I found a few good links here http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/archiveinvalidation.html but they're talking mostly about texture replacement it seems like and I think my problem is stemming from meshes in the character folder.

I set these paths up in the AI text file

meshes/characters/_1stperson/blockattack.kf
meshes/characters/_1stperson/dodgeback.kf
meshes/characters/_1stperson/dynamicidle_sit.kf
meshes/characters/_1stperson/onehandskill1attackpower.kf
meshes/characters/_1stperson/skeleton.nif
meshes/characters/_1stperson/twohandskill1attackpower.kf

meshes/characters/_male/femalefoot.nif
meshes/characters/_male/femalehand.nif
meshes/characters/_male/femalelowerbody.nif
meshes/characters/_male/femaleupperbody.nif
meshes/characters/_male/skeleton.nif
meshes/characters/_male/skeletonbeast.nif
meshes/characters/_male/idle.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkbackward.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkfastbackward.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkfastforward.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkfastleft.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkfastright.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkforward.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkleft.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkright.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkturnleft.kf
meshes/characters/_male/walkturnright.kf

meshes/characters/_male/bowjumpland.kf
meshes/characters/_male/bowjumploop.kf
meshes/characters/_male/handtohandjumpland.kf
meshes/characters/_male/handtohandjumploop.kf
meshes/characters/_male/jumploop.kf
meshes/characters/_male/onehandjumpland.kf
meshes/characters/_male/onehandjumploop.kf
meshes/characters/_male/staffjumpland.kf
meshes/characters/_male/staffjumploop.kf
meshes/characters/_male/twohandjumpland.kf
meshes/characters/_male/twohandjumploop.kf


because I was having trouble figuring out how to get the replacers to work. Coronerra's Maximum Compatibility Skeletons, Natural Walk, and Stylish Jump. From what I'm reading doing it this way is what's messing things up, but they don't seem to work if I don't do it this way either. Any advice is appreciated. *sheepish*

Forget about that text file. Either get Wrye Bash and add the included ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa to the list in Oblivion.ini, or get OBMM and use its BSA Redirection feature.

Actually isn't it WB>Installers tab>right click>BSA Redirection, and fuhgetahbotit?

ArchiveInvalidation only works for textures, not meshes or animations

I'm not entirely convinced it doesn't work for meshes, because I've had a few scattered instances where meshes that were clearly dated newer than those in the BSA were not loaded by the game and instead favored the older one inside the BSA. For that reason I manually placed ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa as the very first BSA loaded in the ini file and I've not had issue with it since.

Yeah I hesitated in responding to this thread because I continue to have trouble with archive invalidation. I was using ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa but keep getting missing meshes, even though I knew damn well they were there. I finally (after 3 yrs) got rid of ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa and went with the redirection method in OBMM and that seems to be working so far. I pretty sure this works with meshes too.

So, to the OP, pick whichever method seems easiest to you - except the text file method. If that doesn't work, verify the meshes or textures are actually present (whether they are loose in folders or in a BSA). If they seem to be there, try another method. About the only one that doesn't work is the text file method - that has been shown to be very unreliable.

OK, so I think I got it solved. I poked around a bit more (thanks for suggestions) and noticed that all of the .bsa files in my data folder were dated yesterday, from when I installed the game. I'm guessing thats something to do with how steam works. I used the timestamp reset thing in OBMM and it looks like its all working without having to futz with it further. Many thanks!

Remember you can't have your LO program loaded as well as another program that accesses the files.
I learned this when all my mods went red when trying to use BOSS and WB + TES4Edit was open in the background. All my dates were messed up til I closed Edit and redid BOSS.

ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa is supposedly exactly what OBMM does with the redirection method. I don't know, since I don't use the utility for anything but actually repacking BSAs. Bash does the same when you tell BAIN to uset that method. So you should have netted exactly the same results.

ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated (aka BSA redirection) work for meshes and textures (tested). I actually think it works for all files in a bsa (not tested)

ArchiveInvalidation.txt does only work for textures, and does a crappy job of it as explained http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/archiveinvalidation.html#AIExplained

Yeah, I know it's supposed to... I think something just needed the change in scenery - OBMM has its redirection BSA in another folder! I also notice OBMM puts its redirection BSA as the first in the list in Oblivion.ini whereas the other method I used to use placed it second - that may have been more the issue than anything else. I'm just happy it's working again!

Yes, this is correct, and what I meant.

Couldn't say one way or the other if it also handles sound. I don't have any sound files that are currently overlapping the BSA.

On a side note, I've seen it said that video files and music files cannot be stored in the BSA. Does anyone know if that's true or not?

Good to know. I must have misread that article before.



Never tested myself, but that has been the accepted rule since I played Morrowind (neither TES3 or TES4 stores the bik's or mp3's in BSA).

That's good to know. I was under the impression that it only works for textures, but I guess that's a misunderstanding based on the old .txt method then.