How do I convert a mod from a .esp to a .esm. My reason for doing this is the the NPCs added by my mod will have normal bodies, not an African American head with a pale body. Or is there an easier way to do this. Also, what are the cons for converting a .esp to .esm?

The drawback of esm is that you cannot edit an esm in geck. You have to change it back to esp. However, the problem you mention can be fixed by using esm, and also some problems related to navmeshes appear to go away when converting to esm. The easiest way to convert to esm is to use fnvedit. You can get fnvedit and its training manual from newvegasnexus. The training manual contains a section which gives many details on converting esp to esm. Once you open the mod in fnvedit, it is only one click in one sub-menu to change it.

Thanks, Ill keep a backup .esp version of my mod while editing/testing and convert it to a .esm while playing it.

So, I made it a .esm but I can't figure out how to save a mod in FNVEdit and the tutorial does not say anything about it.

EDIT MORE INFO: ALT S saves the mod but when I try to hit the red x at the top right it asks me again if I want to save. I hit yes and it saves but does not exit.... Then I get a file ".esp.save.[date].[date].[date].[date]" Is this really the file?

That is a backup of your mod before you made the change to .esm, to revert to the backup remove all of the .[date].[date} stuff. You'll get a warning asking if you want to change the file extension, click yes and, that backup will revert to a functional .esp.

Hope this helps.

cev

It does, thanks