Managing individual mod resouces for personal use

[speedyg869]

Do modders keep a personal library (ala COBL) of their resources for inclusion in other mods? I want to keep track of the resources I use and be able to include them in a library. Is it best to use an ESM for this?

[_echo]

Most resources are tacked with an allowance to pack them with your mod, so you can make a folder for your mod and any assets it uses.

ESMs are only good if you are using hundreds of assets across more then one mod.

[speedyg869]

Ok, Thanks!

[vometia]

I've often wondered about using a common esm/bsa combo to keep track of various commonly used bits & pieces, but invariably end up thinking that if I ever release them, it could end up being more trouble than it's worth, so I end up repacking them into each mod I use. That approach grates slightly as it is an exercise in inefficiency, but I figure that unless I suddenly start working on a framework of large mods, the hassle involved in packaging the resources up separately, checking for an existing installation, and that it's up to date, etc etc is probably not worthwhile.

Things like models and textures I keep in a simple directory-based repository which I can then incorporate into the relevant bsa files, and periodically rebuild the latter if I've changed something. I'm not terribly well organised, with any given model being kept in the directory of whichever mod it appeared in first, but it's better than nothing. For the record, I keep my WIP outside of the Oblivion directory so it doesn't accidentally get trashed; I use a separate directory tree for each mod, each with its own "data" subtree which is the basis of what gets installed, a "models" directory where Blender and Gimp files live, and an "attic" for backups and other redundant stuff that I don't want to chuck out.

When working on a mod, I find it most convenient to work on the live tree, so I've written a simple script to back up any updates to their relevant directory once I'm done. This is a bit of a pain when using bsa files, however, since even using the likes of Archive Invalidation Invalidates, textures in particular can still fail to override the bsa. So with that in mind, i.e. that my system obviously fails in some regards, I guess this I'm writing this as a point of interest rather than any sort of recommendation!

[greenwarden]

Here's what I do when I find a resource that I know I'll want to use- I have a folder named Greenwarden in both my meshes folder, and in my textures folder. Any new resource that I like gets added to these two folders, and is given a subfolder with the author's name and their readme inside. Example: Meshes/Greenwarden/resourceauthornamehere. I then open the new resource's nifs in Nifskope and update the texture paths so they navigate to the textures/Greenwarden/authorname folder.

I suppose my method is pretty similar to what Echo describes.

[vometia]

Here's what I do when I find a resource that I know I'll want to use- I have a folder named Greenwarden in both my meshes folder, and in my textures folder. Any new resource that I like gets added to these two folders, and is given a subfolder with the author's name and their readme inside. Example: Meshes/Greenwarden/resourceauthornamehere. I then open the new resource's nifs in Nifskope and update the texture paths so they navigate to the textures/Greenwarden/authorname folder.

I suppose my method is pretty similar to what Echo describes.

I'm not sure I approve of that method. It's nowhere near complicated enough and it sounds like there's a real danger of you being able to find stuff easily. Spending ages searching multiple directories for some random object and swearing a lot ftw! etc.

[Arthmoor]

Funny thing, I started a topic on the BGS forum about this issue but nobody seemed interested in talking about it there

All of my mods that use extra resources, whether I hacked up something in nifskope or used someone elses, ends up in .... wait for it.... the Arthmoor folder under Meshes or Textures.

Since I have a habit of retexturing vanilla stuff, hacking pieces off of vanilla meshes, and otherwise modifying things, I've got a general pool of resource files I draw on. Anything specific to a particular mod is stored in a folder named for that mod, underneath my main one. Otherwise it ends up under my main one in general folders. These end up shared across several mods.

Since there's overlap, I've thought about putting the stuff in an ESM, which would have the advantage of there being a single definition for stuff that's being duplicated right now. Helpful to avoid overlaps, the downside being you've got to prod people into downloading the resource pack along with it. Plus it will eventually need updates, so I'm still on the fence about it.

Having a shared master makes it easier to do cross-mod content, which is one of the things I was looking to accomplish as well.