Creation Kit Version Control Questions

[BlueBeard1983]

Ok, so I'm trying to find the easiest and most reliable way for me to merge mods together. So far I've used the Mod Merging tool on the Nexus, and xEdit, but now I'm wanting to use the Creation Kit. I followed the instructions on the creation kit website for enabling version control, but I am not able to get it to work.

 

I used the setup guide here: http://www.creationkit.com/fallout4/index.php?title=Version_Control_and_Multiple_Contributor_Collaboration

 

The first issue I run into is:

 

[01/02/2017 - 10:09:50PM] Perforce log opened (PC-64)

[01/02/2017 - 10:09:50PM] Unable to initialize perforce connection - failed to obtain COM object

[01/02/2017 - 10:09:59PM] Log closed

I click ok, and go to set up the CK for first time merging, I highlight Fallout4.esm and select details, and it takes several minutes to load the file details. However, according to the walkthrough I used, when I click details it was suppose to give me a prompt "Do you want to use an empty list to save memory?" I never received this prompt.

Also, nothing showed up when I press "ctrl+shift+b" to update the bit array files.

Going forward, figuring it may work, I load up the esp file I want to use as the base for merging, and the CK refuses to connect to the directories that I set up for this process. To make matters worse, when I close and reopen the CK, the esp file I was going to use doesn't show up anymore. I checked the Data folder and NMM and the file shows up in both of those places.

Now on to my questions:

Am I, or is the site I used for the set up guide, missing a set or two for Windows 10?

Do the mods I wish to merge need to have the same name as the esm that they will be merged into?

Can I use xEdit to remove the ESM flag and then rename the file with the esp extension without worries once I am finished merging?

To solve the missing esp issue, I am installing FO4 and the CK on my laptop to use for modding purposes, so I'm not TOO worried about that.

Thank you in advance and I apologize for the somewhat wall of text.

If any more info is needed to help with this, let me know and I'll try to provide it.