Ahh, good to know Vorians,

I've always had a similar situation in trying to merge the Stirk Compatibility patch into TR_Stirk itself (can't stand a whole mod slot going to just the removal of a boat!). However, when I do the merge, and then in bash switch the master (as it would then rely on itself) to another esm, nothing would happen, the boat would still be in Anvil.

So with what you said above, if I convert TR_Stirk to a master, use merge to master to incorporate the compatibility patch, and then convert the now completed merged esm back to an esp, will this work?

Yes, it should, though I forgot to mention one small step. After converting modA to an ESM, you then need to tell modB about it. You can do this with Wrye Bash, redirecting the master from modA.esp to modA.esm

First off, I'd like to apologize if this question has been answered time and again, but I've not found a concise answer on the forums. I've read the readme, but I would like to hear pointers and tips from the pros to see others' success (or failure) stories.

My load order is quite obese and needs a diet, so I've decided to trim its figure using Tes4Gecko. I've had success using it in the past with equipment mods, but I was wondering if it is possible to merge compatibility patches of quest and Better Cities / Unique Landscapes .esps. I understand that it is safe to do this so long as Wrye Bash does not list any master (for example, HeartofDead_Arrius Creek compat patch has HeartofDead master). Is this correct?

Cheers for any input.

You could theoretically merge those mods, but I do not recommend it. Merging world spaces and cells is asking for trouble. You will at least destroy a few path grids.

Ah, well - I was hoping those could be merged. Thanks for your advice.

Hi, can I safely merge Better Cities into one esp?

I don't want to include Better ImpeReal Palace & Arcane University as these 2 conflict with my other mods. But I want everything else in.

In the downloaded Better Cities, they only give either FULL or separate. But I want FULL EXCEPT those 2.

Ask in the BC thread about merging. The safest merges you can acquire are from the modmakers themselves. You would not know what to check to see if anything went wrong. That is the danger of doing things like merging and pluging cleaning. The average use lacks intimate knowledge of the insides of the mods.

Yes, it's safe to create your own merge of the BC Imperial Cities ESPs. Ensure that it is named the same as our merged version if you intend to use the FPS patch. The only error messages you MIGHT see in TES4Gecko when merging, would relate to duplicate-named scripts and quests, but I believe that only happens with the non-IC parts of BC. If it does occur, simply find the duplicates and "Ignore" them after merging. They'll have a large X on the end of their Editor IDs. It's the scripting which triggers the BC in-game menu, and should actually be harmless if duplicates are left in after merging.

Thanks. That's good to know =)

bump (another utility for the visual guide series hint hint...)

Quick question re merging in general. If I merge ModA.esp, ModB.esp and ModC.esp, leaving a merged ModA.esp, can I then delete the original ModB.esp and ModC.esp from my data folder (I presume that I can, since they're deactivated anyway), thus delaying the approach of the 400-file limit?

Thanks!

You can use the ghosting feature of Wrye Bash to make sure they are not counted in the 400 file limit...

Cool, still working on building a stable load order so I've not got as far as really looking into Bash that much and didn't know there was such a feature! Thanks

I tried merging the Shout mod and Enhanced Grabbing but EG has two bsa files.
How do I get the mesh stars to stop showing up in game because of apparently the merged plugin is not using the EG bsa files?

BSA loading happens one of two ways:
1. You register the BSA in your Oblivion.ini
2. You have a BSA and esp with the same name, so you will notice that Enhanced Grabbing.esp has two BSA but both start with Enhanced Grabbing - that is because if an esp loads then any BSA with the same first part will also load.

Depending on how you merged the mods is what kind of result you will see. If you merged shout into Enhanced Grabbing then there is no way for shout BSA to load.

Your options:
1. Extract one or the other or both BSA and leave the files as loose.
2. Register one or the other or both BSA in your Oblivion.ini (not recommended).
3. Merge the BSA files and make sure that it has the same name as the esp that is meant to load the BSA.

You can perform #3 by using the BSA extractor functions of Oblivion Mod Manager.

I just used the Gecko simple merge. I selected one, put 1, selected the other, put 2, and merged.

One BSA is named Assets and other is Sounds (maybe why I don't hear any NPCs say anything now).

So I guess I either extract both, or make a BSA with the same name as the merged file name?

Well one method I often use is to name the newly merged esp after an existing esp (i.e. Enhanced Grabbing) then I see it as merging a mod into another mod. You could then keep the BSA from one mod.

Most mod mergers I do though I keep the files loose as that way they are easier to track for conflicts in BAIN.

but yes those are your options.

#1 and #3 in the quote you posted answers both parts of your question.

So, Yes.

EDIT: :ninja:

4. Rename one or both BSAs to be loaded by another ESP - without merging the BSAs.

I often create & prefix BSA files with "DLCShiveringIsles - " when I need to view resources but don't want to clutter up the Data subfolders.

So I can name it "sycShout -" (what ever esp name is, with the dash), then after the dash I can include other naming info to show it is for the merged plugin?

No copy the format for what exists. Look at enhanced grabbing or other BSA associated esp.

Mod name A.esp
Mod name A - sycShout.bsa
Mod name A - Enhanced Grabbing.bsa

Vorians is right you can have several bsa files load with one esp as long as the bsa share the same prefix like beginning part that matches an active bsa. Much simpler than what I recommended and he should know doing all that better cities stuff.