Can't add materials to CK archives.

[mm137]

Anybody else having this problem? Textures and meshes are working fine, and materials can be added if they are referenced in an esp, bu when I try to manually add them they don't show up.

[Ethreon]

By manually do you mean manually editing the nif with nifskope? Had it happen the other day with some custom stuff I had around.. weird, since they showed in game.

[TrickyVein]

I've released a couple of mods now which use the CK's archive tool which wouldn't have gone over well if materials weren't included.

[mm137]

By manually do you mean manually editing the nif with nifskope? Had it happen the other day with some custom stuff I had around.. weird, since they showed in game.

No, I mean when making the archive to upload to bethesda.net. If textures/meshes/materials aren't directly referenced in your esp (mainly replacers) they won't automatically be added to the list. So, you can add meshes and textures just fine but materials just don't show up.

 

I worked around it by adding a material swap to the esp but it's kind of pain in the ass.

Edited May 28, 2016 by mm137

[yatz]

Have this problem all the time. Of course, someone will argue that they don't need to be in the archive if they aren't referenced by the plugin or any records. However, I get the feeling that you may be like me and just want your Archive downloads to match your Loose files downloads, you want to make sure they are installed on the user's computer in preparation for a future release, or you just want to be organized. Either way, let's ignore any incoming detractors of our methodologies, shall we...

 

I'm not 100% sure how I got around the problem, but one method that seems to work most of the time for me is by doing the following:

1. Create Archive and click Add (you know this step - mentioning it for those not understanding what you're doing)
2. In the dialog where you are supposed to select the Meterial (BGSM) file, navigate to the folder it's in (again, you're already doing this)
3. I expect even at this point, you will not even SEE your desired material file or files listed, so...
4. In the Filename field, put a single asterisk (*) character and hit the Enter key - this is an old Windows Explorer wildcard trick used when the File Type drop down doesn't list the file type you want OR the files just aren't displaying
5. At this point, you should now see your BGSM files.
6. Choose what you want and hit Open
7. You will most likely get an error - acknowledge the error and move on.

At this point, I many times see the material files I wanted in the archive list now (you may want to sort to see them easier) EVEN THOUGH I GOT THAT ERROR/WARNING!

 

I believe this is just Bethesda making an effort to streamline the BA2 archives, but I also believe there is one or more bugs in the Add dialog. I don't think they are correctly calling and manipulating the form objects in the Windows Forms library in this case, but I could be wrong.

 

Anyway, just try a few different things like that and you usually end up with the files.

 

Since I only use the Creation Kit for creating BA2 archives, it would be nice if someone else knows how to do this using something other than the Creation Kit that correctly packs and formats the BA2 archives (for example, being sure to split off the Main and Texture archives and setting the record associations in the archive properly).

 

Hope that helped at least a little...

[TrickyVein]

It may be related to the bugginess of the material editor in the CK in general, based on yatz's post.

 

In my experience, the editor doesn't recognize a new material file after it's been created until it's saved over again. The user has to choose 'Save As' and overwrite the bgsm file a second time or the application doesn't even recognize that the selected Material is currently open. Clicking 'Save' when editing new material generates the warning 'No Material Selected.'

[mm137]

Well, the trick didn't work for me after a couple of tries (although it is a useful trick to know). I figured out you can make a material swap and not even swap anything - just mention the materials. Since you need an esp anyway to upload anything at all, this at least kills two birds with one stone.

[mm137]

It may be related to the bugginess of the material editor in the CK in general, based on yatz's post.

 

In my experience, the editor doesn't recognize a new material file after it's been created until it's saved over again. The user has to choose 'Save As' and overwrite the bgsm file a second time or the application doesn't even recognize that the selected Material is currently open. Clicking 'Save' when editing new material generates the warning 'No Material Selected.'

:wallbash:

[JonathanOstrus]

I'm assuming you mean you can't drag them into the CK's archive tool window. It doesn't say it can't find them, it says they're not a valid type. This was actually an issue I posted in their CK bug forum a while ago. Reference. There's 2 options for remedy.

 

1. Make sure something in the plugin actually references the material file. Such as a material swap.Then when CK tries to add "needed" files for the plugin it will find them and put them in the list. Exporting the file list doesn't work because when you try to import it, you will have the problem that they are not a correct type.
2. Use the Archive2 tool. You can let CK create the archive, then close CK and open with Archive2. Then drag in your materials and save the BA2 so it injects your new files. Or you could just use Archive2 to create the BA2 in the first place.

 

Be mindful of the filename you use for the BA2 archive in any case. The game exe only looks for 2 files. "MOD_ESP_NAME - Main.ba2" and "MOD_ESP_NAME - Textures.ba2".

[yatz]

I can't speak for the OP, but that wasn't what I was referring to BigAndFlabby. Although it is along the same lines.

 

However kudos on #2. Haven't heard of that and taking a look now :)