ReLinker

[Ganda]

ReLinker

Hishy had the idea of making a little tool to allow us to merge mods with scripts - it takes the merge maps that are produced when you merge something, grabs all the scripts and LODGen files from you active mod list (BSAs included) and replaces the old plugin name and formIDs with the new plugin name and formIDs.

We all know what a fantastic tool Merge Plugins is. However there are certain mods which cannot be merged due to the use of certain scripting functions which are called on the original plugin name. Functions including GetFormFromFile, GetModByName, checkModPresence, and IsPluginLoaded look for specific .esp names. When you create a merge the original .esp name(s) no longer exists (unless you rename the merged plugin back to one of the original plugin names but this in itself can cause problems including broken MCM menus and is therefore not ideal) and therefore any function call looking for them will no longer trigger. These functions can be called by one of the scripts included in the mod being merged, or by scripts from other mods outside the merge.

A prime example of this is how the 'self-patching' in Legacy of the Dragonborn works by looking for the existence of a whole host of plugin names and activating the various additional displays if the mods are loaded. ReLinker actually came about out of a conversation regarding merging the four BadGremlins treasure hunt mods and patching the LotD activator script to make sure all four displays were still activated.

ReLinker is run outside ModOrganizer and runs on whichever profile you last had open before closing out of MO. It scans your load order looking for merges, and for every merge it finds it reads the contents of plugins and map .txt files and creates a reference list of the original plugin names and the new merged plugin name, along with the original and renumbered FormIDs. It then scans every script in your load order looking for any of those functions mentioned above and editing the scripts to reflect the new plugin names and formIDs. So in the example above once we've merged all four treasure hunts into Treasure Hunts.esp and run ReLinker, the DBM script will now look for Treasure Hunts.esp four times and activate all four displays. Likewise if you were to merge a mod like Sneak Tools whose scripts contain numerous Sneak Tools.esp lookups, ReLinker would then edit all of the Sneak Tools scripts in the merge itself to ensure they now look for the new merged plugin name and renumbered formIDs instead.

ReLinker works on both loose files (if you unpack your BSAs) and on scripts within BSAs. It directly edits the .pex files, doing away with the need to decompile and recompile the scripts which has greatly sped up the process over in the release version.

Instructions:

1. Make sure you have the profile you want to ReLink active in Mod Organizer and that you have completed and activated all of your merges.
2. Exit Mod Organizer
3. Run ReLinker and follow the on screen instructions to specify the required paths.
4. Check on screen output to ensure ReLinker has completed successfully.
5. Close the ReLinker window and open Mod Organizer.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the left pane and locate the new ReLinker Output mod.
7. Activate ReLinker Output and leave it at the bottom of the left pane to ensure the new ReLinked scripts have priority over the originals.
8. That's it, there is no 8

If you add/remove/update any mods or create any new merges and want to ReLink again then simply remove the existing ReLinker Output mod completely, exit MO and repeat the process again.

Prerequisites:

• Mod Organizer - does not work with other managers;
• Do not remove the merge folder after completing a merge.

Download it here. The tool will ask you for some things and will try to guess them properly. If the values between square brackets are correct, simply press ENTER without inputting any value. The output scripts and LODGen files will be stored in a new mod folder named "ReLinker Output". To revert the changes from this tool simply disable or delete the folder.
 
Good Practices:

• ReLinker will run with the latest profile used in MO;
• Close MO before running it.

By default, the following BSA's are ignored to speed up the process and because they don't contain any scripts with the functions that are affected:

• Skyrim - Misc.bsa
• Skyrim - Shaders.bsa
• Skyrim - Textures.bsa
• Skyrim - Interface.bsa
• Skyrim - Animations.bsa
• Skyrim - Meshes.bsa
• Skyrim - Sounds.bsa
• Skyrim - Voices.bsa
• Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa
• Update.bsa
• Dawnguard.bsa
• HearthFires.bsa
• Dragonborn.bsa
• HighResTexturePack01.bsa
• HighResTexturePack02.bsa
• HighResTexturePack03.bsa
• Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.bsa
• Falskaar.bsa
• Wyrmstooth.bsa

If you have specific issues or suggestions post it directly to the this topic. I'm always happy to receive questions and feedback. Happy merging!

 

EDIT: Thanks dunc for the much better description!

Edited February 20, 2017 by hishutup

[Shadriss]

Same thing I was seeing recently. Here's what's happening - It's looking in the MO folder you provided for the profiles folder... which isn't there in one version of the MO2 install. Instead, point that one at the folder where the profiles are kept (in my case, C:\Users\(user name)\appdata\local\modorganizer), and it should work fine.

[DarkladyLexy]

Relinker really needs an update for MO2 but i doubt that will happen.

[Shadriss]

Given that the authors basically said "That's it, we're done!", I agree.

[ForgettableUsername]

Really hope this tool is not dead. Anyway I have been trying to run ReLinker to fix a few minor script issues in one of my merged plugins to no avail. The tool seems to work quickly and correctly at first, it asks for my Mod Organizer root folder and the mods folder, then starts looking for merges, extracting BSAs, etc. However, it begins to hang at copying loose files and then throws this error:

 

<class 'ValueError'>: invalid literal for int() with base 16: b''

 

Anyone know how to fix it/what's wrong? I have tried both versions 44 and 40

[Shadriss]

The tool is, in essence, dead - however there is hope on the horizon. Mator is working dark magic in the back rooms, and I hear that a new tool is coming out (zMerge?) that advances the Merge Plugins tool and adds in ReLinker type functionality. Not sure when, but the comments I've seen indicate it shouldn't be overly long. If the errors are minor, I'd hold out a bit longer for the new tool, then rebuild the merge.

[hishutup]

zmerge is going to be far superior.
When it drops, use it over relinker.

Relinker is dead, but Ill still provide it because I do not remove my files from the internet.

[Rescorla]

I get the following error message every time I run Relinker version 40 64 bit (the version Lexy's LOTD guide says to use).   Anyone have an idea what is causing that?

 

I need to know Mod Organizer's root folder [e:\Mod Organizer 2]

---> e:\Mod Organizer 2

I need to know Mod Organizer's Mods folder [e:\Mod Organizer 2\mods]

---> e:\Mod Organizer 2\mods

 

Alright, let's get started.

 

First, search the Mods folder for merged plugins.

  File "<string>", line 222, in <module>

  File "configparser.py", line 778, in get

  File "configparser.py", line 1138, in _unify_values

 

<class 'configparser.NoSectionError'>: No section: 'General'

Press Enter to exit...

[Elaura]

Hi. I'm following this guide: SRLE: Legacy of The Dragonborn Reqtified

ReLinker completes without issue.

With Relinker Output checked, the game crashes before reaching the start menu.
With it unchecked, it starts fine.
Is ReLinker still needed?

 

Windows 10 64
Legacy Skyrim
MO 2.2.1
ReLinker 64

[Shadriss]

SRLE hasn't been updated in forever, I don't think. You can do, in essence, the same processes through the new zMerge program (part of Mator's zEdit program), which will allow you to do both the merges and the ReLinker functionality as well. Means having to figure a few things out on your own, likely, but that's prob'ly the best way forward.

[BabyPinkSnail]

Nevermind

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by BabyPinkSnail