dont know if this is in the right forum. please move it if its not

What are the easiest TES tools to use? i don't need anything more than a savegame repairer, and a mod conflict detector and solver. any ideas?

EDIT: I won't be modding at all, so i just need to keep my save games clean and conflict free

I think for save game repair Wyre Mash (or even better Wyre Mash Stand Alone) is your only option.

For the rest here are your options...

TESPCD ... detects conflicts and does a little repair but not the most reliable (easy to see what conflicts though). If you clean with this make sure you open and save in Enchanted to fix the header info (TESPCD doesn't adjust the file size in the header of the ESP). I like this tool to see which entries I might want to go in and manually change.

TES3CMD ... great at cleaning mods but it's command line and might be difficult if you're not used to that type of stuff. Cleans all sorts of errors, misc things that should have never been changed (the TESCS has a mind of its own sometimes)

TESTOOL ... clean, merges plugins...but is very old and not very accurate. The main thing keeping it going was that fact that it has a GUI and most issues aren't apparent up front. Its a bit clumsy compared to TES3CMD's cleaning funciton and doesn't merge as well as SMARTMERGER.

ENCHANTED ... great for getting into the guts of a mod but not really a simple automated program. It's kinda an alternate to the TESCK.

TESAME ... grand daddy of mod programs. Its function are basic no frills. Can merger two mods at a time but don't offer the features of other mods. Even TESTOOL is better for merging. Some use TESAME to selectively cut pieces out of a mod.

SMARTMERGER ...this is a brand new mod merging tool. As of its recent release (1.7) it easily surpasses TESTOOL in functionality. Finds and squashes some more troublesome conflicts that no other tool does. It now has a GUI and is pretty simple to use. Right now NO tool properly fixes conflictiing dialogues but this one is close AND the author is very actively working on it.

TESFAITH (two version command line and GUI) ... Move mod pieces to different cells... takes patience and a little extra work.


Hope that helps

Pinkertonius


EDIT: I use Tes3cmd for cleaning, Smartmerger for merging, and Tesfaith for moving landmasses. I use the others for more complex stuff too.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27588Wrye Mash has everything you need to keep your mods in order and your Saves clean, along with the very important leveled list merger called Mashed Lists.
The http://wryemusings.com/Wrye%20Mash.html has all the info on how to use it.
Trouble installing Mash? Use the http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionUtilities.Detail&id=44 to automatically install the needed Python programs.
There is also a new http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1106095-wrye-mash-stand-alone/ that doesn't require any messing with Python.


http://code.google.com/p/mlox/wiki/Mlox Use Mlox to check for plugin dependencies and conflicts, and to sort your plugins into an optimal load order.


http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=utilities.detail&id=34 Great for cleaning ESPs of the Evil GMSTs (which you should do for every mod unless it suggests otherwise.) Has the handy Merged Object function, but avoid using its Merged Dialog/Leveled Lists, and the JUST FIX IT button seems to cause more problems that it solves. Wrye Mash is best at fixing problems.