TES4Gecko mod merging questions

[woodtortiose]

Hello,

I'm trying to trim down my cumbersome mod list with Gecko, and I have a few questions regarding the process.

 

1. Say I'm trying to merge mods A and B to create mod C. All of Mod A's resources are in a bsa. Will the new merged mod recognize this and be able to find the resources? Will I need to change the name of the bsa to the new merged mods name? Should I unpack the bsa into a standard folder structure before merging, and if I do that will mod A (and C) recognise the new form of its resources?

 

2. This next scenario seems like an obvious use of the merge mods feature, but I'm having problems with it. Mod B.esp is dependent on A.esm. I want to merge B into A (merge to master). Mod B retains its dependency however, and so now mod A is dependent on itself, which causes lots of fun problems. I've tried removing mod B's dependency on mod A (edit masters) before merging, but this didn't work either. Specific example: I'm using the bathing mod, which has an esm and 3 optional esps. This is a neat little mod but I'm primarily using it because another mod requires the esm. I'd like to use 2 of the 3 optional esps, (placeable tubs and buyable soap), and merge them to the esm. Gecko successfully did this, but it was dependent upon itself. Gecko failed to remove the dependency from the esps pre merge, but was successful in removing the merged esms dependency upon itself. The problem isnt solved though (any store where you buy soap or tubs has no interior meshes, just a bunch of falling npcs), so the mod is flawed and I don't know how to fix it.

 

Another version of this problem is esp to esp dependecy. As I'm sure most of you know, especially if running fcom, UL, better cities, etc, running 100 mods often means needing 100 patches. Lets say Mod A and mod B conflict and require patch C. If the correct load order is A B C, is there a good way of merging patch C (which is dependent on A and B) into mod B? I'm tring to reduce better cities large number of plugins this way, and I can't get it working.

 

 

3. I'm just starting to fiddle around with geckos merging, and I anticipate having lots more questions and problems as I go along, so ideally I was wondering if there was a good tutorial, list of FAQs, list of specific examples of mods successfully merged and the process involved (especially involving different types of mods, races, cosmetics, companions, gameplay tweaks, etc), detailed instructions on how to use the CS to successfully compliment geckos merging process, etc, etc you get the idea. Anyone point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks in advance for any help/advice, woodtortiose

[myrmaad]

1. yes, they should find the .bsa fine.

 

2. You could try the less complicated method of merging the dependent mods and leave the master.. for now while you're getting to know how to use it. I am running about 800 mods via the gecko merge system, but I find that merging simpler mods works best. For example clothing and armors in a merge, weapons in a merge etc. So I would probably opt to put the three you want to keep in one dependent plugin.

 

There is a way to do what you want of course, but back up all plugins before you start experimenting with it, then you can use the built-in gecko feature or use wrye bash to convert the master to an .esp (espify), and then merge the ones you want. This could be unpredictable.

 

I have not tried merging my patches, so someone else will need to advise you on that.

 

There is a good tes4gecko tutorial thread posted on beth forums it was begun by Shadowcran.

[Tomlong54210]

Plugin Merging - http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/?page=plugin_merging <-- links to the BethSoft and TESCS guide threads can be found at the bottom

[woodtortiose]

Thanks for the tips guys, and that link has some good advice. I appreciate the help!

[woodtortiose]

In the link Tomlong provided above, it gives a list of dos and donts regarding which mods to merge. One of the donts is

 

"•mods where doing a clean save would result in unwanted loss of progress (i.e., quest mods or item mods with quests to gain the items) "

 

Does anyone know the reason for this, other that the obvious point that you would lose items/quest progress if you uninstalled and did a clean save? In other words, if I have no plans to uninstall the mod, is it safe to merge or is there another reason I'm not seeing?

 

Also, if esps are grouped together in the load order (after using boss), no other mods are dependent on these esps, they merge together with zero conflicts(being assigned the same priority as the load order), all the respective resource folders merge together with no conflicts, Can I be fairly certain that its safe to play? Could there still be conflicts that gecko doesn't check for/recognise when it merges?

[Tomlong54210]

In the link Tomlong provided above, it gives a list of dos and donts regarding which mods to merge. One of the donts is

 

"•mods where doing a clean save would result in unwanted loss of progress (i.e., quest mods or item mods with quests to gain the items) "

 

Does anyone know the reason for this, other that the obvious point that you would lose items/quest progress if you uninstalled and did a clean save? In other words, if I have no plans to uninstall the mod, is it safe to merge or is there another reason I'm not seeing?

 

Also, if esps are grouped together in the load order (after using boss), no other mods are dependent on these esps, they merge together with zero conflicts(being assigned the same priority as the load order), all the respective resource folders merge together with no conflicts, Can I be fairly certain that its safe to play? Could there still be conflicts that gecko doesn't check for/recognise when it merges?

Yes, that is exactly the case. If you do not plan to uninstall, quest mods are safe to merge too. You only have to worry if you have patches that rely on the quest plugin. Dealing with voice files can be a bit tedious too because the voice files' folders would have to be renamed to match that of the merged plugin.

 

With the exception of cell edits and worldspace edits, yes, it is usually safe to merge plugins in the same section of the load order, and Gecko will catch any serious conflict, which are usually script conflicts.

 

Also, it is safest to do clean saves before adding the merged plugin. Doing that is less important with game tweaks, but with new item mods and the like, first create a save with the mods removed before introducing the merged plugin.

[woodtortiose]

Excellent, thanks Tomlong. Regarding the voice files, does the required renaming only apply to custom added voices, not if it uses vanilla voices? Do I only have to worry about this if the original mod has a voice file? If so I think I'll avoid having to do this too much as when I merge some files I rename the merged file to one of the original esps, so BOSS puts it in the right spot. I'll have to make sure I pick an esp that had voice files, and rename any others that have them also. I appreciate the help dude.

[Tomlong54210]

Excellent, thanks Tomlong. Regarding the voice files, does the required renaming only apply to custom added voices, not if it uses vanilla voices? Do I only have to worry about this if the original mod has a voice file? If so I think I'll avoid having to do this too much as when I merge some files I rename the merged file to one of the original esps, so BOSS puts it in the right spot. I'll have to make sure I pick an esp that had voice files, and rename any others that have them also. I appreciate the help dude.

You only have to rename the sound folders added by mods. The whole point is that the sound files have to be associated with the plugin that defines them. The vanilla voice files are already defined and loaded by the Oblivion master file.