When is master-updating a good idea?

[Aanikron]

The FO3Edit training manual makes it sound like master-update is always a good idea to reduce conflicts and generally improve stability. However I have gotten the impression from various forum posts that some mods may not like being master-updated. Which kinds of mods should and which shouldn't be master-updated before playing?

[prensa]

Aanikron - Hello!

 

"The FO3Edit training manual makes it sound like master-update is always a good idea to reduce conflicts and generally improve stability."

 

There was a time when Master update was thought of as a cure all that would fix anything but it's a little more complex than that.

 

" I have gotten the impression from various forum posts that some mods may not like being master-updated."

 

Many mods are actually messed up by being Master updated, the Unofficial Fallout 3 Broken Steel Patch for instance. Master updating that leads to a particularly odd bug of clutter items in the Taft tunnel bunching up on you & blocking passage there.

 

I've seen other mods exhibit simillar problems when flagged as masters in this way.

 

There are a few bugs inherent in using .esp's for mods rather than .esm's & in the early days of Fallout 3 modding these where not entirely understood.

 

Navmeshes in .esp's can be messed up when leaving & re-entering.

 

Most famously is that NPC's head & bodys will be mismatched if set in an .esp.

 

Now that those problems have been identified, most newer mods use .esm's when needed to get around these issues. There is a difference between simply flagging a file an .esm & making it a proper .esm (generation of ONAM subrecords for instance).

 

So you don't normally need to use Master Update on newer mods.

 

"Which kinds of mods should and which shouldn't be master-updated before playing? "

 

I only use it on a few older NPC adding mods to fix the above mentioned body mismatch & only on those select mods. As long as you untick any mod in your load order you don't want Master updating it can be a safe solution in those cases.

 

So I'd say only use Master update if you have reason, like the above mentioned issues. Don't use it on everything in the hopes it will magically cure all ills as it can create more. :)

 

Hope this helps!

 

Prensa

[luthienanarion]

Never. The master-update function was created as a workaround to avoid a major (game-crashing) bug introduced in one of the Fallout 3 game patches that was later corrected in another patch.

 

If a plugin requires the master flag to function properly, it should be made into an ESM separately.

[Aanikron]

Well I'm glad I asked, because at first I was just going to go with the advice offered in the FO3Edit training manual and do a general master-update of my whole load order. Now I guess I won't be doing it at all, since I really don't know what I'm doing much anyway. :biggrin:

 

Thanks you two.