NPC Replacers + Merged patch + MO facegen bug - solution

[Taedus]

Up until now I've played with Requiem but I decided to try out Perma and get more freedom with other mods. I decided to do it the right way and create a merged patch for all my mods. Because I have 230 mods with many conflicts, so I need it. That's where the problem started. Many of my NPCs now had dark faces or a totally botched appearance. The reason for this is that the merged patch now handles the NPC data, but the Facegen files is located in a folder with the name of the original mod. To get the right face, the facegen data must be located in a folder with THE SAME NAME as THE LAST MOD that made changes to the NPC. Am I right? So after I've run PaMa, the facegen files must be in a folder called Patchus Maximus, or the game won't be able to find them. Requiem handles this in an elegant fashion by letting you add visual overhauls to a textfile and then the patcher takes care of the rest, but other patchers doesn't come with this luxury. Note that this is a Mod Organizer issue, and the creator of TES5Edit doesn't use it for some reason.

 

The only solution I've found for this is to copy the facegen files from ALL my NPC mods(even if they aren't vanilla) and put them in a new folder under meshes\actors\character\facegen\facegeom\Perkus Maximus and textures in textures\actors\character\facegen\facegeom\Perkus Maximus. I could create a new mod for that or put them in overwrite. It matters little and it should theoretically work. I've also found this solution: https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2m3041/guide_avoiding_facegen_bug_when_using_merge/. Basically he tells you to merge all your NPC mods, outside of MO, into the same archive under a new name, but I don't see how that will solve the problem if he doesn't rename the facegen folders(and it's even more work than my method). He also makes a terrible example of using armor mods as they don't work the same way. So what I'm wondering is if my method is legit, or if there is a better/smoother solution?

Edited December 13, 2017 by Taedus