TechAngel85

I've never messed with BAIN wizards so looks like it might be all you, Z. Once someone give the go-head, I'll update the FOMOD. Once the BAIN is updated, I'll also work on that all-in-one installer by setting up the FOMOD to use the file structure of the BAIN archive.

Found this rather amusing... https://weknowmemes.com/2014/05/playing-tag-with-a-dragonborn/

This statement... It's a bit unrealistic to think that some users (however small a group they are) aren't going to "care about" how MO works on some of the more "technical details". These are the "power users" and technical minded individuals which make up the majority of the STEP Admin/Staff/Moderators as well as the "old school" modders. S4N and Z are two of the most logical and technical minded people I've ever known. This small group of people are going to want the documentation and are going to want to know the technical details because it's in their very natural to do so and you can't change human nature. I understand MO is designed in a way to make it super simple to mod for the majority of users without having to know a lot of technical aspects of modding. This is the reason it has been a more popular platform for new modders while many of the old modders tend to want to stick with WB (even though its develop has gone six feet under). You've done a brilliant job making MO simple for users with the black magic you coded into it! Well done on that! However, the majority of the "old school" modders are going to have all the knowledge and "old ways" instilled into them from years and years of modding games. Asking this group to "not care about the technical details" is akin to "teaching an old dog a new trick"...it's nearly impossible, if not completely impossible. (You have no idea how long it took the whole staff to convince Z to swtich from WB to MO... ). Because of these old-way-modders and the logical and technical minded people, it will make it much harder for them to simply use it "because it works" without knowing the details behind why and how it's working compared to new users who are just going to use it...because it works. I hope that sheds some light on the "whys" and "hows" that you are getting from Z and other modders that fit into that group (btw, the Unofficial Patch teams fit into that group as well which is likely why they have some negativity towards MO...most of the "power house authors" are "old school modders").

None. There are several things we are hashing out. Some of which require learning new things for the Team as well. Things operate more organically around here instead of on a linear timeline and path so it could be next month...it could be 3 months.

Keep in mind that we so have assets in STEP that have instructions to hide certain files and this is a feature that might become move important as STEP grows. Whether these are BSA assets or not, I couldn't tell you without checking every single one because I am one of those users that extract all BSAs. This is mainly a habit from Wrye Bash days where if you didn't extract them, you wouldn't be able to see the conflicts which is needed for testing/troubleshooting purposes; not just for STEP (which it is greatly important for us) but also for the community as a whole. If MO allows for proper conflicts to be registered (in the conflicts tab) for BSA assets then there is little reason to extract BSAs since MO essentially treats them as being loose files and the installation loader (normally) holds the keys to which assets are loaded in which order. The exception to this and when BSAs should be extracted (from my point of view) are: When the BSA contains assets that need to be hidden. This is necessary because the file tree tab (where you can hide these assets) will only show the BSA and its ESP. Thus, extraction will be needed to hide files. If Tannin were to ever be able to add a way to hide assets within BSAs without extracting them, then is one exception would go away and there would be no reasons (that I can think of) to extract BSAs while using MO.

Not much smaller. Out of 7504 lines only 235 are associated with the the non-English esps. So once this localization stuff is hashed out, will these have to be installed in the FOMOD according to the language selected or will the 4 main ESPs automatically detect and use the correct version according to whatever language the game is using? Either way, I know how I'm going to implement them if they have to be installed. It might take 5-10 minutes tops to implement and test....then the FOMOD will be final unless there are any critiques from any reviews. If whatever is being done for localization doesn't have to be installed, then deleting the code will take 2-3 mins tops....and done!

I know there has been a ton of TES5Edit learning here, but unless someone has some time to review the FOMOD then I'm declaring it finished and final. I am done with the polishing (all that I could think of on my own anyway). It should provide a good installation experience for the user. File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_Nlyy2ueu0OUR6bWlGZTVOMXM/edit?usp=sharing

I assume this is because you are merging those plugins into the STEP Patches? If it's merged into the STEP Patch and I'm using that updated patch then, yes I would update; however, if it's not merged or I'm not uses the updated patch (which I'm not) then there is no reason to update. New plugin just means new feature unless it's a bug fix for something in the previous version. Even then, unless it's game breaking I probably wouldn't update. Bad habit? Don't know but it's never caused me any issue so far. LOL! I'll update all my mods and the patches when I get into testing again which will be next week most likely. Right now, I'm still polishing the Soul Gems Differ FOMOD and then I told Saerileth that I'd check out her FOMOD to make sure it's working.

We provide a FOMOD version on the mod page that you can use to properly install this mod as well.

Nah, I only update SMIM once every two to three updates whenever Brumbek gets on his updating kick.

There is a LOT of this "training" here and there on the forums. Someone should gather it all up and make a Guide!

Yet another update. Brumbek is on a role again, it would seem.

Well, I see this thread was highjacked by a lot of TES5Edit teaching. Has anyone had time to check out the FOMOD?

I'll be sure to put in on my list of things to test. I just finished up writing rather complex FOMOD for Soul Gems Differ so I feel your pain. I'll finish polishing that up and check out your FOMOD!

I've updated the link above with a version that I've polished out a bit. I've added in some pictures back in as well as created some completely new ones that were missing to show off a few of the options. I've confirmed that SkyUI will sort the sortable versions of the mod, as well, without the need for a sorting mod installed. SkyUI does the job nicely by itself. There is still a lot of polish work to do but that's what I was able to finish before heading to work. Any suggestions for descriptions and images will be most appreciated!

Okay, here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_Nlyy2ueu0TGlBODN2QXByRWc/edit?usp=sharing This is just the initial working version! It is not polished yet so any suggestions will be taken into consideration. Test, test, test! I don't think there are any issues because I test along the way, but it's impossible for me to test every single combination. A few things: The is not compatible with the BAIN file! I restructured the files to ease the writing for myself. The file is the entire mod but structured differently than the BAIN file. I can make this BAIN compatible so we can have an "All-in-One" installer; however, for the sake to pushing this out a.s.a.p. I didn't at this time. If such a file is desired, I can work on it over time to make the FOMOD work with the BAIN file structure and release it later.A few pictures and better descriptions will be added. I was solely focused on making it all work for this review.DO NOT upload or use this anywhere! It is NOT final!I purposely designed every path to end on a final "Install the mod" page. This is more user friendly than some FOMODs that install from hitting the "Next" button (which is unexpected from a user viewpoint). This will also allow any final words added to the last page before installation. Currently there are three final pages. One for STEP installation, one for custom installation if glows were installed and one for custom installation if glows were not installed. This was also necessary to fix the glow pages displaying even if they weren't selected to be installed (had to reset a flag to another value in order to cancel it out which fixed that issue). These multiple pages would allow for a semi custom ending page as well.UPDATE: I've updated the link with a version that I've polished out a bit.

Yes, I used the main file (BAIN) as my source. I'm about to get some coffee in me and attempt to figure out why this page is displaying regardless of the flag condition. Once I get this resolved, I'll post the FOMOD for review.

Okay, I'm running into an issue that is frustrating. One of the pages is displaying even if the conditional flag is never activated for that page and it's annoying me... I'm going to bed and hopefully will come back to it in the morning with a fresh mind.

Np, if the ESP count is reduced. The code will be an easy fix. I've actually kept most of the file structure so with a bit more effort the FOMOD and BAIN wizard could be combined into one "All-in-One" installer. I initially restructured some of the file structure to make it quicker and easier to write the FOMOD. but undoing that will only take an hour or two now that the FOMOD is written. Yeah, it's done. I still want to test a couple things that I changed first but I'll post it shortly (or in the morning) for review. @SRB, If you do those, send them my way too so I can include them in the FOMOD file. (I assume this will only be the English versions of the ESPs that are updated?)

I will test this before finalizing the FOMOD and include any relevant information about SkyUI for the sorting options, if found. I'm almost done. It will be impossible to test all possible installation options before making it live. I will include a shout out in the ReadMe to contact me if any issue is found. I don't expect there to be but anything is possible. I will still post it here for reviews, comments and suggestions before making it final.

Np, it's just slow going because I'm taking plenty of break so I don't go cross-eyed. ...right now it's dinner break! As for sorting, from my understanding it will simply rename gems to something like, "Soul Gem I: Petty" so they will be sorted properly; however, the sorting won't actually work without a sorting mod to sort them such as Better Sorting. I'm going to upload the FOMOD for testing here for it's put on the nexus page. EDIT: Interesting discovering: You can't include an ampersand ( & ) in the plugin name or it causes MO to freeze. You must write out "and" instead.

I've already designed the different language choices into the FOMOD so it's not an issue. It's the first thing I tackled. You might be right though. However, that's not something that I'm working on or would even know how to do. It would simplify the FOMOD a little because I'd be able to remove a lot of code if the mod was narrowed down to just 4 ESPs (5 pages would go down to 2 in the code...however, the user will only see the page associated with their language in the current FOMOD so they wouldn't be aware the other pages existed right now when just installing) if someone wants to try to see if it'll work. The FOMOD is still going to be huge though because of the custom installation option.

Sweet! Thanks for looking into that! I'll write up proper descriptions for each option now.

Placing the textures aren't the issue. Here's what I need to know: Are the ESPs standalone or dependent on other mods? For example, I know the sortable ESP needs a mod that sorts the inventory; however, will using it without one of these third party mods cause issues?Is the main ESP weighted soul gems or weightless?Is the weightless ESP sorted or non-sorted?And just so everyone is aware, the Custom installation option will have two pages per gem due to the amount of options available for both empty and full. This will keep the FOMOD uncluttered and organized; however, very long for the custom option. We're looking at 14 pages just for the custom installation part of the FOMOD (that doesn't include the pages before that point). This is a HUGE FOMOD! If anyone is interested in the Beta what I'm working on let me know and I'll upload it for commenting and suggestions.

Just another update: The FOMOD is completed up to the STEP recommended installation and appears to be 100% working (I have yet to 100% verify the files after installation). The only thing left is to create the custom installation option and verify the files are being placed properly. I still need some clarification on the questions above. I'd try to check it out myself; however, I'm not that proficient with TES5Edit.