Splitting my mod

[grond]

I think I know what I need to do, and I don't want to. I'd like to find a program that will do it for me.

Here's the sitrep: I've made a tavern, and a couple cells away, I made a city.

Now, what I want to do is tear away everything that is altered by the city - land changes, statics, pathpoints, etc - and make it into another .esp, separate from the area I altered for the tavern. I imagine I'll have to determine precisely which formid belongs where, and those LAND elements of the CS details box raise the hackles at the back of my neck. But if/when I can do this I'd like to make the city mod dependent on the Tavern mod. This way, those who don't want the city won't be forced to have it in their game. But not vice versa.

Is there anyone out there who's done this? Can I use TES4Gecko? I've tried to do it with Gecko, but when loading the new mod the CS crashes.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

[InsanitySorrow]

Ok get yourself TES4 Edit and then:

1) Make two copies of your ESP

2) Clean all landscape stuff etc out of it and save

3) Clean all the tavern stuff out of it and save

There each ESP has only what you want, its easy enough to do

[DarkRider]

IS is right!

You can also use Gecko, just copy all the bits you want in the first .esp to the clipboard. Then save the clipboard. In your data folder you'll find Gecko.esp. Just rename it. Then repeat the process, copy to clipboard what you want in the second .esp save, and rename. Be certain that you know just which exterior cells each part should contain, so you copy over all the proper cell records into the right .esp!

Good Luck!

[Arthmoor]

Before you split, make it easier on yourself. Use EditorIDs to help you identify which is which. All of your outdoor cells should get one. If it's part of the tavern, name it Tavern01, and so on. Then the stuff for the city, call it City01, etc. That way when you open up TES4Edit (or Gecko, but I don't like Gecko) it'll be much easier to see which cells stay where.

The harder part comes from knowing which NPCs stay where, and which new statics go where, and all that too. That can get a bit trickier especially if they're used in both places.

[grond]

Before you split, make it easier on yourself. Use EditorIDs to help you identify which is which. All of your outdoor cells should get one. If it's part of the tavern, name it Tavern01, and so on. Then the stuff for the city, call it City01, etc. That way when you open up TES4Edit (or Gecko, but I don't like Gecko) it'll be much easier to see which cells stay where.

The harder part comes from knowing which NPCs stay where, and which new statics go where, and all that too. That can get a bit trickier especially if they're used in both places.

Great idea, thank you. I'll rename all my cells!

The thing I'm leery of is the LAND records. Now I've just downloaded and looked at TES4Edit, and the notes there say that LAND by default aren't loaded. Should I attempt to load them and divide them as well? Are they what I think they are - records of the changes I've made to the land? If they are, then I suspect I should delete the appropriate ones from each.

As far as the statics and actors, well for the city there aren't any NPCs, and for the statics, TES4Edit seems to display them very logically - I feel I know where they go. I have to say that I'm falling in love with TES4Edit...first time I've ever been unfaithful to Gecko.

I'll post the results here. Thanks for the tips you all!

[Arthmoor]

The thing I'm leery of is the LAND records. Now I've just downloaded and looked at TES4Edit, and the notes there say that LAND by default aren't loaded. Should I attempt to load them and divide them as well? Are they what I think they are - records of the changes I've made to the land? If they are, then I suspect I should delete the appropriate ones from each.

You should always have tes4edit load LAND and PGRD records - especially if you intend to clean other mods you're using. LAND and PGRD (path grid) records are the two most common victims of dirty edits. You don't want to delete either of them because any landscape changes you made will disappear if you do that. Unless of course you're really wanting to delete landscape changes.

[grond]

snip unless you're really wanting to delete landscape changes.

I'd really like to delete the landscape changes I made for the city. I've raised a lot of land and the hills would look silly without the city there. If I get it done correctly, then I imagine I can smooth and fix any landscape anomalies.

I'm on my first cup of coffee. I'm doing deep breathing exercises, to achieve the mental state I need to begin this. Also blowing smoke rings.

Thanks again!

[grond]

I'm happy-dancing. It worked! Despite a few minor tears in the hills, easily fixable, where the city was is now wooded hills! So simple to do with TES4Edit. Thanks Arthmoor, and Dark Rider, and IS, for your attention and timely help. We desperately need a trophy emoticon here at the Alliance.

And modders: this scenario is exactly the reason why you should give a unique ID to everything you handle in your mod! I've been playing with the CS since '02, and have never thought to rename a cell I use. Now it'll be the first thing I do when I start something.

[worm82075]

I'm happy-dancing. It worked! Despite a few minor tears in the hills, easily fixable, where the city was is now wooded hills! So simple to do with TES4Edit. Thanks Arthmoor, and Dark Rider, and IS, for your attention and timely help. We desperately need a trophy emoticon here at the Alliance.

And modders: this scenario is exactly the reason why you should give a unique ID to everything you handle in your mod! I've been playing with the CS since '02, and have never thought to rename a cell I use. Now it'll be the first thing I do when I start something.

I would recommend you only rename vanilla cells that are generically named Wilderness. If it has a generic name then it's probably not touched by a quest. You probably already knew that but just to be safe I had to throw that out there.

[grond]

Right. I was happy dancing when I wrote it and forgot that part. Wilderness cells only.