[LE] How to replace existing interior

[chpoutgnouf]

Hello,

 

I would like to change some existing files (proud spire in particular) through the creation kit. I did not find tutorial on replacing something (place one yes).
I have tried loading the proudspiremanor in the interior cells, but it is like all the stages of the house collapsed in the file(stages will be ingame upgrades of the house).
I am to chicken to modify that file directly,

so i tried downloading a mod that modifies the Proud Spire manor to check how it was done(proud spire manor -remastered), but the interior cell remain unchanged.

My guess is the mod is somewhere else, so, where is it ?

And back to the main thread how can i edit this manor safely ?

 

[greyday01]

The houses that you can buy and need to buy separate furnishings are a bit complicated. There are 2 sets of furnishings, the cobwebby empty set and the furnished set for each room. All the furnishings are linked to x markers, one for each room. As the marker is enabled by the purchase script the trashy set is replaced by the nice set.

 

The easiest way to completely refurnish the house is to select all the furnishings, clutter, cobwebs, everything except for walls and doors and just drag them all outside the walls of the house where they can't be seen. Do NOT delete them, just move them. Then you can furnish the house as you like.

 

If you move, rearrange, add or remove things like beds, tables, chairs and the like you will also need to redo the navmesh or NPCs will walk into things. To do that select all the triangles of the navmesh and drag the whole thing outside the walls, then make your own navmesh. Do NOT delete vanilla navmeshes.

 

The other way to do this is to copy the cell and give it a new ID. Keep the name that doesn't matter. Delete everything including markers and furnish it how you like. Then set the exterior teleport door to connect with the teleport door in your copied cell instead of the vanilla Proudspire. There will be two houses but the door will take you to yours instead of the original.

 

Either method works but copying the cell and not making any changes to the vanilla except changing the target door is easier to undo. All you'd need is to change the door target back then delete your cell.

 

One last thing. If you copy a cell the CK will mark that cell as edited even though you didn't make any changes at all. To remove the edited flag use Tes5Edit, load up your mod and it will show all the things your mod has done in a tree on the left. Go down the file tree until you find the Proudspire cell that you copied. Delete it. This doesn't delete Proudspire it just deleted all the changes your mod made to it (or that the CK thinks you made).

 

A third way is to R click in the cell list and choose NEW. Then you can make your own proudspire including new rooms and floors and then link the exterior door to your interior door. That way the only thing changed is the target of one exterior door. It's not hard to build houses and fun to do.

[chpoutgnouf]

I thank you very much for that very complete answer, i take it the mod i pick was the second option.
I ll go for the second one too.

 

Just out of curiosity, why not deleting the items in the original? What does it causes ?

 

If i change one of the original files, the changes exist in the mod or do i need to reinstall completely the game to get them back ?

 

How can i found the edited cell of a similar mod ? (I haven't seen any quick search in the cells name)

[greyday01]

Deleting vanilla items causes crashes. Say you loaded another mod that referenced one of the items that you deleted. If it was just moved, no problem, but if deleted could crash to desktop. Deleted navmeshs in mods have caused a lot of problems. Best to just drag things beyond the walls or way below the ground.

 

Most mod makers prefix everything they make in a mod with the same 4 letter prefix to make it easier to locate everything added by that mod. With that mod loaded in the CK and set as active scroll down until you see a cell whose ID has some unusual prefix. Or you could look in Solitudes exterior cell. With markers turned on there should be a yellow marker just outside of Proudspire's door. Double clicking on it will open the cell it is linked to in the render window. The name of the cell will be at the top.

 

Any changes you make in your mod exist only in your mod. Delete your mod and everything is back to normal. This does not apply to scripts, meshes and textures. Those are not saved in the esp file but in separate folders. Objects you place or move exist in the esp your mod creates. Delete the mod and they are gone and everything is back to the vanilla.

 

That is one reason I use Mod Organizer 2 for making my mods. I can keep my meshes, textures and scripts as well as my esp all in a separate folder and leave the vanilla game untouched.

[greyday01]

Another hint for beginning modders that will save you a lot of grief.

Make a folder called "Mod Stages"

After you worked for a couple hours or are done for the day save your mod.

Then drag a copy of your esp into Mod Stages and rename it something that tells you what you last finished doing in your mod.

Makes it so much easier if you mess up something and want to go back to what it was yesterday or a couple hours ago.

All you need to do is delete your esp, drag yesterdays file back to the Data folder and rename it back to what it was.

I keep about 20 or 30 stages in mine, sometimes with just a few changes in each stage.