Hi all,

Tinkering with Streamline settings vastly improved my FPS, and I am now quite strongly tempted to install All Natural, Natural Habitat, and Immersive Interiors - a set of mods I passed over in my original installation due to FPS woes and worries. Problem is, as many of you know, these mods need to go very early in the load order, which means later-loading mods are potentially endangered. Having messed with my load order a couple times before, I realize that the results can be anywhere from Mostly Harmless to Violently and Bizarrely Explosive. (My character was out-of-doors when I saved; after rearranging and reloading, I was in an interior cell, but outside of some room I did not recognize. As I fell into the infinite blackness I saw the people within the cell began to fight. It all was very much like an unsettling dream.)

I realize that this is a risky proposition in itself, but I ask the collected wisdom: Is there a best procedure for installing early-loading mods in a functional game? Are there good ways to test whether the attempt was successful, other than loading and noting that nothing obvious has exploded? And, barring answers to those questions, can someone explain to me the niceties of load order and how/why it affects my game?

Thanks,
Asterai

Hi, I think you may be confusing Install Order with Load Order. :unsure:

- Install Order is the order in which you actually install the mods and is important when several mods are using differing versions of the same resource. ie Meshes, Textures, etc.
- Load order is the date order into which your ESMs and ESPs are sorted (preferably byhttp://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20516) and thus the order in which the game reads them.

In both cases the latest to load 'wins'. BAIN installation is the best way to manage your Install Order. See http://www.tesivpositive.animolious.com/?page=load_order for more info on all this and more.

In the case of the three mods you mention they all use unique resources (although Immersive Interiors does use All Natural resources, it does not alter or replace any)and so installing them last (Install Order) should not make a difference. Once installed running BOSS should sort the ESMs and ESPs you have just installed (early in your Load Order as you said). You should then rebuild your Bashed Patch.

If you follow the instructions in the Mods' Readmes there is no reason for your game to explode. :goodjob:

No, I believe you misunderstood me. My worry is not about install order; I can handle that. My worry is about adding items to the early-loading end of my load order, and then continuing a preexisting save game. I have, also, been using BOSS and Bash successfully so far. If I were starting a new game as I added this mod, I would not be asking this question, as there would be no issue to worry about; as I said, I can install just fine. I also understand that "last to load wins", but I have a hard time getting from that very simple and transparent proposition to "I was falling through darkness as the people above me began to fight." So there is more to what load order does in my savegame, at least on a technical level, and I'd like to hear some of it. And finally, I do read my readmes. I know a lot of people say that and then turn out to be pulling a fast one, but I do, and I pay very very close attention to sections labelled "Installation", "(In)Compatibility", "Known Issues", and/or "Warning!"

So I repeat (and rephrase) my question to today's crowd: Is there a best procedure for initializing a new set of mods that necessarily shakes up your load order? Is there a best way to check that nothing sneaky and pernicious has happened that will come back to bite me later? And failing answers to those questions, can someone explain in detail why changing one's load order can turn a perfectly good preexisting savegame into data mush?

Thanks,
Asterai

Hi. Sorry for my misunderstanding of your question. I recently installed Immersive Interiors and Natural Habitat, as well as upgrading All Natural, to an existing game with no issues and I know of no good reason why correctly adding these mods to an existing game should create data mush. This is of course based purely on my own experiences so you may want to wait for a second opinion. :wink_smile:

What Tofolo said. Oblivion is very robust when it comes to adding/removing mods to/from an ongoing game. So generally you can just add the new mod, adjust the load order accordingly and just load the save. Shouldn't matter if the new mod loads early or late etc. That said, it's a good idea to not be in a cell that is affected by the change. Also, if adding/removing mods that deal with leveled lists (i.e. add new monsters to them etc.) you should do this from a save in a secluded cell (like the player home) and wait for a respawn before resaving (i.e. wait 4 days if respawn is set on default).

Alright then. Thank you guys! I will try it and see how it goes.