Creating "merged mod" - esp from mod with archived assets

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Good evening everybody!

 

It has happened! I knew that this would happen at some point, and I guess that time is now:

 

I have reached the 255 (or 254 or 256) active plugin limit.

 

I know that there is a nice little program to "merge" mods.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/69905?tab=files&file_id=1000232188

I have merged a few mods with it for FO4 before (mostly weapon mods that had "loose files") and that worked fine.

 

I have read somewhere that you shouldn't merge ESPs that have their "assets" archived.

Can I just unpack all of those archives and the ESPs will still "find" them?

That would make them "merge-able".

So I could just merge all of the "essential mods" that I use together in one ESP file.

(Or maybe 1 esp for weapon mods, 1 for clothing mods, ... )

 

So basically I just need some clarification on the effects of "unpacking" the files of mods and what that means for the functionality of the mod.

[i know that this will decrease performace, but I don't care about performance]

 

And could I just "re - pack" all of the assets of the merged mods after merging?

 

Let me know here if you know anything about this stuff ...

[HadToRegister]

I don't know what mod manager you use, but another way would be to flag some of those smaller esps as ESPfes, (that's ESL but you can still sort them), that way they don't take up a plugin slot.

If you're using Vortex as your mod manager, it already has this function built in

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

I am using Mod Organizer 2.

 

But merging for example all of the wepon mods I use would have one more significant benefit:

I can convert that one esp to an esm and add it as a master file for some custom stuff that I am working on.

(That is one of the reasons why I am asking how to merge mods with archived assets).

So I don't have to manually make lots of mods into ESMs.

I could just merge all weapon mods and their AWKCR patches into one esp and make that into a esm.

[Vanguardascendant]

I am using Mod Organizer 2.

 

But merging for example all of the wepon mods I use would have one more significant benefit:

I can convert that one esp to an esm and add it as a master file for some custom stuff that I am working on.

(That is one of the reasons why I am asking how to merge mods with archived assets).

So I don't have to manually make lots of mods into ESMs.

I could just merge all weapon mods and their AWKCR patches into one esp and make that into a esm.

 

One problem with merging the mods is that any other mods that are looking for them, such as patches, won't be able to see them.

 

I'm with HadToRegister on this one. I suggest you flag some as ESLs. You can also do it easily with FO4Edit. Not all mods can be flagged as ESLs without compacting them, but many can. I suggest you go that route before merging. Also, sometimes merging mods creates its own problems. Some mods need to load before others.

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Yeah, beacuse of the "dependency problems" I want to merge the patches as well ...

 

The ESL thing:

 

Can ESLs be made to act like ESMs (have other mods "use" static objects, weapons, misc items, ... from them)?

If that is not possible, the whole ESL thing is not the right "tool" here ...

[Vanguardascendant]

I think there might be a miscommunication here. Patches will create MORE issues with dependencies.

 

1) If you flag an ESP as an ESL, other files will still be able to identify it. It's still an ESP and the filename doesn't change.

2) If you merge files together (regardless of flag), other files will not be able to find it.

3) If you compact the ID forms in a file and actually change it to an ESL (not just flagging it), then other files won't be able to find it.

4) Not sure about this one, but I think that if you compact the ID forms in a file and flag it an ESL, other files MIGHT be able to find it.

 

For our discussion, I think #1 and #2 are the most important here, and that #1 is the better option.

 

Does that make sense and am I understanding what you're saying too?

 

I can't answer your question about ESMs because I don't know. I would suggest using F04edit to experiment flagging a few ESPs as ESLs to see if they work. I haven't had any problems so far.

[HadToRegister]

ESL = It goes where it goes in the load order, doesn't take up a plugin slot, but you can't sort it.

ESPfe = ESL flagged ESP, that doesn't take up a plugin slot, and can be sorted anywhere in the load order

[Vanguardascendant]

ESL = It goes where it goes in the load order, doesn't take up a plugin slot, but you can't sort it.

 

That depends on the mod manager though, right? I'm using the NMM and I can still sort true ESL along with all other file types.

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Yes, I think there is a communication problem here. Sorry for not explaining properly ....

 

I want to do this:

 

WeaponMod1 + WeaponMod1AWKCR_Patch + WeaponMod2 + WeaponMod2AWKCR_Patch + ...... + AWKCR ---> merge into one ESP file

 

So, basically put everything that uses / depends on AWKCR into one merged ESP. Including the AWKCR.esm

Most of the weapon mods that I use have meshes and textures in BA2 archives.

That is the main "problem" here ....

 

Can I just unpack the assets of all the weapon mods that I use and the mods will still be able to "find" the meshes / textures / scripts / ... ?

Edited April 10, 2020 by YouDoNotKnowMyName

[VIitS]

Vanguardascendant, what HadToRegister means is, if you cahnge the file extension to .esl, the game will treat it as if it has both the ESL and ESM flags. So it will be sorted with other ESM plugins. If your mod manager lets you put .esl files in the middle of your normal .esp's, then you need to update/use a different mod manager. That (plus the fact that changing the file extension causes problems for patches/mods expecting a .esp extension°), is a big part of the reason it is recommended to use a .esp file extension and just add the flags you need using xEdit.

 

Yes, you can just unpack the .ba2 files. You can also use the CK to repack them all into one large .ba2 once you are done merging.

 

Yes, you can have any mods you want referencing things from the ESL-flagged mod. You can even add the ESM flag if it should have it (though there is no need to do so just because you have another mod using it as a master*)

 

Any time you are merging plugins, you want to first make sure you have found all plugins that reference that one as a master that you might want to use, as merging plugins using any method will completely break the old links. If you have the child plugins loaded at the time you merge the master, it should update the links so things still work**. If you later want to add a plugin that relies on one you already merged, you either have to manually fix the references, or completely remake the merged mod from scratch. Which is the biggest reason to use espFEs whenever possible.

 

That said, if I was merging records anyway, I personally would use the "Inject into master" and "Copy as override (with overwrite)" in xEdit. I can see what is happening there, and it is clearly defined what happens. Using that method, the "master" you select with the "Inject into master" is the final plugin you will be keeping. You just want to make sure that, if there are any records touched by multiple mods, you should do conflict resolution first and make sure you inject in the order your resolution was done, since the (with overwrite) version of Copy as override will replace existing version of a record with the one you are copying. The normal "Copy as override" skips any records that already exist in the target plugin.

 

°The bigger problem is, if you release a mod as a .esl, and it later grows large enough that you have to remove the flag (i.e. more than 4095 new records), you HAVE to change the file extension, causing problems for any child plugins. With an espFE, you can just remove the flag and the patches will still work fine.

 

*one note: if loading a mod into the CK, you need to make sure all it's masters have the ESM flag (adding it using xEdit if missing), or the CK will rip them out and break your plugin.

 

**At least, the xEdit method I describe does. I assume mator's Merge Plugins does too, but I have never used it.