Skyrim Mod Questions Options

[Renee]

But what if the mod author doesn't provide the loose files?

In this case, David Brasher (mod author) did provide them. I was not aware of this at first.

BSA Browser is a good program that I've used for cracking BSA's. It should work for all Bethesda games except ESO. It does come in handy searching for suspected missing textures and meshes. When I was playing Skyrim, I used BSA Browser a lot to grab armor and weapon resources to make custom arms and armors.

Oh nice, do you have a link? I've never broke open a BSA before, but tegeus-Cromis did one time for me, for Kvatch Rising. I don't understand. Why do modders try using .BSAs if they seem to have problems like this?

Like I said, the mod author for Vigilant of Stendarr Quests did provide a .BSA, but I didn't realize he also left an archive full of loose files as well. The installation instructions said nothing about this though, so for about 5 years I've been wanting to try this mod, but had no idea why it didn't work.

Granted, I'm still learning about modding, even though I've been PC gaming for 7 years now, I don't know everything.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 16 2021, 03:44 PM

[ghastley]

Is it possible for scripts to be installed into a BSA file?

I am asking because I have Vigilants of Stendarr Quests, which has some problems with stages not setting and just generally, some stuff works, some stuff obviously does not work. "Come speak to me when you're ready" the mod's main NPC says. So I do this, and there's no new dialog. My character waits, my character sleeps, my characters goes outside and waits. Sometimes, all this waiting/sleeping will cause missing dialog to suddenly show up.

So I go into the mod's .esp file and notice all of its scripts are missing. In its Papyrus Script boxes, it'll say ; CODE NOT LOADED over and over. But no scripts! The mod has a BSA file though, so I wonder if they're stored in there. Never torn a BSA apart before, but i know it's possible.

Two answers here:
1. Yes, the .pex files can be included in the .bsa archive.
2. But when the CS is trying to load them, it's looking for the .psc ones. Papyrus SCript files get compiled into Papyrus EXecutables when you hit the compile/save buttons. depending on where you're doing it. You don't have to include the .psc files in a working mod (although most authors do so). And the .bsa could have them, but in the wrong place,depending on how the archive was built. Even Beth could not get it straight, with DLC source in subfolders where the CS doesn't look.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jun 7 2022, 03:23 PM

[Renee]

Ha, that's interesting. Go figure. Yes, that is one thing which I remember... at first I thought the David Brasher team simply forgot to install any scripts. So I began trying to write my own (setstages and such) but then I also realized that some other gamers posting on that mod's page seemed to have no problems getting it to run. David Brasher is a name I know from Oblivion, I've got about a half-dozen of his mods in OB, so I feel I can trust his work.

But when I was trying to write my own scripts, I do remember the CK kept complaining bout missing .PSCs (maybe it was missing .PEXs ... something like that). I still don't really get why BSAs are used then (except by Beth themselves) but at least I solved my own problem.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 16 2021, 09:32 PM

[ghastley]

The main reason for mod authors to use .bsa files is that they get loaded in the same order as the .esp's so things all overwrite together. Load order can be swapped around until things work, but with loose files, install order is what matters, and that's a lot more work to correct. Having something like Wrye Bash helps with that, but it's still more work that adjusting load order.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jul 8 2021, 06:44 PM

[Renee]

What Pose mods do you all use for Skyrim?

I've looked at several already, but some of them make me nervous because of all the stuff which are required. Maybe this is the nature of pose mods, but which ones do you use? (This way I'll know what's safe and what I should avoid).

[SubRosa]

I use Puppeteer Master, which does not have any special dependencies. It uses only the vanilla poses, and gives you a figurine that you click on to apply them to yourself, and a spell to use them on others.

[Renee]

Awesome, thanx.

[Renee]

Does anyone know if there's something which makes NPC lips move, even if dialog is silent?

For Oblivion we had Ely's Silent Voice, for instance. Anything like this for Skyrim (old version, not SE)?

Edit: Never mind. Found something.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 21 2023, 08:59 PM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Hey guys, I’m trying to add items from a mod into my character’s inventory with console commands. I type in “player. additem [item’s ID I got from the creation kit] [1]” but it doesn’t recognize the ID. I think I read somewhere that it will have other numbers in front of the editor ID based on its position in the load order, so that may be why it doesn’t recognize the editor ID. Any advice for finding the actual editor ID?

[ghastley]

The first two hexadecimal digits of the id are determined by the load order. Typically, they show as 02 or 03 when you look in the CK, as you only have Skyrim.esm and Update.esm loaded at that time. If you know where the mod is in the load order, you have the whole number.

If you know the name of the item, it’s usually easier to type help “item name”, with the quotes around the name, and pick the one where last digits match what you know, if it’s not unique.

The new esl format tweaks that a bit. For those the first two digits are FE, and then the third and fourth are load order determined. That kind of mod can only use the last four digits.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Feb 13 2023, 08:39 PM

[Renee]

Right, you don't need to use those messy number-oriented ID names, you can just type player.additem FoodMead 10

Hmm... of course, "FoodMead" is how the Creation kit defines the base ID. You'd have to get into the Creation Kit to know that name. Because oddly, UESP doesn't use those easier-to-read names, they've only got the codes.

[ghastley]

Right, you don't need to use those messy number-oriented ID names, you can just type player.additem FoodMead 10

Hmm... of course, "FoodMead" is how the Creation kit defines the base ID. You'd have to get into the Creation Kit to know that name. Because oddly, UESP doesn't use those easier-to-read names, they've only got the codes.

And if you’re trying to find an NPC, then they have a name, a short name, and an editor id, which can be the same, but usually are not. Only the editor id needs to be unique, as some characters exist more than once, and one gets disabled, and a replacement enabled, as a quest progresses. And then there are Base ids and Reference ids, which are the hex strings, on top of that. If an NPC is a generic guard or bandit, there can be multiple instances of the base id, with ref ids starting with FF, created when they spawned.

At least with most items, you’re looking for the base id, so you can get one. The one that is put in your inventory gets a fresh FF series id, and weapons and armor get new ids as you improve them.

Some of those item names make no sense, too. There is no item called “gold” but there is a “gold01”, possibly because they were going to have piles of different amounts, but put them in bags instead. Some gloves are called gauntlets, and vice versa.

Have we confused you enough yet?

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Wow, thanks guys! I didn’t know we could just type the item name into the player.additem command! Greatly appreciate the info!

[Renee]

Some of those item names make no sense, too. There is no item called “gold” but there is a “gold01”, possibly because they were going to have piles of different amounts, but put them in bags instead. Some gloves are called gauntlets, and vice versa.

I just read about Gold001. Yeah, there were supposed to be other quantity choices, or something.

There is also F. Literally the letter F. Player.AddItem F 300 adds 300 gold to the player. Why the letter F? On the Period Table of Elements gold is AU. Wouldn't Player.AddItem AU 300 make at least some sort of better sense?

Have we confused you enough yet?

Modding. Quest-writing. World-building. Such a strange activities we've chosen for a hobby. Modding can be fun at first. Then it gets frustrating. Confusing. Daunting. Aggravating!

[SubRosa]

In this context F is a number in the hexadecimal number set, not a letter. Hex goes 0-9, then continues with A-F. So it is a base 16 number set, rather than our standard base 10. For example F in Hex is the same as 15 in decimal. A lot of programs use Hex.

[Renee]

Nice. I did not know that.