leveled is so the NPC can spawn with different items at different levels.

 

Example: Bob the Bandit has weapons. His leveled list has an iron sword for levels 1-10 and elven sword for levels 11-20 and ebony sword for levels 21-30.

 

I download the mod "Big Blade" which add the big blade to the bandit's list for levels 21-30. A mod that adds a weapon this way does not remove the ebony sword so there is a chance Bob could spawn with either the big blade or the ebony sword.

 

Then I download the mod "Master Mace" which adds the master mace to the bandit's list, also for levels 21-30. If the Master Mace mod is in the load order after the Big Blade then the mace's level list will replace the big blade's leveled list. Bob could spawn with the ebony sword or the master mace, but not with the big blade. The big blade would still exist in the game, but Bob would never have it.

 

Wrye Bash can do LOTS of things but it is most commonly used to merge leveled lists together so both the big blade, and the master mace, and the ebony sword can all be in Bob's list for levels 21-30. When he spawns in the world he might end up with any of those three weapons.

 

Is that close to accurate?

[egocarib]

Yep, a bashed patch will ensure all the items added by both mods get put into the leveled list (instead of the later one in the load order overwriting the first).