Setting Priority in MO

[moho25]

Hey folks --

 

I feel like a complete moron asking this, but I'm working with MO for the first time and just starting to enable a couple mods and set up load orders.

 

I'm having an issue with setting the priority, the issue being I can't figure out how to do it.  I've used guide on the STEP wiki, and poked around the program myself.  Apparently I should be able to right-click on a mod in the left pane, and that should bring up the context menu where I can select "set priority".  Only, this option is not present.  Nor does it seem to be included in any of the other options within the context menu.  I've also tried double clicking/right clicking on the "priority" rank for the mod itself.  No luck.

 

Ultimately, what I'm attempting to do is prioritize the new UHRP above the USKP, as since USKP is set to a high priority, it is over-writing textures from the just released UHRP. 

 

To be clear, as far as .esps go, USKP is first, followed by UHRP which will overwrite portions of it.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

[Neovalen]

Drag and drop the mod name.

[moho25]

Drag and drop the mod name.

Yeah, I tried that also.  No dice.

 

EDIT: Ah ha! Ok. You MUST have the mods sorted by priority in order for this to work. They cannot be sorted by "name", for example, or it won't let you drag and drop at all. This nugget of info should be put in the Wiki for folks :]

 

Thanks for the idea.  I had tried it previously, and it wasn't working, but I hadn't tried sorting by priority yet.

[justjr]

Edit the priority column. Like you edit any other thing in windows. F2 or double-click.

And yes, it works drag and dropping, but is not fully functional.

[Neovalen]

Never failed me... what's not fully functional?

[justjr]

When you do a search and, let's say, the files you want to drag another file between then are: priority number 110 and 150.

Then if you drag the file between these 2 files it will not always be where you want it, cause it will sort it before the file under it (ex.: will be 149), and not after the file before it (ex.: 111).

Sorry if my explanation can be confusing, lol.

 

Well, I guess it is fully functional, and this is more of a practical issue.

[moho25]

Edit the priority column. Like you edit any other thing in windows. F2 or double-click.

And yes, it works drag and dropping, but is not fully functional.

Dragging and dropping works (only if sorting by the priority column), but double-clicking does not work -- it just opens up the "information" context window.  There is no way to edit this number in that window.

 

Ahh, and F2 does work.  That's a handy shortcut, but for people not well versed in Windows shortcuts, they won't know to press F2. Scrolling over the priority numbers doesn't give you a hint, either.

[justjr]

Select the row, then click again in the cell it will edit like F2.

[Boge]

I'm a bit confused with mods that have an esp.

 

On the left, you have mod priority, but then you also have your esp load order.  How do these work together?  How does Mod Organizer know how to go about loading your mods if you have two different load orders?

 

For instance, I'm using Climates of Tamriel.  Climates of tamriel with Boss has the esm loading near the top and then other esp settings in the middle.  But what if I have the load priority (left side of Mod Organizer) at the bottom?  Do I have to arrange all of my mods priorities similar to what Boss loads them as with the esp files?

[Neovalen]

I'm a bit confused with mods that have an esp.

 

On the left, you have mod priority, but then you also have your esp load order.  How do these work together?  How does Mod Organizer know how to go about loading your mods if you have two different load orders?

 

For instance, I'm using Climates of Tamriel.  Climates of tamriel with Boss has the esm loading near the top and then other esp settings in the middle.  But what if I have the load priority (left side of Mod Organizer) at the bottom?  Do I have to arrange all of my mods priorities similar to what Boss loads them as with the esp files?

 

The left pane is the order it installs the loose files. The right pane is the order Sky rim will load the ESM/esps.

[Boge]

So how do I know what the best load order is for the loose files?  How do I know if those loose files being loaded in the wrong order will cause conflicts?

[Neovalen]

So how do I know what the best load order is for the loose files?  How do I know if those loose files being loaded in the wrong order will cause conflicts?

 

Right click mod name. Select info and check the conflicts tab. For the purposes of STEP the order should be the same as the guide in the left pane.

[Boge]

So, which mods are priority?  #1 says min, and the bottom one says max.  Does that mean number 1 has minimum priority?  If so, that's kind of counter intuitive.

 

Also, I guess since this is the STEP forums, any mod I'd have questions about that wasn't a part of step (Climates of Tamriel), I'd probably get the "The STEP team doesn't support that mod" comment?

 

Do the loose files cause major crash conflicts like esp mis-load orders do, or do they just overwrite each other, like textures, sound files, etc.?

 

EDIT: Okay, I think I'm starting to understand. The #1 is like the esp load order. The ones loaded last take priority (still counter intuitive with the min/max messages). I also don't have to worry about that priority load order unless I see that a file from that mod is being overwritten or overwriting something, in which case I can see what the file is and decide if it needs to be adjusted with the other mod/mods in conflict, basically deciding myself which file should overwrite the other. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Farlo]

So which mods are priority?  #1 says min, and the bottom one says max.  Does that mean number 1 has minimum priority?  If so, that's kind of counter intuitive.

The load order goes from 1 -> max and that's saying that MO "compiles" the virtual data folder in that order, meaning the lower priority mods will be overwritten by those with higher priority.

Also I guess since this is the STEP forums, any mod I'd have questions about that wasn't a part of step (Climates of Tamriel), I'd probably get the "The STEP team doesn't support that mod" comment?

Oh come now, we're friendlier than that!  Unfortunately I'm not familiar with CoT so I can't give you a decent answer, but someone around here surely can.

Do the loose files cause major crash conflicts like esp mis-load orders do or do they just overwrite each other, like textures, sound files, etc.?

The only files that might cause problems are scripts, the rest just overwrite each other as you said so you only see whichever files have the highest priority.

EDIT: Okay, I think I'm starting to understand. The #1 is like the esp load order. The ones loaded last take priority (still counter intuitive with the min/max messages). I also don't have to worry about that priority load order unless I see that a file from that mod is being overwritten or overwriting something, in which case I can see what the file is and decide if it needs to be adjusted with the other mod/mods in conflict, basically deciding myself which file should overwrite the other. Correct me if I'm wrong.

That's pretty much it!  The mod tables in STEP are set up to be followed exactly, so as long as your order matches ours, you should get the desired effect.  For ESPs, we just trust BOSS with that one.

[Boge]

Yeah, I got it. I just wasn't sure what to do with any extra mods I install after STEP. I love STEP, but I need a bit more than the "vanilla" Skyrim experience. Give me more weapons, armor, maybe some quests, some other features, then I'm happy.

 

I do recommend STEP to those new to modding though. This project is fantastic. It's the perfect setup for anyone (which is a lot) that is starting skyrim for the first time and isn't sure if they should mod or not. Do STEP!! It's basically vanilla Skyrim Enhanced!! So good job there, fellas.