Best way to make many mods compatible/merge them?

[luceid]

1st off all: Excuse my English, germanfag here :psyduck:

 

This maybe the most stupid question ever asked but still I'd like to ask:

What is the best way to make many mods compatible/merge them?

Especially NPC's.

 

So, here is my problem/what I want to do:

http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/thumbnail/teh-horrors.jpg

 

To keep it simple: I'd like to transfer things from several mods to one supermerge.esp.

That's not so impressive, I know. But I'd like to keep it as simple as possible.

So I'd like to know, if there is a way to transfer only specific things from a mod to a merged patch, without doing it all by hand (which sucks for ~2000(?) NPC's)

 

So the idea behind this is to make FOOK compatible with mods, that change the appearance of the NPC's (like New Vegas Redesigned, NVCE, Lings Pretty Things, a.s.o.) and some other Stuff like Body by Race.

Does FNVEdit has such an option? Or is there a workaround?

 

If Wyre Flash does something like the mentioned, please let my know how to do it.

I never used it, neither for Oblivion, Nehrim or FO3, since it always seemed so complicated :ohdear:

Edited December 11, 2011 by luceid

[FMod]

As far as I know, what you are attempting is not a great idea. It's more likely to break things than to fix them, due to the way mods work in Fallout. It used to work great for Morrowind, you could even just tell TESCS there to merge loaded plugins.

 

So never merge mods unless you are sure what you are doing.

 

What you want to get is what Wrye Bash (and Flash) is for. It's a bit tricky to use, but read the manual, read patch_option_reference.html (you'll need to get it from Wrye Bash, not Flash), and you'll get the hang of it.

 

Just tag the mods you want to override FOOK with what you want to override - Graphics, NPC Faces, Races, et cetera.

[luceid]

Aw... I knew it... I have to bash

Technically it should be possible to do this with FNVEdit, but as it seems one has to do it by hand :psyduck:

 

What do I need for "wrying" that stuff? :ohdear:

Wrye Bash AND Flash or just Bash?

Do I need Python or is there a version which comes "stand alone"?

[FMod]

Doing it by hand is very risky, you can break things.

You CAN use the Merged Patch option of FNVEdit, but it's nowhere near as powerful as Wrye's Bashed Patch. It is useful though if you can't use Wrye Flash.

 

For a simple way, have you tried just placing the overriding mods below FOOK? I know it says to put it last, but so does everyone; you don't have to.

 

I'm afraid Wrye Flash only comes in a python version so far. The installer will download and install python automatically. You only need Wrye Flash, from Bash you can take the documentation file. If you have Vista or Win7, there is a risk of python not working. On XP it runs flawlessly.

[luceid]

Placing some mods after FOOK in the LO results in overwriting f.e. the classes of FOOK or the new health values :(

 

So... Wrye Flash seems to be what I need.

It seems capable of ripping only f.e. face-date from a mod, right?

[FMod]

Yes. You still might need to place them after FOOK, but then set Bash tags to import FOOK stats, and it will work.

Use BOSS to tag the mods properly, then add your own - BOSS for NV is not nearly as complete as for Oblivion.

[luceid]

So... after some time, I managed to install Wrye Flash (took a while to find out, I need Wrye Python from TESNexus).

 

And so I tried the "rebuild"-thingy.

I've already has done some nice things, like merging some minor mods (I fought the Law WA, Blade of the East Replacer, etc.) but I do still have some questions:

 

1. Can I delete mods, which were merged into the bashed patch?

 

2. Can I somehow set priorties in this thing? F.e. if I have several mods, that alter faces, like NV Redesigned, Lings, etc.

Something like "1st use NVCE, than use NV Redesigned at last overwrite it again with Lings".

 

3. How do I set manual Bash Tags? I can rightclick a mod and set it into a "group", but there are only a few selections to make.

I read in the Wrye Bash manual, one has to write the tags by hand right into the mod description - is this correct?

If so: Is there a list for all possible Tags somewhere? ::ohdear:

[FMod]

1. No, they must not be deleted. You can enable Auto-Ghost (right-click above all the mods to open the menu) so that they can't be seen by other programs.

 

2. Yes. Just use load order to set priorities - it's what it is for. Merged mods still follow the load order.

So place NVCE at the top - it should be at the top of your order anyway - and NV Redesigned below it.

 

3. It's a square window in the lower right. You don't need to edit the description, just use that window to select the proper tags, it will display the full list.

Be sure to refer to the manual before setting tags. Some are not what they seem to be.

 

Wrye Bash/Flash takes some getting used to, but it's a very powerful tool once you get the hang of it. There won't be any need to resort to manual editing if playing at least somewhat compatible mods.

Think of tags and load order this way: the mods still follow the load order, but when a mod would normally override a previous one, if the previous one has an appropriate tag (Graphics, or Stats, or Item Mods), and the new one doesn't, the tagged part gets carried through. If both mods have Graphics tags, the later one overrides the earlier one.

[luceid]

Thanks for your help so far - well worth a kudos :)

 

Soooo, I get along a lil' better with all the stuff, but my major concern is still unsolved: FOOK <-> PN

I don't know which kind of Tags I should use for them :ohdear:

 

Since FOOK is the main-overhaul I blindly enabled most of the tags (used this guide for information: http://code.google.com/p/better-oblivion-sorting-software/wiki/BashTagsReference)

 

Now there are only two major things bugging me:

 

1. Somehow the texture (body) of my character looks broken and I couldn't fix it with smearing breeze' over again. (reactivating through FOMM's package-manager)

http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/thumbnail/screenshot00.jpghttp://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/thumbnail/screenshot14.jpg

 

2. All the nice "sorting-tags" from PN (like [Chem:] Buffout) are gone :(

[FMod]

Project Nevada should as a general rule be given precedence, when used. So keep it below FOOK, and try removing unnecessary tags. You shouldn't tag everything, just what is actually needed to be from that one mod, and you know that one mod has what you need.

 

If you tag a mod that has vanilla stats, the patch will revert to vanilla stats.

 

For instance don't tag FOOK with character-related tags, especially not if you are using another character-related mod (NVCE). FOOK should have Stats, Scripts, Relev, Delev, Invent, a couple others I think. Not all.

 

For sorters specifically, tag PN with Names and Scripts.

And tags aren't enough, make sure to check the settings to import these stats, names, scripts, etc are active.

Edited December 17, 2011 by FMod