How to merge mods?

[temnix]

No, I wasn't. What numbers do you mean?

[Abramul]

No, I wasn't. What numbers do you mean?

Just a guess, but I'd say they're likely the order in which they load, and therefore determine, if more than one mod changes the same thing, which mod's change would be used.

[SickleYield]

When you bring up the merge screen in Tes4Plugin, you see a list of the mods on the right. On the left are a column of blank spaces. If your list looks like this:

 

space mod1

space mod2

space mod3

space mod4

 

Then you would merge mods 1 and 3 by marking them like this:

 

1 mod1

space mod2

2 mod3

space mod3

 

Then Tes4Plugin makes a third mod of the merged plugins, so if it doesn't work right you can go back and have the priority reversed.

[temnix]

You seem to know how this works. I've gone and typed in some numbers for the mods I had before reading your response here. I wonder if I've made a mistake there? I created a few large "bundle mods":

 

1 clothes mod A

2 clothes mod B

3 clothes mod C

 

and so on. Then the program merged the mods into one Clothes.esp, and I deleted the originals (still retain backups in another folder). So with the others.

 

The problem is, I don't know if the merged files work. I'm having trouble running Oblivion at the moment, for different reasons, past the character generator stage. There, at least, I know that merging several cosmetic mods (AKH Eyes, Capuccine's, Khajit Ear Rings etc.) into one worked: no longer overriding each other, all of the face options are available.

 

But I can't be sure with the other mods, and there is an alarming sign. Formerly, when I had the More Realistic Encumbrance mod activated by itself, a little window would pop up at the start of the new game, even before the introductory movie, and asked which of the mod's options I prefer. I would click, the window would vanish and - onwards to the movie and char-gen. But now I have shucked the mod into an esp along with some others, and the window is no longer there. I don't know whether the mod still works somehow...

 

Part of the problem may be that the mods override each other within the plugin. Or do they? If I have there:

 

1 More Realistic Encumbrance

2 Some mod that influences encumbrance among other things

 

will the first one be overriden or the second? What does "order of priority" mean? That 1 is more important than 2, so 1 overrides 2? Or that 2 comes later than 1 and overrides it?

 

Curses, it took a long time to assemble those merged mods.

 

Also what happens if I add a newer version of a mod to a collection that already contains an older version? E.g. my UniqueLandscapes.esp file:

 

1 Ancient Redwoods

...

6 The Lost Coast

 

I saw not long ago a supposedly crucial update for the Lost Coast. So if I re-download it and do this on the list:

 

1 UniqueLandscapes

2 The Lost Coast New Version

 

will the new values replace the old? I'd like to think so, but do you know?

[SickleYield]

The cosmetic ones don't override each other within a plugin; it's a load order thing. So your problem probably is not caused by that, unless you have another mod affecting that and just don't know it.

 

I wish I could tell you with the order of priority, but I'm not sure. I think 1 would override 2. It's seldom if ever a good idea to use more than one mod that affects the same game stat/balance issue, because unlike the cosmetic stuff, I don't think that can be fixed. This is why people don't use both Francesco's and Oscuro's overhauls.

 

If you want the Lost Coast thing to replace the old version, it's probably better to put it first in order, not second. Unfortunately I'm not sure since I haven't done that much with Tes4Plugin.

 

I strongly recommend using a playtest character to test that after you do so in order to find out, rather than possibly break an existing savegame.

[Vagrant0]

The cosmetic ones don't override each other within a plugin; it's a load order thing. So your problem probably is not caused by that, unless you have another mod affecting that and just don't know it.

 

I wish I could tell you with the order of priority, but I'm not sure. I think 1 would override 2. It's seldom if ever a good idea to use more than one mod that affects the same game stat/balance issue, because unlike the cosmetic stuff, I don't think that can be fixed. This is why people don't use both Francesco's and Oscuro's overhauls.

 

If you want the Lost Coast thing to replace the old version, it's probably better to put it first in order, not second. Unfortunately I'm not sure since I haven't done that much with Tes4Plugin.

 

I strongly recommend using a playtest character to test that after you do so in order to find out, rather than possibly break an existing savegame.

 

Better yet, it would probably be a good idea to see how the numbering affects what gets used. The easiest way I can think of to do this would be taking some town NPC (someone near one of your current saves, who can be found quickly) then changing their name in 3 seperate plugins, remembering which name was associated with what plugin. Since all the plugins affect the same thing, when you combine them, you can see how the numbering order affects the result. You can then use this to merge other plugins that modify the same thing, but have other stuff you want as well.

 

Another option would be to remove some of the conflicting stuff you don't want, and then merging that mod with what you do want.

[SickleYield]

Good idea!