OK - I fugured out the problem and have run into another. All of this time, what was missing was Update.esm was not in the merging/data folder. It had created the fid fud fvd files for it but I did not copy the actual esm into the folder. The tutorial only says to copy Skyrim.esm and one of the mod's esms into merging/data so that was what I did. Hooray! but now for the bad news. It runs into another problem. It says I cannot check in because my CreationKit.exe is old and must be updated from the network before check in is allowed. WTF. I have 1.6.89. Isn't that the latest version?

Maegfaer, you might want to consider updating the tutorial to say copy both Skyrim.esm and Update.esm. I suppose most people are smart enough to do that themselves. I thought I did in the first go round so I suspect the network issue still existed.

Now does anybody know what I can do about the CK versions?

Ah, yes I forgot to add that because I don't use it for MERP. Sorry for that, I updated the tutorial on the wiki. Glad it's sorted.

About the new error message, it probably doesn't say that the CK is outdated, but that the plugins are outdated? That happens from time to time, all you need to do is re-generate the fid files etc. by redoing the Ctrl+Shift+B trick.

I hope this doesnt sound as a spam....

If you're interested, I've found a workaround to test plugins without having to merge them.

If it's just for testing purposes, I've found a simple workaround to set referencies to plugins, instead of master files.
This way, to make the easiest example, you can build a large worldspace and set the plugins containing flora and fauna to depend on that worldspace as a .esp file, instead of a .esm.

You cant merge them, but you can test them in game. Plus it's a quick trick, nothing as complicated and frustrating as using VC.

Let me know.

The message actually says the Editor is old and needs to be updated from the Network before I can check in. Maybe they mean something else. i tried to regenerate all of the fids and fuds but now it won't give me the blank detail pages again.

Edit - that was the very first error I had with VC. I couldn't generate the files because it wouldn't offer the option to use blank pages in th edetail view and Ctrl+Shift+b did nothing. I'm back to that. Well actually, the CK crashed the last time I had it open and now neither the CK nor the game will run. I checked the files through Steam and it noted them both as corrupted and downloaded new files but the CK still won't start. I don't have the energy to restore a backup right now. It seems like most of the freeware I get works better than this and I am not a big fan of freeware.

You can already test your plugin without merging it. Just load Yourplugin.esm and Yourplugin.esp into the game. All changes are still there, they're just not merged. No need for another esp
Are you sure it didn't say the master is older than the version on the network ? and then give you the option to copy the master file over from the network to your Skyrim data folder. The 2 esm files in Merging\Data and Skyrim\Data must have the same timestamp to allow loading or checking in your esp with the CK.

I dont know about you, but if I try to load a .esm that has not Skyrim.esm dependencies, I get an error and a CTD.....

I'm not really following you here.
Why don't your create your esm from the esp that you're using to test it ?

I only asked about the network thing, because depending on the setup - it's against the EULA (installing to a network). Presumably the devs used a network during development, but may have cut an artery in making the SDK public. It seems that almost every brand-new aspect of the game-engine/SDK with Skyrim (as opposed to FO/Obliv) has some kind of bug or another (though some have been fixed since the initial release).

And I've never seen that error or anything network-related with Skyrim... I only use a single admin account on my system, so all the krappy hoops one must jump through almost NEVER apply (though 3DSMax and some of its plugins require a little). Sorry I can't help!

[EDIT: and I haven't touched the new VC with a 30ft pole... I still do my merging with Snip - as much as people question that method. Works fine for me!]

That only applies if you are installing the game onto a network. This could in effect, (possibly) allow multiple users to play the game with just one licence key.
In the case of VC, you're not installing anything to a network, you're only storing and accessing resources on certain shared folders.

No, it clearly says Editor and there are no options at all. Check in just stops. The esms are exact duplicates. It just says the Editor is old and must be updated from the network before check in can continue. It seems like the title on the message is something like Old editor warning. I found a screenshot of it in an old post so someone else has seen it before.

There is another spot much earlier in the process that gives you the chance to sync the masters.

Over again....

I have a 16x16 worldspace plugin.

Cant load it in CK as a esp file and cant play it as a esm because I get crashes everytime

Cant simply use another plugin to add modifications to the .esm because the .esm cant be loaded to play

Cant get CK to set a Skyrim reference in the .esm file (Version Control's silliest error message ever)

Cant play my worldspace as a .esp because the plugin containing modifications would override the main terrain features leavig me with just an unplayable LOD and few terrain patches

Thus it's a risky edit with TESVSnip or.....?

- SO -

What I do is:
- I make the worldspace as an esp file
- I make a esm copy of the worldspace through TES4Gecko
- I load the esm version of my worldspace in CK and save modifications in another plugin
- Now I have three files: the original esp, the esm version and another plugin containing modifications
- Since I cant load the esm in Skyrim and the mod plugin has a reference for MyWorldspace.esm, what I do is changing that reference from esm to esp

Now the modifications plugin has two dependencies: Skyrim.esm and MyWorldspace.esP (not .esm)

With this setup I can load both plugins successfully, MyWorldspace.esp + Modifications.esp