(Tutorial) Making a merged patch

[shaggy08251993]

Note: This is copy/pasted from a comment I made on another thread so that those looking for help on the matter can find it as a separate topic.

I use FO4 Edit. Some people use Creation Kit, but I've only just started using it. I think FO4 Edit is easier when working with .esps anyway though.

First things first: Start FO4 Edit and select ALL of your mods. I don't care if you think they are related or not. Select all of them. This way you will know exactly which files are conflicting/overwriting your leveled lists.

Note: ALWAYS RUN FO4 EDIT IN ADMINISTRATOR MODE OR YOU MIGHT GET AN ERROR WHEN SAVING. All that work for nothing. I learned the hard way.

FO4 Edit will take a while to load everything up. If you get an error saying that editing has been disabled, then you're screwed...temporarily. You'll get that notice that if any of the mods you tried loading in FO4E are missing a required master file. You can play the game with an activated mod that is missing a master file, but it may not function properly. Game will still run though. However, in FO4E, the program WILL NOT allow editing if you are missing a master....so you have to find out with mod is giving the error.

Easy way to do it. Open Nexus, go to your load order. Look for any red entries. Red means it is missing a master file. You'll need to uninstall this mod in order to continue, or install the required master. I had a mod once thought which had the master, but still said it didn't...and this mod gave me errors in FO4E.

Once you have that done, go back to FO4E, load everything up. When it is done, you'll have a list of all the mods. Each mod will have its own drop down "Leveled List" option. You could check each one, but there is a faster way. Just open up Level Lists in the Fallout 4 .esm (esp?). Scroll down and select every entry that has a conflict. After you select them all, right click on the final one, highlight "Other" at the bottom, and select "Create Merged Patch".

It'll ask you to make a name for the new file, of which will be added to the list of mods on the left, and it will be BOLD.

Now open the Leveled List drop down in that file, and use the following steps for EACH red entry.

-Select an entry

-On the right side, you'll see columns, representing that specific leveled list, but for each of the mods that are using it. The Merged Patch esp you just made should be on the far right. Note: The further to the right an esp is, the later it comes in the load order.

Now this is where it can be confusing without a visual guide...but you'll need to drag conflicting sections (by their headers), from the conflicting files, over into the Merged Patch esp. Basically what you're doing is taking all of the conflicting info from the separate files, and putting it into the same file, which will be read last in the load order, and so nothing will conflict.

When you're done, Control + S to save.

The merged patch esp will automatically be placed in your game directory. If you want to save it and be able to install it via Nexus Mod Manager, you'll need to pull it out of the game directory, and create folder for it called "Data". Pack the "Data" folder into a .rar or .zip file, and then "Add" it to your mod list via Nexus Mod Manager.

Edited May 31, 2017 by shaggy08251993