How to start installing Mods with Wrye Bash/Bain

[mobias]

Hi everyone. First post. I'm very excited to get this STEP project nailed down. Couldn't find my answer in the forums.

 

I'm going step by step, but am a bit hung up on the Wyre Bash guide, and specifically what to do next now that I have all the mods installed in nice neat folders. I'm fairly good at following directions, but am not getting the expected results it says.

1) It says recommended ini tweaks to the BASH.ini to setup the folders to where WB will look for the mods, but then on the next tab it says you should manually download/install mods into the Bash Installer folder [the one that's adjacent] to the Skyrim 'game' folder (in steam), however, I set my ini up to look for my mods [based on the example ini] within a separate folder. Either way, when I launch WB, I see the mods I've installed into the Data folder [by manually dropping them in] on the 'Mods' tab, but when I click on the 'Installers' tab, i'm supposed to see installers and such, but don't see anything.

 

2) I've experimented with copying 7zip and .Rar packages of mods into BOTH 'Bash Installer' folders, including putting them within the subfolders I created [to keep them organized] as well as directly loose into the 'Bash Installer' folders. Neither supplies any entries in the WB installers tab. I guess I'm a little fuzzy on the verbiage as well. What exactly do you guys mean by 'packages' and 'archives' and installers' and wizards and BCF's etc. Its almost overwhelming trying to keep this all sorted.

 

Am i installing all the mods from within WB once I figure out how to get them loaded in there properly? or do I just continue droping the mod contents manually into the Data folders etc?? Basically- I need VERY specific folder structures/locations for where to put EXACTLY what.  I know I ask a lot ;).

 

Thanks everyone for any help, and for this great modding project!

[Lanceor]

Hey there mobias. Fellow newcomer here. :)

 

If you've edited bash.ini to look for the setup folders in a new location, you should save the files to that new location. So if you specified sOblivionMods=E:\Skyrim Mods then you should place your the downloaded files into E:\Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers.

 

Most packages downloaded from Nexus should work as-is just by dropping them into the Bash Installers folder. Do double check what Wrye Bash has actually installed though as sometimes it will get it wrong if the downloaded archive has a weird file structure.

[mobias]

Thanks for the reply. So at least you're confirming at least half of what I did should have worked, but the problem is, it didn't. I placed copies of a 7zip and a .Rar file in both the Bash Installer folders, and I still see nothing.

 

Do double check what Wrye Bash has actually installed though as sometimes it will get it wrong if the downloaded archive has a weird file structure.

Not sure what you mean, I'm pretty sure it installed, as it launches fine [?]. What do you mean a weird file structure from a downloaded archive? I usually just save all my mods into a folder, then I copy/pasted the examples into the Skyrim Mods/Bash Installer/ file. I don't get anything in the 'Installers' tab of WB. I tried into /Bash Installer/Bash and nothing either.

 

I'm thinking though, maybe something did get messed up, and I'll just delete all the bash folders and uninstall WB and reinstall and see what happens. Of note, I think when you first install WB and launch it [which I may have before tweaking the ini., it creates that default folder in "H:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers"..perhaps this is confusing WB as I have it pointed to a different folder. I don't know. It seems like it should be simple but I must've messed something up.

 

I also thought I read somewhere, WB only 'reads' 2 folders deep?? Would this mean I would need those ini location folders pointed to something very near the root level of my hard drive? could this be a reason? But I can't imagine this to be an issue, as the default folder is at least 5-6 folders deep!  sigh

[z929669]

@mobias

 

See this post.

[mobias]

EUREKA! God@mn if that first post there didn't fix my issue!! THANK you z929669 ! ! Now, to figure out what to do with them now that the folders are there....heh.

[mobias]

In keeping with my very noobish questions: Now that I can see the folders in the 'Installers' tab in WB, I don't exactly know what to do. they have a grey diamond next to them, when i double click on any part of the line it opens up a windows box showing the contents of the mods i have installed there. [multiple by catagory]. Now I see in the instructions that it says to install the packages directly into the Bash Installers folder, do I want to upend my helpful folder structure and just dump all the mod packages directly into this folder?

 

What then will that do for me? I experimented with a couple mods, and it just shows them as a pink square and a grey square... Is this how I want to view them or does it matter?

 

The basic question I'm having a hard time locating in the guides...is EXACTLY how do I start installing these Mods!? for the fixes, I just opened up the packages and dropped the appropriate folders/files in the Data folder..that seemed to populate them [the ones with .esm/esp's anyway] into the 'Mods' tab, but i have a nagging feeling i'm NOT supposed to install them like this? -but rather somehow via WB itself? What is the point of the Installer tab really? Sorry if these seem like dumb questions...It's late at night and I usually beg for STEP by step instructions...

[torminater]

Your mod packages (zip/rar/7z) are in your Bash Installers directory. These packages are shown in the Installers Tab in Wrye. To install one of those packages, right-click on it, and choose "Install". It will then install the files of the package to your Skyrim\Data directory, if the files in the package have been in a proper BAIN-format. If you then go to the "Mods" tab, you'll see all esp-files Skyrim currently has in it's Data directory. There the new esps of your newly installed mods have to be activated by left-clicking on the checkboxes on the left of them. After enabling those esps run BOSS to configure your load order. For mods which are not recognized by BOSS look for Mod Author's instructions where to place the mod. You can also load up your game with TESVEdit and see where your mod esps conflict and then determine which esp should win over the others and place this esp lower than the others. If using the Boss Userlist Manager, you can also select categories which match what the esp is doing best, for example "Water and Lava". It will then show you a list of mods changing those aspects in Skyrim and you can place it amongst them.

[mobias]

THANK you tormenator! That helps quite a bit! There are just so many guides and little instructions but they're scattered all over. Wish they revamped the STEP guide just a tad more for people like me that just want a clear, what-to-do-next process and all in a row. Maybe i'll work my way up and be a contributor or something, to maybe clear some of it up for future modders! :)

 

[i've just now re-read the spot where I need to rename and number ALL the mods, by section...so that is taking awhile. When that's done i'll take them out of their folders, which are grey and useless as they appear in the Installer tab, and plop them all one higher in the BASH INSTALLERS folder. At least that way I know they will appear so I can work with them.]

[z929669]

THANK you tormenator! That helps quite a bit! There are just so many guides and little instructions but they're scattered all over. Wish they revamped the STEP guide just a tad more for people like me that just want a clear' date=' what-to-do-next process and all in a row.[/color'] Maybe i'll work my way up and be a contributor or something, to maybe clear some of it up for future modders! :)

 

[i've just now re-read the spot where I need to rename and number ALL the mods, by section...so that is taking awhile. When that's done i'll take them out of their folders, which are grey and useless as they appear in the Installer tab, and plop them all one higher in the BASH INSTALLERS folder. At least that way I know they will appear so I can work with them.]

 

Actually, the intro of the WB guide explicitly states as a prerequisite to using the guide that the reader should review the official WB documentation to understand the basics of what WB does and how ... as well as reference for specifics (like text/text-background colors, symbol shapes/colors, etc). ;)

 

The WB guide is meant as a STEP installation guide using WB, not so much as a WB how-to. It details installer management at a much more detailed level than the official doc. It would be redundant to add what is already well documented in the official doc.