How to change an esp into esm in f03edit?

[Mglordsgeelwolf]

I edited a mod and i rembered somwhere that to get the mod to load all the things i did I would need to change it from esp

to esm I was wondering how would I do that in f03edit i Read that U can do it in it but i tryed and can't figure it out any help would be greatly apreciated unless of course theres a topic already in play about this in that case could you direct me to that topic

[vforvic]

I personally use FO3Plugin for this type of thing. FO3Plugin has a simple Menu option to make this type of change.

 

If you want to do it in FO3Edit then when you have the file open you want to change you Pick "File Header" on the left below the files name. Making sure its the File Header you want and not the wrong one. Then on the right 3 down in the list you will see "Record Flags." To the right of this it will either be Empty if it is an ESP or say "ESM" if it is an esm.

 

If it is an ESM and you want to change it to ESP then Right-Click "ESM" to the right of "Record Flags" and pick Edit. A Check Box List will pop up and in that list at the top you will see "ESM." Uncheck "ESM", say OK and now the file is an ESP.

 

If it is an ESP and you want to change it to ESM then Right-Click the empty space to the right of "Record Flags" and pick Edit. A Check Box List will pop up and in that list at the top you will see "ESM" is unchecked. Check "ESM", say OK and now you will see that file has become an ESM.

 

Just make sure to save when you exit. Also, you can change the files extension to esm or esp if you desire although this is not totally necessary for it to work as a ESM or a ESP as FO3 looks at the Header and not the file extension for this information for load order and such. Although it is best practice to do this if possible you don't have to do this when editing your mod and testing over and over. But when testing your changes do need to really make sure the Header is what you want, ESM or ESP, or you could get unexpected results. In other words if your final version needs to be an ESM then always test it as an ESM.

[Mglordsgeelwolf]

thanks you very much that worked perfectly i downloaded the f03plugin also just to have both kudos to you

[6BioHazard6]

Thx guys i was having the same problem. Helped out heaps.

[pkleiss]

There is an easy way to change your mod back and forth from an esp to an esm with FO3Edit WITHOUT actually having to edit it. All you have to do (believe it or not) is to make a 2 copies of FO3Edit.exe, renaming one to FO3MasterUpdate.exe (to turn an esp into an esm) and renaming the other to FO3MasterRestore.exe (to turn an esm back into an esp). Then all you have to do is run the appropriate executable to automatically set/unset the esm flag.

 

If you are changing back and forth quite a bit. It is a must, IMO. Note that this method will change whatever file is ticked in FOMM, so it's also required to only have your mod selected in FOMM, but if your heavily modding and needing to go back and forth, it's the way to go.