BAIN (Wrye Bash)

[MichikoUnknownFox]

I think one of the best things that I'm just now learning about Wrye Bash and the BAIN installer system is if your mods do mess up somehow, uninstalling and reinstalling (the core) mods is really easy. I have all the unofficial patches and FCOM in working order set up in BAIN, so whenever my mods mess up, I'll just clean up and reinstall, and the game's clean and bug free again and I can slowly (also with BAIN) reinstall my mods slowly so that I can figure out which one is causing the bug/error.

 

I have to say I was very intimidated to use such a thing at first. But now that I've gotten the hang of it a bit more now, it's definitely becoming friendlier and friendlier to me.

 

:dance:

[ThomasKra]

BAIN is the end-all best installer out there right now.

 

Good to see you are figuring it out. :)

[oxpleaqssfwspy2]

Where could I find FCOM and BAIN?

[MichikoUnknownFox]

BAIN is the end-all best installer out there right now.

 

Good to see you are figuring it out. :)

Haha yeah! :dance:

 

I'm gonna try converting some of the other complex mods to BAIN-ready format, since it's just such a pain to manually install some of these, what with all the updates and patches and all that.

 

 

Where could I find FCOM and BAIN?

Both are found in the TESNexus site. But I highly discourage you from installing FCOM if you're a new player. Trust me, it's very difficult to install even for people who have been modding for years. It requires some very specific sets of files installed in a specific order, and loaded in a specific order.

 

I suggest you hang around and learn how mods, file structures and load orders work. When you think you've covered at least the basics, you can try installing FCOM. Maybe by then it'll be easier than it is now, in fact.

[MarkInMKUK]

What Wrye Bash needs is an OMOD-interpreting front end. Using that to create the BAIN install would give the best of both worlds - the ease of an OMOD and the correct operation of BAIN when it comes to overinstalls and uninstalls.

 

Personally I find BAIN installations to be almost inpenetrably difficult unless they are totally trivial, so I'm sticking with OMODs for now. It's like stepping from Windows to Linux - the difference in understanding needed to do even the most simple thing is a vertical learning curve, and the "already can" people write the instructions for other "already can" people rather than the "haven't yet learned" ones - again very much like Linux.

Edited May 30, 2011 by MarkInMKUK

[bben46]

BAIN is a part of the Wrye Bash program and cannot be used without it.

You can find it here: http://tesnexus.com/...le.php?id=22368

 

As for FCOM, I second not using it unless you are prepared to spend a LOT of time and effort to get it working right - and it requires Wrye Bash as well. Here is a quote from the read me

WARNING: FCOM is not for the faint of heart. It may chew your game up into tiny bits and spit it back in your face! Yes, Wrye Bash really is required.

 

But if you are adventurous, here: http://tesnexus.com/...le.php?id=12249

[MichikoUnknownFox]

What Wrye Bash needs is an OMOD-interpreting front end. Using that to create the BAIN install would give the best of both worlds - the ease of an OMOD and the correct operation of BAIN when it comes to overinstalls and uninstalls.

 

Personally I find BAIN installations to be almost inpenetrably difficult unless they are totally trivial, so I'm sticking with OMODs for now. It's like stepping from Windows to Linux - the difference in understanding needed to do even the most simple thing is a vertical learning curve, and the "already can" people write the instructions for other "already can" people rather than the "haven't yet learned" ones - again very much like Linux.

 

BAIN is actually not as complicated as people think. It's kinda like riding a bike. Some people will stare at bike riders and wonder how such thin wheels can hold even a large man up, even on turns where you lean in to make the curve. First-time bike riders will fall at least a few times. Some will give up and never get on a bike again (but they'll eventually learn to drive cars, which is much harder). But some will stay, and will learn to ride bikes, and will enjoy it for the rest of their lives. :D

 

The hard part about BAIN is not really in the using it (it's pretty much automatic from there, and the install order is the same as if you would do it in manual or OMOD: install the overwriting files last). The hard part is in configuring your archives (aka "packages) so that they can be easily interpreted by BAIN. But that's not hard either, if you can figure out some basic rules.

 

Here's a very basic tutorial on how to use BAIN, for the complete beginners. Don't worry, I only just learned this stuff too, and I was just as intimidated as you guys. I'll enclose in spoiler tags so people that already know this stuff or aren't interested don't have to read.

 

 

The most basic and simple of them is to make sure that when you open the archive, the esm/esp is already in there. If there are "optional" esm/esp folders, you're gonna have to either put those in the main folder (and rename if necessary) or put each "option" in individual folders that will look like this:

 

00 main/myspecialmod.esm <- master

00 main/myspecialmod.esp <- plugin, default values

01 higher tweaks option/myspecialmod.esp <- plugin with some tweaked values

02 lower tweaks option/myspecialmod.esp <- plugin with some tweaked values

 

We number the folders for organization.

 

Now in BAIN, you'll have to check the master and pick one of the plugin versions with the values you like. Pick only either the default, or one of the tweaked values.

 

If the mod has other data files (like textures and meshes), you can put those in the same package, or you can make a package that includes only the data files. It's up to you, as BAIN will install them properly anyway. Just make sure that the first thing you see when you open the archive with WinRAR/7z is the folders themselves (no more data folder). BAIN preserves the folder structure.

 

Now, put those things in the very intuitive install order in BAIN. Your main plugins mod "myspecialmod_v1.0.7z" and "myspecialmod_data_v1.0.7z", at this point can be installed in any order, but for reference, the higher the number, the later it gets installed. So if you have update patches, like "myspecialmod_v1.1.7z", you can put those below the original mod (to be clear, at a higher number/later install order). It will overwrite any files it finds with the same file name.

 

For example, myspecialmod_v1.1.7z only updates myspecialmod.esp but doesn't touch the esm file, no need to delete v1.0, as myspecialmod.esp will be overwritten with version 1.1, just like it would be if you do it in manual install.

 

The good part about this though is the "anneal" function. This allows you to remove myspecialmod 1.1 (in case you don't like it, or it has bugs), and it will automatically roll back to version 1.0, without you having to redownload or find the original 1.0 file somewhere on your HD.

 

These very basic functions of BAIN make it a very intuitive installer. It also allows you to easily uninstall/reinstall even really complicated mod packs.

 

OMOD is still good though, particularly because of scripting, which BAIN can't do. But if you want to really organize your data folder, and make installation completely automatic, BAIN can really shine.

 

 

[ArmeniusLOD]

If you're going to try installing FCOM, use the information in this thread. There's also some great information in this thread, where the author divulges his thought processes while installing.