LODgen and optimized mod not loading?

[alsedexus]

I'll be shouting out my ignorance here. When running through the S.T.E.P. instructions there are two places where you "create" your own mods:

- Running FNVLODGen

- Texture Optimization

These steps generate a bunch of mod files that are supposed to be installed using NVMO. That part works fine, BUT they don't show up in the right window of NVMO, neither in the Plugins-tad nor the Archives-tab. I might be wrong, but shouldn't there be a .esp/.esm file for the LODGen-mod and a .bsa file for the optimization mods? I get the feeling that right now, they are just listed in my NVMO but aren't actually loading into the game.

 

Am I completely wrong here? And before anyone asks - yes, I have marked the checkbox of the mods in the left window. :)

Edited August 12, 2015 by alsedexus

[MonoAccipiter]

After running FNVLODGen there should be a folder called "FNVLODGenOutput" on your C: drive, you can compress that to an archive and install it by using the "Install a new mod from an archive"-button and it should show up at the bottom of your mod list. It's only textures and meshes, and shouldn't have any ESP. (there are other ways, but they can quickly get confusing, so I'm being as straighforward as possible)

I haven't done the mod optimization myself, but unless you repack them into BSAs I'd assume you can navigate to the different mods' folders in "/Mod Organizer/mods" and replace the textures in each with the ones you have optimized, or pack them into archives, install them separatly (as with the LODs) and sort them immidiately after their respective mods). They should then show up in your mod list (left pane) and not have any BSAs related to them (if the old, unoptimized BSAs are still there you can remove them for space conservation, or simply ignore them as loose textures are prioritized over BSAs).

Edited August 12, 2015 by MonoAccipiter

[alsedexus]

After running FNVLODGen there should be a folder called "FNVLODGenOutput" on your C: drive, you can compress that to an archive and install it by using the "Install a new mod from an archive"-button and it should show up at the bottom of your mod list. It's only textures and meshes, and shouldn't have any ESP. (there are other ways, but they can quickly get confusing, so I'm being as straighforward as possible)

 

I haven't done the mod optimization myself, but unless you repack them into BSAs I'd assume you can navigate to the different mods' folders in "/Mod Organizer/mods" and replace the textures in each with the ones you have optimized, or pack them into archives, install them separatly (as with the LODs) and sort them immidiately after their respective mods). They should then show up in your mod list (left pane) and not have any BSAs related to them (if the old, unoptimized BSAs are still there you can remove them for space conservation, or simply ignore them as loose textures are prioritized over BSAs).

I've done as you say. I've followed the instructions and installed the mods. But how do I know that the game actually loads them? The mods show in the left pane but NOT in the right pane where every other mod and BSA shows. I was under the impression that if it's not found under "Plugins" or "Archive", the game will not load them. Or am I wrong?

 

To make it clearer what I mean I attach a SS. Green box show the mods I've created. They do not appear in the tabs marked with a red box.

 

 

As it is now, the game runs smoothly but everything is rather messed up with colors all over the spectrum. Not sure what's wrong, but I'm not really keen on going through the whole S.T.E.P-procedure again just to find out I missed out on one parameter on some mod.

[GrantSP]

You're close to the right answer, just another piece of information is missing in your understanding.

 

Yes, the plugins need to be shown and checked in the 'Plugins' tab for the mod to work, likewise with any BSA that they use, these must be shown and checked in the 'Archives' tab. This is where the structure of these user-created texture mods comes into play. If all you are doing is generating LODGen or optimising textures there will be neither plugins or BSAs to show in those tabs,. However if you examine the 'Data' tab and expand the file structure to show the specific textures etc. you will see the mod(s) you have created as the providing mod for those assets, thus the game will use those.

 

Choose any of the mods you have created and either double-click or right-click > 'Information' and look at the 'Filetree' tab. Notice the structure of that mod places textures (*.dds) into the folder tree according to the same file structure the game uses. Looking in the 'Data' tab at that same structure will show that file as coming from that mod.

[MonoAccipiter]

The plugin and archives tab only shows .bsa or .esp files. The textures you have been optimizing, as well as the LOD textures you have med with FNVLODGen, are neither of those. The lightning sign next to the mods in the left pane will tell you that they overwrite some files (+ sign) from other mods higher up in the sorting order or is overwritten (- sign) by other mods lower down, sometimes both. As long as the lightning bolt isn't grey some of the files in that "folder" or "mod" (whatever you want to call it) are included in what is loaded into the game at launch (basically what MO shows the game). Good news is that it looks like you packaged them correctly, as the bolts indicate they are overwriting something else.

 

If you want to see from which mods the final files originate, you can check the data tab in the right pane, and look under the texture folder there. You can also double-click on a folder/mod in the left pane to see which files are being overwritten (and by what mod(s)), and which files it overwrites.

Right now your optimized textures are sorted way to far down the list, and vanilla (albeit optimized versions) textures will overwrite the higher resolution texture packs I assume you have installed. I'd recommend you drag those folders up towards the top of your list and leave them under the "unmanaged" section of the files they belong to (e.g. falloutnv_textures 1 & 2 under "Unmanaged: FalloutNV" and deadmoney_textures under "Unmanaged: DeadMoney"). Leave Fear and Loathing LOD towards the bottom, it's just fine there.

 

Note that you should have More Perks, MPfC and More Traits ticked in the left pane. The only thing that should be hidden is the .esp as instructed in the guide (under More Perks). Fear and Loathing Bashed Patch should also be ticked and you should have made a Bashed Patch according to the instructions in the guide.

 

Are you experiencing messed up texture colors, or colors in general (shaders)? 

EDIT: Grant beat me to the answer, but I think we can all agree I have prettier colors.

Edited August 12, 2015 by MonoAccipiter

[alsedexus]

You're close to the right answer, just another piece of information is missing in your understanding.

 

Yes, the plugins need to be shown and checked in the 'Plugins' tab for the mod to work, likewise with any BSA that they use, these must be shown and checked in the 'Archives' tab. This is where the structure of these user-created texture mods comes into play. If all you are doing is generating LODGen or optimising textures there will be neither plugins or BSAs to show in those tabs,. However if you examine the 'Data' tab and expand the file structure to show the specific textures etc. you will see the mod(s) you have created as the providing mod for those assets, thus the game will use those.

 

Choose any of the mods you have created and either double-click or right-click > 'Information' and look at the 'Filetree' tab. Notice the structure of that mod places textures (*.dds) into the folder tree according to the same file structure the game uses. Looking in the 'Data' tab at that same structure will show that file as coming from that mod.

Ok, now I understand. Thanks a million.

[alsedexus]

The plugin and archives tab only shows .bsa or .esp files. The textures you have been optimizing, as well as the LOD textures you have med with FNVLODGen, are neither of those. The lightning sign next to the mods in the left pane will tell you that they overwrite some files (+ sign) from other mods higher up in the sorting order or is overwritten (- sign) by other mods lower down, sometimes both. As long as the lightning bolt isn't grey some of the files in that "folder" or "mod" (whatever you want to call it) are included in what is loaded into the game at launch (basically what MO shows the game). Good news is that it looks like you packaged them correctly, as the bolts indicate they are overwriting something else.

 

If you want to see from which mods the final files originate, you can check the data tab in the right pane, and look under the texture folder there. You can also double-click on a folder/mod in the left pane to see which files are being overwritten (and by what mod(s)), and which files it overwrites.

 

Right now your optimized textures are sorted way to far down the list, and vanilla (albeit optimized versions) textures will overwrite the higher resolution texture packs I assume you have installed. I'd recommend you drag those folders up towards the top of your list and leave them under the "unmanaged" section of the files they belong to (e.g. falloutnv_textures 1 & 2 under "Unmanaged: FalloutNV" and deadmoney_textures under "Unmanaged: DeadMoney"). Leave Fear and Loathing LOD towards the bottom, it's just fine there.

 

Note that you should have More Perks, MPfC and More Traits ticked in the left pane. The only thing that should be hidden is the .esp as instructed in the guide (under More Perks). Fear and Loathing Bashed Patch should also be ticked and you should have made a Bashed Patch according to the instructions in the guide.

 

Are you experiencing messed up texture colors, or colors in general (shaders)? 

 

EDIT: Grant beat me to the answer, but I think we can all agree I have prettier colors.

So the order in the left pane also stipulates the load order? I thought that was in the right pane and the left pane had nothing to do with it. But I'll do as you say. As for the perks mods, I have merged them according to instructions. Do I still need to tick them?

 

Yes, I have messed up graphics now. Seem like I've narrowed the cause down to 4 mods: Portable Campsites, Tales from the Burning Sands, F&L Game Tweaks and Nevada Skies. Having either one of them selected causes glitches and exlamation marks all over the place. Placing the optimized mods higher up did not solve the issue.

 

It's getting late and I will look into it further tomorrow. But as it is now, if I uncheck the 4 mods I mentioned, the game works like a charm.

Edited August 12, 2015 by alsedexus

[MonoAccipiter]

The left pane stipulates in which order the files presented from each mod overwrite each other and what in the end is shown to the game at launch, anything further down will overwrite anything of the same name further up. The plugin files on the right side have their own load order, independent of the one on the right (sorted by LOOT, or manually), these files change things in game, such as adding weapons/effect, companions, quests (etc), basically anything that isn't represented by a single file (such as a texture). 

Have you enabled archive invalidation on your profile? If so have you checked your archive tab (right pane) for any files ending with ~invalidation.bsa? Pull any such files to the top of their respective lists. That might help with your exclamation marks. Make sure you also have the following line in your fallout.ini:

bInvalidateOlderFiles=1

Edited August 12, 2015 by MonoAccipiter

[GrantSP]

Keep in mind a very often misunderstood concept with MO mod management:

Mods consist of two distinct things - plugins and assets.

 

Plugin order is managed in the right-hand pane and is independent of the left-hand order

Assets (textures, sounds, menus, scripts, etc.) are handled in the left-hand pane and need to placed correctly to ensure the correct conflict resolution takes place.

[alsedexus]

Currently at work so I can't test anything yet but I have a few questions I really can't wrap my head around.

• Merged mods. I was under impression that if I merged MOD A, B and C into D, only Mod D should be marked in the left pane.
• Knowing the mod order. LOOT handles the plugins but how do I know what order the mods in the left pane should be loaded? I haven't found any guidelines in S.T.E.P. instructions. Have I missed something?

I'm going to try to make it work later tonight when I come home.

[MonoAccipiter]

The assets in the left pane should be sorted according to the order presented in the F&LNV guide. Quite often when merging plugins, you will be copying over assets as well, and only the merged mods folder needs to be ticked in the left pane. In the case of more perks however, the "More Perks Merged" mod is only a merged plugin, and it still needs the assets from the merged mods. That's why the guide instructs you to keep the mods ticked, but move the .esp files to "Optional ESPs".

[alsedexus]

I really appreciate the help here. Now I'm home and have found mainly two errors. First is the graphical glitches as shown here:

 

 

Second is that after about a minute of gameplay, I can't press escape to bring up the main menu. All other keys work and the game has not frozen. Only escape is unresponsive.

 

I have checked and double checked the following:

• Archive invalidation is active and the parameter in fallout.ini is set to 1
• Mods in the left pane are in the order they are presented in the F&L guide except the optimization mods which come right after Unmanaged: CaravanPack and Unmanaged: Bashed Patch, 0
• Plugins are sorted with LOOT and the bashed patch is selected
• Under archive there are no .bsa-files ending with ~invalidation.bsa

Again, it seems like it's the four mods I mentioned earlier that that cause the distortion.

 

A bit OT. I have been dabbling with programming over the years on a high school level (Pascal, C++, php) and rather enjoy it. Are there any good resources to learn how mods work? As it is now, I know abit about it but I don't understand very much. Like when it's ok to merge mods and not, and what a bashed patch really does and such. I hate doing things without understanding the very background to it and why you do it a certain way.

Edited August 13, 2015 by alsedexus

[MonoAccipiter]

It's difficult to point you in the direction of a single resource to help understand everything, but I myself found learning to use the xEdit programs gave me a lot of insight into how plugins worked at least. For that there's the TES5Edit page on creationkit.com, as well as the FNVEdit Training Manual. Other than that, you can watch guides on how to create mods, play around with the Creation Kit/G.E.C.K. (or xEdit) or just search for questions you might have. Read one of the manuals on xEdit and take a look at the Bashed Patch, for example, and you might gain a better understanding of what it does (there's also this).

 

 I'm fairly baffled as to why those 4 mods would cause that problem, does it persist if you untick the .esp-files but keep the mods ticked in the left pane? Also do I correctly understand you as to having any combination of these ticked will lead to the problems, or does removing some of them alleviate some issues?

[alsedexus]

It's difficult to point you in the direction of a single resource to help understand everything, but I myself found learning to use the xEdit programs gave me a lot of insight into how plugins worked at least. For that there's the TES5Edit page on creationkit.com, as well as the FNVEdit Training Manual. Other than that, you can watch guides on how to create mods, play around with the Creation Kit/G.E.C.K. (or xEdit) or just search for questions you might have. Read one of the manuals on xEdit and take a look at the Bashed Patch, for example, and you might gain a better understanding of what it does (there's also this).

 

 I'm fairly baffled as to why those 4 mods would cause that problem, does it persist if you untick the .esp-files but keep the mods ticked in the left pane? Also do I correctly understand you as to having any combination of these ticked will lead to the problems, or does removing some of them alleviate some issues?

I couldn't really find any consistency among those mods. Sometimes just one of them worked others it was more. Right now I have them all four disabled and it works very well.

[GrantSP]

How have you determined Archive Invalidation is enabled?

It won't be if there is no Fallout - Invalidation.bsa file listed in the 'Archives' tab.