[LE] Edit base object of an actor reference - can it cause in game errors/problems?

[sornan]

Hey guys :)

 

 

I'm working on a quest mod for Middle-Eath Redone, and hence my .Esp is dependent on that .Esm.

 

I had previously changed the base object of a number of bad guys in the quest, and found a slew of errors coming up upon loading the CK about it, yet in game saw no issue. I ended up spending a bunch of extra time duplicating the original base objects, placing new enemies, and then removing the originals just to remove the errors out of concern for causing some sort of in game problem..

 

Since then, I've been able to disable CK errors upon loading..

 

And I've run into this scenario again, and foresee running into it again and again..

 

I really just want to change some base objects of various actors, and despite the now silent complaints of the CK, be confident I am not damaging something in the quest mod where it may be somehow conflicting with the data in the .Esm it is making changes to.

 

The new base objects are essentially duplicates of the originals, just with package additions - and this is being done because the original references were attached to actors whom have multiple references, where if I add packages, it affects them all - once I have my own base actor, it doesn't mess up everyone else.

 

Anyhow, long story short - I just want to be confident that changing the base object of these references is not going to cause some in game problem despite the (silent) complaints of the CK upon loading.

 

(Note that in game tests show no errors or anything unusual)

 

 

TIA :)

[NexusComa2]

Yes it can. That's is the unwritten law of modding Skyrim. Don't touch the base files. However you can duplicate a base file rename it and use it all you like. As then it would be your own custom base file for that mod. That would require you at also add a .bsa file with your mod or a loose file.

Edited October 8, 2020 by NexusComa2

[sornan]

Thanks NexusComa

 

Yea, I kind of incorrectly typed the topic name here -

 

What I have been doing, is taking an actor reference, clicking the 'Edit Base Object', then just duplicating the base object by renaming it and selecting yes when the CK asks to create new object - hence the actor reference is now attached to the new duplicate, and the original base object remains untouched.

 

My concern has been the CK throwing errors at loadup complaining about each reference having its base object being changed.

[NexusComa2]

Well it shouldn't be doing that. I've done that 1000 times. On the other hand I do suppress the errors on load up.

Maybe you didn't duplicate it correctly. Is there a point you can revert back to.
A. to see if the error is still there B. try the duplicate again.

Edited October 8, 2020 by NexusComa2

[sornan]

I don't know why it would do that as well, I figured heck, regardless of what .Esm these guys are from, either Vanilla or Mod, that doing this is just making use of the assets in an .Esp normally.

 

Thanks, yes I'm just going to backup things, and try it again, and if the warnings show up, yet no in game issues arise, I'll just live with it. Having the warnings disabled does remove that annoyance, and it takes 1/3 the time to duplicate in this manner rather than deleting references and replacing them manually which has been a pain.

 

Thanks for the help ! :smile:

 

 

/Edit

 

After changing some references base objects and testing with warnings back on, no warnings showed up.. Not sure why, but it's good news. This will save quite a bit of time and work.

 

Thanks again

Edited October 9, 2020 by sornan

[NexusComa2]

I can't count the number of times modding Skyrim a backup saved a project I was working on.

[greyday01]

I can't count the number of times modding Skyrim a backup saved a project I was working on.

Oh yes. I make a practice of keeping a folder of mod stage esps. At the end of each session or even oftener I copy my esp to that folder and give it a name that shows what I just finished. Sometimes I have 30 or 40 versions in that folder to go back to if needed. For a large mod this is essential. Trying to figure out why something strange is happening when a couple days ago it was fine is a pain. Lots easier to just go back to yesterday's version and go from there.

[NexusComa2]

:smile: ... when I did my Enchanted Ship in a Bottle mod I had limited time to work on it. Mostly a late night weekend project. At the slow pace it took me almost 5 years. It was a fun project however. In my backup folder I had 100's of versions. There was no way an error could stop me as I had multiple stages of backups.

 

Here is a few things that really helped:

Tes5edit ... used it a lot to constantly checking to see if I made any mistakes. Proud to say for a mod that big there is not one file or reference out of place. The mod has a perfect bill of health. That would have never been possible without using Tes5edit to keep me in check from time to time.

This is an odd one ... You may or may not know when you load your mod in the Creation Kit all the deletes, renameds and moved files are sorted out. Not when you save your mod .. when you load your mod. So for that perfect ultra smooth well ordered mod. You need to save, reload and save again from the Creation Kit.

This is a project thing ... When working on a big project and you realize you have an error. 90% of the time that error is coming from the last few things you did. Sounds simple enough but it can really save you a lot of time bug chasing.


Glad everything worked out.

Edited October 9, 2020 by NexusComa2

[sornan]

Sorry for the late response, but thank you for the additional help :)

 

I do agree with the backups, I have over 100 of them right now for the current mod. I usually do a backup anytime I make any significant changes. I just name them numerically.

 

I have seen that with the saves when having deleted things, that they are not actually deleted until the mod is loaded again.

 

Thanks again :)