Tip for Packaging Skyrim Mods

[David Brasher]

Packaging Skyrim mods really sort of stinks. One false move and the thing you have uploaded is a piece of junk that no one but you can use on the one computer where you created the mod.

 

The CK is supposed to work like TES4Files and grab all the external files such as scripts and sounds that are needed to run your mod. Alas, the CK is broken and unreliable in this capacity. It can however sometimes work, or work if you use tricks, or at least give you a list of most of the scripts in your mod. You can use this valuable information when you give up and manually package your file for upload to TES Nexus or another site because Steam Workshop is broken. (Steam Workshop only accepts files auto-packaged by the CK. You cannot upload a manually packaged file, a file with multiple .esps, or a file that includes extras like text documents and images. Since the CK often packages broken mods that can't work, and Steam Workshop only accepts CK-packaged mods, only certain types of mods can be successfully uploaded and have them actually work for the downloader.)

 

So manually packaging files can be a big pain, but it seems necessary in many cases at this point.

 

Here is my tip: Right before manual packaging, go to your quest window for each of your quests, and click "Recompile All Papyrus Scripts." This will change the date stamp on all the effected scripts to today's date so that you can easily see them and pick them out from among all those other scripts that go with other mods.