Custom race companions

[mimada]

One clarification (for now)-- is an esm equivalent to an esp as far as gameplay goes? What I mean is, if I convert the IDKRRR_C_C_Race.esp to an esm to use it with other esps, then will it still function as the original esp did, just for starting a new game with the custom race, for instance?

Yes. However (there's always a however), an esm will override Oblivion's master file so you have to be careful of what you change or you'll get some wacky and unexpected effects. Essentially, don't change every esp into an esm. Most esps that add races should be okay. The thing you have to watch out for are files that make alterations to cells and the worldspace. Once you get more comfortable with TES4Edit, you can find and strip these elements out of an esp you want to convert.

 

I'll give you a specific example. Treetop Smoker's Human Race adds an NPC to your house in Bruma. If you change the esp to an esm and add it to the game without removing the instance of the NPC, the interior of the Bruma house disappears :blink: . Rest assured that this won't destroy your game. All you have to do is deactivate the esm.

 

Do I need to keep the esp around? Will I need it again at some other point, for instance to just play a character of that race, or will the esm be a workable substitute for it from now on?

If you don't intend to make any more changes to the esm then you don't need the esp. The CS won't allow you to directly edit an esm file so you have to edit the esp then convert it. Then again, you can always convert the esm back to an esp, edit it, then convert it back to an esm. I would keep a backup of the original archive somewhere just in case.

 

Just don't have both the esm and esp activated at the same time. It won't destroy your game, but if you start a new game, there'll be two instance of say, the Corean race. I don't know if you are already using it, but having a savegame manager is great for modding. You can create a character for testing mods and not have to worry about messing up your main character.