Merging several esp files into one

[Jennifur68]

I was looking to merge the .esp files of my weapons packs into one .esp so the user doesn't have several .esp files loaded to use them. I found this page and it says...

 

"Manually Merge in the CK

 

Open up two or more mods in the CK at the same time, with the file you want to merge the data to being the active file. Select an item you want to copy and give it a new name. When asked if you want to create a new object, say yes. Be sure to copy every little detail that you want to merge. Let's say you want to merge your NPC into another mod. You may not be able to just copy the actor object into the other mod and get away with it. Your actor might arrive naked, confused, broken, and helpless. If your actor has custom armor, custom AI packages, custom dialog in a custom quest, carries a custom sword, and belongs to a custom faction, you better copy all of those objects into your mod too.

 

This merging approach is rather time-consuming."

 

I've never used TESVSnip but that page says its unsafe for merging .esp files but I would assume its been used a lot for that purpose because I keep seeing references to it. I've searched online but a lot of the informatio I'm seeing seems to be pre-CK release. Youtube doesn't seem to have any videos on merging .esp files.

 

 

Being new to modding for Skyrim I'm a little confused...is there someplace with a step by step walkthrough of the process of merging several .esp into one or could someone explain the steps? I tend to learn best when things are explained step by step more like...

 

1. Get bread, meat, mustard.

2. Place bread side by side, add mustard to bread.

3. Add meat to bread and place second slice of bread on meat.

4. Eat sandwich.

[M48A5]

This might be helpfull: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25859/

This is an update of the editor for FO3, FONV and Skyrim. I know you can merge .esp with FO3Edit. I don't know of any reason the author would remove that from this new version. Make sure you get the training manual. Otherwise you won't know how the program works.

[Jennifur68]

Thanks M48A5 I'll download it and have a look, I'd really like to get them merged for a less cluttered user experience.

[blackninja50]

Um I have a question about Merging mods too. Can't you just load two mods in the CK and use "merge loaded plug-ins" like you could in Oblivion? Or is Skyrim mot not that simple?

[Jennifur68]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but with TES5Edit I can merge the seven .esp into one new one but it needs the original seven above it in the load order as masters. Is that expected behavior or did I do something wrong? I'd like to merge the seven without needing them as masters for the new one...otherwise I'm just adding an extra .esp instead of consolidating them to one. Or with what I'm trying to do should I be looking to create a .esm?

 

My goal is to merge:

Dagger.esp

Sword.esp

Greatsword.esp

Mace.esp

BattleAxe.esp

WarAxe.esp

WarHammer.esp

 

To create a stand alone .esp that is only mastered to Skyrim.esm:

WeaponsPack.esp

Edited November 8, 2012 by Jennifur68

[Jennifur68]

I tried the TESVGecko Beta 0.20 and it did find a dirty edit in the greatsword right away but it apparently is still too early in development to merge...I cleaned the dirty edit with TES5Edit. I could really use pointing in the right direction...any help creating a merged .esp to replace the original seven would be greatly appreciated.

[David Brasher]

TES5Edit is designed for mod cleaning. It is not designed for mod merging. I am doubtful that you will be able to merge 7 mods using TES5Edit.

 

In order to easily merge mods you will need a tool like the following:

 

TES5Gecko: Not ready yet.

 

TESVSnip: Outlawed. Breaks mods. Not compatible with Skyrim 1.5+ or thereabouts.

 

CK Version Control: Not user friendly at all.

 

So your options are rather limited at this point. If your seven mods are rather small and simple, you could merge them manually in the CK. It may take a lot of time but is technically fairly easy. TESVSnip breaks mods on a seemingly random basis. You could try merging your seven mods with it and then have some play-testers use the mod and report back on whether or not you broke it. There is the possibility that your mod won't break. If you are good at learning new software that is not user friendly and like jumping through strange hoops you might take a crack at learning Version Control.

[Jennifur68]

Honestly David I have no idea where to begin merging them in the Creation Kit...what I saw in its merge Wiki page was basically, "Open the one you want to merge as an active file, merge all the file information and save." All I've used the CK for so far is filling out the four forms needed for weapons. I'm totally new to making Skyrim mods or modding for The Elder Scrolls at all. Making the weapons, texturing them, getting everything set up in NifSkope and creating the CK forms seems easy compared to merging the wepons .esp files. I'll look into Version Control...maybe I can figure it out. If someone would be so kind as to layout the CK kit steps needed for merging I would be very grateful too.

[David Brasher]

To manually merge parts of mods in the CK you do things like this:

 

1. Open up two mods in the CK with the file you will merge everything into as the active file.

2. Rename or duplicate every single object that you want to copy. To do this, it may be easiest to add a suffix instead of a prefix to the item's name. So if there is an item called AAIronClaymore, rename or duplicate it so that there is an item named AAIronClaymore_ or AAIronClaymoreX or AAIronClaymoreAAWE or whatever. Duplicating is more stable and the items are sure to succeed in existing in the merged mod, but it is slower and often breaks connections. So for many operations it is better to rename rather than duplicate. Like you could duplicate crafting recipes without losing the connections to the crafted item, but if you duplicate 1st person statics instead of renaming, you will lose the connections to the weapons that are supposed to use these statics. The reason I like suffixes rather than prefixes is that it places duplicated items next to each other on the lists and makes it easy to switch between versions of the item on pulldown menus when reconnecting broken connections.

3. Be sure to copy all parts of the items and maintain the connections or else reconnect the broken connections. For example, weapons have 1st person statics. You will need to copy the statics into the merged mod too. Weapons have crafting recipes and tempering recipes. You will need to copy those into the mod too. Weapons may appear on leveled lists, in NPC inventories, loose in the world, or in custom containers. If you want the weapons to appear in your mod in those places, then you will need to copy all those edits too. You may need to merge an entire mod in a single sitting, because some connections break if you do it in multiple sittings.

4. Save the mod.

5. Open merged mod in the CK again with the original mod not open.

6. Inspect to see if everything you meant to merge is present. Fix any broken connections you find. You may need to go back and copy material that you missed again. It may not work well to open your merged mod at the same time as the the original mod at this point. In some cases, it may work better to build a disposable transporter mod. You copy the material from the original mod into the transporter mod, and then you copy it from the transporter mod into the merged mod. In some cases you may just look at the original mod and take screenshots or jot notes on paper and then rebuild the missing or broken stuff in the merged mod. For some operations like this, it may be useful to modify a copy of the original mod and use that copy when merging. Like you might modclean out a bunch of stuff to get it out of the way and remove the mod conflicts before opening in the CK. For some operations you might duplicate items in the original mod so that they cannot conflict and be overridden in the CK so that you can see them in the CK so that you can copy them. In some cases you may need to pay attention to load order while merging so that you can see the content you want to copy and not have it be overridden. You may have to adjust this load order with date stamps. You can easily change date stamps in Wrye Bash by making a tiny change to the mod description of the files you want to redate. In some cases you may need to duplicate items in your merged mod before opening the original mod in the CK so that you can be sure to see them and not have them be overridden. You may need to perform dry runs and open up mods in the CK in various date stamp load orders or other configurations until you find the right combination where you can see the data you want to copy and not have it be overridden.

 

 

I probably made it sound harder than it is. It is not that bad. Just dive right in and go for it. Keep lots of backups of your work at various stages of completion. Nothing too terrible can go wrong. Inspect your work often to make sure nothing terrible has gone wrong.

 

You might try some small projects or experiments before doing the main project. Like maybe you should try merging one single weapon from one mod into another, complete with first person static animation and crafting recipes. Play-test this weapon in your game. When you have done everything right and everything works, then you will know how the process works and will be able to begin serious production work for all the weapons from the seven mods.

Edited November 9, 2012 by David Brasher

[Jennifur68]

So...in effect what I just did was intentionally create a dirty edit save with the other six weapons going the one I had set as active...that's correct yes? Initially it was showing all the weapons as the greatsword at the forge using the merged .esp, the one I had set as active in the CK but after re-opening the .esp and editing all the forms to relink the proper first person .nif files it seems to work properly...yeah I forgot to check that the first time. The only issue I'm running into is I lose all the weapons I previously created...but I guess people can open the console and simply give themselves the weapons again if they previously made them at the forge. My son also has Skyrim so I'll upload the new merged .esp tomorrow and have him test it by downloading it through the Skyrim Nexus just as anyone else would. But so far things are looking good except the inconvience of people losing the weapons they previously made...I'm afraid I may take a bit of a beating for breaking the existing files to consolidate them to one. I'm just glad I only have two weapon pack mods out. Edited November 9, 2012 by Jennifur68