LE Breaking a Dependency

[Bond123]

Some of us modders have found mods we are working on unable to load in the CK since the latest Skyrim update from Steam. This is apparently because of a version mismatch with update.esm.

 

The mod still loads in the game, but not in the CK. The following is a method for removing that dependency and continuing work on your mod.

 

Open the mod in TesVSnip. Click the plus sign to open it out.

 

Just beneath the mod title is a line TES4, click it.

 

That will bring up a listing with HEDR, CNAM, SNAM, MAST, DATA and INTV.

 

Beneath that will be a second entry for a MAST, if you click it, it will show that it is update.esm.

 

Click and hit the delete button, do that for the two entries that follow it.

 

Save the mod.

Now your mod is cleared of the dependency on update.esm, and will load into the CK.

 

I have done that with three mods I am working on with no ill effect, but use this information at your own discretion.

[wrinklyninja]

Yeah, because messing with things you don't understand then distributing what you've done to people even more clueless than you is always a good idea.

 

Just wait till the CK gets an update, is better advice. You're far less likely to accidentally break something in ways that may not be immediately obvious.

[Arthmoor]

I second that advice. Just wait for the CK update. It's coming. Don't turn this into another exercise in impatience that ends in disaster.

 

Also, doubly bad since you're advising people to use TESVSnip which is well known to badly corrupt any mod it's used on. So you're just asking for trouble now that you've done that.

[Bond123]

I did say use this advice at your own discretion, but I didn't just start modding.

 

In addition I don't allow multiple dependencies in mods and particularly update.esm. I have absolutely no problems with any of the mods I have loaded because of that removed dependency. My game runs like a charm and never had a CTD.

[Nephenee13]

I did say use this advice at your own discretion, but I didn't just start modding.

 

In addition I don't allow multiple dependencies in mods and particularly update.esm. I have absolutely no problems with any of the mods I have loaded because of that removed dependency. My game runs like a charm and never had a CTD.

 

Its still not a good piece of advice to be giving out, and bad practice in general.

[MicheleMagus]

The best tool I know to remove an unnessary mater currently would be TES5Edit.

Just make sure noting in your mod requires the resources from that master, or it can get messy.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Michele Magus

[Cyberlazy]

As someone who has written a reader/writter for ESP file format, I can tell you it is NOT a good idea to simpley remove a master subrecord, because every formid in the mod will be incorrect on save. It takes a TON of code to do that correctly and I highly doubt TESSNIP does that when you manualy edit the record.

 

I know FONVedit did it properly when using 'Clean masters' (But NOT when manualy removing the master as provided in the OP) as it would actualy check if you had used any resources of each master and removed the master if none was found and then renumbered all records and more importantly all references in all records to point to the new FormID's

 

I am not sure if TES5edit can do it properly yet as it basiclly requires having every single record in the mod decoded to update the references in each record, and may or may not work depending on what records and subrecords your overriding. Skyrim is much newer and may not be 100% decoded. (Fallout new vegas was never fully decoded, but it was very close)

[Bond123]

I should have added that one should never make major changes to a mod without first having secured the original copy to the desktop.

 

Then you can snip, edit, or tear up a mod...and if it doesn't work simply drag the original back in and over-write. Nothing lost.

 

Personally, I have at least a dozen mods that originally had a dependency on update.esm. When I discover that, I snip it, and have never experienced an ill effect or a loss of anything. I have played the game through three times.

 

I might also add, do not remove the update.esm from your load order. It still needs to be activated.

[Arthmoor]

Simply put, there's no sane reason imaginable to remove the dependency. It harms nothing, and is there for a reason. You'll only end up making extra work for yourself when those mods update in the future and reset that dependency again.

 

You really should also be using it in your own mods because it will help prevent your work smashing an official fix. It becomes very difficult to manage bug reports people scattershot everywhere because someone has done this and ended up blocking something we all know was fixed.

[Bond123]

No well behaved .esm is going to show up as a dependency in one's mod.

 

I have about 6 .esm files active, including Apachiihair.esm. I enjoy the benefit of that mod by keeping it active in my load order and without fear it will intrude a dependency on a mod I am working on.

 

I keep update.esm active in my load order and thus derive whatever benefit it also provides. I do not need to make my mods dependent on it to derive that benefit. Neither am I required to allow it to make my mod dependent any more than I would allow any other .esm file to create an unexpected dependency. It is not required by any of my mods.