New Modder Seeks Help Making Select Precombines Scrappable

[Moldy]

To elaborate upon the topic; I'm very new to making mods,but an old hand at using them. Scrap Everything has a very well documented laundry list of performance,stability,and compatibility issues,largely stemming from the mod's use of bUseCombinedObjects=0. However,I still want to knock down certain precombined objects for the sake of maximizing space. Specifically,Sanctuary's still-standing houses and that damn ledger terminal,the structures built around Outpost Zimonja's radio tower,and the scrap shack at Tenpines Bluff,among others. I also use Sim Settlements,and I'd eat my combat boots if the City Plans for these Settlements didn't utilize these structures in some capacity,so installing a mod that removes these structures wholesale from the word "Go" is out of the question,too.

 

So,I'm here. I want to make for myself a mod that allows me the option to scrap these structures,should I wish it,or need to,but also allows me to keep them around,should I want to. I don't know where to begin,so I'm asking here. What I'm looking for is either guides or explanations on how to go about doing what I want. Maybe tips and tricks born of more experienced modders' experience. I wanna do a specific thing,and so I'll do a specific thing. Hell or high water.

[pra]

I think it's enough to just add any kind of override for them in a mod. It definitely works if you link them to something using a keyword (see also this topic: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7447261-settlements-grouping-scrappable-objects-together/). I'm fairly certain it will also work if you just go to sanctuary in the CK and put everything you want broken out of precomb onto a new layer, then save that as a new mod.

 

Keep in mind, however, that just breaking stuff out of precomb isn't enough to make it scrappable. You will also to add scrap recipes for these objects. Alternatively, you can use Place Everywhere and enable it's extended object selection (INS key by default). That allows you to scrap everything not part of the precomb, even without scrap recipes.

 

That ledger terminal is definitely NOT part of precomb, it just lacks a scrap recipe. Only Statics can be precombined, Terminals, Furniture, Activators etc (basically anything you could potentially interact with) can not.

[Moldy]

I've heard that,after mucking with precombines,you need to recalculate the cell's resources?

[pra]

You mean, regenerate precomb and previs? I did not.

Objects which you haven't touched seem to usually remain part of them, though not always.

[VIitS]

Scrap Everything doesn't use that ini. It gives the option for people who want to scrap outside settlements (like with Conquest), but it has several warnings on the option. Most complaints are from people who ignore those warnings, or have other mods that cause problems and blame Scrap Everything because they can't be bothered to properly test things to find the actual problem. Also, very few mods are broken by having Scrap Everything load after them.

 

If you want to only allow certain things within a cell to be scrappable, you would use the CK to make those things un-scrappable, and regenerate precombineds and previs. DO NOT generate precombineds if you have done anything else in that cell during that session of using the CK. Save your plugin, close the CK, reload your plugin in the CK, and generate precombineds as soon as you have loaded the cell. Doing otherwise is likely to generate bad precombineds, because the CK is so finicky.

 

If you are working in a cell that is not near a "busy" area*, you can usually get away with just disabling precombineds and previs with minimal performance impact. As pra mentioned, you can do this by copying a single REFR record that is part of a precombined mesh in the cell in question using FO4Edit, or you can remove the VISI, PCMB, RVIS, XPRI, and XCRI fields from the cell in your mod (this is what Scrap Everything does, and both will stay disabled even if the mod user uses one of the relevant ini edits**.

 

If you want to look into generating precombineds, I recommend checking out this thread.

 

*by which I mean a place with tons of stuff, like in the city

 

**Having one of the two ini edits (precombineds and previs) will break the system that disables precombineds and previs based on REFR records, turning the other optimization method back on, which usually causes graphical glitches.