Converting all of my mods into OMODs

[fallnfrmthelight]

I've been playing an extremely heavily modded game of Oblivion for quite some time now, but unfortunately have only recently been handling the installation of mods via OBMM. I intend to re-download ALL of my mods, and convert them into OMOD form.

I assume that, since I have Wrye Bash set to lock dates, if I do this, and activate all my OMODs, and then open Wrye, that my load order will be preserved?

Are there any mods out there that can't be turned into OMODs for some reason? Any bugs I should watch out for?

[nosisab]

I've been playing an extremely heavily modded game of Oblivion for quite some time now, but unfortunately have only recently been handling the installation of mods via OBMM. I intend to re-download ALL of my mods, and convert them into OMOD form.

I assume that, since I have Wrye Bash set to lock dates, if I do this, and activate all my OMODs, and then open Wrye, that my load order will be preserved?

Are there any mods out there that can't be turned into OMODs for some reason? Any bugs I should watch out for?

Remember OMOD is a special packing system with nice features. That files you see in OBMMs right window have nothing to do with the game, they are there to ease activation/deactivation. So, once activated it's "mod's actual" files are the same like you had installed by hand, and just the esp/esm you see at the left windows are really significant to the gameplay.

 

By scripting OBMM can be "told" to warns about some changes, like certain esp can't go before some other esp. But obviously this feature is active only while OBMM is too, and so can't do anything to prevent the load order being changed by another utility.

 

Any mod can be turned OMOD. Indeed, by using scripted features the user can chose what is to be installed, know what can't be installed together and some other useful things.

 

What MUST be understood by everyone (and I know isn't because several unfunded complaints) is an OMOD is nothing different the 7z mod. If an error arises, almost never it is an OBMM fault, instead is a mistake from the modder in making the OMOD.

 

Beating again the dead cat: What appears at the right windows in OBMM "HAVE NO MEANING TO THE GAME ENGINE". Just what is packed inside. and so, is placed into the "correct" locations on activation and EASILY removed on deactivation have that meaning. Obviously deactivating an OMOD implies removing files that may have overwrite former ones, that is unavoidable thing, overwriting them by directly copying leads to the same problem and have the same solution: The affected remaining mod MUST BE reinstalled.

 

Edit: If you are going to create OMOD for the mods, alright. If it is a simple mod, with no choices to be made this is as simple as granting the original places the files correctly and not under some modname folder. If the mod have optionals and any kind of choosing, now you need to create a script or letting only the desired features under the mod folders structure.

[SavageArtistry]

From the sound of what you're saying, nosisab, it almost seems that turning all the various mods into .bsa and .esp sets would be better.

[nosisab]

Complementing the former post:

 

One interesting possibility is packing together several mods under one OMOD. This not the same as compiling (merging) them, here. Mods that don't hard conflicts may be placed together, as example: create a folder of your own, now begin unpacking mods into it in the way their /data contents are merged (the folders, not the files). This shall grant those subfolders (textures, meshes, sounds...) will be merged too and the several ESPs placed by side under the yourcompilationfolder. Once you are satisfied with this group you can make an OMOD of it. Yet they will be unrelated again once activated, the number of ESPs will be the same as they really amounts and not just one.

 

The biggest advantage is you can install several mods at once, the disadvantage is, unless scripted to allow partial activation/deactivation, deactivating the omod implies effectively uninstalling the whole group.

 

All more complicate things may be done in similar fashion, but now, this depends on the user knowhow, imagination and creativity.

[nosisab]

From the sound of what you're saying, nosisab, it almost seems that turning all the various mods into .bsa and .esp sets would be better.

No. What I said is what OBMM can do, and does. What OMOD is and what it's not.

BSA is a packed format too, but it is a lot different of the OMOD concept. First of all a BSA is meaningful to the engine, it will USE the files inside BSA (just BSA is the lower priority level and any file under the /data structure will overlap it).

 

What I said is an OMOD is the same 7z common mod that you unpack into the /data and afterwards seats idle on your downloaded-mods folder. So is an OMOD too, may it be under the /obmm/mods or elsewhere. It is never used by the game, BTW, the engine will never seek something in it.

 

Edit: ah, if you speaks about the compiling (lag could mix the order of the posting?, maybe)... yes, could be placed in BSA format too, but the omod have the advantage of the scripting capabilities and it would place the files directly into the /data, which a BSA wouldn't do.