Is there any way to use the Construction Set with Vista?

[woodtortiose]

Hello,

Here's what I'm trying to do. I want to use the CS to create a resource plugin with the contents of lots of other mods that add a few things to the game, thereby freeing up plugin slots. I am a CS noob, though I have played around with it a bit. Every time I have more than one file loaded, make a change and try to save the CS crashes. I've spent half the morning on here trying to find a solution, and lots of others seem to have this problem, but no potential solutions I saw seem to work. It seems to be understood that the CS just doesn't work with Vista. Is this true? Theres no work around?

 

This is what I'm trying to do in detail. I want to take the items from a mod, put them in a crate in the testinghall and save the file which I will later esmify for a resource. Repeat 50 times. Specifically for this first time: The Black Cat Jewelry Store mod. I love the little statue/idols you can buy here, but the location conflicts with UL skingrad outskirts. So I

 

1. Open the CS with just Obliv.esm loaded, and save a new file without doing anything. No Prob

2. Open the cs with just obliv and my new esp loaded and create a few new crates, save, No problem

3. open cs with obliv, black cat esp, and my new esp. drag and drop stuff i want into my new crates and save - Crash!

4. read somewhere that 2 esps cant be loaded at the same time, so i use gecko to esmify black cat file. try again and crash again.

5. uninstall and reinstall CS and try again - crash

6. install CS somewhere else besides program files - crash

 

 

I have 4 gigs RAM and UAC turned off. Is the CS and Vista just completely incompatable, or am I making some obvious noob mistake?

[Sepherose]

This is relevant for me, although I am on Win7, with 6 GB RAM, and here are a few other differences:

 

1.Can load up, can't save, crashes.

2. Can place stuff for hours. Can't save, crashe.

3. Can load Oblivion.ESM and all the DLC ESP files, try saving, crash.

 

Ahg... I really want to be able to make a dungeon, but this is turning me off of that... :(

[woodtortiose]

Also, if 2 esps cant be loaded at the same time, how are mods made that are dependent on another esp? For example Vorians UL patches, how can he make a patch for ul and a conflicting mod without first loading those two mods?

 

 

One more thing, I'm using the CS that came with the goty edition, is there another version?

[yeldarb]

I have Oblivion and the rest of my PC games installed in C:Games instead of C:Program Files. C:Games is a custom folder you can create when you install most games on your computer.I avoid UAC completely when I play, and it still protects my computer from malware. The most recent version of the CS can be downloaded for free from Bethesda Softworks and TESNexus if the GOTY version is not current.EDIT I use Wrye Bash to trick the CS into thinking an esp is an esm (esmify) when I make patches or modify a partner to use clothing and armor from a store I have installed.I have to remember to change the "esm" back into an esp (espify) before I play again.ANOTHER EDIT The CS also uses RAM, if you do not have enough free RAM the CS will crash on save. Read the pinned Topic "Oblivion Modding Links" in Oblivion>Oblivion Modification>General Mod Talk. The Topic has links to articles on modding and is the second place I look when I run into problems with the CS myself.

[Sepherose]

I have Oblivion and the rest of my PC games installed in C:Games instead of C:Program Files. C:Games is a custom folder you can create when you install most games on your computer.I avoid UAC completely when I play, and it still protects my computer from malware. The most recent version of the CS can be downloaded for free from Bethesda Softworks and TESNexus if the GOTY version is not current.EDIT I use Wrye Bash to trick the CS into thinking an esp is an esm (esmify) when I make patches or modify a partner to use clothing and armor from a store I have installed.I have to remember to change the "esm" back into an esp (espify) before I play again.ANOTHER EDIT The CS also uses RAM, if you do not have enough free RAM the CS will crash on save. Read the pinned Topic "Oblivion Modding Links" in Oblivion>Oblivion Modification>General Mod Talk. The Topic has links to articles on modding and is the second place I look when I run into problems with the CS myself.

6 GB RAM, 1GB vidcard, 3.2 Ghz duo processor, and over 300GB of free HD space, so that isn't the issue, as for UAC, I use take control and also disconnected my comp from the net, then disabled UAC (temporarily) and still had the same trouble. All drivers are up to date as well, so the problem still eludes me....

[David Brasher]

I have Windows 7 and I can use the CS okay. My last computer had Windows Vista and I could use the CS okay. To define "okay," I must state that the CS crashes often on almost any computer, but if you are careful and save often, you can still get lots of work done. If you find an action which causes crashing, then don't do that particular function or save right before you attempt the risky action.

 

I use an approach like yeldarb does to outwit my security system so I can mod and play Oblivion. It is absolutely essential to do something like that.

 

The CS becomes more unstable the more mods you have open. It can crash with as few as two mods open. But I have also been able to work and save with as many as eight mods open. If possible, you should have as few mods open at once as you can get away with. If you are merging parts of eight mods, you could maybe do the whole task with only two mods open at any one time.

 

The CS just basically stinks for merging and for cutting and pasting content. Use some other utility besides the CS if you can. TES4Gecko works pretty good for merging mods. (It only crashes sometimes.) You might try merging mods, and then modcleaning out the stuff you did not want. Sometimes the CS can't handle merging or cutting and pasting if the mods have complex scripts, parented items, interrelated parts and such. You might try making a copy of a mod and stripping out the things that are likely to cause problems and then merging it. If the CS crashes three times in a row when trying one thing, give it up! It will crash 100% of the time doing this action no matter if you try 6 times or 12 times. Change your tactics and try something different to bring about the same result.

 

There are basically only two versions of the CS in circulation and they are both really old. One came out before Shivering Isles and one came out at the same time as Shivering Isles. You should probably use this second one.

 

Good luck! Persistence and flexibility will get you past many obstacles.

[Sepherose]

I have Windows 7 and I can use the CS okay. My last computer had Windows Vista and I could use the CS okay. To define "okay," I must state that the CS crashes often on almost any computer, but if you are careful and save often, you can still get lots of work done. If you find an action which causes crashing, then don't do that particular function or save right before you attempt the risky action.

 

I use an approach like yeldarb does to outwit my security system so I can mod and play Oblivion. It is absolutely essential to do something like that.

 

The CS becomes more unstable the more mods you have open. It can crash with as few as two mods open. But I have also been able to work and save with as many as eight mods open. If possible, you should have as few mods open at once as you can get away with. If you are merging parts of eight mods, you could maybe do the whole task with only two mods open at any one time.

 

The CS just basically stinks for merging and for cutting and pasting content. Use some other utility besides the CS if you can. TES4Gecko works pretty good for merging mods. (It only crashes sometimes.) You might try merging mods, and then modcleaning out the stuff you did not want. Sometimes the CS can't handle merging or cutting and pasting if the mods have complex scripts, parented items, interrelated parts and such. You might try making a copy of a mod and stripping out the things that are likely to cause problems and then merging it. If the CS crashes three times in a row when trying one thing, give it up! It will crash 100% of the time doing this action no matter if you try 6 times or 12 times. Change your tactics and try something different to bring about the same result.

 

There are basically only two versions of the CS in circulation and they are both really old. One came out before Shivering Isles and one came out at the same time as Shivering Isles. You should probably use this second one.

 

Good luck! Persistence and flexibility will get you past many obstacles.

 

I would agree with you there, with the exception that I can do anything I want in the CS, except save, and that is kind of integral to modding :laugh: