Custom Race - What Did I Just Do?

[enthusiast]

I freely admit I am very inexperienced with using the Construction Set. But I have been reading a lot & trying some things out. I actually got what I wanted to work, but I do not understand a lot of what I did. I am using the Construction Set & Wyre Bash.

 

I took a custom race mod + a companion mod (active) & opened them in the CS. I changed the companions race to the custom race. I saved my work. I went in game & the companion face, etc was changed as I had hoped. First question: When I reload that companion mod in the CS, the custom race .esp does not automatically get chosen along with the companion .esp, it is not a "master" of the companion mod (neither does Wyre Bash). Should it be made a master? I seem to have had problems doing that with Wyre Bash & got lots of warnings.

 

I later decided that I wanted to add a new eye type to the custom race. So I found the meshes & textures that I wanted & I loaded only the custom race .esp (active). I added them & saved my work. I then loaded the custom race .esp + companion .esp (active). I changed my companion's eyes. I saved my work. When I went in game, the companion had reverted to the original race. I searched & read about "mod isolation". I went back to the CS. I only opened the custom race .esp (active) & made a copy of it. I saved my work. The CS prompted me to save a new .esp. I named it something different than the original custom race .esp. I then had to go re-add all the eyes & some hair to the new custom race .esp. I saved my work. I then opened the new custom race .esp + my companion .esp (active). I changed the companion's race again & the eyes again. I saved my work. I went into the game & everything is perfect. Correct race + eyes. Now, here is my utter confusion. The old custom race .esp is still active in Wyre Bash. The new custom race .esp is sitting in the \Data directory as far as I can tell not being activated.

 

What the heck did I do? And what happens when I uninstall the companion mod? Will I lose everything? Where are the changes actually made (what .esp)? What am I supposed to do with this new custom race .esp I saved to the \Data directory?

 

 

[fejeena]

Normally if you use things from another esp it is the master file of your esp.

But if you add/create NEW eyes and hair in a esp you need the meshes and textures from the other Mod but you can delete the esp.

 

But no one can tell you what is in your esp without see them.

 

What I would do: If you want to use the companion and the custom race you merge the two esp in one esp.

Then you change the race of the companion and add the new eyes and hair.

And you can delete both old/original esp ( Of course you need the meshes and textures folders of both Mods)

[enthusiast]

I thought about making the companion a "stand alone" custom race like I have seen people do, but it is a bit overwhelming to chase down all the required files from the original race mod. I wanted to start off much easier by just adding hair or eyes.

 

If I go open only my companion mod from above, all the eyes are now options in the companion .esp (without activating any custom race .esp). So, I guess that I no longer need the new custom race .esp to keep my eyes. I do need the original race mod for the rest of it.

 

But what I do not understand is this. If I wish to put new resources into a a custom race mod - such as add a bunch of new hair, eyes, etc to give future options. Then when I convert a companion to that race mod (like I did above), I have to create a new custom race .esp. to avoid the "mod isolation" issue. Now, if I want to keep the race mod with the changes as a separate mod, do 1) I need to replace the old custom race .esp with the new custom race .esp in the mod or 2) Delete the new custom race .esp because all of the information is passed on to my companion .esp (including race change) and therefore I have now bypassed the "mod isolation" issue?

[fejeena]

I don't understand what you want to do or have done.

 

If in two esp are the same IDs you must delete/deactivate one. The game don't like identical IDs.

 

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Your companion Mod have no customs race? It is a original game race?

If it have a own race it should be playable ( shown in your race menu )

But it must have a race because you have added hair and eyes.

 

What I also don't understand is "if I want to keep the race mod with the changes...." I though you have changed the companion Mod ?  Not the race Mod.

And the you created a new companion esp.... ???

So you have 3 esp

Original race

Original Companion

New Companion with with new hair and eyes.

Right?

 

What Mods do you use ?