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Tip: How I Save Time when reinstalling SR:LE / SR:LE Extended


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First, I'd like to say how much I appreciate the work of Neovalen, Darth Mathias, and DarkladyLexy; and all they are doing to provide us with an enjoyable, stable game environment.

 

As I am now about to start my 4th time reinstalling these packs, I thought I'd share something that I have been doing to save time during the installation process.  (I know that there are some of us that prefer to reinstall these packs from scratch to avoid making any mistakes, or maybe it's just me.)

 

 

WARNING: Doing this is at your own risk.

 

During the installation of many of the mods in SR:LE and SR:LE Extended, we are instructed to only install certain files (while leaving others out) or to manually install mods due to needing to set a top level "Data" directory in the mod.  To alleviate this issue, I've been using 7zip to repackage most of the mods in both of these guides.  This allows me to get rid of all of the files in the mod that are not recommended, so I do not have to deal with removing them during the installation process, while also decreasing the compressed file size of the archive (especially over mods packaged as .zip)

 

Benefits:

  • Less time spent installing mods like "The Eyes of Beauty", as you no longer need to manually remove over 20 textures from the mod during installation.
  • No more manually installing mods just in order to set a top level data folder.
  • Mods like "Better Males" and the "Blocking Animation Pack" can be configured/merged ahead of time to no longer need multiple installations of the same mod to get the options needed.
  • Integration of some optionals into the main mod. (Example: integrating 'update seq file to fix dialogue bug' and the typo patch to "Moonpath to Elsweyr" in SR:LE Extended).
  • Easily make your own "patches". (Example: archiving the NSutR meshes in the 'special installation' section of "Stunning Statues of Skyrim", and merging with the original mod).
  • Decreased file size in your backups (I use the 'Ultra' preset in 7zip for better compression).
  • Much easier reinstallation process in the event of a hard drive / SSD failure.

Downsides:

  • Possibility of making a mistake during repackaging and needing to redownload a mod if you delete the original before testing.
  • It takes time to setup (but gives you something to do while larger mods are downloading).
  • Some archives (very few) will end up with an increased file size over the original after removing files, even if the original was packaged using 7zip.

 

I would also recommend adding the version number to the name of all mods installed via Mod Organizer (this way they show up in the name of the folder in the MO/mods directory) and making a backup of the mods directory somewhere else to make installing mods that do not get updated easier for subsequent installations.  Do this only if you have the extra hard drive space to do so.

 

NOTE:

It is not recommend doing this to any mod with a FOMOD, or trying to remove files that you are instructed to remove after the mod is installed (usually FOMODs or files that appear after BSA extraction).

 

Hopefully this will help some other people out, as it has greatly decreased the amount of time I spend installing mods.

 

 

If the practice of repackaging the work of a mod author for personal usage (and not for redistribution) is frowned upon by these forums, a Moderator can feel free to remove this post.

Edited by shattered_likeness
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