SSE Loose files vs. BSA

[Unedjis]

Hey there,

 

In an effort to clean up my data folder and start over, I deleted the one with modders resources and the unpacked BSAs that I had before, and re-imported the "clean" folder with just the BSAs. My question is, do I *have* to have loose files if I want to change the .nifs of some objects or is there a way for the files to show up directly in the CK? You know, when you double-click an object, then "Edit Base" and want to select a new .nif there is no Meshes folder (or it's empty) unless you unpack the BSAs first and copy their contents into your data folder (resulting in more than twice its size, not that disk space is a problem -yet-).

 

I suppose it's a stupid and obvious question, but I can't seem to find any answers on THE GOOGLE.

 

Thanks!

[cdcooley]

When you get the file selection box to choose a nif you can simply type the path "clutter\coin01.nif" (even without that file being unpacked). When I don't know the nif name and path I open the BSA archive and look around for the file I want then just type its path into the CK without ever unpacking the BSA files. The only time I unpack something from the BSAs is if I plan to edit it in some way.

[Unedjis]

Okay, thanks. Sounds tedious to me but if it works that's cool. Is there any practical downside to having loose files other than disk space and possibly unreliable testing (because mod users generally don't have loose files)? For the latter I have a different (older) laptop that I don't use for modding but just to actually play. (Got a huge mod list there, too, so if a mod works as intended with that setup, it'll likely work for other users as well.)

[cdcooley]

Loose files always override files from BSAs so you might not end up with the exact resources you expect unless you're using a mod manager to carefully manage everything. The only other downside is that loading loose files is more taxing for the game (using more RAM and lowering FPS) but the effect is small and on more powerful systems almost unnoticeable. If you spend a lot of time creating mods where you need to reference resources it's probably the right thing to unpack the game's own resources but it also means you still need to keep track of which resources you are using because you don't want to redistribute the original game resources.

[Unedjis]

Ah okay, that makes sense. Haven't gotten to the point of re-packing my mod yet, so I haven't really gone into detail on how that works yet either. I might have a follow-up question or two when that time comes. Thanks for the insights so far! :)