My mod works as an ESP, but not as an ESM.

[pancakemix]

I've made my first mod for Starfield, a mod which removes all XP bonuses and maluses from all Gameplay Options, and adds a new Gameplay Option which does nothing but increase or decrease XP by a desired amount.

As an .esp, the mod works exactly as intended, with no real issues. However, when I convert it to an .esm file, it creates an issue where the Gameplay Options are duplicated. My new XP Modifier option is there, but there are also two instances of every other Gameplay Option, one which does not affect XP, and one which does.

Looking in the Creation Kit at the .esm shows that conversion to the .esm for some reason makes all the Gameplay Options I changed into duplicates, and restores the original Gameplay Options back to their original parameters. So now there are two instances of every option, one that is a duplicate and has my changes, and another which is the original and has the vanilla settings.

This is also true for the Gameplay Option Group, which has one GPO_PEO file which is the original and does not have my new XP Modifier option listed, and then a duplicate, which lists all the duplicate Gameplay Options that the .esm conversion created and also DOES have my new XP Modifier option.

Am I missing or doing something wrong here? I would be fine with it staying an .esp, but I don't think it's possible to upload .esps to Bethsesda.net, they have to be .esms.

 

Attached is the functioning .esp, the .esm with the duplicate options, and Word doc that explains the mod.

Difficulty Decoupled XP Modifier.esp Difficulty Decoupled XP Modifier.esm Difficulty Decoupled XP Modifier.docx

[pancakemix]

This is so strange, now the .esp also has the duplication issue. I used to be able to load into the game and the Creation Kit with the .esp and not have any duplication. I LITERALLY have an image from the game of the options menu looking like it's supposed to prove it. But I just downloaded the very same .esp file to make sure it was right, and now somehow the .esp--both the original and the downloaded versions--have been "poisoned" for lack of a better word, and now also have the duplicated options.

[aurreth]

When you converted it to ESM, did you go to your Starfield Data directory and remove the ESP file?  The CK does not actually "convert", it makes an ESM with the same name.  The ESP doesn't go away.

As I understand it the ESP is for development.  You use the ESP until you are ready to finalize the project.  You then create an ESM from the ESP for upload, and archive the ESP someplace safe, because you can't edit an ESM with the CK.  It's a very stupid system.

So yeah, do the conversion then remove the ESP file from the Data directory.

[noko1992]

For whatever reason anything that uses something from anything other than "Starfield.esm" doesn't seem to work unless you save it as a "full master". It's not ideal but it's the only work around as of yet.

[pancakemix]

17 hours ago, aurreth said:

When you converted it to ESM, did you go to your Starfield Data directory and remove the ESP file?  The CK does not actually "convert", it makes an ESM with the same name.  The ESP doesn't go away.

As I understand it the ESP is for development.  You use the ESP until you are ready to finalize the project.  You then create an ESM from the ESP for upload, and archive the ESP someplace safe, because you can't edit an ESM with the CK.  It's a very stupid system.

So yeah, do the conversion then remove the ESP file from the Data directory.

Yes, I removed the old .esp (not deleted just moved to a different folder), and I made sure that the .esm was the only one still activated in my load order. As stated in my own reply, I seem to be mistaken about the .esp to .esm conversion being responsible for the duplication issue, as my esp now also has the duplication issue as well, like the Creation Kit is just arbitrarily deciding to revert my changes, and move them into duplicate equivalents.

As for not being able to edit .esms, you do seem to be able to open them in the CK, and at that point you can save any changes as a new .esp if you need to make more changes, but I'm not sure if there are any problems with doing that.

 

5 hours ago, noko1992 said:

For whatever reason anything that uses something from anything other than "Starfield.esm" doesn't seem to work unless you save it as a "full master". It's not ideal but it's the only work around as of yet.

I tried to convert the .esp as a FULL master (rather than a light or medium master) and that seems to have preserved my changes and not created any duplicates. Perhaps there are certain limitations regarding what light and medium masters can do, where they are capable of adding content, but are unable or forbidden from overwriting/editing content?

Just in case, I would appreciate it if anyone could try the attached full master .esm, and verify that they aren't having any issues:

Difficulty Decoupled XP Modifier.esm

[pancakemix]

Downloading it myself, it seems fine. Here is the link to the Bethesda.net page, if anyone's interested: https://creations.bethesda.net/en/starfield/details/9e5bbdb7-25cd-423c-82ac-81e6bc296ec7/Difficulty_Decoupled_XP_Modifier