Should mod authors unpack USSEP bsa?

[Jebbalon]

Been wondering about this for awhile now and haven't really found an answer....

Recent bug report on OBIS SE page indicated that USSEP fixes a hair mesh that some bandits use and that OBIS needs to generate its facegen with that mesh installed.
So, no problem I can extract the meshes from USSEP's bsa and run the facegen.

However, in my modding endeavors I've often used vanilla scripts that I copy and adapt to my different mods. Although I do try to check with USSEP scripts - I really only check in xEdit for any changes made. This is what I've been thinking about for awhile now...
Should I unpack USSEP.bsa and install as loose files?

This would be useful in the CK but not for playing game is my understanding. So, my questions are...
- How do you all do it?
- Can I add USSEP to the INI archive loading section? 
- Is there a guide somewhere that I haven't come across?
- Should I only unpack some things (scripts and above mentioned mesh) what else would be needed?

Thanks in advance!
-Jebbalon

............. How did I get this far without knowing this info?

[Arthmoor]

If you're going to be using USSEP as a master for mod development you will need to have the scripts unpacked so that you can modify and compile the proper copies of those scripts.

If all you're doing is trying to make sure you don't snuff out some of our properties on a script or whatever, then it would be enough to add the patch BSA to your ini for the CK.

I would suggest only unpacking any meshes or textures if you happen to be doing something to one we've edited along the way. It might also be useful to have a separate install of the game just for mod development too.

[Jebbalon]

Ok, Thank you Arthmoor. That pretty much answered my questions.

[lmstearn]

Running two separate or quasi installs for mod/ game testing is a great idea. Not much info about it around, but probably worth while employing a script to automate it.

[Jebbalon]

Thank you Imstearn. That link helped.