Need help with Merge Plugins

[DragonLord]

I have been trying to mod Skyrim now for four days... This is driving me nuts! PLEASE give me some advice here. I am trying to figure out this stupid merge plugins thing, and this is what I'm getting. Nothing on google about this! I try to connect MP with MO2 and it says "mpOpt_ModOrganizerNotFound" Also can't even launch zEdit from MO2, and if I launch it standalone then it won't show my mods... This is super frustrating!!! None of these so-called excellent tutorials on youtube cover any of my issues with this stuff!

[smr1957]

First, use the merge plugins xEdit script, NOT the standalone program - I strongly recommend using the script for anyone who intends to seriously merge plugins. See:
Merge Plugins xEdit Script - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37981

Also, use xEdit to merge - NOT zEdit. There are many who state you should use zEdit, but none of them have my experience or knowledge of the subject of merging. When it comes to merging plugins, I am the final authority regarding it. That may sound egotistical, but it is just a plain statement of fact.

For more information on merging plugins, see:

Merging Plugins
https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/2263565850578451380/

Also, you do not state what kind of experience you have as regards modding Skyrim in general, and the fact that you do not know how to launch programs through MO2 would seem to indicate a lack of that necessary experience (and I do not mean to be insulting or salty, so please don't take it that way), so I will reiterate the very first sentence in that post:

"WARNING! Merging plugins requires experience - a LOT of it! If you are unsure of something - DON'T DO IT. And if you lack experience, then keep things small."

As to helping, yes, I will help those who may need it, but only if a person already has all the prior experience necessary, and it is just a matter of answering a few specific questions about specific issues and/or to clarify certain specific things - I cannot teach experience - which is the thing that is most needed and most essential when it comes to properly merging plugins. And most of the basic info is already contained in the Merging Plugins discussion which I linked (along with the best tutorial vids).

Finally, just take your time and don't try to do more than your experience allows you to. A full and complete grasp of how to use xEdit is necessary if you intend to merge many mods - and if you are intending to merge many mods, a full and complete knowlege and a lot of experience in just modding and creating completely stable, non CTD builds is necessary - for which knowledge of how to use xEdit is also essential. If you do not already have that base to build upon, then your first task is to establish that base of experience and knowledge.

As stated, I will help where I can - but the actual learning and gaining of experience falls very much upon your shoulders. Good luck!

(And, once again, I apologize if that all comes off as being really salty - it is not meant or intended to be.)

[DragonLord]

No, I understand why you're saying what you are. I probably wasn't being very informative concerning my experience. Anyway, I'm on the newer side to this of course, but I have been using mods for different games for quite a while. Usually however, those games are not run by a launcher like Skyrim. For an example, I very heavily modded Zoo Tycoon 2 years ago. This is new territory for me because of the launchers, all the different edit and patch programs, the merging plugins, etc. I played for several months on a modded version of Skyrim SE with minimal problems, but the main problem happened when my saved game became corrupted about a week ago. After that, I cleaned the saved game file using the save cleaner most people say to use. However, once I went back into the game, there were lots of glitchy graphics. I'm talking about entire rooms glitching out and looking like static in the color of the room. There were also strangely some individual objects like that as well. Anyway, I'm not a noob when it comes to computers and software in general. I can learn pretty quick typically, but all this is not working for me for some reason. A lot of the trouble is the program file paths, and I've tried to solve that as well. I will study up on the two links you gave me, but if you are willing to help me, I would greatly appreciate it!

[DragonLord]

Actually, I have another question as well. I have about 413 mods. If you are suggesting that I shouldn't merge plugins if I'm not that experienced, then are you saying that I can just play the game with that many plugins? I ask because all tutorials say you should merge plugins if you have over 254. In which case, I am well beyond that. Basically, I want to know what the easiest way to go about this is... I'm really tired of troubleshooting all of these problems. Also, what exacltly do you mean testing each mod? I doubt anyone has the time or patience to really play at least 5 minutes just to test each mod, so what is the best way to do that?

[smr1957]

Well, the first mistake is using a save game cleaner - they are only meant to be used when updating mods - and only for the specific scripts that the mod author tell you to clean. Despite what ANYONE says, save game cleaners do not fix saves - and, in fact, their use may only make things worse. Once a save is borked, that's it - it is no longer usable. The only thing to do is to go back to a previous save.

Also, if you removed any mods midplaythrough, except for purely graphic mods (texture/meshes) or mods which only use vanilla assets or spawns, and then continued playing, those subsequent saves are all borked, the only options being to go back to a save made before the removed mods were installed or start a new game. For full info on this, see:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/1495615865205745360/
(also a good read if you are suffering from insomnia and cannot fall asleep)

Bottom line - once a save is corrupted or broken in any way, there is no fixing it. Your only option is to reload an earlier save.

Try reloading an earlier save - that, for most things with Skyrim, is usually the first and best option.

Good luck - I hope that reloading an earlier save works!

As to merging, as I said, just take your time - try merging just a few plugins at first, just till you get the hang of it. Also, check out how to use xEdit for conflict resolution - the larger the build, and the larger the merge, the greater the importance of this - though it is good to know even for smaller builds.

[DragonLord]

Well, I am now modding Skyrim LE because everyone says it's a whole lot easier to mod. So far that seems to be true, cause I have more mods on LE than I do SE, but on SE there were quite a few issues detected by MO2 while there are none for LE. But how do I actually get these programs to work? Merge plugins apparently doesn't work for MO2 and I couldn't even get zEdit to open from MO2. I can now try to use xEdit and the merge plugins script for it, though.

[smr1957]

If you are playing original Skyrim, there is a maximum of 254 total plugins slots that can be used (SSE has .esl files which do not count to the plugin limit, but those can only be used in SSE). Now, there is a difference between total mods and total plugins. You can have a large number of mods, but, provided that the number of plugins do not exceed 254, you should be good to go. So, for example, if you have 500 total mods, lets say, but only 200 plugins - that is fine - as the game only looks at the number of plugins, not the total number of mods. However, if you have too many plugins, and are not that experienced, then you should cut back on the number of plugin mods that you are using so that it fits - as any plugins above and beyond 254 total will not be loaded.

By the way, this is something that we do see a lot of in the forums - especially for Special Edition - very large builds that exceed an individual's modding experience - and modding Skyrim is really quite unlike modding most other games, so prior experience in modding other games, while helpful, does not necessarily translate to Skyrim.

And, as to troubleshooting, that is a major pain in the butt, and the larger the build, the worse it is - another reason to cut back a bit.

My advice is to reduce the number of plugins to a more manageable level. Also, I would recommend taking a look at this guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=647933000
Even if you don't follow it, it may give you some good ideas.

And, please keep asking if you have further questions - even is I do not respond right away, there are others who will. The most important thing for many of us who help in the forums is to enable people to enjoy their game without issues.

[smr1957]

Първоначално публикувано от DragonLord:

Well, I am now modding Skyrim LE because everyone says it's a whole lot easier to mod. So far that seems to be true, cause I have more mods on LE than I do SE, but on SE there were quite a few issues detected by MO2 while there are none for LE. But how do I actually get these programs to work? Merge plugins apparently doesn't work for MO2 and I couldn't even get zEdit to open from MO2. I can now try to use xEdit and the merge plugins script for it, though.

Oldrim is a heck of a lot harder to mod - due to the plugin limit, the lack of stability due to the 32 bit engine as opposed to the 64 bit engine of SSE, and the fact that, really, while a lot of people still do play it, it is no longer supported. If you have SSE and your PC is capable of running it, I would strongly advise that you switch to that. And, there is an excellent guide there as well which you really should look at:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=929828423

Modded Skyrim SE or How to Add [xxx] Mods (discussion thread for above)
https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1796278072844650690/

[DragonLord]

Well dang, haha. But a lot of mods have old files that are meant for Skyrim LE. There are also unfortunately more incompatibilities. I guess I'll switch back again. Thank goodness I didn't delete all my mods for SE, haha. So what you're saying though, is that SE doesn't have that limit?? Also, I've been trying my best to follow this guide:

https://www.sinitargaming.com/skyrim_graphics.html

Is this not a very good guide? I'll try the one you gave me just now. Also, if there is a mod that I really want but it's only made for LE, I'm guessing there isn't really anything I can do?

[smr1957]

Първоначално публикувано от DragonLord:

Well dang, haha. But a lot of mods have old files that are meant for Skyrim LE. There are also unfortunately more incompatibilities. I guess I'll switch back again. Thank goodness I didn't delete all my mods for SE, haha. So what you're saying though, is that SE doesn't have that limit?? Also, I've been trying my best to follow this guide:

https://www.sinitargaming.com/skyrim_graphics.html

Is this not a very good guide? I'll try the one you gave me just now. Also, if there is a mod that I really want but it's only made for LE, I'm guessing there isn't really anything I can do?

SSE still has a 254 plugin limit, but if a mod is flagged as being an .esl, it does not count towards the limit. So by using .esl flagged plugins (which more and more mod authors are using, or giving a choice of either an .esp or a .esl flagged plugin), the limit is much more flexible.

As to mods made for Oldrim, it is possible to convert them to be used in SSE (but not the reverse), though some simply do not work, even when converted for use with SSE. For the most part though, almost all the major mods that are available for Oldrim have already been ported. And for those that have not, there is usually a very similar type mod available for SSE.

As to that guide, I would strongly recommend against it. Have seen a lot of people in the forums who have had issues with it, and furthermore, you would be basically limiting any support for potential issues to that site.

[DragonLord]

Okay, gotcha. So I should always try to use .esl plugins instead? The only mod that really is seemingly unreachable for SSE is the ultimate Naruto overhaul. I'm completely rebuilding from the ground up now. I'm moving my Steam library as well. Any good advice you have for fixing issues in the mods? i.e. incompatibility, missing masters that don't seem to exist anywhere, form 43 files?

[smr1957]

Well, if you are making a very large build, you would want to use as many .esl flagged plugins as possible - so as to ensure that you stay under the limit. As to mods missing masters because the master no longer exist - those mods would no longer be usable (though that should not be a problem with SSE - more of an issue in Oldrim). As far as incompatibility, mod authors should (though they don't always) state what mods are compatible and which are not. The Form 43 issue will only occur (usually) if you are porting mods yourself for SSE.

That guide for SSE by cfs 111 is really good - and cfs is always around and ready to help with any questions as well (not to mention myself and quite a few others, as well).

A good reference resource in the SSE forum is the pinned topic Helpful Links and References - https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/2828702372997628701/

Not something to necessarily sit down and read, but good to look through as a source of links to guides, tutorials, vids, and other important information

[DragonLord]

So here's another weird problem that I've never had before - failed to create tweaked ini: the system cannot find the path specified. (0x3). This was the error I got when trying to run xEdit through MO2. xEdit did indeed run, but I don't know if it was doing what it needed to do. Advice?

[smr1957]

Първоначално публикувано от DragonLord:

So here's another weird problem that I've never had before - failed to create tweaked ini: the system cannot find the path specified. (0x3). This was the error I got when trying to run xEdit through MO2. xEdit did indeed run, but I don't know if it was doing what it needed to do. Advice?

I don't use MO2, but it sounds like xEdit has not been properly set up to be run through MO2. There should be something setting up tool in that guide by cfs11 for modding SSE, as that guide is geared to the use of MO2.

In that guide, see Section 3a. Installing xEdit and Cleaning the Master Files

For MO2, cfs in the go to person in SSE; and for Vortex, vlad254 is the foremost person.

And, if xEdit could not find the proper path, then the edits are likely not being recorded properly for use in the game.

[DragonLord]

In the midst of my modding, I have a question: For followers like this one (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/18905) Do I really have to install XP32? Will the mod just break my game or not function if it's not installed? Or rather, will she just have a vanilla skeleton?

[smr1957]

Yes, when a mod is listed as a requirement it must be installed, or else the mod, at best, will not function, or, at worst, will cause a CTD.