Using the STEP patch without Book Covers

[Crimson13]

I want to ask if there's a way, or if it'll cause problems with the patch, if I can remove or modify the dependency of the Book Covers mod with the STEP patch. I don't use Lexy's guide for LotD but I do use LotD which add Book Covers to itself and I want to know how to know how to make things compatible. It's been something like a year since I last played Skyrim LE and I've never touched SE so I'm a bit out of touch regarding opening up SSEEdit and changing things around.

 

I've been wanting to get back into playing Skyrim since the latest update to the STEP guide but it's reminded me how much of a pain it is setting up your mod list, haha.

[TechAngel85]

You can. The best way to ensure everything is removed is just load everything into xEdit and toggle through the Book Covers records. Once you come across a record that's within the STEP Patch, simply right-click on the STEP Patches column header and select "Remove". Save the new Patch when finished. 

[Crimson13]

Great, thank you TechAngel. What do the references in the STEP patch help with with Book Covers by the way?

[TechAngel85]

Great, thank you TechAngel. What do the references in the STEP patch help with with Book Covers by the way?

They patch any mod that is using a book reference to use BCS's models/textures. For example, if The Choice is Yours edits a book reference because it's a quest item, then it needs a patch to use BCS model/texture for that book; else, the vanilla book would be shown and not the BCS edits.

[Crimson13]

Alright, so I've finally been able to sit down and attempt to start up a game. So I have a related question to this since I thought about it; is it possible to change the STEP patch to use LOTD instead of Book Covers since LOTD already has Book Covers in?

[TheStrictNein]

It is possible, as I just did it for myself today.

 

Basically, load the STEP CR patch and LOTD in xEdit, then apply a filter for Conflicts. Go into Book Covers Skyrim.esp, and for every entry where the text is red, look for Red highlighted rows. You'll want to drag and drop any references in LotD that are being overwritten by the CR patch to the CR patch, which will add LotD as a dependency, APART from Book Texts when they show as a conflict as those are updated for CACO. Do the same for BCS - Lost Library.

 

Once you've done this, right click on the CR patch, select "Apply Script", then choose the Reference Masters script and click okay. In the window that appears, select both BCS and BCSLL, then click ok again. In the message tab of the main window, it will tell you every entry that references either of those as masters. Simply find those entries in the CR patch, and fix them to reference LOTD instead of BCS/BCSLL. Then you can right on the CR patch again and run the Clean Masters command, and BCS/BCSLL will be removed from the CR patch and you can save and close it.

 

I'd be happy to provide my version of the CR patch that's updated for LOTD instead of BCS, but I'm not sure how the STEP team likes those things to be shared.

 

EDIT: Here you go: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39332/

Edited August 13, 2020 by TheStrictNein