SRLE Extended: Legacy of The Dragonborn

[godescalcus]

Just curious that now Microsoft has announced the 17th of October as the launch for the Fall Creators Update, (Yay for 4GB fix!) how this guide will function when Mod Organzier ceases to work on Windows 10. I've been trying the insider builds every so often and its still broken. Have we got an option to port this all to NMM (and later Vortex)?

 

Why not learn to use Wrye Bash properly?  No need to worry about MO or NMM at that point. :P

Didn't know MO would no longer work with windows 10. Shouldn't they maintain full compatibility through a "mandatory" update? Regardless, I think WB is the right way to go. This guide needs almost no adjustment to run on pure wrye bash. Been doing it for a while and the only section that can't be performed is relinker (which is tied to MO). If you know which mods shouldn't be merged (that would require relinking) I think you can make it run 100% as well as under MO. I've also disabled the "batch copy assets" option in Merge Plugins Standalone, as I reckon Wrye Bash is pretty unambiguous as to which assets get copied to the data folder, bash tags being the subject I still don't know enough to mess with. It does require you to know each mod you're loading (at least its file structure) as wrye bash doesn't copy file types that it doesn't recognize as related to the game and those will have to be copied by hand. Example: FNIS. But isn't that in the "spirit" of this guide as well, not just cramming your mods into the mod manager but treating each one individually, conflict resolving, etc? You also need to be aware that adding Bethesda original files (which this guide doesn't require, but others do) forces Wrye Bash to recalculate CRC every time it refreshes the installers list, which can be a drag. And you need a tool like BSAOpt to manually extract bsa files, which is not that bad to be mindful of, considering the ever ongoing debate on the subject. My personal experience: I've had noticeably better performance using WB alone. Script lag was crippling from the start with MO and much less so (though still present) with WB. I wish I knew which tools to use to make this an objective claim - which I don't, yet I'm open to suggestions and might try to do some sort of benchmarking if it were useful. I theorize that the plain file system which wrye bash relies on allows for a faster execution than MO's VFS, by cutting off a step in the process, which can become noticeable in extreme load situations. But I'm not qualified to claim that as a fact and some people, Tannin included, have pointed out that issues may also derive from using a mod manager that relies on a manifest file to "know" how to reverse things, like WB does. Could be all down to "properly using" WB, though ;) In short, though I like MO and its unique features, I've been getting to like WB as a powerful mod manager you can ultimately rely on (keep it simple, sort of common-sense wisdom?). As for NMM, the current one, I've had nothing but sorrow there. I've wrecked more than one build in a single wrong click and been unable to repair it... Not in WB, though.

Edited September 5, 2017 by godescalcus

[godescalcus]

That's all well and good, and I thank you for the information. However I'm all setup with a full LOTD list on Mod Organizer. Is there some way I can transfer everything from there to Wrye Bash without taking 3 days to reinstall the entire guide? I want to be ready in case MO does cease to work. (My machine came with Windows 10 so I don't have 7 as a backup)

You can transfer all the content of the mods folder inside mod organizer to Wrye Bash's "Bash Installers" folder. They will be loaded as projects by wrye bash. I wouldn't even bother to repack them if you have hard drive space to spare, as unpacked folders will be installed/uninstalled much faster. But I strongly advise you against selecting all and installing in one go under wrye bash, although you can do it. I'd always install them one by one while checking the file structure and reviewing the guide for special instructions. But most of the work will be done and in most cases all you'll need to do will be to install each mod under wrye bash. Do check alt3rn1ty's pictorial guide and all the information you can get on wb. Activate the "auto-ghost" option as it will reduce the number of files inside the data folder as you install them (WB may get unstable if you go over the 325 limit of BSA's, ESP's and ESM's set by Beth). Check for mods that appear with a gray background on WB's instalers list, as they contain files or folders that won't be installed automatically. Actually, every folder coming from Mod Organizer will have a metadata file (meta.ini) that's useless and I suggest you remove it. Don't filter out document files, as some mods contain .txt files that wouldn't be copied if that were the case. Instead, manually delete from each mod the files that won't be needed. If you've already installed the full guide under MO, your folders will probably be all clean. If anything appears under gray background, it's very likely that something in the mod needs to be manyally copied. xEdit changes will be directly saved to the plugins contained in the Data folder, and wrye bash will detect the change and give an orange color to the installer, meaning that its contents differ from those of the data folder. If you like, you can re-copy the file from the data folder into the installer, if you trust the changes you've made, or just pack it as a 7zip and add it to wrye bash under the original installer, call it something like "my mod - plugin cleaned" and activate it. I myself love this intricacy as it gives me the same extra confidence as lower level programming - you just know exactly what's happening and what you're doing.

 

General rule, WB is not ideal for people who want to quickly set up a modded game and play. It requires you to do things thoughtfully and knowing what you're doing. You need to enjoy the process of building your modded game and the detail of it. Which is why I think it fits so nicely with the STEP way.

[bmccarti]

Is Wrye bash dependent on load order being correct before running it? If so let's say I have more than 255 plugins prior to running wry bash. How do I determine load order since loot can only handle 255 plugins?

[godescalcus]

Is Wrye bash dependent on load order being correct before running it? If so let's say I have more than 255 plugins prior to running wry bash. How do I determine load order since loot can only handle 255 plugins?

With me loot never had any trouble handling over 255 plugins. Maybe I didn't have over 255 *active* plugins, loot even sorts ghosted plugins - which I think is extraordinary. If you run into trouble with the number of plugins under wrye bash just ghost ("disable") any that you're currently not working with. In the end, after all the merges and bashed patch applied, you'll never be able to have more than 256 anyway.

 

If you're running WB under MO, then you shouldn't exceed the active plugin limit when you run it. But bear in mind that WB deactivates a good number of plugins that get merged into the bashed patch, so you can actually have more than 255 the moment you run WB, as long as the count goes below 256 when you select the merged mods to deactivate.

 

If using WB alone it is definitely dependent on plugin load order, just like mo or any other mod manager. Besides plugins, WB is also dependent on the priority order for installers (much like MO's left pane). Files in lower positions get copied later and overwrite any prior files with the same filename. But WB keeps track of all that and you can check each installer (=mod) for which of its files are maintained or overwritten by later mods, or which are overwriting prior mods. You have all the information to fine-tune your installation if you want to. I tend to do it while fine-tuning my texture choices

 

Edit: on my current build I have 294 active plugins, going down to 245 with the bashed patch merge. If I have them all active when I run WB, no problem, when I build the bashed patch it asks to deactivate the ones that go into the merge and the final count is 245.

Edited September 5, 2017 by godescalcus

[reddvilzz]

Since we're talking about bashed patch, curios what do you guys do with the plugins that get merged into bashed patch? Do you just leave it disable on right pane MO?

 

It is kind of irritating me seeing that amount of plugins especially the one that is disabled since they get counts into the amount of plugins.

 

I'm planning to move the esps into their own folder called "Bashed Patch Merged Esps" just to keep things tidy and just enable them when I need to rebuild bashed patch, I'm opened to other suggestions.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edited September 5, 2017 by reddvilzz

[godescalcus]

Since we're talking about bashed patch, curios what do you guys do with the plugins that get merged into bashed patch? Do you just leave it disable on right pane MO?

 

It is kind of irritating me seeing that amount of plugins especially the one that is disabled since they get counts into the amount of plugins.

 

I'm planning to move the esps into their own folder called "Bashed Patch Merged Esps" just to keep things tidy and just enable them when I need to rebuild bashed patch, I'm opened to other suggestions.

reddvilzz, if you just select the "auto-ghost" feature in wrye bash (right click the "file" label in the mods tab in wrye bash and select from the drop-down menu) those plugins will automatically be disabled in Mod Organizer once you leave WB. If you go back to wrye bash and enable any of the ghosted plugins, Mod Organizer will have it active again. No need to move them to a special folder or even to the optional plugins tab. Just enable auto-ghost in wrye bash.

[Nozzer66]

I'm experiencing CTD when leaving the Alternate Start cell using a test character and I'm unsure of what to do now... I'm not getting a crash fixes log either. Am I beyond help?

I Always wait until I'm sure everything's loaded before I even leave the cell. IE make sure the loading of mods etc is all done. Just in case the delay etc causes issues for you.

[Echosong434]

I Always wait until I'm sure everything's loaded before I even leave the cell. IE make sure the loading of mods etc is all done. Just in case the delay etc causes issues for you.

I do as well, but thank you :) I have a test character loaded up right after everything loads. 

[Echosong434]

I've tested a few of the starts and it seems that when choosing one that is an exterior cell, I get a crash log saying "Skyrim has failed to allocate memory! Possibly running out of memory. Size/alignment of object being allocated was 2796368/0 (numbers seem different each time) " It then lists some things I can try, all of which I have and no luck. 

[bmccarti]

Added some mods and now the kids have shiny potato faces. Anyone run into this?

[DarkladyLexy]

Any thoughts on The Great Equalizer 2? https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/86176/? It's an xEdit script that changes the stats of modded Weapons, Armour and Ammo so that they're balanced to WAFR Values. Might be worth checking out.

I have taken a quick look at this but I am getting a fatal error and can't complete the patching so I need others to go forth to try it out and see it is just me.

Added some mods and now the kids have shiny potato faces. Anyone run into this?

what mod did you add cos it sound like you have a conflict the RS Children

Edited September 5, 2017 by DarkladyLexy

[cybexgames]

@DarkladyLexy,

 

Just tried the new test CR, the issue with the unique meteorite is fixed.

 

Upon looking in TESEdit5, I found that where you added the 000AB50 Landscape record, below is a reference to 7000FC5F Placed Object, with a name of [05000DDA] <Error: Could not be resolved>, which I think can be removed. 70 is Collectables and Treasures Merged esp, in my load order.

 

P.S. How do you add the post that I am replying to in my post, as I see alot of people doing it.

[DarkladyLexy]

@DarkladyLexy,

 

Just tried the new test CR, the issue with the unique meteorite is fixed.

 

Upon looking in TESEdit5, I found that where you added the 000AB50 Landscape record, below is a reference to 7000FC5F Placed Object, with a name of [05000DDA] , which I think can be removed. 70 is Collectables and Treasures Merged esp, in my load order.

 

P.S. How do you add the post that I am replying to in my post, as I see alot of people doing it.

I don't have that error plus that is the actual landscape edit you need to forward did by any chance miss out Skyrim Unique Treasure from your Collectables merge?

[cybexgames]

Crap, I did.

 

Sorry for the false report...

[DarkladyLexy]

Crap, I did.

 

Sorry for the false report...

no don't be sorry. You need to manually remove my edit and replace the landscape edit with the one from your Skyrim Unique Treasure and you'll be sorted.