tutorial Installing Oblivion Construction Set for Oblivion Remastered

[d4em]

On 4/27/2025 at 10:01 PM, ChampagneAndOj said:

I'm looking at modding some of the "DLC" .esp files, but I'm finding that adding any file (other than oblivion.esm) to the construction set as a plugin will cause a crash when saving the .esp file I created.

 

9 hours ago, lordrevan81 said:

I noticed the construction set crashes when trying to load up an official esp file. I can only seem to get oblivion.esm to load properly. I have the CS installed as per first post. 

This was a problem with the OG construction set as well, it doesn't like loading esp plugins as non-active. This might be a problem new to remastered, so I'm not sure if this will fix it, but you had to convert esps to esms

[WOTmodsproductions]

I’ve managed to load my esp into the game but now I have a new issue.

 

The only way is for me to get my esp active in game is to compress the esp into a zip file, import it as a mod to NMM or vortex manually and then load it into the game by checking the esp and it now shows up when I do this.

Works fine and I can see the changes I added in game but only one time.

After that if I edit the esp the new changes don’t show up. So I tried editing it and saving without  being an active file so I can save it as a new name, but the mod managers won’t import it after the first time I do it, it just doesn’t appear again in the esp list, it knows it’s the same file.

 

To clarify adding it to the plugins text file doesn’t work for me, this is the only method of getting it in game for me.

 

Basically if I wanted to make a mod I would have to do everything in one session as once I’ve added it to the game I can’t re add it with any changes 

 

Are there any suggestions to edit the esp and add changes to my mod file and reload it into the game. It just doesn’t load it in again a second time if I make changes, I load the new compressed ZIP and no esp appears in the mod managers.

Edited April 30 by WOTmodsproductions

[Noobatron22]

9 minutes ago, WOTmodsproductions said:

I’ve managed to load my esp into the game but now I have a new issue.

 

The only way is for me to get my esp active in game is to compress the esp into a zip file, import it as a mod to NMM or vortex manually and then load it into the game.

Works fine but only one time.

After that if I edit the esp the new changes don’t show up. So I tried editing it and saving without  being an active file so I can save it as a new name, but the mod managers won’t import it after the first time I do it, it just doesn’t appear again in the esp list, it knows it’s the same file.

 

To clarify adding it to the plugins text file doesn’t work for me, this is the only method of getting it in game for me.

 

Basically if I wanted to make a mod I would have to do everything in one session as once I’ve added it to the game I can’t re add it with any changes 

 

Are there any suggestions to edit the file and reload it into the game. It just doesn’t load it in again a second time if I make changes, I load the new compressed ZIP and no esp appears in the mod managers.

You need to specify exactly what changes you are making; are you tweaking numbers, adding npcs, items, textures, etc.

 

The way the Remastered edition handles additions are very different from the original.

[WOTmodsproductions]

5 minutes ago, Noobatron22 said:

You need to specify exactly what changes you are making; are you tweaking numbers, adding npcs, items, textures, etc.

 

The way the Remastered edition handles additions are very different from the original.

I tried to add npcs but it always crashes so I’ve made a clean esp for now.

 

At the moment I’ve just tested things by adding a few desks for example and I can see the new ones in game, so I know it works.

 

The issue is if I re open the construction kit and make changes a second time, like copy and pasting the desk again. It doesn’t make any changes, ONLY the changes I made the first time I ever saved the file take effect.

ive tried re naming it and re packaging it under a new name after completely removing the original mod so NMM thinks it’s a new mod, but it won’t add the esp to the mod manager a second time, nothing happens when I choose to import manually, no new esp appears in the mod list.

But it always works the first time even though I’m doing nothing different, it just won’t import an esp file that has had changes made to it and I don’t know why.

Edited April 30 by WOTmodsproductions

[Noobatron22]

1 minute ago, WOTmodsproductions said:

I tried to add npcs but it always crashes so I’ve made a clean esp for now.

 

At the moment I’ve just tested things by adding a few desks for example and I can see the new ones in game, so I know it works.

 

The issue is if I re open the construction kit and make changes a second time, like copy and pasting the desk again. It doesn’t make any changes, ONLY the changes I made the first time I ever saved the file take effect.

ive tried re naming it and re packaging it under a new name after completely removing the original mod so NMM thinks it’s a new mod, but it won’t add the esp to the mod manager a second time, nothing happens when I choose to import manually, no new esp appears in the mod list.

But it always works the first time even though I’m doing nothing different.

NPC additions are tied to the Unreal Engine; the process of figuring out how to add them to the Remastered edition is still in the experimental phase as far as I know.

 

As for your other issue, manually load your .esp using the plugins.txt file located along with the other .esp files instead and see if the changes do go through, it could be a mod manager related issue given how new this all still is.

[WOTmodsproductions]

15 minutes ago, Noobatron22 said:

NPC additions are tied to the Unreal Engine; the process of figuring out how to add them to the Remastered edition is still in the experimental phase as far as I know.

 

As for your other issue, manually load your .esp using the plugins.txt file located along with the other .esp files instead and see if the changes do go through, it could be a mod manager related issue given how new this all still is.

That doesn’t work for me, the only way for my esp to show up in game are to import as a compressed mod.

 

Adding it to the plugins text doesn’t load it in game for me, I’ve tried every method I can think of and compressing and adding it as a mod is the only way I can get it to load 

Edited April 30 by WOTmodsproductions

[Noobatron22]

7 minutes ago, WOTmodsproductions said:

That doesn’t work for me, the only way for my esp to show up in game are to import as a compressed mod.

 

Adding it to the plugins text doesn’t load it in game for me, I’ve tried every method I can think of and compressing and adding it as a mod is the only way I can get it to load 

Very odd for that to happen with an .esp file. If you by chance have a copy of the original Oblivion, see if you can load it using that.

[WOTmodsproductions]

3 hours ago, Noobatron22 said:

Very odd for that to happen with an .esp file. If you by chance have a copy of the original Oblivion, see if you can load it using that.

OK I solved it.

I Dont know what caused the issue, but I know how to fix it.

So the issue:

IF your mod you find for some reason that your mod isnt updating in game (after the first time you save it) when you make changes when saving it in construction kit you can do the following and it works, this is mainly for NMM users but should work without.

IT MUST BE IN THIS ORDER! 

STEP 1: Save your new file in the construction kit (must be a newly saved file, if your esp already has this issue I cant solve it, this method just seems to set it up so the issue doesnt appear later on in that esp and the game recognises it as I was able to keep making changes instead of just the first time i saved it), close construction kit (if it says modelloader has nif files, select yes to all)
STEP2:  Add it to the plugins. txt MUST BE directly under Oblivion.ESM (im only using Oblivion ESM and no dlc for my file as master so may differ)
STEP3: Launch from your desktop NOT STEAM, Very important otherwise it launches with custom arguments and you will have to start again.
STEP 4: You MUST load a save in game, preferably in an area with a new object youve added, this is what I did. Its also to check that its working correctly.
STEP5: Once loaded, close game, open construction kit again and open your mod, make sure its set as an active file. 
STEP 6: You must now make a small edit like placing an item, object or creature (I used a minotaur)
STEP 7: Save esp, close construction set (MUST do this) say yes to all if asked about modeloader has nif files
STEP 8: Launch NMM, you will notice your esp file is missing from NMM load order (or launch from desktop, should work this way too if you dont use NMM, once I had done all these steps it started to work for both launchers) 
STEP 9: It will now ask if you want to launch with custom arguments (if using NMM), say yes and save a copy of your ESP file (just in case this happens again, you have a backup that is editable),
Double check your new changes have taken place by loading a save in that area.

Your ESP can now be edited more than once and the bug should be gone.

THIS IS MAINLY if you are having an issue where your esp isnt updating in game and you find you cant edit it or you find changes are not being made that you make in the construction kit.

NO idea why it works, it just did. I tried it twice with a brand new esp and it worked both times.
But changing anything in this order resulted in the ESP being unusable and changes were no longer saved, i dont know why.

I am now able to edit the file as many times as I like and it works as long as I launch from NMM (even though the esp isnt present in NMM) and also works if I launch from the desktop,
Launching directly from steam seems to mess everything up, dont do that.

 

I haven’t seen anyone else get this bug where your changes are not appearing after the first time you save your esp file, and I don’t know why I got this issue. But if you get this bug with your esp follow those steps and hopefully it will clear the issue.

Edited April 30 by WOTmodsproductions

[yoplatz]

I just attempted this method to see if I could make a plugin that successfully adds Static Objects to the game. I got the same results as my last attempt; Lights and items work, but static objects do not appear in-game. I also tried loading all the DLC and "Altar" plugins in the Creation Set. The Altar Plugins change things in the creation set drastically. Interior spaces and world spaces all have their names changed, for example. With everything loaded, though, I am unable to save or create plugins.

[negisensei]

Hi there, trying to learn how to use CS, and experimented with trying to add a unicorn horn to shadowmere, changing its name, and changing his speed; I was able to save an esp file, but upon loading the game, the the name and speed attribute did indeed change to what I edited, but no change in cosmetics; no unicorn horn to be seen.

Would like to be enlightened on how to do cosmetic changes.

Thanks!