svenskarav Posted May 16 Posted May 16 (edited) So what is the benefit of doing either? and which is more stable? Also does merging ba2 files have the chance to accidently make it to were the assets from the other mod appear were they don't belong like attachments appearing on guns that they shouldn't ? oh and how would you update it when the time arises ? Edited May 16 by svenskarav Awful grammar
fraquar Posted May 16 Posted May 16 (edited) The benefit of merging into .BA2 is twofold: a) More efficient file loading b) Loading only one mod instead of 5-10 - when you know you will always use all of the mods. ----- The process of merging the .BA2's should make it immediately apparent if you are going to have any conflicts. File operations of the OS will warn you of duplicate files. ----- Added: Personally I usually only merge weapons mods - and the 3rd party patches that supplement them (BCR, TR, STS, FTS, etc). That mod must be in a stable state (i.e. it will likely never be updated again). 99% of all weapons mods are usually done and dusted in the first month of release. Edited May 16 by fraquar 1
fraquar Posted May 16 Posted May 16 I merge by hand. I want to know what is going where and if there is an issue. There is a BA2 Merging tool - BMAT: That does not merge .ESP/ESM's - just the .BA2's. I've never used that, never needed to. That seems like a convenience tool if you are looking to merge a BUNCH of mods all at once. 1
fraquar Posted May 16 Posted May 16 Unzip the .BA2 files into their own directory and copy all those directories into a separate one - which contains all of the mods directories. I use BSArchPro to do that. It allows me to select which files I don't want to extract. Ex. If I'm reducing a given mod of a lot of excess baggage to make it a unique pistol - I probably only keep the stuff I need to make my preferred configuration - and just a couple upgrades - not 100 of them. 1
NeinGaming Posted May 16 Posted May 16 I also unpack the archives into the same folder, that way you get a heads up when something overwrites something else (which is usually fine, but like fraquar I wanna know what's going on, just in case). For repacking them I use Cathedral Assets Optimizer (though I prefer the UI/options of the pre-7 version). Once it's set up how you need it, you can just drag a folder into it, hit "run", and it automatically splits up big archives and creates dummy .esp files for them. It also keeps me from making some mistakes like packing files that shouldn't be packed, or packing them in the wrong archive type etc 1
fraquar Posted May 16 Posted May 16 (edited) At the end of the day though there is no substitute for knowledge. i.e. knowing a certain mod is supposed to overwrite another. I'd never trust an automated process to know that - with 100% efficency. LOOT tries to do that and fails on occasion - and you don't realize it has failed until after the fact. ----- God gave us brains, we should use them accordingly. The more you know about your own modding process - the better. Edited May 16 by fraquar 1
svenskarav Posted May 16 Author Posted May 16 38 minutes ago, fraquar said: At the end of the day though there is no substitute for knowledge. i.e. knowing a certain mod is supposed to overwrite another. I'd never trust an automated process to know that - with 100% efficency. LOOT tries to do that and fails on occasion - and you don't realize it has failed until after the fact. ----- God gave us brains, we should use them accordingly. The more you know about your own modding process - the better. True. i do try to keep track of it and tbh i never knew how to merge so this helped alot. but i wouldn't say i'm the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes.....
fraquar Posted May 17 Posted May 17 Just remember that the sharpest swords in the world are made with blunt tools (hammer and anvil) - and a lot of sweat. 1
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