Where to install mod compatibility patches?

[Rechet]

I must be missing something really obvious here.. :?

 

Where and when, exactly, are the various mod compatibility patches supposed to be installed? Straight "Merge" install (using Mod Organizer) right into/after the main mod, irrespective of install order or what?

 

My gut feeling says that patches would need to go AFTER a mod that causes an incompatibility issue with a mod earlier in the load order, but this would also necessitate rather convoluted install instructions and I don't see anything to suggest that.. or I'm blind.

 

For example, if following the STEP 2.2.7 Extended guide to the letter: Once I've installed "2.D - Dual Sheath Redux" main mod, am I supposed to hold on to adding its aMidianborn patch after I've actually installed "2.I - Book of Silence" or can I just throw in the patch straight into the rest of DSR right there and then? I'm aware that the game will glitch/crash if I have a compatibility patch to a mod that is not (yet) installed. Just wondering where the patch file(s) needs to reside when the complete STEP install is finished.

[EssArrBee]

You can throw those into DSR with the merge function. You can install those with DSR, but they won't actually get used until the very end when you run the SkyProc patcher for DSR.

 

But... those DSR files are packs for the correct meshes not truly patches. There are certain patches like the STEP patches which are the very first mods listed. You want the STEP Extended Patch only and after you run BOSS for the last time move the STEP patch to the end of the load order right before the Dual Sheath Redux.esp and the Bashed Patch,0.esp (if you are using one).

[Rechet]

Oh, NOW it makes much more sense! My gut feeling was both right and wrong!

 

So essentially, there are two different kinds of patches - those that merely add to the mod in question (why these are called patches and not add-ons/alterations/whatever else is confusing in itself) and those that actually (try to) solve a conflict between two or more mods. In that light, it's delightfully misleading to have STEP Patches listed in the very first category, when they are, in fact, installed very last. Or at least put there once most everything else is done. ;)

 

I design user manuals for a living and could try to improve the wording in certain pieces of the STEP guide, if you guys feel like it's needed. It could use some clarifications and polish along the way, IMHO. :)