Helpful Links, References, and News

[smr1957]

And another tutorial on the CK from Darkfox127:

Starfield Creation Kit | Create a Basic Mod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXNgjT409K0

ADDED to Section 3 - Tools

[smr1957]

Just a friendly reminder for those who will be using mods.

Even with the release of the Creation Kit, people should still exercise caution as regards mods, and make sure that they read EVERYTHING - and check that the plugin file is NOT an .esp file.

Unfortunately, I have already seen a number of mods using .esp files for the plugin, which WILL break the game - and even if they DO have the proper plugin format, as the Creation Kit is just out, and people are still getting used to it, there are bound to be errors in its use and problematic mods being uploaded - so read everything, save before installing a mod, and then test.

[smr1957]

Though the CK has been released and now mods can be properly made, it is still important to note and re-emphasize the following:
 
THE GOLDEN RULE OF MODDING

"No matter how good a mod may look or sound, no matter how much you may really want a mod, if the mod does not work as it should, causes issues in your game, or even seems to have the potential to cause issues, dump the mod. A game that does not work is no game at all." 

And, with the advent of Collections on Nexus, a new corollary to that:
"No matter how good a collection may look or sound, if it has a poor success rate, don't use it - and if it doesn't work, or causes issues, dump it."

From Section 4 - Modding the Game

[smr1957]

Regarding Mods and Plugin Types

With regard to plugin types, Starfield does not use .esp files - they WILL break the game.  Starfield only uses .esm plugins and they are of the following 3 types - and nothing else:

Full Master
Medium Master
Small Master

as explained by Pickysausrus, here:
https://www.nexusmods.com/news/14993
(under New plugin types section)

Below is the information concerning mods and plugins contained in the Nexus article by Pickysaurus (linked above) regarding the release of the Creation Kit:

"The latest update for the Starfield game (version 1.12.30.0) enables mod loading by default. This means that Plugins.txt Enabler and Starfield Script Extender (or an ASI loader) are no longer required to play with mods. Simply install the mods with your favourite mod manager (or manually drop them into the Data folder) and start the game. 

We're working on an update to Vortex to bring our support for Starfield up to date with the latest version of the game. 

New plugin types

The latest version of Starfield includes a major shift in how plugins are shared which has some important implications for how load ordering works in the game. The Creation Kit provides options to export your completed plugin in three different formats:

Full Master - This is what all mods containing ESMs have been using up to now. A full master takes up one of the 253 slots in the plugin load order (excluding the base game and DLCs).
 
Medium Master - This is a new plugin type for Starfield. Medium masters are ESM plugins combined into the 254th (FD) load order slot and can consist of ~65,535 new records each. You can load 256 medium masters at once. These are suitable for mods that add new locations, planets, etc.

Small Master - This is the same as the "Light" masters in Skyrim and Fallout 4, these plugins are combined into the 255th (FE) load order slot. These ESM files can hold 4,095 new records and you can load 4,096 small masters at once. These are suitable for mods that add new items, ships, weapons, or small interiors."

 

(For a grand total of 4,605 plugins.)

 

There is also this from Arthmoor (in response to a question regarding disappearing textures):
14 June 2024, 1:48AM
"You've installed a regular .esp file into your game. This was something that was discovered through testing the first builds of USFP before the CK went public on June 9.

You CANNOT use straight .esp files. They will break the game. One of those symptoms is exactly what you describe with disappearing texture. Another is losing all landscape under the player in an exterior.

As far as the two specific mods you mention, both of those work 100% correctly with USFP installed. Source: The author of both uses USFP in his game.

UFSP actually sees these as INACTIVE despite them being active (according to LOOT anyway)

This is because the game doesn't activate those files and will actively strip them from your plugins.txt file. They're hardcoded to load regardless. No tools at present are handling this correctly."

From the Posts page of the Unofficial Starfield Patch (USFP) - https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/143?tab=posts

 

FOR THOSE CREATING AND UPLOADING MODS TO NEXUS

This from Pickysaurus:

"New Tags on Nexus Mods
Following the Starfield update I've added some tags for new master types. Please add these to your mods or vote them onto mod pages to help others find the content they're looking for more easily.

Full Master
Medium Master
Small Master

These tags are prompted on mod upload too!"

https://discord.com/channels/916686954421157930/916686955134214186/1249734333422637159

 

 

ADDED TO:

Section 4 - Modding the Game
 

[smr1957]

Starfield Creation Kit | Layouts by Darkfox127
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NApUFpOqhpc

ADDED:
To Section 3 - Tools

[smr1957]

I've probably mentioned this somewhere before, or at least alluded to it, but it is worth repeating.  As regards a previously modded game made with mods created before the release of the Starfield Creation Kit, the best bet is to simply get rid of any mods containing plugins that were created and uploaded before the Creation Kit was released, as they were inherently improperly constructed due to not being made with the proper tools.  Once a person has done that, they should start fresh and only use mods which have been created using the new CK and other properly constructed tools based upon it.  Also, make sure that none of the plugins are .esp files - Starfield does not use .esp files and using them WILL break your game.  See: Regarding Mods and Plugin Types (from Section 4 - Modding the Game).

[smr1957]

Starfield Creation Kit | Navigation by Darkfox127
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph6zXq0IWxQ

TUTORIAL: Starfield Creation Kit tips part 2 - Utilities for level building by Elianora
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAmVrQBKpY

ADDED:

To Section 3 - Tools

 

[smr1957]

ADDED to Section 3 - Tools:

Another new CK tutorial by Darkfox127

Starfield Creation Kit | Part 5 | Layers by Darkfox127
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZumZYR4pYw4

[smr1957]

Now that the CK has been released, I expect there to be an increase of informational topics being posted - as well as guides and other forms of information. Anyone knowing of useful guides, tutorials, etc. is encouraged to post the information here - provided it is reliable and completely accurate - whereupon a determination will be made whether it should be included in the Helpful Links main topic in an appropriate section.

Thanks!

[smr1957]

Creations Option Freezing The Game

If you are having this issue, you can try this fix:

Delete pipeline cache and the creation content file in your %appdata%/local/Starfield folder.

Appdata is a hidden folder,  So you need to open file explorer, go to View, Show, hidden files and folders, and make sure it's check. The files will be in:

C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Local\Starfield.

Or, in the search bar (windows 10 or 11) type in:

%appdata%

And hit enter, that will open the appdata folder, and you will find starfield in there.

(from https://forums.nexusmods.com/topic/13493220-anyone-else-having-issues-with-creations-option-freezing-the-game/ )

 

Added to Section 5 - General Troubleshooting