Proper Placement Of Immersive Armors .esps

[smr1957]

Posting this since I've seen a lot of people improperly placing Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp and Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp in their load orders.

Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp should load before Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

From Immersive Armors' Posts section:
maelstrom09 0 kudos 17 posts
what is Hothtrooper44 Armor Ecksstra .esp? is it a high texture replacer?
what should be loaded first Hothtrooper44 ArmorCompilation or Hothtrooper44_Armor Ecksstra?
posted @ 5:52, 28 Nov 2015

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Eckss 191 kudos 1724 posts
It's not a replacer. It's necessary because IA has more assets than will fit into 1 .bsa file.
Hothtrooper44 Armor Ecksstra .esp activates more than half of the textures in IA and should be loaded before Hothtrooper44 ArmorCompilation.esp.
posted @ 7:18, 28 Nov 2015

Same applies for SSE
(Eckss is co-developer of Immersive Armors (hence the ECTSStra), so as to placement of IA components in relation to each other, Eckss' statement overrules LOOT - or anyone else, for that matter.)

To change the the LOOT metadata so that LOOT will get the placement correct when it runs, do the following:

1. Open LOOT. When LOOT loads, you will see a list of your mods in the left hand pane.

2. Locate Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

3. Double click (left mouse button) on Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

4. In LOOT's right hand pane, you will see a light blue panel open up; it will look something like this:

Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
Main...Load After...Requirements...Incompatibilities...Messages (... 4 other items...)

5. Click on Load After (It will now display: File Name ...Display Name ...Condition - and, in the line immediately below, there will be a plus sign: + ).

6. Now, in the left hand pane again, locate Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp

7. Using the left hand mouse button, click on Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp, and, while holding down the left hand mouse button, drag Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp to the right hand pane where it says Filename - a small + sign will appear. (steps 7 & 8 - Drag and Drop)

8. Release the left mouse button. Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp will now appear directly under where it says Filename in the right hand panel.

9. Click on the Blue indicator immediately to the left of the red X in the light blue panel (when you hover over it, it should say Save Metadata in white print on a grey rectangle.

10. The information is now saved by LOOT, and whenever you sort your load order using LOOT, it will correctly place the Immersive Armor .esps in relation to each other.

11. Sort your load order with LOOT.

12. Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp should now appear after Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp in your load order.

13. Click Apply.

14. All done - close Loot.

IMPORTANT NOTE (as of July, 2019):
There is more recent information regarding placement. Apparently it was set with Ecksstra first due to problems with textures not loading properly, but reports have for some time now indicated that this is no longer the case. So, if you are not having problems due to the placement of the mods in a current playthrough, then it should be left alone. Kezardinjnr, the individual attending to questions regarding the mod did not know if it actually is okay, and attempts to reach Hothtrooper and Eckss for an up to date definitive answer have proved fruitless.

So: do not change in a current playthrough unless it is actually causing an issue; and though it may no longer be necessary, perhaps best (if you know how) to have Ecksstra load first, just to be on the safe side.

[Falro the Great]

I'm pretty sure you can override it by using the "lock to index" feature in the menu when you double-click on the mod. I'm fairly certain you'll need to turn off autosort, but I don't know for sure.

[smr1957]

Originally posted by Falro the Great:

I'm pretty sure you can override it by using the "lock to index" feature in the menu when you double-click on the mod. I'm fairly certain you'll need to turn off autosort, but I don't know for sure.

Thanks for the quick response, Falro!

[NoldoCelu]

"LOOT reported a cyclic interaction between rules.
In the simplest case this is something like "A needs to load after B" and "B needs to load after A" but it can be more complicated, involving multiple plugins and groups and their order.

Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp@default--> Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp@default--> Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp@default"

This is what comes up, even with the lock to index setting.

[smr1957]

Best thing to do in this case is to ignore that message from LOOT. LOOT is not perfect, and for the last year or so has become increasingly unreliable, especially with very large load orders. It should still be used for the most part, but if you Intend to heavily mod your game, it is imperative that you learn to use xEdit, and use that to spot conflicts and sort your load order.

Bottom line: in this case LOOT is wrong, and the rules which they have applied to Immersive Armor are wrong.

[NoldoCelu]

Indeed. The problem is I can't find a way to override this preset rule.

[smr1957]

Originally posted by NoldoCelu:

Indeed. The problem is I can't find a way to override this preset rule.

Unfortunately, I wish I could help you with that, but can't, as I use neither Vortex or MO (yup, I still use NMM, as it does exactly what I want it to do, though I would not advise anyone else to use it). Sorry I can't be of more help, but good luck.

Actually, I would recommend you start a new thread asking that question - probably the best way of getting an answer.

[NoldoCelu]

Indeed. Thank you very much for your help. I really appreciate it. :D

[NoldoCelu]

I got it, and thought I'd add it here as well. Double click the plugin and scroll to the bottom of the menu to "lock mod index", then tick "lock mod to index". Do this on both plugins and switch the "mod index" codes.
(In my case: Eckstra.esp = mod index 0E. Armorcompilation.esp = mod index 0F)

[smr1957]

Originally posted by NoldoCelu:

I got it, and thought I'd add it here as well. Double click the plugin and scroll to the bottom of the menu to "lock mod index", then tick "lock mod to index". Do this on both plugins and switch the "mod index" codes.
(In my case: Eckstra.esp = mod index 0E. Armorcompilation.esp = mod index 0F)

Thanks!