STEP 2.2.0 Why do I need to install some update files into separate mods?

[maruru]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently following the STEP guide for the second time in my life, because I somehow got the itch to mod Skyrim again after many years.

For the most part, the guide is logical or "trust the process" and things will become clear later on, which is ok to establish a solid modding base.

However, I tried to understand one direction and wasn't able to find any explanation, so I hope someone is able to tell me why:

06 -> Armor Mesh Fixes SE -> 2.  wants me to "Install the Update File as a separate mod."

As far as I know, updates should be merged, so the version is auto-upgraded and I'm on the latest release of the mod. There is no benefit tracking the main and update separately (as opposed to optional files).

[DoubleYou]

As explained in the instructions, MO2 tracks updates different for different file types, and merging in this situation would cause the "Check All For Updates" button to not check against the correct file id to see if there was an update. 

[maruru]

@DoubleYou I understand that, and that's what's confusing me. So correct me if I'm wrong - maybe I just have to accept that that's how it is, but as you can see in the screenshot, separating the update and the main mod leads to the main mod not being tracked correctly. The correct version is v1.1, and the main mod is v1.0. Hence the author also uploaded an update which can be used to patch the main mod to v1.1. The update file has the correct current version v1.1.

As far as I understood the Nexus system, only optional (not update!!!) files will have their separate version tracked, but maybe I'm wrong. It just seems strange that I end up with a mod with an outdated version when I have the update lying right next to it.

[z929669]

3 hours ago, maruru said:

@DoubleYou I understand that, and that's what's confusing me. So correct me if I'm wrong - maybe I just have to accept that that's how it is, but as you can see in the screenshot, separating the update and the main mod leads to the main mod not being tracked correctly. The correct version is v1.1, and the main mod is v1.0. Hence the author also uploaded an update which can be used to patch the main mod to v1.1. The update file has the correct current version v1.1.

As far as I understood the Nexus system, only optional (not update!!!) files will have their separate version tracked, but maybe I'm wrong. It just seems strange that I end up with a mod with an outdated version when I have the update lying right next to it.

Read this article to better understand.

Also see this poll topic post and the OP and other posts for more info.

If an author updates a Main File without also syncing the file version to the mod-page (global) version, then that file will be flagged as outdated by MO. Any files in other sections are global-version independent and do not consider the mod-page version.

In the Armor Mesh Fixes example, the global version is 1.1.

The Main File version is 1.0 (flagged for update by MO)

The Update File is 1.1 and will not be flagged for update by MO unless a file with that exact name in Update Files changes version to something different. It doesn't even consider the global version or the Main File version. The same is true for all file sections other than Main Files.

With Armor Mesh Fixes, merging works for the Main File, because the Update File version applies to the Main File version, which sets it to match the global version. If some other Misc File also was v1.1, merging it with the Main File in this case would also not be flagged for update.

More often than not, the other files being merged have versions != to the global version and merging will cause MO to flag the file for update.

Separating all downloads into separate mods will always yield the highest-fidelity version tracking with MO. In rare cases like AMF, this isn't true, but it's really coincidence more than anything else. MO's (aand Nexus') version tracking/maintenance needs fixing.

 

[maruru]

Wow, thank you for the detailed explanation. Makes sense, now!