WB Mod Groupings

[venkman781]

In the Draft WB Guide, we've been suggesting that the reader rename the BAIN archives to match the name in the STEP guide (e.g. 1-(FPS)HQ College of Winterhold_V2-2552-V2.zip).

 

I like the "groupings" approach and have followed it for the texture mods, but I'm curious what you all do with the remaining mods that are in the other sections of STEP (e.g. interface, gameplay, sounds). Continue numbering? Add the letter of the STEP section?

 

I'm trying to find something consistent that I can use. Any suggestions are welcome.

[stoppingby4now]

I don't change the names, but I do use Markers to group mods by STEP section.

[venkman781]

I don't change the names, but I do use Markers to group mods by STEP section.

 

You, Sir, just introduced me to my new favorite feature of WB.

[z929669]

Markers are nice, but renaming is simpler to manage IMO, since you can sort by package name and then use the "Move To" function.

 

All just preferences though.

 

As far as numbering downstream mods, there is no need, since they are not conflicting. Numbering is simply a marker for conflicts that must be maintained during install.

 

I like the idea of renaming though, because it is much simpler to reference with the STEP guide and serves as reminders of mods that I may want to disable for benchmarking purposes. Again, just my preference.

[venkman781]

I've landed on a mix of both for now. Markers to divide out the sections, and renaming to make sure I can quickly identify the mod for updates, etc. It'll work for now until we see how TC organizes the next STEP guide.

[MontyMM]

I keep all the original packages as NMM downloads them, so that NMM can track the updates, and I can go back to the clean sources if I screw things up through tinkering. Then I convert them to BAIN friendly packages for Wrye, and rename them to their STEP names. I also merge all of the small texture packs together, to shorten my list and simplify things.

[venkman781]

I keep all the original packages as NMM downloads them, so that NMM can track the updates, and I can go back to the clean sources if I screw things up through tinkering. Then I convert them to BAIN friendly packages for Wrye, and rename them to their STEP names. I also merge all of the small texture packs together, to shorten my list and simplify things.

 

 

Cool. Thanks Monty. I've got kind of a wonky system at the moment because I'm a little OCD (in general and when it comes to managing my files). Sounds like we're doing the same thing - using WB markers, renaming mods to STEP names, and tracking mods with original filenames in NMM. Whenever I download a new mod or update, I toss it into NMM, then convert to BAIN for WB.

[stoppingby4now]

I do the same as Monty, and just have NMM download directly into my Bain Installers folder. But I just had an idea. Keep the download folder somewhere else and have a script create soft links in the Bain Installers folder that point to the downloads. That way I could rename them in WB without affecting NMM's tracking. Only reason I've wanted to change the name is in some cases the filename is non-descriptive and gives you no clue as to what mod it is...you just have to remember.

[z929669]

I do the same as Monty, and just have NMM download directly into my Bain Installers folder. But I just had an idea. Keep the download folder somewhere else and have a script create soft links in the Bain Installers folder that point to the downloads. That way I could rename them in WB without affecting NMM's tracking. Only reason I've wanted to change the name is in some cases the filename is non-descriptive and gives you no clue as to what mod it is...you just have to remember.

 

 

I have been formulating a similar strategy, but not yet nailed down how I will tackle. If I come up with a nifty method, I will post it here.

[stoppingby4now]

I have the bulk of a script done to do this, but for the life of me I can not find where NMM stores its path information. Worst case I'll have to hard code it, but it would be nicer to pick up the setting in NMM for the Mods directory.

 

EDIT: Found it. Those sly bastards tucked it away.

[z929669]

Where? Reg? User?

[stoppingby4now]

It's in a file, with a very odd directory name. My location is:

 

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Black_Tree_Gaming\nexusclient.exe_Url_mv2aec0rcjmnjabi33t1j4qxmk0muz20

[z929669]

It's in a file, with a very odd directory name. My location is:

 

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Black_Tree_Gaming\nexusclient.exe_Url_mv2aec0rcjmnjabi33t1j4qxmk0muz20

 

OK, mine is same but /NexusClient.exe_Url_2tfxwyispvnfgfg0rl0eq1mulacthwe2

 

Looks like a wildcard ought to do nicely :P

[MontyMM]

Interesting. I'm curious - at which point do you make the downloads BAIN friendly? Do you modify the downloaded archives themselves?

[stoppingby4now]

Interesting. I'm curious - at which point do you make the downloads BAIN friendly? Do you modify the downloaded archives themselves?

 

 

For me, it depended if it was a 7zip archive or some other. For 7z, I would just overwrite the original archive. If it was zip or rar, I would create a new 7z archive and install that, but move the original to the bottom under a marker called "Ignore".

 

In this case I do end up with duplicate data, but I'm not worried about disk space, it just makes the WB listing that much longer for me. What I would like is to be able to link to the downloads initially, but also be able to clean-up links so I don't have multiple archives showing up in WB for the same mod when I'm done. I'm thinking the clean-up would be contingent on the link name being partially equivalent to the new archive name (for example...original archive name: RKB_75523_1_0.zip; link name: "Realistic Killer Berries.zip"; new archive name: "Realistic Killer Berries.7z"). At least that's what I'm trying to do. Being able to change them to the actual mod name without a bunch of numbers and versions, etc. That's what I use NMM for.