Confused about multiple things.

[Coflash]

Hello

 

I have SkyRe, Immersive Armors, Interesting NPCs... a few big mods.

 

I have been told I need to use ReProccer to get them to play nicely. I need to use BOSS. I need to use Wrye Bash. I need to use TESedit. I need to add compatibility patches and so on.

 

Is there a place that clearly explains what all of these are for and how to use them? Every time I start reading a guide, terms are used as if I have some preexisting knowledge. I need to 'clear records', 'merge IDs' etc, I have no idea what these mean. In the past I've generally stuck to mods that don't require any editing so that I'm not stuck later on.

 

Can anyone shed any light to uncomplicate the process?

 

Thanks

[TRoaches]

I think TES5edit is the best way to see what all of the other tools are supposed to do. Use it to load a simple mod, like something that edits the stats of some existing items, and poke around a bit. The meaning of some of the terms that you mentioned should make more sense after playing with TES5Edit. The UI lays everything out nicely so you can see what is being affected. After that try loading a bunch of mods in the same tool to see how they may conflict with each other. This will lead to better understanding of how to use BOSS most effectively.

[Jeir]

ReProccer = simple to use tool (load it up and press a button) that makes weapon and armour mods work properly with SkyRe.

BOSS = Sorts your load order into a mostly accurate list. It also warns you of conflicts, dirty mods, and most other issues.

Wrye Bash = Easy load order manipulation (drag and drop), nice installer, and has the Bashed Patch, which merges levelled lists.

TES5Edit = Easy to use tool for cleaning mods.

Compatibility patches = mods that allow 2+ mods to work well together/allows mods to work with DLC.

[Coflash]

Thanks!

 

A few more questions... what's a levelled list and why do you need to clean mods? How do you know if they need to be cleaned?

[Jeir]

Levelled list = changes/alters game data according to the player's level. They're lists of items that appear in NPC inventories/in containers, creatures/npcs that appear in the game, etc.

Some mods add new items or creatures that go into levelled lists, and the bashed patch lets you merge them all together so they work properly.

 

Cleaning mods help prevent game instability, CTDs and mod conflicts. BOSS will tell you if a mod needs cleaning (most of the time; they're backlogged and thus there are quite a few mods that haven't been added. There are also some mods placed incorrectly, but that's rare), and if you run through the TES5Edit cleaning instructions, it will tell you and clean mods that need it.

[Coflash]

Thanks

 

I've started using Wrye Bash today, and I'm wondering, do I even need NMM when I have this + BOSS? I can install and make changes in Wrye, so I'm wondering how many other things I can cut loose in place of just using 1-2 programs

 

Thanks again, this really helps

[IsharaMeradin]

You can use Wrye Bash to install instead of NMM. It all depends on if you like pressing a big green button to download your mods or a small text link. :P How you get your mods and install them is your choice.

 

I like NMM. It makes sense to me. Wrye Bash has a learning curve on it for some features. I still don't know how to install with WB and the entire instructions on making a BAIN installer went way over my head. Perhaps it would have been different if I'd been around with earlier version and "grew up" with the program. Oh well..

[Coflash]

I have been doing a lot today (including cleaning the update/DLC master files) but I have another question. UFO reports this in BOSS:

 

UFO - Heartfire AddOn.esp Contains dirty edits: 29 ITM, 18 UDR records. Needs TES5Edit cleaning. A cleaning guide is available here.

 

Can I use the exact same process to clean this mod as I did for the other files? As in; Load it in TES5edit, click any dependencies, click 'Apply Filter for cleaning' and then 'undelete and disable references' then close/save?

 

Because if that's really it, then it's pretty simple, thanks

[TRoaches]

I pretty much ignore everything that BOSS tells me about dirty edits, etc. Once you understand the way the files are structured and how they affect each other you can see what needs to be cleaned using TES5edit. The problem with the BOSS reports is that, as far as I know, there isn't much of a process to verify how accurate those assessments are or how current the information is. BOSS doesn't gather any information by reading the file itself, but from a database maintained by user submissions.

 

For this reason I think a better approach than the one you are taking is to figure out why a file needs to be cleaned. If you learn the "why" and are able to recognize potential problems in a mod when viewed in TES5edit then the "how" becomes apparent.

[Coflash]

I wouldn't even know where to start on the 'why'... I'm pretty close to just ignoring the few that I have for Flora Overhaul + UFO so I might just start the game

 

One confusing thing was that Vurt (author of Flora Overhaul) said in a forum post I read that he did clean the file. One user had X amount of dirty edits, I had a different amount. Things like that make it all even more confusing.