Mod filename conflict question

[haldiroflorien]

I'm a bit of a n00b so if this is a stupid question just let me know. I've downloaded a lot of mods (for Oblivion), and I install most of them manually. I noticed that many mods' texture or mesh files share the same name, and go into the same folder. For instance there are a lot of mods that add the file "water01.dds". Sometimes they are the exact same file (same size, same date etc.), but often they are totally different. So my question is, when I'm installing a mod and it asks me if it should overwrite a file put there by another mod, and I can see that the files are different, what should I do? Should I overwrite? Should I leave that file out? Or will doing one of those options ruin any mod using that file, in which case I would have to decide between the two mods and only run one of them. I've looked everywhere and I couldn't figure out what to do. Thank you for your help. Edited April 5, 2011 by haldiroflorien

[Striker879]

The Windows overwrite warning will come up as a result of folder names being the same as well as files. In the case of folder (directory) names, the copy will only add new unique instances of the folder, if they are exactly the same name and path only the folder contents are append and/or written/overwritten.

 

As an example, if you have a folder and file C:\Games\Oblivion\Data\meshes\Armor\Blackwood\f\cuirass.nif and you are adding a mod with Data\meshes\Armor\Steel\f\cuirass.nif the file cuirass.nif will not be overwritten in C:\Games\Oblivion\Data\meshes\Armor\Blackwood\f because the path to the two files is different. You will still get the overwrite warning if you copy and paste the whole Data\meshes\Armor\Steel\f\cuirass.nif (along with the other contents of the mod's Data folder) because the Data\meshes\Armor part of the two paths are the same (you would be pasting that into your C:\Games\Oblivion folder).

 

Where you need to be careful is when one mods path is exactly the same as another's (especially prevalent in armor/clothing replacer mods, as the path must be exactly the same as the vanilla path found in the .bsa file). For example the second file in the above example is a replacer for the vanilla steel female armor. The directory path Data\meshes\Armor\Steel\f\ is exactly the same as the path to the female steel cuirass found in Oblivion - Meshes.bsa (the compressed archive that the game uses for all the games mesh files). If I decide to try out another mod that replaces all the female steel cuirasses with ones that look like silk bras it's file cuirass.nif must be located in that same Data\meshes\Armor\Steel\f\ directory. When I install the mod and get the overwrite warning in this case the file Data\meshes\Armor\Steel\f\cuirass.nif from Mod A will be overwritten by the Data\meshes\Armor\Steel\f\cuirass.nif from the new Mod B and all the girls who would have had a steel cuirass on will now be wearing nice silk bras.

 

The bottom line is read the mod description carefully, extract the mod download into a temporary folder and examine the directory structure and files. Compare that to what you already have installed and decide which you want to keep when files will be overwritten. I keep my extracted downloads in their own subdirectory of my OblivionDownloads folder as a backup/troubleshooting resource (often it's easier to compare the two extracted archives to see where they potentially overlap).

Edited April 5, 2011 by Striker879

[Hickory]

So my question is, when I'm installing a mod and it asks me if it should overwrite a file put there by another mod, and I can see that the files are different, what should I do? Should I overwrite?

 

Overwrite if, and only if, you want the mod you are currently installing to REPLACE the mesh/texture/sound etc. of any previously installed mod/s. The nature of mods is that they either add or replace meshes/textures/sound etc., and what you will see in-game is what you (a) installed last or (b) the conflicting mod which loads last (determined by file date) when Oblivion starts up.

[haldiroflorien]

I think that explains it. Thanks for the help!