To Overwrite or Not to Overwrite ?

[luciusmario]

The hardest question (for me) when installing several/many mods is when to overwrite certain files or not.

I am using NMM, and there are times when I prompted with:

 

"Data file 'blah/blah/blah' has already been installed by 'Blah Blah'. Overwrite with this mod's file ?"

 

Should I choose "Yes" or "No" ?

Or maybe "Yes to folder", "No to mod", etc. ?

 

Is there any guidelines on how I choose these options ?

[Noppius]

It all depends on what your installing.

 

If you are installing aMidianBorn Imperial Forts for example and you already had Skyrim HD 2K installed. When the question comes to overwrite or not, it is up to you to decide

if you want the new mods textures (aMidian) to replace the ones from the older one (HD 2K). Normally you will want to replace them with the new ones since you liked them.

 

Since you are using NMM, you can always try out if you prefer the replacements or not. If you decide to return to the original, you can simply uninstall with NMM and the old files are

restored.

Hope this helps you out a bit!

 

Happy modding!

[jet4571]

Sounds like you are using mods that change the same exact thing like the majority of replacers do. Rule of thumb is do not use 2 mods that change the same thing. 1 body mod. 1 body texture mod. 1 mod that repalces X armors textures with HD ones. 1 mod that changes lighting.

 

Another rule of thumb is read the mods description. If it says it changes A,B, and D and another changes A, B, and C You can use both but you need to know what to install first. If you want all of the mod that changes A,B, and C but also have D, you install the one that includes D first then overwrite with the one that includes C. The descriptions should tell you exactly what was changed so you can decide how to mix and match. There is no guide on this since there are thousands of mods. Thats all up to you to decide based on the description you read.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

I will make it simple.

 

Texture:

You can overwrite texture.dds + texture_n.dds + texture_m.dds + texture_p.dds files as long as they use the same mesh shape as your previous mod.

Changing only texture.dds and leaving previous _n.dds, _m.dds, _p.dds might not be a good idea. In worst case scenario you will get mismatching "bumps" and awkward shine level.

 

Meshes:

Same as with textures. Your mesh needs to be compatible with texture.

 

Scripts:

You need to uninstall previous mod before attempting to replace .pex files.

 

Sound:

It might result in sound and animation desync. You need to refer to mod compatibility guide.

 

Animations:

Make sure your character .hkx files are compatible with body replacers. Refer to mod compatibility section.

Edited January 30, 2014 by BlackRoseOfThorns