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Should I compact all mods/files to .BSA?Trying to improve my game performance.


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Posted

Hello LL,it has been a while.Well,I don't have a beefy computer and not every performance plugin/.exe actually works for everyone,so I pretty much was thinking about checking mod by mod,if I can compact the files (meshes,textures,sounds...) to a .BSA,and if I would need to alter something in the .esp such as the reference,or what I SHOULDN'T compact (maybe scripts?),not to mention merging some .esps (like that wonderfull TES4 geckgo,and I remember that he/she said that wouldn't make a skyrim version =/),instead of having the base .esp and the patched/updated one.

 

Posting my loadlist below for any curiosity and for being easier to being helped lol,thanks for the attention if you have read up to here and have a good weekend!

 

Active Mod Files:

 

00  skyrim.esm
01  Update.esm
02  Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp  [Version 2.0.0a]
03  Dawnguard.esm
04  Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp  [Version 2.0.0b]
05  HearthFires.esm
06  Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp  [Version 2.0.0]
07  Dragonborn.esm
08  Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp  [Version 2.0.0]
09  ApachiiHair.esm
0A  RaceCompatibility.esm
0B  BBLuxurySuite.esm
0C  Sanctum of the Fallen.esm
0D  SPIKE.esm
0E  TERAArmors.esm
0F  TurnDownXrace.esm
10  UndergroundBathhouse.esm
11  JackGaPub.esm
12  28 Days and a Bit 5.esm
13  HighResTexturePack01.esp
14  HighResTexturePack02.esp
15  HighResTexturePack03.esp
16  RaceCompatibilityUSKPOverride.esp
17  Chesko_Frostfall.esp
18  MoreSoundOptions.esp
19  DFG's Blade & Dagger Sheathe Sounds_Dawnguard.esp
1A  StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp
1B  StaticMeshImprovementMod-DragonbornTernFix.esp
1C  StaticMeshImprovementMod-FurnitureChestSnowFix.esp
1D  AThievesTreasure.esp
1E  BirdsHFclean.esp
1F  Cannabis.esp
20  CannabisUpdate.esp
21  Dead Body Collision.esp
22  ExpandedJewelryCrafting.esp
23  GDAmulets.esp
24  genpeopleliter.esp
25  Real Wildlife Skyrim 0.1.esp
26  Skyhighrim.esp
27  Destructible_bottles.esp
28  RaceMenu.esp
29  RaceMenuPlugin.esp
2A  Player Size Adjuster.esp
2B  SkyTweak.esp
2C  SkyUI.esp
2D  Customizable Camera.esp
2E  manny_Status.esp
2F  TakeNotes.esp
30  Blade and Soul Infernal Armor.esp
31  Blindfolds_of_Skyrim.esp
32  FaceMasksOfSkyrim.esp
33  Fists of the Gods.esp
34  HISSorakageFarmor.esp
35  KCEBattleClaws.esp
36  Magicka Sabers.esp
37  Medusa and Drakul Armors.esp
38  Mykatana.esp
39  Nicoroshi Creations.esp  [Version 1.2]
3A  OMageReplacerPack.esp
3B  SacredRingofJeebus.esp
3C  TERAArmors.esp
3D  TERAArmors - Leveled Lists.esp
3E  Throwing_Weapons_Redux.esp
3F  Ultimate Smithing Necklace.esp
40  UNP Jewelry Variants V3.esp
41  WWW.esp
42  BBLuxurySuiteExt.esp
43  BBLSHousecarlsmovein.esp
44  BBLSVisitors.esp
45  Ebon Mine.esp
46  Gifts Of The Outsider.esp
47  HallsOfDovahndor.esp
48  Inconsequential NPCs.esp
49  R0R0N0 Stable.esp
4A  Reiko_Senjua.esp
4B  Skyrim School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.esp
4C  The Asteria - Dwemer Airship.esp
4D  The Pit.esp
4E  TropicalIslands.esp
4F  Undercity.esp
50  w2salem.esp
51  AchieveThat.esp
52  Book Covers Skyrim.esp
53  Book Covers Dawnguard.esp
54  Book Covers Hearthfire.esp
55  Book Covers Dragonborn.esp
56  chicken.esp
57  Civil War Overhaul.esp
58  FireAndIceOverhaul.esp
59  Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp
5A  bathhouse.esp
5B  MidasSkyrim.esp
5C  Colorful_Magic.esp
5D  Phenderix Tool - Weapon Edit.esp
5E  TrueFrostMage.esp
5F  sheogorath_shout.esp
60  A Tragedy In Black - Enchanting Remastered - TheGreyLight.esp
61  Enchanting - IDWIW.esp
62  Enchanting Freedom.esp
63  ACE Realistic Fighting.esp
64  Locational Damage.esp
65  ACE BYOG.esp
66  ACE Speech.esp
67  ArcheryDummyXP.esp
68  ACE Archery.esp
69  ACE Armor.esp
6A  ACE Magic.esp
6B  ACE Melee.esp
6C  ACE Synergy.esp
6D  Sneak Tools.esp
6E  Sneak Tools Vanilla Hoods.esp
6F  Sneak Tools Vanilla Masks.esp
70  jutsu.esp
71  Pouncer.esp
72  SGEyebrows.esp
73  Naruto - Overhaul.esp
74  BS-TheHag_Overlays.esp
75  Yamato Transform and Summon.esp
76  3DNPC.esp
77  AmazingFollowerTweaks.esp
78  mjhKhajiitSpeak.esp
79  mjhKhajiitSpeakDLC - Dawnguard.esp
7A  mjhKhajiitSpeakDLC - Hearthfire.esp
7B  mjhKhajiitSpeakDLC - Dragonborn.esp
7C  mjhKhajiitSpeakMod - NPC Bartering.esp
7D  Skyrim Unbound.esp
7E  Animated Enchantments.esp
7F  Immersive Sounds - Aural Assortment.esp
80  Rifle.esp
81  LinnRoom.esp
82  Heavenly She-wolf Skyrim.esp
83  AetherSuite.esp
84  RutahTattooPack.esp
85  GuildStarter.esp
86  CDM - Astral Projection.esp
87  PhysicsImpactDamageFix.esp
88  mongsangThunseng1.esp
89  Kingdom Hearts.esp
8A  HISkmos.esp
8B  JackGaPubDLC00.esp
8C  StaticMeshImprovementMod-DungeonsCliffsIceSkirts.esp
8D  Torcs.esp
8E  VaultsOfSkyrim.esp
8F  ds2_unitology.esp
90  FISS.esp
91  28 Days Hide Spawn Zombies Spell Effect.esp
92  ElemIceWall.esp


 

Posted

From my understanding

 

BSA

Pros:takes up less disk space

Cons:takes longer to read since it's compressed

 

Loose Files

Pros: quicker reading since they are loose files, not compressed

Cons: takes up more disk space

Posted

I see,derp I though it would both take less space in disk AND improve performance,should I do the opposite then,unpack .bsa files?

Posted

Loose files overwrite one another according to the load order of .esp. Just keep that in mind. What is loaded last is what the game reads.

Posted

What using BSAs DOES do is make it easy to switch mods on and off without affecting anything else. Loose files are constantly overwritten... unless you use Mod Organizer to handle your mods. Then it doesn't matter as nothing is ever overwritten. But if MO doesn't work for you for some reason, BSAs are the sensible alternative.

 

Posted

From my understanding

 

BSA

Pros:takes up less disk space

Cons:takes longer to read since it's compressed

 

Loose Files

Pros: quicker reading since they are loose files, not compressed

Cons: takes up more disk space

I don't think that's right actually, that might have been the case in the bad old Oblivion days when we were all running dual core processors at best. Unless you're running your game on an SSD, any performance advantages of  loose files over BSAs are probably vanishingly slim, I doubt most of us would be able to tell the difference.Decompressing archives on the fly is the sort of job multi-core processors were designed for and BSAs aren't just common or garden archives either,  they're native to the Creation Engine.

 

On the other hand, running a whole mess of loose files on an HD is inevitably going to lead to disk fragmentation, and if you ever plan on chopping and changing mods and updates, you're opening yourself up to a lot of ongoing maintenance work, all for what amounts to negligible if any performance gain. 

 

There are two distinct advantages of unpacking BSAs;  that it allows for texture optimization and for managing file conflicts. If you use Mod Organizer you don't have to worry about loose files taking priority over BSAs because one of it's starring features is that it allow you to treat BSAs as though they are loose files, without unpacking them. 

 

Optimizing textures you know need doing but sticking them back into their BSA afterwards and letting Mod Organizer do the heavy lifting for you is definitely the way forward imho. And just to reinforce the wisdom of this, Tannin is planning to entirely hide or even remove the BSA extraction feature from MO, and that should tell us all something about the can of worms involved with running loose files over BSAs.  

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