Modifying stats on custom weapons in separate ESP (CK)

[pickel5857]

So I'm working on a mod to tweak some of the rifle settings with Trainwiz's Aethernautics.

What I'm having trouble with right now is creating an ESP that modifies the damage of the rifles and replaces them in-game, to be loaded after the original Aethernautics mod.

If I modify only the original ESP, it works fine and the damage adjustments go through no problem. However if I try to edit them in a new ESP (making a new active file as opposed to using Aethernautics as active), save it and reload, it comes up with an error saying the EditorID is not unique, so all of the modified weapons get named (xweapon)DUPLICATE002 with a count of 0. Maybe I need to set the original file as a parent for my new mod, but I'm not sure how to do that either.

 

I'm very new to modding and basically only took this up because Trainwiz said he would not adjust the guns, so I decided to do it myself. I've modified the meshes with nifskope and sounds in CK and seem to have those working, but just can't get the damage adjustment to work right in a new ESP (so I can put it on nexus to share, and not need to manually edit from the CK if he releases new versions).

 

If anyone can tell me what probably-obvious mistake I'm making here, please let me know, I dont know much about the CK and this is driving me nuts. I'll post a screencap of my exact errors/problems if need be

[steve40]

You need to temporarily "esmify" the original mod to make it into a master file. There are some tutorials out there, somewhere.

[IsharaMeradin]

Tutorial on working with plugins with plugins as masters.

 

i.e. how to esmify a mod

[pickel5857]

So I need to find a tutorial to change his ESP to an ESM, and then back once I've modified it? Not quite sure I understand. I mean I understand the reasoning sort-of (to get it as a parent) but not the process, or really what I should be searching for specifically.

 

EDIT: Thank you IsharaMeradin!

Edited September 3, 2012 by pickel5857

[pickel5857]

Oh wow Ishara, great tutorial. I would have had no clue otherwise. I'm sure there's some other tutorials out there covering this but I'm impressed that you figured it out and posted one yourself, then linked to it when somebody had the same problem. Not sure how often people ask but whatever. Not quite done yet but I've got the Aethernautics ESP set as a master and am currently making my modifications

[IsharaMeradin]

oh there were tutorials out there but I had to scrap together bits and pieces to understand what to do. I put that together to help people who didn't have a clue how to do it, cause I didn't have a clue and the tutorials weren't that helpful. 90% of all the tutorials assume you have some prior knowledge from modding other Bethesda games. Its a bit irritating that so very few take the time to spell things out for the new modders. I do what I can, when I can to help.

[Pensize]

That guide is awesome, thank you for posting that. I am getting my feet wet trying to learn the CK and found this post, which helped me get past the issue the OP was having.

 

 

Just wanted to note, in the newest Wrye Bash, all you actually have to do now is right-click on your "patch" mod and click "Add Master", then select the mod you are patching. No need to do all of those other steps!

 

So, the current method to create a "patch" for an existing mod (or Mod an existing Mod), is to open the CK and select the target mod but don't set it as the Active File, make your changes and save it as a new mod. Then open Wrye Bash and find your patch esp, add the target mod as the Master, and that's it. I just used this method to modify the recipe for some armor in a mod I downloaded while leaving the original intact.

 

Thanks again for the guide, it was helpful!