Making FOMODs through Fallout Mod ManagerThis post is going to discuss making FOMODs for the Fallout Mod Manager version which is found here,
at THE Nexus. There could be other versions of FOMM which are easier, I don't know. Without the notes below though, I would be lost if I tried to make another FOMOD again. Making FOMODs for Fallout is a hell of a lot more involved and even stressful than making OMODs for Oblivion, I have found so anyway. I have heard others say the same, too.
The following assumes an archive file was downloaded, its author is promising a FOMOD can be made from this archive, and now you're going to make this archive into a FOMOD. Even if a FOMOD is not promised, sometimes it's great to have the ability to one-click an entire mod, and it'll remove all the supplemental bits (meshes, textures, sounds, etc.) as well. For example, I like "turning on"
F03 Flora Overhaul during summer and turning it off during late fall, to simulate seasons in Maryland/D.C./Virginia. Making Flora Overhaul into a clickable add-on is much easier than manually going into the Data folder, finding all the content, the trees & grasses Flora Overhaul added are located, and deleting them one by one.
Of course, Wrye Flash does all of what I'm about to describe as well. But for anyone else who's using FMM...
1). Open Fallout Mod Manager
2). On the right side of this program, click Package Manager.
3). Again, on the right side, click Create FOMOD. Wait a moment or two.
4). A new panel *POPs* up with two main windows, which is called FOMod Builder Form. It is easiest to just drag the archive into the Source Files window. We can also click the Add Files button and search for the archive this way.
5). Double-click on the archive (opening it up in the Source Files window).
6). Now, drag any folders, files, and readmes over to the FOMod Files window.
![rolleyes.gif](style_emoticons/sinders/rolleyes.gif)
See? More complicated for some reason. Neither OBMM nor Wrye Bash / Oblivion has me doing things so manually.
Make sure to drag the actual files and folders which'll directly influence the game into the FOMOD Files window. In other words, if the archive opens and a folder called "Data" can be seen in Source Files window, don't drag this Data folder. Drag whatever's
within the Data folder. Using F03 Flora Overhaul as an example, I dragged Flora's .esp file, its Meshes folder, and its Textures folder, into the FOMOD Files window. This ensured the proper files wound up in their proper folder paths.
7). Go back to the archive file. No, not the archive in the FOMod program, go back to the archive in your
Downloads folder, or wherever your original archive has been saved. Right-click on this file and choose Rename. Now copy / paste this name into the long, rectangular box where it says FOMOD File Name (without extensions).
Try clicking OK in the lower right corner, and be patient while the program does its work. Chances are some errors will show up, but hopefully one of these is not the FOMOD File Name.
8). Now, have a look at the left side of this panel. The 'Sources" button should be greyed-out. Click on the Download Locations button. IF the chosen mod came with pre-made FOMod stuff (like MMM does) simply click the "Included" toggle on. ... Do not mess with Hidden or General, both of these are for more advanced modders.
And if there is no premade FOMOD stuff Included should still be toggled.
9). Click on the OK button again. Chances are some errors will be found, and again, allow the program to list them, because some FOMODs make certain changes that others do not.
-- For instance, if "FOMod Info" has an error, it's usually because of empty boxes that haven't been filled in, like "Mod Author" and "Version." Go ahead and fill in this info manually, but some of the stuff can be left blank. In the Groups box, toggle anything in here (such as Textures, Quests, etc.) These are all the things the mod is going to include.
Click OK again. The program will warn that some stuff hasn't been filled in, but we don't always have to do this.
-- If the "Readme" area has an error, this is simply because any Readme file(s) have not been moved over to the FOMOD Files box.
![rolleyes.gif](style_emoticons/sinders/rolleyes.gif)
Even though we're supposed to be able to pick and choose this sort of stuff.
-- If the "Save Locations" area has an error, go ahead and click on this button and choose the Create FOMOD toggle. As can be seen, there is a "Premade FOMOd pack" toggle as well, but I haven't been able to get it to work, even though MMM is supposed to include premade FOMod stuff.
![rolleyes.gif](style_emoticons/sinders/rolleyes.gif)
Be patient!
10). Click OK. If everything goes right, a new panel will *POP* up with two bars, which should be compressing information, turning green as progress commences. In some cases, these two bars won't show up though, because there isn't any stuff to compress.
11). Be patient. If everything goes right, the previous FOMOD Builder panel will close (along with the progress panel) and we'll be back on the Package Manager panel, with our new FOMOD available as a one-click .esp or .esm choice. Go ahead and one-click (or double left-click) on it. If this doesn't work, highlight it, then press the Activate button.
If the FOMOD doesn't show up in Package Manger, try closing the manager, and closing FOMM. Reopen both. See if the FOMOD is there now.12). Every FOMOD does this next part differently. Just go through all the choices that come up, clicking "Next" when you're ready to move to the next option. MMM, for instance, includes a choice of making the Configuration Menu either an in-game deal (similar to Skyrim's MCM Menu) or it uses an older method of ESP choices.
13). Click Finish whenever the choices sequence is done. If the mod is wanting to overwrite anything (MMM asked if I wanted to overwrite a variety of meshes, for instance), the cool thing is Fallout Mod Manager will let us know if we want to do this.
14). Close the Package Manager by clicking the
red X in its upper-right corner.
15). Now we're back on the original FOMM program. Double-check to see that any .esps we chose earlier are clicked on.
16). Close the program,
LOOT it, and re-open it to make sure everything is still there.
This post has been edited by Renee: Yesterday, 03:06 AM