Much Needed Mod Compatibility Updates

[hxazgalor]

A lot of mod compatibility patches in Nexus Mods seem to no longer be maintained for newer (or later release) versions of existing mods. My concern is that if I use these newer versions, the compatibility patches I currently use would no longer be viable to use. It really sucks, if I must be honest. Plus, any existing ones out there are usually created to enable compatibility with some mods but not some others (i.e. the FOOK-PN Convergence covering only a select number of major FNV mods), or they cater specifically for certain mods and require that all these mods be installed - no more, no less (i.e. the WCP, or Weapon Compatibility Project).

 

Would it be possible if there be members who could look into this and perhaps create new compatibility updates? This would be a great boon to the community, especially where there is a need for these compatibility options for users who use specific mods or don't use all the major, popular mods available at Nexus Mods.

 

Thanks for hearing me out.

Edited August 22, 2018 by hxazgalor

[dubiousintent]

Creating a compatibility or feature patch is primarily time consuming rather than difficult. People make them for their own use at first, and then decide to release them for the benefit of others. The number of people who stick with any game for play (much less creating mods) for more than six months to a year is relatively low, so they are seldom still around to update them after the initial flurry of "bug fixes". There is also the question of "permissions". By default mods do not permit direct changes without the author's consent, and most fail to "open up" those permissions when they move on. So a new patch file has to be created.

 

You can learn to create them for yourself. Please see the wiki article "Compatibility Patching". There is also the "Multiple file Merge-Up Procedure" article for a more complex example.

-Dubious-

[hxazgalor]

Thank you for the response. I'll look into it and see if I can't come up with something. But how would I know what shared/conflicting features need to be overridden in order to make the compatibility patch work?

[dubiousintent]

When you learn how to use xEdit/FNVEdit/TES5Edit (all the same program) it will become apparent. The manual works for all game versions of xEdit. But basically, when you load the plugins you want to create a patch for, you will see them in the right-hand "View" tab with each plugin (Columns) having the same record field (Row). Your "patch will be a "new file" that you copy the desired values (or your own new values) from one of the other plugins.

 

The "Feature Patch" video will make it clear. The article follows the video.

 

-Dubious-

[hxazgalor]

There's no way to "merge" them, I suppose?

[dubiousintent]

"Compatibility" patches are about resolving record level conflicts between two mods so they can co-exist. Usually they are for different purposes but "just happen" to have some records in common. A classic example is two mods that happen to place things in the game world that overlap, such as the location of a "cellar door" for one is buried under a "building power transformer" by another. The compatibility patch may move the transformer or the cellar door, so they don't conflict, but it is not "merging" the two mods. (This exact situation arises between the mods "AfterSchool Special" and "Robot Factory". I had to move the cellar door, and it couldn't be done in FNVEdit; had to use the GECK to create an override file. Still a compatibility patch.)

 

You might be able to "merge" a couple of mods together, but not generally if they require a compatibility patch. You would need to in effect be creating an entirely new mod (with art, sound, dialog, etc. assets) from the original sources with the changes incorporated. Not something to attempt when you have not even made a simple "feature patch", much less attempted anything along the lines of the "Multiple file Merge-Up Procedure" article. Not saying it can't be done; just not something I would think is worth the time and effort when there are plenty of other simpler patches to make instead.

 

Please see the wiki "Merged Plugin Guidelines for Personal Use" article for an easier way to reduce your active plugin count.

-Dubious-