How to change .esl (showing as Master Plugin) to .esp for editing

[IBAGadget]

I have dug through the Xedit pages trying to find out how to do this, but they haven't been any help.

 

I have a weapon mod that I would like to tweak the stats on, but it shows up in the CK as a Master Plugin (File is a regular .esl, not a compacted .esp)

Because it is a Master Plugin, I am unable to open it in the CK. I have tried to set it as a Master for another file (as the CK will open all the masters associated with the active file), but then I get the error 'Too many Master Files, load aborted'.

 

Does anyone know how I can change this from an .esl to an .esp?

 

the mod in question is Masamune Katana

 

I would like to tweak the weight and damage for my game

[traison]

9 hours ago, IBAGadget said:

CK as a Master Plugin (File is a regular .esl, not a compacted .esp)

 

The file extension doesn't matter, its a bit field within the file that defines if its a master or not.

 

9 hours ago, IBAGadget said:

Because it is a Master Plugin, I am unable to open it in the CK. I have tried to set it as a Master for another file

 

The CK as far as I know will never allow editing of master files.

 

9 hours ago, IBAGadget said:

but then I get the error 'Too many Master Files, load aborted'.

 

This can be "fixed" in CreationKit.ini, or with the SSE CreationKit Fixes mod.

 

9 hours ago, IBAGadget said:

Does anyone know how I can change this from an .esl to an .esp?

 

Instead of doing that and potentially exploding the formids all over the field, simply disable the ESM flag using xEdit before loading it in the CK:

[IBAGadget]

3 hours ago, traison said:

The CK as far as I know will never allow editing of master files.

It can be done, but you have to load another file that references the master file.

 

for example - I cannot open Skyrim.esm directly in order to alter the stats of the Woodcutters axe. But if I open another file that has Skyrim.esm as a master, then I can. CK will open the active file, plus all masters that it relies on.

 

3 hours ago, traison said:

This can be "fixed" in CreationKit.ini, or with the SSE CreationKit Fixes mod.

What do I need to change in the .ini?

 

3 hours ago, traison said:

 

Instead of doing that and potentially exploding the formids all over the field, simply disable the ESM flag using xEdit before loading it in the CK:

I would do that if the file was actually flagged .esm in Xedit

 

It's not. It is an .esl (light master) 

The CK registers this file as a Master Plugin

[traison]

19 minutes ago, IBAGadget said:

What do I need to change in the .ini?

 

[General]

bAllowMultipleMasterLoads=1

[IBAGadget]

17 minutes ago, traison said:

 

[General]

bAllowMultipleMasterLoads=1

That worked.

 

I set Masamune Katana as a Master for Nagamaki Gaijin in Xedit

Set Nagamaki Gaijin as the Active File in CK

Loaded

Opened the Masamune Katana weapon files, then edited and saved those

 

tweaks done.

 

Now I can remove the unused Master flag from Nagamaki Gaijin so that if I decide to down the road, I can remove Masamune Katana from my mod list without issue.

 

Granted, these changes only affect the deployed file and not the original, but that's fine. I don't typically make these kind of changes to something unless I'm going to be keeping it in my mod list.

 

16lbs for a single handed Katana is a bit ridiculous, especially when you consider the average weight of a real Katana is 2 - 2.6lbs

[ghastley]

This need crops up a lot when you are working on a mod that will ship as esl. I find it easiest to use the save as esl feature in the CK to create and the overwrite the esl each time, having opened the esp copy. In the case of a new mod, you save as esp first, then again as esl. You always have a pair of files, esp and esl. The former is there to load up in the CK, and the latter to run with.

 

For tweaks to an existing esl, use xEdit to turn off the flag, open in the CK, then save as esp, to create the pair.