How to install multiple Skyrim mods on mac?

[pathiggins18]

Just a quick question, I don't know if it's been addressed before.

 

I've recently been trying to mod Skyrim on mac. I understand how to make them work, but I'm not sure how to add multiple mods. For example, I downloaded a hair mod and copied everything into the data folder, then added the name into the plugins.txt document. It included two folders - meshes and textures. I started Skyrim, and the mods were working, so I know they work. However, I downloaded another mod, and it included another textures folder. I couldn't add it without overwriting the previous texture folder.

 

Could anyone explain how to add multiple mods on a mac? If this has been explained before, could anyone point me in the right direction?

[gsmanners]

I don't suppose you can run Archive.exe in Wine or something? Putting all that stuff into bsa files would make your life a lot easier. Otherwise, you end up in loose file hell.

[MShoap13]

Just merge the contents of the \textures\ folder(s). On Windows this is the default behavior even though (depending on what particular version of Windows) it may say "overwrite" or "merge". I wouldn't expect it to be any different on Mac but you may want to make a backup beforehand just in case.

 

"loose file hell", as gsmanners so eloquently described it, is (performance-wise) the optimal solution as .bsa archives are compressed and with compression comes overhead (extra processing power in order to decompress on the fly). This overhead increases latency (sometimes resulting in load stutter or worse). If you're just using a handful of mods with their own resources, a .bsa probably won't affect much. If you're using complex quest mods etc. that contain their own voice acting and lip files, or mods that add a decent amount of animations (magic overhauls) or mods with lots of textures (2K Textures, etc.) or any combination thereof, you may run into problems with using extra archives.