mod i made doesn't appear

[phillipjohnmc]

I made a patch mod with CS, doesn't appear in-game. It was simply a tree, the simplest thing ever. The .esp is in the data folder, shows up in Wrye Bash, I even uploaded it to Nexus, submitted it to BOSS, is placed at bottom of load order, rebuilt patch. Nothing. Really, why on Earth wouldn't it show up? I never have this much trouble with Creation Kit. Ugh. I find CS to be a bit useless. Anyway, if someone can assist, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Edited December 13, 2017 by phillipjohnmc

[Striker879]

What Construction Set version are you using? Mods made with CS version 1.0 will be silently ignored by game version 1.2.0416 ... you must use version 1.2.404 of the CS.

 

What was the master of your mod, Oblivion.esm? If in fact it was another mod's ESP (e.g. JoesReallyReallyCoolTrees.esp) then you are running into something called mod de-isolation (in a nut shell another mod's ESP can't be the master for your mod's ESP). Either use Construction Set Extender or learn how to ESMify/ESPify using Wrye Bash.

 

- Edit - After seeing your mod description I think you need to spend some time studying up on mod de-isolation ... De-Isolation Tutorial will get you started.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Striker879

[phillipjohnmc]

thanks for the reply. i've got CS 1.2.404. the master was oblivion.esm and that was the only master i had open. looking at de-isolation now...

 

if this helps, the tree i added might have been from Lush and Gaudy's files. when i plopped it, i'm pretty sure it was one of those trees. but i didn't have the L&G plug-in/master open

Edited December 13, 2017 by phillipjohnmc

[ratkiller13]

I'm guessing you're new at this from some of the phrasing - "I made a patch with CS" do you mean you made a MOD?

Simple steps for making a new mod;
1. Open CS, click FILE, DATA, select Oblivion.esm, set as active.
2. Do something, anything, placing a tree for example.

3. Save, it automatically will save as an ESP file, so name it something.esp.
4. Start Oblivion Launcher.
5. In the launcher menu, click on DATA FILES.

6. In the DATA FILES menu, select your new "something.esp" (whatever you named it) and make sure the box is checked on.
7. Start the game.
If you have the tree planted in a cell that you haven't been in yet, a savegame should load it okay when you teleport to that cell (a cell can be external or internal, if you plant the tree outside the Anvil main gate it should show up when you first teleport to the Anvil stables.)

Best way to test new stuff is to start a new game using one of the quickstart mods;

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/1947/?

And place your test tree just outside ImperialSewers03, simplest is to place across the river near Vilverin. That makes it easy to start a new game each time, exit the sewer, and see if the changes worked.

Be advised, if you're using another mod as a basis - for example you load a mod that has a non standard weapon, you place the weapon on the ground, then start the game without that mod active, you won't see the weapon. For that to work in a new mod you have to;
1. Load Oblivion.esm, whatever.esp (the mod with the custom weapon) and something.esp (your new mod) and set something.esp as the active file.
2. Find the custom weapon, right click, duplicate it.

3. Place the duplicate, save and exit.
4. Fire up the game, your duplicate should show up if something.esp is activated without having to also activate whatever.esp.

There are probably other ways to transfer custom items and characters from one mod to another, I've been using the construction set since Morrowind and haven't tried the new wrye bash or TES4edit utilities yet.

[phillipjohnmc]

yeah i meant mod not patch. well, i think at least. i'm fairly new at making mods. i've made small ones in Skryim, which amount to adding a bit of furniture here and there, or making Argis not blind anymore lol, and my biggest to date is adding a player home in Falkreath (which still needs work...see post in Skyrim - Nexus mod forum). so yeah, i'm new.

 

when i say 'patch', i'm 'patching' over something in-game that i can't delete for some reason (a flame is floating randomly in Chorrol. if i place something on it, a tree for example, then it's hidden and that's good enough for me). but i suppose i'm technically making a mod.

 

so i have to go into data files of the oblivion game launcher and check that the .esp is checked? if i've got it installed and checked in Wrye Bash, wouldn't it be automatically checked in 'data files'? anyway, i'll look to see if that's the case. seems silly anyhow that i can't just make a simple mod with CS that adds a tree and have it show up in-game without having to make an extensive effort to find out how to do it. ugh. and i thought Creation Kit was a bit difficult. thanks for your reply

[Striker879]

A suggestion ... remake your mod using a vanilla tree instead of one from Lush and Gaudy and see if that works. If it does work then your problem is related to how you are using the Lush and Gaudy resource, if it doesn't work then your problem is related to how you are trying to add the tree.

 

- Edit - If it has a check in Wrye Bash then it is activated. For testing make sure your new ESP is below the bashed patch in the Mods tab list (which will ensure that WB isn't to blame for the missing tree via something in the bashed patch).

Edited December 13, 2017 by Striker879

[DrakeTheDragon]

Yeah, scratch that "Data Files" menu from the Oblivion Launcher, please. It doesn't even have a way to manage "load order", like the most important part of modding this game. If you're using other mod managers or tools to manage your plugins and load order already, using the "Data Files" menu from the launcher can even mess up these. It's pretty useless as it is, compared to what it needs to be.

 

Keep in mind, when you change anything inside a cell, it will create a (soft) conflict with every other mod or plugin also changing something inside the same cell. You just putting a tree there should not have much further effect though.

 

Take care especially of those mods like Better Cities or Open Cities or Open Better Cities even. One or more of those (the Open ones definitely) will introduce a completely new cell for the city scape, and you changing anything inside the old cell will then no longer be seen in your game. As we don't know what other mods you're using nor your load order, we can't see what else could be preventing your change from showing up inside your game.

 

Did you test your change with an all Vanilla game already, no other mods in use at all? Only then will you know if it truly isn't working on its own or not. In any other case, it's down to conflict hunting instead.

(I know reverting one's modded game back to completely Vanilla is more than unfeasible. Yet only then would you truly know. I for one would personally prefer finding the culprit or conflict in your current game. But then, I'm the masochist type when it comes to modding anyways, always choosing the most tedious and complicated approach first.)

[phillipjohnmc]

i am using BC, and open cities reborn, and open better cities. i thought, though, that b/c my mod is lowest in the order that it would definitely appear, b/c there's nothing after it to overwrite it. but i am certainly no expert at oblivion, cs and wrye bash logic lol

 

what i'd do, as a test, is try to add a tree in a vanilla cell, somewhere away from Chorrol. and i'll try to add a vanilla tree, although i think L&G changed all the trees.

 

so i can make a simple test mod, make sure box is checked in Wrye Bash and make sure it's under the bashed patch, and that's OK? so, don't rebuild the patch and just have the .esp below it. i thought all had to be bashed to work. yeah, i'm way new at this (but i've added 160 mods to oblivion and it still works great, aside from a bit of lag for load screens)

Edited December 13, 2017 by phillipjohnmc

[Striker879]

Loading your mod below the bashed patch is a troubleshooting and mid-development trick (I know it's a pain to re-BOSS and re-bash each time you want to quickly check something). Putting your mod back into it's correct spot in your load order is a step for closer to the conclusion of finalising your mod.

 

If your game is using one of the Better/Open Cities mods then you will need to have those as a master for your mod (either via CSE or the WB ESMify/ESPify methods). That will also dictate load order (your mod will need to lower than it's masters).

 

- Edit - When your character enters one of the Open cites (and probably one of the Better ones as well ... not sure don't use any of them myself) you aren't entering one of the vanilla (i.e. Oblivion.esm) city worldspaces.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Striker879

[phillipjohnmc]

well, the first retry didn't work, but the second one did. i am shocked. the tree is there! it's about 3 feet off the ground, but i can indeed fix that. wow. bizarrely, what i saw in cs, with just oblivion.esm loaded and in a wilderness cell down a bit from battlehorn castle, was vegetation that didn't match what i saw in the game at all, so presumably the area where i placed this tree was a modded cell, but my mod still showed up.

 

i did read the tutorial on esmifying/espifying. steep learning curve. that's fine, but importantly i know a bit better what works and what doesn't. this is not creation kit, just like oblivion is not skyrim (but i still quite enjoy oblivion nonetheless)