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Emma
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Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 214
Location: Sweden

PostPosted: Fri Dec 31st, 08:40:42    Post subject: A SAFE WAY TO INSTALL ANY MOD IN LESS THAN 1 MINUTE Reply with quote

Since a long time back, I never worry about how mods have been packed or zipped and where and how they should be extracted. I have found that this strategy prevents all problems, and seems to be foolproof (please correct me if I am wrong):


a) Create a subfolder on your desktop.

b) Unzip the mod to the sub-folder.

c) Doubleclick on the sub-folder.
Inside, you will find one meshes folder, one textures folder, one icons folder and an esp-file.
Take the meshes folder and DROP it into your Morrowind datafiles directory. It will automatically MERGE with your existing meshes folder (which will guarantee that all meshes ends up at the exactly correct places). You will get a message concerning this from the computer, say OK.
Now, take the textures folder and DROP it into you Morrowind datafiles directory.
Now, do the same with the Icons folder.
Finally, place the esp-file in your Morrowind datafiles directory.


That's all. You are ready to play your new mod.
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Elsu
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Joined: 04 Dec 2004
Posts: 36
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana - USA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 31st, 08:13:08    Post subject: Reply with quote

That would work fine if everyone understood and used the proper file paths and folders, but unfortunately that is not so. If you care to look at Thread Whisperer's and Baphomet's install guides, they show "work arounds" for some common mistakes.
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mattymanx
Seyda Neen Drunk
Seyda Neen Drunk


Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Sat Jan 1st, 12:04:31    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most people would find my method a bit time consuming, but every mod I download, I unpack to sub folders and repack them in .ACE format so that all I need to do to unpack is right click the .ace file and tell it to extract to the Data Files folder and it neatly places every thing in the right place. Very handy when installing multiple mods at once. I also took the liberty of combining multiple mods made by the same author, ie Rhedd's Heads or MQB & Andromache, and making them one larger ace file. The only thing I didn't do is combine the esp files. Also, ace format is better compression.


(no I did not combine Rhedds Heads with MQB!!! )
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Emma
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Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 214
Location: Sweden

PostPosted: Sat Jan 1st, 12:06:53    Post subject: Reply with quote

Elsu wrote:
That would work fine if everyone understood and used the proper file paths and folders, but unfortunately that is not so. If you care to look at Thread Whisperer's and Baphomet's install guides, they show "work arounds" for some common mistakes.


Yes, this quick-guide on how to install mods is of course only valid if a mod is correctly packed and includes all files needed.

Althought the majority of mods are adequately packed, it of course might happen that you run into one that either isn't correctly packed, or - more common - doesn't include all files needed.
In this case, a common installation procedure will obviously not be sufficient.
Which means that you have two options: either finding alternative routes to download missing files and install the mod, or contacting the author, prompting him to deal with the errors he has created.
Luckily, this doesn't happen that often. And, if I as a mod author have done something wrong when packing my mod together, I would honestely be very grateful to the player who contacted me so that I could sort out the problem.
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mattymanx
Seyda Neen Drunk
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 1st, 12:12:09    Post subject: Reply with quote

Emma wrote:
Luckily, this doesn't happen that often. And, if I as a mod author have done something wrong when packing my mod together, I would honestely be very grateful to the player who contacted me so that I could sort out the problem.


Be careful what you wish for:

Quote:
Dear Mod author:

I have downloaded your mod and first I'd like to thankyou for your time and effort that you put into it. I followed your instructions as how to install it and it all seemed to work out fine. I only have one question though...what is Morrowind???


Laughing
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Emma
Town Magistrate
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Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 214
Location: Sweden

PostPosted: Sat Jan 1st, 12:21:08    Post subject: Reply with quote

mattymanx wrote:

Be careful what you wish for:

Quote:
Dear Mod author:

I have downloaded your mod and first I'd like to thankyou for your time and effort that you put into it. I followed your instructions as how to install it and it all seemed to work out fine. I only have one question though...what is Morrowind???


Laughing



EEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shocked Shocked Shocked

toothy7
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Dragon Wench
Seyda Neen Drunk
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Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 19
Location: British Columbia, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Jan 1st, 03:06:41    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had often been slightly confused by mod installation, but then I read Emma's suggestions when I downloaded Lokken, and I have used her method successfully with every mod I've tried since then, so many thanks for that!

Something else I do, if the mod is in Winzip, is simply right click and hit "Explore." Then I just copy and paste the folders and esp. found there into my Data Files. This way, I don't even need to do any unzipping.
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princess_stomper
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Joined: 06 Dec 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 7th, 08:04:57    Post subject: Reply with quote

mattymanx wrote:


Be careful what you wish for:

Quote:
Dear Mod author:

I have downloaded your mod and first I'd like to thankyou for your time and effort that you put into it. I followed your instructions as how to install it and it all seemed to work out fine. I only have one question though...what is Morrowind???


Laughing


ROTFBTCASTCIIHAC!

(rolling on the floor laughing, biting the carpet and scaring the cat if I had a cat)

Seriously? I use a set order for downloading and installing mods because I'd never keep track of them otherwise:

1. Download to a subfolder of My Documents called Morrowind Mods.
2. Use extracting program (WinZip, ZipGenius et al) to unzip mod to C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Morrowind\Data Files
3. Use My Computer to find the Data Files folder and check that everything is where it should be. If it's not, I cut-and-paste the lost files to their correct locations.
4. Create a new subfolder of Data Files called Readme in which to store the readme.txt files shipped with each mod - rename each readme if necessary to avoid accidentally oversaving multiple readme files - so instead of readme.txt it would be called (for example) lokkenreadme.txt
5. Move the zip file from My Documents\Morrowind Mods to My Documents\Morrowind Mods\Used.
6. I create other subfolders of My Documents\Morrowind Mods as my collection of downloads grows - I have a subfolder called Modding Tools for all those modding resource packs, manual documents and tools.

I'm sure that this is probably a needlessly complicated way of going about things, but it is useful to keep them in case - as I had to do - you end up having to delete your entire C:\...\Morrowind directory and lose all your mods. It only took a few minutes to reinstall the game and then start copying across the mods I wanted to keep from My Documents to C:\...\Data Files
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Emma
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Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 214
Location: Sweden

PostPosted: Sun Jan 16th, 09:50:10    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, that seems like a excellent way to do it, Princess Smile.

There are in fact many solutions that works more smoothly than my simple guide. But as those solutions varies between various kinds of packing systems etc, I wanted to provide a "quick-cover-them-all"-solution, that works for 95 % of all mods.


For those who want to learn all the tips and tricks on how to install mods, Thread_Whisperer has written an extensive guide that should cover as good as all systems, formats and problems. You'll find it here: http://rethan-manor.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=237
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