Posted byu/Vyezz
9 months ago
[FO4] PSA: Tutorial for converting small mods to the new ESL format!Fallout 4
Hello wastelanders! The why [am I making this]:
So, I haven't seen a tutorial on how to convert your many small ESP files (such as your many outfit mods) into the new ESL files. Furthermore, there are some mods which are no longer being actively maintained and are unlikely to get a ESL version. So, I thought I'd make a basic tutorial for mod users. The Really Why:
ESL files let you bypass the ~254 plugin limit of fallout 4. You could do something very similar with something called a 'merged patch' but I've always hated maintaining merged patches so I actually prefer this method. So, keep those important plugin slots for your bigger mods and make those weapon and clothing mods into ESLs! Unavoidable Necessary Technical Information:
ESL files have a limit of 2048 forms (and not the ~4000 previously reported). So, only try and convert your smaller mods. Also, ESL files cannot use other ESP files as masters. They will be loaded in the order that you specify in your plugins.txt file but they will load with your .ESM files. Keep this in mind if the ESP you are converting is supposed to load after another esp... then it's probably not a good file to convert. Also, do not plan on 'updating' your ESL files mid-playthrough or converting a ESP which you're already using into a ESL mid-playthrough. Wacky things may happen so only convert mods with a near-nil chance of needing or ever having another update. Lastly, you cannot have an infinite number of ESL files. If every ESL file has the maximum number of forms, 2048, then you can only have ~300 of these mods. If every ESL is of minimal size then you can have 4096 ESL mods. Will this effect most people? Probably not, but you should be aware. Requirements:
-You will need the basic information that all mod users should have. Such as, how to modify your load order through your plugins.txt file.
-You will need the creation kit installed, don’t worry we aren’t doing much with it. -In order to use the creation kit… you will need a Bethesda account… I’m sorry. How to convert your mod! First install the mod of your choosing. For this tutorial we will assume the mod you are converting is called tutmod.esp like you would any other mod(I don’t think there is a mod actually called this, it’s just for the purposes of this tutorial). Now would be a good time to back up your ESP file, ‘tutmod.esp,’ incase you need to restore it or gremlins happen. Now, open the creation kit through Bethesda’s launcher, ignore the initial warning. Go to File>Data and the data window will pop up. Scroll through the “Plugin/Master Files” list until you find tutmod.esp. Click the checkbox next to tutmod.esp and press the ‘Set as Active File’ button on the lower right side of the window. Then press OK Wait for the plugin to load. You may get more warnings, I can’t tell you if it’s okay to ignore them or not but for the weapons and clothing ESPs I converted, I did ignore the few mods which were filled with warnings and they were converted just fine. So, worth a shot. You did backup incase gremlins, right? Go to File again and click ‘Compact Active File Form IDs’ and then ‘Yes.’ This will help make sure your forms are stored compactly so your ESLs don’t have unnecessary bloat. This is also important for the 4096-300 approximate ESL mod limit. The more bloated ESL mods you have, the fewer ESL mods you can have. Go to File yet again and this time press ‘Convert Active File to Light Master’ Assuming everything went okay, exit out of the creation kit. Don’t worry about saving. Now go to your fallout 4 ‘Data’ folder to verify tutmod.esl is there and delete tutmod.esp. Next you need to add your new ESL file to your load order (Note: Bethesda ESL files get special treatment and don’t need to be added to your load order, but our pleb. ESLs do). Open up plugins.txt and find the old tutmod.esp entry and delete it. Next go to the bottom of the list (it doesn’t need to be at the bottom but I like doing this for easily viewing all my ESL files) and add “*tutmod.esl” without quotes. Save plugins.txt and close it. Now you are good to Go, load up the game and play!
Closing remarks: Note: Like I mentioned, if you have multiple ESLs then they will be loaded in the order in which they appear in your plugins file but all the ESLs will be loaded with your ESM mods. So, while it doesn’t matter where you put your ESL mod in your load order, the order of the ESL mods do matter. Just something to keep in mind. A bit of warning. If you are using a mod manager then there is a chance it will delete your ESL entries from your load order plugins.txt file. So you will then have to re-add the ESL entry to plugins.txt after said mod manager messes with your load order. There you go, I hope someone finds this useful! Heading to sleep now. Edit Notes:
Thank you /u/MeteorFlash for reminding me that you shouldn't convert your mods into ESLs mid-playthrough. I Edited the above tutorial to reflect this.
小弟只看到開啟CK部分眼皮立即變重，請LZ自行研究吧。
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发表于 2018-7-15 12:11:10
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千斤顶
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