question about DLC dependency!

[SilverNirvash]

i'm not a mod maker myself but i was looking at different mods and how some of their developers decided to take away certain DLC dependency like hearthfire and such. my question is does that mean that when you take away DLC depenency the NPC's related to such mods won't interact with parts of those DLC's? like i was downloading the multiple marriages mod and it says they took away hearthfire dependency. so if your house happens to have hearthfire elements will your spouse no longer interact with THOSE elements or does it just mean strictly that they don't need those elements currently there for the mod to work.

 

does dependency on DLC allow mods to interact with those DLC or prevent them with the lack of depenendency on them?

 

its just something i started thinking about and felt i should ask the community and see if someone can come up with an answer.

[dwiss]

It basically means that the modder did something in the Creation Kit so Skyrim isnt looking for that DLC as a required file anymore. When you create via the Creation Kit it will check on your DLCs and main files and set a dependency flag for the new created mod. Especially when you duplicate or copy existing items, functions etc then removing a dependency can cause trouble if you are not carefully checking if that item, function has ties to the DLC.

 

In simple words - if something has a dependency to a DLC the user downloading it has to have that DLC as well or it might not work.

[SilverNirvash]

no i totally understand all of that dwiss what im asking is what happens to the NPCs and such involved with in a certain mod that once required DLC now no longer requires it. will the NPC's be effected by that change? like i mentioned before the multiple marriages mod i was looking at took away dependency to hearthfire but what if one of your spouses were in a house with hearthfire elements will they just IGNORE those elements as if they weren't there or will they still interact with them knowing that the mod doesn't depend on it but will see it as an option? like for instance...let's say that someone made a follower mod that once required hearthfire as the AI script had it so that it could access hearthfire's content in general. then they took away the dependency but left the script as is. will that follower that once required the DLC then still interact or even be given access to the DLC itself where the script says it could? or would it just flat out IGNORE it even though it should be able to.

[jackowonderful]

it depends on how the mods made. you should ask them. hearthfire still uses the skyrim systems so they might have just found a workaround.

[dwiss]

Well - to be honest i wouldnt even take a mod doing this - no offense meant with it. But dependencies are meant for something and fiddling with stuff like that sounds like creating a backdoor for people who dont own the official DLC.

[SilverNirvash]

no? dependencies arent meant to be a backdoor for those who don't own the official dlc...what does that even mean? or am i misreading that statement entirely? because honestly it made no sense to me =w=;;

[IsharaMeradin]

There are some mods that REQUIRE dependency because they use Form IDs of a particular mod or dlc.

 

There are some mods that REQUIRE dependency because it is illegal to upload dlc content for use in non-dlc games. I.E. a mod that needs to use a texture, mesh or other "loose" file type from a dlc.

 

There are some mods that the author thought needed dlc dependency but found out that everything was doable without dlc dependency and removed such dlc dependency. These are not "backdoors to dlc content". I.E. a bag of holding mod which has spell transfer of items on a pre-made form list vs the exact same thing but building the form list in game via the OnItemAdded event.

[SilverNirvash]

THAT's what i figured Ishara but does the lack of dependency for a mod that once had dependency effect how that mod works once it looses the requirement of that DLC?

[IsharaMeradin]

It all depends on the mod and what it did before hand. To remove a dependency, the author has to remove all changed forms from that mod or dlc as well as any pointers to BSA packed files of that mod or dlc. However, there are some scripting methods that can allow a mod to check for the presence of another mod or dlc and use forms from that mod or dlc specifically without being a direct parent otherwise the mod will skip using such content. As I said, it all depends on how it was made.

 

Really, the only thing you can do is give it a try. Try it in a test game, one that you won't care about if you need to go backwards etc.. Then again, you could always ask the mod author themselves about the dependency change. They'd know best how to answer your questions.