How to make your esp compatible while enjoying SI

[Razorwing]

To be able to play Shivering Isles and still mod for Silgrad Tower, please duplicate your Oblivion.esm before installing the expansion pack. Next time you start a plugin, work from the "Copy of Oblivion.esm"* you created + the modding esm version of Silgrad_Tower.esm.

Before submitting your esp, open it in TES4 Gecko. Click the button called Edit Master List and double-click your esp. Highlight "Copy of Oblivion.esm"* and then click the button Rename. Enter the original filename, "Oblivion.esm", and then click Ok. Then hit the Done button and now your esp will be compatible with the main esm. It takes like thirty seconds to do it.

[indent][/indent]You must not continue working on that file after doing that. If you want
[indent][/indent]to continue, open it again in TES4 PU and change the master file name back
[indent][/indent]to "Copy of Oblivion.esm".

If you don't have access to an unaltered Oblivion.esm let me know and I'll try to upload a copy of mine. (I don't believe that's illegal since you would have had to have bought the game to use the content of the file.) That copy should only be used for modding of course, it may not be compatible for playing purposes with the rest of your install.

* You can name the duplicated file to anything you like.

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If you've already installed Shivering Isles before joining us it might be easier for you to download the following Oblivion.esm which is free of SI content.

Download:
Part 1 | Part 2

Save both parts to a new folder on your computer. Start up 7-Zip** and browse to the folder you created. Highlight Oblivion_ESM_No_SI.7z.001 by left-clicking on it, then right-click and choose the option that says "Assemble files" or something to that affect. Click Ok on the popup window, and the full 7-Zip file will be created. Double-click on it and extract it to the folder you created. Rename it to "Copy of Oblivion.esm" and drop it in your Oblivion\Data folder.

This "Copy of Oblivion.esm" can only be used for modding purposes and it is unlikely that you can use it to play with since it might differ from the rest of your install. To playtest your plugin, change it's master dependancy from "Copy of Oblivion.esm" to "Oblivion.esm" in TES4 Gecko and then play with your usual Shivering Isles-version of "Oblivion.esm". This won't be a problem after your plugin is merged since our main esm is compatible with both versions of Oblivion.esm.

** 7-Zip is a freeware zip program that is far superior to winzip. We use it a lot in our community. You can download a copy from 7-zip.org.

[WhiteWizard]

There is another way, I just found this:
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index....pic=665644

Originally posted by Wrye
Wrye Bash (v 0.63) has a hot swapping feature that allows you to quickly swap between the 1.1 and SI (Shivering Isles) versions of Oblivion.esm. Just click a menu item and they're swapped. Moreover, if you're using Bash's savegame profiles, you can associate different versions of the esm with different profiles. Thus, swapping profiles automatically swaps the esms too.

Note that you need both versions of Oblivion.esm on your machine. In practice, that means before installing Shivering Isles you should copy Oblivion.esm to Oblivion_1.1.esm. (If you haven't done that, you'll need to: reinstall Oblivion. Reinstall the 1.1 patch. Then do the copying. Then reinstall SI. Doable, but not fun!)

Notes:
* Is this feature totally necessary? I'm not sure, but better safe than sorry. This approach allows modders to get and enjoy SI, without having to worry about their ability to build backward compatible mods -- which is a good thing I think.
* There are several topics on consequences of 1.2 patch and SI changes, so let's not cover that again here. Just sticking to this feature will be enough to confuse90% of the people posting.
* If you have a question about some other feature of Bash, please post on the [RELZ] Wrye Bash (main Bash topic). I do these satellite topics once in a while when the new feature is important enough -- they run on for a bit until folks get used to the new feature.

Installation:
* While I'm generally pretty helpful, I have very low tolerance for people who want me to read the manual to them. Installing bash the first time is not hard, but it's not a one button install either. You need to read and follow the instructions! This is particularly true if Bash refuses to start.
* If you have problems at startup, folow the directions, and are still stumped, then ask for help. At that point (having followed the instructions) you will have a bugdump. if you ask for help and don't have a bugdump, I will bite your fingers off. :toughninja: (It's a monkey thing.) Seriously, I have a really low tolerance for people want me to read the manual to them.
* The good news is that once you've installed Bash the first time, later updates are trivial -- just unzip it to the Oblivion directory. (And at version 0.63, I am on yep, the 63rd release of Bash. :mohawk: )

Links:
* Main bash topic: [RELZ] Wrye Bash #4
* Readme: Top of Readme, Installation, Oblivion.esm Swapping
* Download: Wrye Musings

[Razorwing]

I updated the original post with info on how to proceed if one already has SI installed before joining the team.