Formlists and Recipes

[DracoInvictus1]

Hey everyone. I am working on a settlement space in the Commonwealth, and of course there is a crap ton of stuff in the cells that is not currently scrap-able. I have tried (repeatedly) to create formlists and constructible Objects (recipes) for this stuff, but it just doesn't want to work. I have even tried creating a recipe for a single object and that didn't work either.

What am I doing wrong? I don't want to count on the end user running a scrapping mod (even though most probably would be). I just want them to be able to scrap stuff located in the cells of my new settlement. Everything I have read and watched is all very similar in information, and I am following along, but no glory.

I have read the posts on here, watched YT vids, etc.

Good news is, I have got the "creating a new settlement with correct happiness" down pretty darn well, I just need to get past this hurdle, and I should be good to go.

I do not play on PC, only on XB1, so the bouncing back and forth is tedious and time wasting. Any advice from the experts?

[VIitS]

The problem you are running into is the precombeined meshes system. It's a performance optimization system that "merges" intersecting meshes and doesn't render polygons that are entirely hidden inside the other meshes. The problem is, they are also used in calculating previs, another performance optimization system that prevents objects from being rendered if it would be blocked from view by another object. For this reason (and probably some others), you can't scrap/move/delete/etc... a precombined mesh. It's the reason scrap mods allow you to scrap so much more than vanilla, because they disable precombineds. For a more detailed explanation, check out this thread.

 

There are two ways to fix the issue:

1) The fast way: do what scrap mods do. Use FO4Edit to delete the info in the VISI, RVIS, PCMB, XPRI, and XCRI fields for the cells your settlement occupies*. The downside of this method is that it will have a bigger impact on performance. If your settlement is in the middle of nowhere, it should be fairly negligible.

2) The proper way: regenerate previs/precombineds for the cells your mod touches to exclude the stuff you want made scrappable. The downside to this is it can be quite tricky (especially when trying to make previously unscrappble things scrappable**). Figuring out what was causing it to not work was a bit of a pain for me on PC (as I had to test each change I made in-game), so it would be much worse for you. Another factor that matters for XB1, is that generating precombined meshes will add to the mod size. When you are trying to make everything scrappable, it should be fairly minimal unless you are also adding a lot to the area that you don't want scrappable****. If you were on PS4, you'd have no choice but to use option 1.

 

*If you made any edit to the placed objects in that location, it will show in your mod when in FO4Edit

**The way I've managed this is deleting everything I want scrappable in the CK, generating the precombineds and previs, then using FO4Edit to remove all the deletions. The problem is the system is incredibly finicky, and can trigger the workaround Bethesda implemented (which automatically disables precombineds and previs in the relevant cell) for seemingly no reason***

***if you want to try and get a better understanding of what I'm talking about, you'll want to read the entirety of the thread I linked, there's been a fair amount of info people have added that hasn't been merged into the initial post

****Especially if you use this script to trim away unchanged meshes.

[DracoInvictus1]

Thanks Vlits. It's really stupid that I can't just allow the user to scrap brambles, leaf piles and monkey bars! haha

If I go with option 1, I'm a game killer.

If I go with option 2, I spend weeks making sure I only select crap I want scrappable, make a large mod out of a small mod, and cut my potential users in 1/3 (since Sony are d-bags and view new pre-combines as external assets).

I'm not adding anything to the area (other than the pond out back as a water source). There are existing structures, and the potential for a lot of building space (If the user could clear it out).

I'm doing my take on Fairline HIll Estates down by the hospital and Fallon's, next to the parking garage. It's 6 cells. I looked at another mod for XB1 for this area, and they removed houses and stuff, which is more than I wanted done to the area. I'm more of the mindset that I want the player to walk into the area for the first time, and not know that anything is different than the vanilla game until they find the workbench. I don't even want them to scrap the houses in my mod. If they are running a scrapping mod that allows them to, then they have that option (what a wonderful world to have choice).

I do however want them to be able to scrap every tree, bramble, hedge, picket fence and geodome slide.

I appreciate the great information, and I will get reading on the thread you linked to. I don't know which way I will go yet, I'll know more after a bit of reading.

[DracoInvictus1]

Okay, so I read through all 20 pages (most of which was over my modding head), but I did garner a couple bits.

First, I went into FO4Edit and looked at all the objects in the cell, and none of them were in [ ], so they weren't in some precombine mesh (unless I read that wrong).

 

 

A quick tip: if you look at a cell in FO4Edit, any reference that is part of a precombined mesh (i.e. will disable previs/precombineds for that cell if your mod includes them) will show up as

 

[Placed Object]

 

while references that aren't part of a precombined mesh will just show as

 

Placed Object

 

So, I went back into CK and looked at what else might be causing the issues, since nothing I was trying to manipulate was part of a precombine.

I was messing with the monkey bars and the geodome slide, in the edit I set them as hidden from local map and disabled. I then lowered them beneath the surface. I figured what the hell, I will see what that does (since deleting them in my mod they still appeared in game which was REALLY weird).

 

I then upload again and instead of updating I accidently deleted the mod on my XB1. No biggie, just install it again.

I fast travel to the location, and not only are the monkey bars and geodome gone, but my formlists are working. I am scrapping trees, hedges, leaf piles, and brambles (all with the materials that I set in the recipes).

Is it possible that me deleting the mod and reinstalling it fixed this issue? That there was some junk left over from the previous version that was not allowing the formlists/recipes to work?

Edited August 26, 2017 by DracoInvictus1

[DracoInvictus1]

Update: So the formlists I created work in 4 of the 6 cells of my settlement. The two far right cells (closest to the road) won't let me scrap anything other than some of the furniture and a trash can lid (which none of those things are in a list I created). All the cells are renamed, all the settings are the same for all of them. So now I am even more confused. I triple checked that my sandbox is both covering and down far enough (elevation change and all that).

[VIitS]

I took a quick look at the cells associated with Fairline Hill Estates*, and every single one has at least 200 references that are part of precombined meshes. So you might not be looking in the right place**.

 

Also, the reason your formlists suddenly started working is that your mod touched a precombined mesh (moving the monkey bars/slide), which triggered a workaround Bethesda implemented. What it does is disable precombineds and previs in any cell where a precombined mesh is mentioned in your mod (even if nothing is changed, if the placed object reference is mentioned in your mod it counts). If you didn't notice any significant performance impact, then you can use the first method I mentioned without worrying, as the workaround you triggered does the same thing.

 

One last note: if another mod touches one of those cells without disabling previs/precombineds, and it is loaded after your mod, then the problem objects will be unscrappable again, and any that were scrapped will reappear. There's not anything you can really do about that though, it would happen no matter which method you use. It's a result of the way Bethesda's precombined system works when combined with the way records work (i.e. any time two+ mods edit the same record, the last one to be loaded wins).

 

 

*According to the wiki:

0000e5b1
0000e591
0000e5d4
0000e58f

 

**Here's an example of where to look:

 

http://i.imgur.com/s6DDONN.png

 

[DracoInvictus1]

Vlits, I don't care what anyone says, you are "Da Man!" :)

 

I didn't notice any performance issues (other than not being able to sprint, which I thought was fixed over a year ago. It is only in my new settlement, so I am sure I did something!)

So I must have some precombined in one of those other cells that is jacking with the scrapping. I will tinker some more. When I change it, I will take a close look at performance. Since it is pretty darn rural out that way, I am hoping that I don't have to make a mountain out of a mole hill.