Question about re-packing BSA.

[Vulon]

I downloaded a rather simple mod today that merely added an animation and sound effect. However, the effect was really grating to my ears and low-quality, so I figured I could slap together a more aurally pleasing effect and simply replace the old one. It should be noted that I have 0% experience in modding, so I really don't know what I'm doing outside of a basic understanding of Skyrim's file structure. After putting the sound effect together, I extracted the mod's BSA to a temporary directory on my desktop and replaced the sound effect in the sound fx folder with the one I had just made. I decided maybe that was good enough, and put the loose files into their corresponding positions in my Data folder, then dragged the ESP back in there as well.

 

I booted up Skyrim, and while the sound effect played when I pressed the hot key that was supposed to initiate the animation, the animation didn't play. So I decided to try again and go about it differently. I removed the loose files from my data folder and decided to open up OBMM. I selected the folder that contained all the loose files and quickly packed them into a solitary BSA. Threw it back into the data folder - no dice, again. Same result. Sound effect was there, but the animation wasn't. Do I have to throw the ESP into the mix when I re-pack the files? I figured it wouldn't make a difference, since I only adjusted the sound effect, but considering I have no knowledge regarding any of this, I could very well be wrong. @_@

 

This is the mod I'm trying to alter, just to clarify. xD

Edited March 20, 2013 by Vulon

[LargeStyle]

I'd recommend using the Archive.exe app that's located in Skyrims main directory. I don't recall if it's there as standard or if you'll need to download Creation Kit, but AFAIK it's the only recommended BSA compiler for Skyrim.

 

To use Archive.exe - simply place all the original (and modded) files and folders into the ROOT of your hard drive (as if C:\ was the same as Skyrim\Data). Run Archive.exe and add files / folders and save it as a BSA (using the original BSA file name). BSA files need to be activated by a name matching .ESP file (which can be just an empty file) that just triggers the use of the BSA - to make the ESP simply load Skyrim.ESM into Creation Kit and when it's ready just save the effectively empty mod ESP to the same name as the BSA. Make sure the ESP is enabled / activated and it should load up everything within the BSA.

 

You could even .RAR / .ZIP / .7Z your BSA and ESP and place it in NMM for easier mod activation / deactivation.

[Vulon]

Got it. Thanks! I just checked, and there's no Archive.exe in my main directory. And I'm currently experiencing a weird issue when I try to load up the Creation Kit, and I'm too lazy to bother with figuring it out at the moment, but I'll certainly keep this info in mind for later use. :D