[LE] Help archiving loose files, I am desperate.

[Gloomybutt]

I desperately need help, I have been chasing dead ends for over 10 hours and need specific advice. I apologize in advance if my forum etiquette is bad, I'm not someone who resorts to forums often.

 

I am trying to create a .bsa for a Main Menu music and background replacement mod. It is exactly two loose files, mainmenuwallpaper.dds and mus_maintheme.xwm, both in their respective file locations with their proper file names. It works perfectly as loose files for my own personal use, but I want to upload this to the Steam Workshop and that requires packing it (I know this is a nexus forum but the modders here seem much more experienced).

 

I have looked up countless tutorials but they seem to leave out info or at least I cant replicate the same results.

I have lurked forums to the same dead ends. I have tried... so many things...

 

These are exactly the things I attempted as a newbie modder in-order:

- I tried simply changing these files in the Creation Kit, as I had done with a combat audio replacement mod, but the main menu music/texture files are not accessible from here to edit. If they are and I'm just not seeing them PLEASE TELL ME.

- I tried using the archiving tool in Creation Kit to add these loose files into the game, but they will not show up on the list at all (probably because I'm using it wrong).

- I created a duplicate Data folder onto my desktop with the files and their directories in there.

- I used Archive.exe, ticked everything: Meshes, Textures, Sounds, etc. and selected the first three options on the right-hand side (per tutorial's request). I created the .bsa and put it in the proper Data folder but nothing happened in-game.

- I used BSAopt and did the same as I did with Archive.exe, put the .bsa in the Data folder and nothing happened.

- Around here I saw a tutorial mentioning .esp files and I thought I might need this and, sure enough, I didn't have one correlating with my .bsa files. I am still unsure if I need an .esp or not but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

- Found a tutorial online on how to create an .esp but it took me back to square one with the Creation Kit that doesn't have the accessible files to edit and wont left me archive my loose files.

 

And now I'm here. The two loose files work perfectly on their own, everything is 100% there, but trying to figure out how to pack them or put them on the Creation Kit has been an absolute nightmare. I could really appreciate some thorough advice.

[Levionte]

I use Archive.exe

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/FnhYbLV.jpg

 

 

Then save as a bsa with the same name as your plugin. So, if your plugin was named MyPlugin.esp, you save the archive as MyPlugin.bsa. You can discard the .bsl file.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Levionte

[Gloomybutt]

This is identical to the same way I have done it on Archive.exe unfortunately (I tried several times, one of which having the same options clicked). The problem though is I don't have an .esp file to name the .bsa after.

 

I should also mention to future replies I did try to make a dummy .esp on CK and follow the rest of the archiving steps normally, changing the .bsa name to match the .esp, but it would cause my game to CTD every time. So I'm at this moment where I'm not sure where to go.

[Aragorn58]

This is identical to the same way I have done it on Archive.exe unfortunately (I tried several times, one of which having the same options clicked). The problem though is I don't have an .esp file to name the .bsa after.

 

I should also mention to future replies I did try to make a dummy .esp on CK and follow the rest of the archiving steps normally, changing the .bsa name to match the .esp, but it would cause my game to CTD every time. So I'm at this moment where I'm not sure where to go.

 

I haven't fooled with audio too much, but it seems like you did not import your files into the CK like you would any other asset. Once you import them into the CK and place them in the correct places, save the file with whatever name you wish and your new esp will be created. Then you can pack your archive with the same name and should be good to go. :unsure:

[IsharaMeradin]

In a case like this where the files work loose as a replacer, all you need to do is open the CK and create a new plugin without making any changes. Then create your BSA following the Archive.exe instructions. Add both to the game, activate the ESP and then test.

[PeterMartyr]

To me it seem you are doing nothing wrong with BSA, it dummy esp were your going wrong(some where), you know what to do, just take breath, slow down. Kick your self later when you work it out.

 

The only advice I'll give is don't compress the archive. I have exp with .wav & .xwm, & you don't compress the BSA. Check that BSAopt is set to 0 compression if your using that, too.

[Gloomybutt]

 

This is identical to the same way I have done it on Archive.exe unfortunately (I tried several times, one of which having the same options clicked). The problem though is I don't have an .esp file to name the .bsa after.

 

I should also mention to future replies I did try to make a dummy .esp on CK and follow the rest of the archiving steps normally, changing the .bsa name to match the .esp, but it would cause my game to CTD every time. So I'm at this moment where I'm not sure where to go.

 

I haven't fooled with audio too much, but it seems like you did not import your files into the CK like you would any other asset. Once you import them into the CK and place them in the correct places, save the file with whatever name you wish and your new esp will be created. Then you can pack your archive with the same name and should be good to go. :unsure:

 

This is a problem, the main menu assets for music and textures are not in the CK normally; I checked every accessible music/texture asset one by one to make sure, and importing them via the archiving tool in CK is bugged for me (thank you someone on the Workshop for alerting me to this bug).

Edited June 3, 2017 by Gloomybutt

[Gloomybutt]

In a case like this where the files work loose as a replacer, all you need to do is open the CK and create a new plugin without making any changes. Then create your BSA following the Archive.exe instructions. Add both to the game, activate the ESP and then test.

I attempted this one more time per your request, creating an empty dummy ESP and following Archive.exe tutorials normally. It caused another CTD. :(

[Gloomybutt]

To me it seem you are doing nothing wrong with BSA, it dummy esp were your going wrong(some where), you know what to do, just take breath, slow down. Kick your self later when you work it out.

 

The only advice I'll give is don't compress the archive. I have exp with .wav & .xwm, & you don't compress the BSA. Check that BSAopt is set to 0 compression if your using that, too.

I appreciate the slow down and take a deep breath advice, this process has me at my wit's end and it's good to slow down and take a moment to relax.

 

I'll look into the ESP and see what I can do and not compress the BSA next time. I'll give an update shortly.

[Gloomybutt]

UPDATE! I finally got it to work!! I have NO idea why this way worked compared to the other ways.

If anyone ends up searching how to archive this is exactly what I did.

 

1) Copied the Data folder onto my desktop with only the two loose files and their respective file paths.

2) Opened Creation Kit and went straight to Archive (I reinstalled CK and verified cache to fix the bug that was giving me oh so much trouble).

3) Dragged and dropped the loose files from the dummy Data folder on my desktop.

4) Archived the bsa BEFORE creating the esp, named it whatever.

5) Immediately created the esp afterwards, named the esp exactly what the bsa was.

 

And no CTD! :) Thanks for all the advice that was given you guys, I really appreciate it.