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Frequently Asked Questions - About the Project


Arthmoor

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Frequently Asked Questions - About the Project

Will the unofficial patches ever cost money now that Valve and Bethesda are allowing paid content?

Short answer: No.

Longer answer: The unofficial patches are a community driven effort in probably the purest possible way. It would be wrong of us to attempt to capitalize on that by suddenly shifting to a for-profit model for these patches. Even if there were to be some super simple way to remove all of the logistical and legal barriers to trying it, we still wouldn't do it. Put simply: It would be wrong on so many levels. So no. The unofficial patches will never cost money. They will always remain free.

If we are involved in the effort to generate unofficial patches for Elder Scrolls VI, those will also remain free.

What happens if Bethesda releases a patch for something you already fixed?

Skyrim Legendary Edition reached end of life in 2013. No further updates will be forthcoming from Bethesda since they have switched all their focus to Skyrim Special Edition.

Has the mod been cleaned?

Yes. All of the unofficial patch mods have been cleaned using the latest available version of TES5Edit. You do not need to clean them yourselves.

Do I need to do a clean save when upgrading?

No! When upgrading one of the unofficial patches, you simply need to copy the new files in and overwrite the old ones. NEVER follow advice given by someone to do a "clean save". In Skyrim, there is no such thing. Performing one can lead to corrupting your save, and nobody really wants that.

Is it safe to install the unofficial patch on an existing save?

Yes. All of the unofficial patches come with scripts designed to go over the state of things we've fixed and make sure your save is up to date with those. You can install them at any point during your game, whether you've completed the entire main quest or you just left Helgen for the first time.

Some issues may not be possible to fix retroactively. Those which can't are listed in the version history with an [NR] tag. Only starting a new game will resolve those issues.

Will the mod be released as an ESM file?

As of October 2013, the answer to this is "yes" - but with a catch. The files themselves are what the CK and the game consider "master files" - that is, a file with the ESM flag set on it internally. However, the file extension on them is still set as .esp.

This is what's known in modding as a "false flagged ESP file" which basically just means you won't damage your save by upgrading to the new format but at the same time will gain the various benefits provided by this. Not the least of which is that the game will be more stable and entire classes of engine related issues will no longer be present.

Have you included the source code to the modified Papyrus scripts?

Yes. All of the modified and added script source code is included in the .bsa. You'll need to unpack the file in order to be able to view them.

You will also need to unpack the .psc files should you decide to make mods which depend on or want to incorporate our script fixes.

What if I want to use something the unofficial patches have provided? Can I do that?

Yes. You are allowed to use any assets contained in the mod: Scripts, meshes, textures, text, etc. You do not need to obtain permission beforehand. In fact, it is strongly encouraged that you check regularly with the unofficial patch and see if you have edited anything with your own mods that might cancel out a fix. If you find that you have, you may feel free to copy whatever is needed in order to retain the fixes.

In fact, with the nature of Papyrus, it is almost critical that you check to see if a script you intend to change has been updated by the project. Papyrus conflicts can result in CTDs, bloated saves, and performance degradation.

If you feel it necessary, you may also use the unofficial patch as a master to your own mod in order to be sure you're not overwriting a fix. It is up to you to inform your users of this, if you wish to use our file as a master for your own.

Do not include the USKP's ESP file in your distribution if you use it as a master. ALWAYS refer your users to our downloads so they can be sure to obtain the proper files.

Am I allowed to modify your fixes and distribute supplemental packages based on that?

No. We do not permit modification of the actual bug fixes. This policy unfortunately had to come about because certain people took it upon themselves to "fix" things in the USKP they thought were broken but were not. This has led to a number of false reports of bugs attributed to our project that these people are actually responsible for causing. Since these folks have refused all meaningful attempts at communication to resolve this, we are making it explicitly clear we do not condone this type of behavior. It has always been the community's understood etiquette that permission to do things like this is required, and it's backed up by copyright law if you really need to go there. Nobody has EVER had standing permission to produce modifies copies of the work this project has done, and it's extremely disappointing that we apparently need to spell this out clearly now.

This is not the same as the previous question though! If in the course of modifying the game you realize you need to incorporate a USKP fix to prevent it getting lost, that's entirely fine and we encourage that.

If you are confused, ask us, don't just assume you can do as you please. Our Readme file also covers the details on this.

The unofficial patch changed something that conflicts with my mod. Can you fix this?

No, unfortunately not. The unofficial patches are only answerable to bugs in the vanilla game. We are not responsible for any problems fixing a bug may cause in your mod, no matter how popular it may be. It would be best to incorporate the fix into your work so as to avoid the issue to begin with.

There can be certain exceptions made in some scenarios, but they will be handled on a case by case basis. If you feel you have grounds for such an exception, make your case on the AFK Mods forum. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time trying to rally support by getting a bunch of Nexus users to comment about it. Such tactics will be ignored.

Does text edited by the patch show up in English in non-English games?

Yes, it does, unfortunately. At the moment the only viable way to fix this is for translators to manually update the text in the ESP file and issue a translated package in their preferred language. It's a tedious process, but at present the only one available that doesn't risk corrupting the file.

As the state of translation tools progresses, it may become possible in the near future to issue the ESP file in localized format with external string files that can be translated into other languages more easily, thus allowing for the possibility that the mod could be distributed in one location with multiple translation files available.
 
What is the proper load order for the Unofficial Patches?

As of November 2015, the load order for these mods has changed! They must now be loaded as follows:

Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
Dawnguard.esm
Hearthfires.esm
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp
[Other ESM Files]
HighResTexturePack01.esp
HighResTexturePack02.esp
HighResTexturePack03.esp
Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp
[Other ESP Files]

For getting load order set with other mods loaded, please use LOOT. It will provide you a solid starting point for everything that you can then tweak as needed.

I'm getting errors when trying to install the patches using Nexus Mod Manager

If you get the following error:

BOSS_API_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS: Master files must load before other plugins. The mod was not installed.

You need to perform the following steps:

- Uninstall and delete all the Unofficial patches in NMM.
- Exit NMM.
- Launch NMM again.
- Download and install all of the unofficial patches.
- Run LOOT to sort your load order.

Any other errors you get are likely to be problems with NMM itself or some other issue unrelated to the change in archive formats.

Do I still need to keep the old patches (USKP/UDGP/UHFP/UDBP) after I upgrade to the Legendary Edition (USLEEP)?

No, the install instructions are relatively clear that you need to remove the old patches after you install the new one. This will not cause any problems in your game as transition upgrades were extensively tested and proven to be problem free across a wide variety of characters, both old and new.

Before removing the old patches, you may need to check the next question.

I have numerous mods that used one or more of your old patches. What do I do about this? My game won't load now!

The preferred solution is to wait for authors using our patches as masters to update them properly for USLEEP compatibility. They know best what does and doesn't need to be done to accomplish that.

If a mod has been abandoned, or the author refuses to update for some reason, you can use Mator's xEdit Script for updating any files you have that used the old patches as masters. This script requires knowledge of how TES5Edit works, and any issues that come up with it must be directed toward Mator. We did not write this script, nor are we involved in its continued development or support. It has only been lightly tested by the team on a few small test cases to make sure nothing was outwardly wrong.

If you'd prefer to do the changes manually, refer to the sticky post at the top of our file comments on Nexus. Manually changing the files can be risky, so only do this if you REALLY know what you're doing.

Once this process is done and your mods have been updated, you can safely remove the old patches.

I've seen something called the Skyrim Misc Patches Collection (SMPC, aka USKP_Addon)? What is this? Do I need it? Is it safe?

As of July of 2015, the SMPC is no longer available for download and is not supported by its authors. You would be strongly advised to uninstall it and start a new game. The authors have publicly stated it will never be updated for compatibility with USLEEP.

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