Copy/Overwrite .nif file

[ntycar]

The Portable Containers mod author states that his backpack container's .nif file is just a box at the moment, but if one wanted to use a different backpack mesh that can be done by replacing a few files (.nif), if named to the filename he specifies and placed in the proper location (data/meshes/cdc). I am using Vortex. I have the .nif file I want to use. Can this be done in Vortex?

 

I tried to add the file to that mod's base folder in Vortex, I also tried to add within a [data/meshes/cdc] folder I added to the mod's folder in Vortex. I even tried to add that folder to the Skyrim data directory. I did not repackage the file up to my own mod, which I suspect may be necessary based on my current understanding of how Vortex works. Is there any way for Vortex to let me use the loose files I want to override without me having to install creation kit and make a mod with the file I want in the location I need it?

 

I suspect what is happening is either A) I have the files in the wrong place, B) Vortex does not use loose files like this without requiring a separate mod to be uploaded or C) The mod continues to overwrite the files I put in place when it unpacks the .bsa of the Portable Containers mod, overwriting my new files with its old box backpack file every time Vortex executes.

 

Can anyone let me know how this works or if it can be done, short of making my own mod and placing it after his mod in load order to overwrite the appropriate files? Any further clarification of my understanding of how Vortex works would also be helpful.

[WastelandAssassin]

I'm not quite sure about how Vortex works , as I'm not using it yet

however , there are two things I feel the need to clarify , which may solve your issue

while it is true that you need to replace the nif file , you may also need to modify the nif file to correctly point to the textures (I'm not really sure how this will work , since I believe Vortex uses a system like Mod Organizer where you install mods to a folder outside of your game's Data folder , so I'm not sure your nif will recognize textures from a different mod directory)

the other thing worth mentioning is that what you could do , instead of trying to edit the mod in Vortex , you can just extract the mod's archive manually , replace the files you need , repackage the files using 7z or Winrar , and install the mod from the new archive

this will install the mod with the newly replaced files

 

I know this doesn't exactly answer your question , but I hope it gives you a general direction of how to approach this

[Tannin42]

There are different ways to do this.

a) After you have deployed (with the mod enabled) just copy your nif to the skyrim data directory in the correct location, overwriting the existing files. This works exactly like if you were installing mods manually so you can follow the authors instructions. Then click deploy inside vortex again. A dialog will pop up telling you that Vortex detected those files were changed, select apply, continue and the mod is updated.

b) In the mod list select "open in file manager" from the action menu for the mod. in the explorer window, place your own files in the correct location (the mod directory corresponds to the data directory so you don't create a data directory below it! If the mod is named mymod_1_0 then your nifs belong somewhere below mymod_1_0\meshes). If the "External changes" dialog comes up you now have to select "Undo" because Vortex assumes the files from the data directory are the "new ones".

c) You pack your files (in an appropriate directory structure) as a zip file and install that as a mod in vortex. This mod should display a file conflict with the "main" mod, you want your new one to "load after" it. deploy and you're done.

[kamikatze13]

repackage the files using 7z or Winrar , and install the mod from the new archive

 

i have seen this mentioned ad absurdum in both posts and tutorials - why would you zip up your loose files, only to have them unzipped by a mod manager in a few seconds?

 

Why not toss the folder containing the loose files directly into the mods directory of said mod manager?

[Tannin42]

You can do that too of course, but that would require me to explain how the user finds the directory where the mods get installed, what directory structure is expected and so on.

Package as zip and install is an easier instruction to provide and this approach is less error prone

[Barhol]

nice

[ntycar]

Thanks Tannin42. Vortex acts exactly as you explained, once I fixed an issue with naming conventions it worked.

[rmm200]

Tannin - thanks for that writeup. That text needs to go in the Vortex Wiki. Those are operations we encounter on an almost daily basis.