MO Behavior Question

[Saviorsrd]

All right, trying to do something that is almost certainly ill-advised from the beginning. . . but hey, if I weren't willing to take my lumps for that would I be here?  That said, I can't seem to quite grok something about MO's usage.  Since the actual project is more help than I can expect anyone here to provide, let me just boil it down to a "simple" question.

 

In MO's left Pane, I have the following listed.

 

Mod A

Mod B

Mod C

 

Each of these files contains the exact same \texture directory (or whatever), and a different ESP file.  As listed in the right pane:

 

Mod A.esp

Mod B.esp

Mod C.esp

 

In this instance, I believe that (absent Bashing) anything in Mod A.esp will take precedence in case of conflict. . . but the question I have is, which mod's \texture directory will be used?

 

EDIT:  And some day I'll never get lost again. . . (Got panes wrong in the first try at the post.)

[Anatriax]

The one lowest in the load order. ie: the one FURTHEST away from Skyrim.esm in the load order will take priority. In the case of how you've listed it, it would be Mod C.

To clarify, this isn't about MO behavior. This is about the Skyrim Engine's behavior.

[Saviorsrd]

The one lowest in the load order. ie: the one FURTHEST away from Skyrim.esm in the load order will take priority. In the case of how you've listed it, it would be Mod C.

To clarify, this isn't about MO behavior. This is about the Skyrim Engine's behavior.

 

Ah.  Okay, I'll remember that when I go to order my ESPs.  Doesn't answer the actual question, though, which is about the VFS.  (I got the panes on the wrong side when I first posted, fixed.)  

[Anatriax]

It would be the mod on the bottom, if you have them listed by priority, with the numbers descending. 

If you notice, next to some mods there is a lightning bolt. Sometimes there's a plus sign, sometimes there's a minus sign, some times there's both, and sometime's it's greyed out. 

If Mod A, Mod B, and Mod C all share the same texture pathing and they're ordered:
A

B

C

 

In the left pane, mods A and B will have a greyed out lightning bolt, meaning they are redundant.

[Saviorsrd]

Okay, thanks. 

[b3lisario]

Mod C.esp edits would be used in case of conflicts, because higher load order.

But the actual texture file could be from another mod, because left panel order.

[Anatriax]

We're assuming that they're both listed in a downward direction like is MO's default. 

That means mods in the left pane are installed in the order that they take priority. 
In the OP's case, that would be: Mod A, then Mod B, then Mod C. And the .esp files being activated in the same order. 

In the scenario that he has set up, Mod C will always take priority with the others being redundant.

EDIT: Even if the esp files for mods B and C were deactivated, but not the mod in the left pane, the textures from Mod C would be used. This is because they have the same textures and pathing.

Similarly, if mods B and C were deactivated in the left pane, but all were left active in the right... the textures for Mod A would be used, since all 3 plugins call for them. But again, Mod C would take priority because it's closest to the end of the load order (Or furthest away from Skyrim.esm, if you will).

[Saviorsrd]

Right.  As I said, that makes sense.

 

I'm probably still going to screw this up.  I basically want to merge STEP into something more manageable - trying to organize it with mod categories ran into serious problems - without losing the intended priority order.   That way, I can turn it (or aspects thereof) on or off without having to go through over 200 entries and manually tick and compare to lists every time.  I realize this ruins the ability to do updates with a single click, but I'm saving the original downloads as well so I can rebuild just the parts that are updated later if I want to.

[Anatriax]

Right.  As I said, that makes sense.

 

I'm probably still going to screw this up.  I basically want to merge STEP into something more manageable - trying to organize it with mod categories ran into serious problems - without losing the intended priority order.   That way, I can turn it (or aspects thereof) on or off without having to go through over 200 entries and manually tick and compare to lists every time.  I realize this ruins the ability to do updates with a single click, but I'm saving the original downloads as well so I can rebuild just the parts that are updated later if I want to.

Just make a profile labeled "STEP profile" 

Then add the mods you want, and deactivate the ones you don't want. 

It's easier, more manageable, and once set up is just a single click to swap between the two.

[Saviorsrd]

 

Right.  As I said, that makes sense.

 

I'm probably still going to screw this up.  I basically want to merge STEP into something more manageable - trying to organize it with mod categories ran into serious problems - without losing the intended priority order.   That way, I can turn it (or aspects thereof) on or off without having to go through over 200 entries and manually tick and compare to lists every time.  I realize this ruins the ability to do updates with a single click, but I'm saving the original downloads as well so I can rebuild just the parts that are updated later if I want to.

Just make a profile labeled "STEP profile" 

Then add the mods you want, and deactivate the ones you don't want. 

It's easier, more manageable, and once set up is just a single click to swap between the two.

 

I did, in fact, try that as well, but the problem is that I want to use STEP as the basis of several setups, and MO's copy function kept screwing up.  Didn't always tick all the mods that were supposed to be.

 

I'm also strongly considering doing some light merging of plugins, and this way is easier for me to keep track of in my head what's going on.  STEP's maintainers are a bit happy on the "Grab this and that and those." 

 

Also, strangely enough, I do find this kind of thing fun.  

[Akzyra]

If copying a profile with MO doesn't work try the folders inside "Mod Organizer\profiles". Thats the manual way.

Grab this and that? Thats why you need merging to keep it below the 255 max. All those mods that add simple stuff like items with out scripts.