I am with TesGecko unsuccessfully trying to merge my .esm with an updated .esp. I have moved worldspaces and all before I start and then merge the two files as related in the TesGecko ReadMe. the game then runs reasonably well, but the problem is that I get huge land tears in the western parts of my new continent. This is where I've been adding new land in the Heightmap Editor in the updated .esp. In the Construction Set I also get an error message about "Duplicate Land" in several locations in my mod and opening the continent in the Heightmap Editor shows large areas in the west being sunk into the depths of the ocean with several cells as large, gaping holes in my landscape.

Running my mod with esm and esp separated as two files goes perfectly and there's absolutely no problem with land either. Why can't merging the two files just do it like that then? I've also tried to convert the esm into esp and merge the two esp's, but that generated greater problems. I want and need to merge my updates into my esm. Has anyone had anything similar and can anyone tell me what to do in this situation?

The only possible solution I can think of right now is merging the esp and esm and then converting the merged esm to esp and manually flatten all that land that has gone wrong. I wonder if that might help...

I'd like a faster and more efficient solution though.

You could also try converting your original esm to esp first and saving it under a different file name and then merging the two esp files with a priority of 2 (overrides/ overrides 1) set for the original esp file.

I think i did that yesterday, but got some strange flickering between dark and light on walls and buildings inside my capital city. It was real weird.

I'm going to try it again though to be certain. Thanks for the tip.

EDIT: Sadly, though, it didn't work. I ended up with missing buildings and other weird stuff...

Just scroll down a little and there can you read about http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/?page=plugin_merging in TESGecko. :read:

Thanks, man. That page will come in handy.

You're welcome.

I guess this was your lucky day, because I was actually looking at that page just briefly yesterday.

I've done it all according to the rules and regulations now. The closest I get to a good merge still leaves me with land tears in the west, so the only way of solving it seems to be to actually manually repair those tears one by one. Aaargh. I can suit myself really, since I went ahead and added masses of land in the Heightmap Editor before. Oh well.

When you're merging, are you using the "merge plugins" button or the "merge to master" button? The distinction is important.

Both. I've tried converting my master into an esp as well and tried merging those two esp's. The result was even worse than when merging to master. I was left with strangely flickering buildings or missing ground textures and stuff.

This is why I now have the file where I've merged the esp into the master and am going to flatten that bad land by hand. That seems the easiest solution at the end of the day.

I don't know what Arthmoor would do, but the way I see it you're gonna to convert your .esp into an .esm first before you do anything else. Shouldn't you have two .esm by now then start over and do it again until you have two .esm.

The next thing you need do is to espify (mods tab in Wrye Bash) or convert (TES4Gecko) your original .esm (one you want to merge into your updated .esp) into an .esp and then merge that .esp (old .esm) into your newly converted esm (updated esp).
I hope I get it right.

Just make sure you have a backup copy of these plugins in case something goes wrong.

I started out with one esm and one esp. The esp included all the changes I've done to the mod for the past four weeks or so. I then wanted to merge that esp into my esm. It worked well, but I got land tears in the west, in areas I had created with the Heightmap Editor in the esp update. For some reason this new land wouldn't merge into the esm without difficulty.

It's fixed now though. I just smoothed the land tears out manually in the CS. I've also given it an in-game run-through to check those problem areas and it all works like a charm. I still don't get why the new land wouldn't merge well though.

Oh well. It's OK now. Thanks for your suggestions.

The heightmap editor has bugs all its own that aren't related to using Gecko to merge the results. Big missing chunks of land are but one issue that can happen.

With an ESM/ESP pair, the only useful method to merge them is to use "merge to master". Otherwise it's best to leave them separate.

Yeah. The Heightmap Editor has caused me problems before. Every time I use it nowadays I'm also sure to check cell 0,0 for problems and 32,0 and so on, since it also frequently creates problems in those areas by sinking land and making up all sorts of fun. :teehee:

Still, I have this sickening fascination for the Heightmap Editor and can't seem to be able to leave it alone. :facepalm: