Hello! As a member of this open forum I have been entitled to some great advice and superb assistance in many ventures. With the release of Skyrim we have been flooded with new players who wish to implement mods into their game. I am here as a user and advacator for doing your mod installation and load order management with Wrye Bash(Wrye Smash for Skyrim). Now many guides I have found tend to be vey thorough but often delve into details that are rather unimportant for someone who wishes to simply pluck a mod or two out and play the game carefree without dealing with a lot of computer stuff. But really, the 2-3 things that I use most often use Wrye Bash for are quite simply handled.

Lets Get Started...


!!!!!!!!!!Caution!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------ALWAYS READ THE README FOR ANY MOD YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED. THEY WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS THAT ARE RELATED TO THAT INDIVIDUAL MOD!!!!!
I know there are dozens of guides for mod installation and some great ones for Wrye Bash specifically, but the goal of this guide is to make it soo easy to understand that if your grandma wanted to play Skyrim, with a full helping of mods, she could. So only the essentials are covered as I attempt to explain the basic file hierarchy that Wrye Bash uses to install mods; and doing so in the simplest terms possible. Occasionally I slip outside the realm of proper technical explanation ( as you will see if you read to completion).But stick with me and hopefully you will learn a thing or two...

PS: Please remember that the official word on all things related to Wrye Bash can be found in the Wrye Bash readme or the Wrye Bash thread.

Downloading and Installation
1. Download Wrye Bash from any of the Nexus or the official site.if you download the exe version its even less work. For further information see-----------http://oblivionworks.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/oblivionworks/Programs/Wrye%20Bash/Mopy/Wrye%20Bash.html----the readme
http://modsreloaded.com/wrye-bash
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1840

2. When installing it will ask which games to install it for, essentially all this does is place a new folder in your game directory ( where the exe and the data folder are) called Mopy, and will also add a folder to the Steam Common Apps folder right
beneath( or above) the \skyrim folder.

3a. Now download a mod. Some mods come in a format that is designed to be installed using Wrye Bash. If this is the case it will be labeled as, "Bash Installer ( BAIN for short) Wizard"( meaning it uses a special method that allows for complex archives to be handled , in which case all you need to do is drag that downloaded file into the Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers folder. The technical aspects of what makes it work is beyond my understanding but if the mod is listed as BAIN you can skip down to.......Inside the Belly of the Beast: Using Wrye Bash

3b.Now if a mod is not in the format ( ;if it does not say anything then it most likely is NOT using a BAIN Wizard to install) download the file as usual. However make another folder inside of the directory where you keep your Skyrim downloads with the same name as the mod. Now when the file downloads save it to that folder.

Getting The File Ready For Wrye Bash

At this point it might get tricky so pay attention....
4a.Now extract the file. Everything inside the compressed (.zip,.7zip, or .rar) folder should now be visible in your created folder. At this time you must check to see.........

4b. If the file extracted is either, a .esp, a folder labeled textures, sound , or meshes..etc., or a text document then your file is already set to go. This would mean that the file is BAIN Ready, unlike the BAIN Wizard this means that the package( sereis of folders and loose files) is simple ( again just a fancy word for saying its in the correct order. Some mods will let you know if it is BAIN ready ( please remember this is different from BAIN Wizard as if the file contains alternate plugins or multiple sets of data; aka an alternate .esp or different textures for the same item. You must manage this by deleting files by hand) But if...

4c. When the file is extracted there is a data folder, a folder containing a data folder, or the mod has stated that it has multiple, interchangable .esps, textures or meshes ( in which case you must remove or delete the ones that you do not want to use, or else your mod will be conflicting with itself)

--------------------------------For an in depth explanation of what is actually going on here go down to the, Explaining File Hiearchy section at the bottom of the page.-------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew...if your still with me please keep reading...

5. So now that you know what it should look like inside the compressed file you will do 1 of 2 things. If the file is layed out correctly, meaning that when you open the compressed file you see folders named things like meshes, textures, .esp( these should be loose without folders), sounds etc and everything appears in order, then you can simply drag that compressed file into the Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers folder, that Wrye Bash has created for you.

6. If things are not in order, then fix them. This is simple if the compressed file has been extracted to that mod folder I had you make earlier, basically this is just housekeeping so that mod files stay close to eachother if you have a lot of downloads.

6a. Then open up the folder that is wrong, ie. either the data or some other type of folder not named, meshes, textures,sounds etc. Then drag those folders and files out of the data folder. At this time it doesnt hurt to double check and make sure that all of the folders actually are organized correctly ( most modders will do this already because if they do not then their mod will not work).

7. Then simply compress all of the files that you wish to include in the installed version of the mod ( exluding the now empty data or alternate folder and any optional or alternate content) and rename it to the name of mod( usually the compressed file, unless using 7zip, will name itself after the last thing it included in the compressed folder).

8. Now it is ready to be dragged and dropped or copied over, to the \Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers folder.


Inside The Belly of the Beast: Using Wrye Bash

Your in the home stretch!

1. Now go to the Mopy folder inside of the Skyrim directory( where you find the Skyrim.exe) . At this point you should see the Wrye Bash.exe. Click it and prepare to be baffled.

2. Ignore pretty much everything at first, as tools will only become usefull once you know how to use them. You should see several tabs, with the active tab being your load order( right now should only have the Update.esm and Skyrim.esm. Next to the Mods tab you will find the Installers Tab, click this and grab a snack because the first time it loads up takes a moment or two.

3.Now you should see what is essentially the inside of the Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers folder, it is just layed out in a manner that is easier to navigate. You should see the compressed folders of the mods that you have dropped into the Bash Installers folder.

4. They should have an unchecked box next to them. If you left click on them a menu appears on the top right of the dialogue box.

4a. In this you should see several tabs, one of which being the General tab, it should be the default tab. While looking at the General tab ensure that,

4a1. Next to Structure: It says simple, ( if the mod says Simple/Complex then check the color of the package name( what you named it earlier) if it is blue that means it has a Wrye Bash script and will still install correctly, otherwise you have to go back and see what is wrong)

4a2. Also check to make sure nothing is next to missing and that any conflicts are not going to crush your game ( a texture or mesh conflict is not nearly as bad as a script or ai type of conflict).

5. When all appears right with the mod then simply right click and install, if it was using a BAIN ready archive then when you click on the package it will give you a list of Sub-Packages on the lower right of the screen, these give you options in selecting which package will actually be installed. Then click on the mods tab and make sure the box next to the file is green, check marked, and its number is anything greater than 00, if you have only 1 mod it will be 01.

Folder/File Hierarchy and Whats Really Going On

Some explanation is required now so we will deviate away from the step by step method for a moment....You see inside that confusing mess of a Skyrim Directory you will find various things, if a mod instructs you to install to the Skyrim Directory ( it will always say so if it is required; usually the uploader will say something like, " install in the same place as the skyrim.exe". However inside that big folder you will find the Data folder. If your game is completely unmodded you will find just the bare minimum inside, basically it will have the .bsa's ( a compression type unique to Bethesda that basically packs all the games original resources into a transferable and manageable size) and some folders that you do not want to touch unless you know what you are doing.

When the game loads up something like a sword it will look into the data folder. If your game is vanilla( unmodded) it will simply look at the .bsa packages and find the mesh, texture, animation, sound and all other aspects that affect that sword. Now the one way this can be altered is if the game finds a folder with the same file name first. For example, While inside the data folder, I create a new path of folders that are arranged like this data>>textures>>weapons>>iron and then inside that last folder I place a new .dds( the format for texture files) called ironsword.dds. The game will now look into my data folder and find that folder path I created, then load the new texture before looking into the .bsa, and then load everything else accordingly. Now basically what Wrye Bash and even NMM do, is they take a compressed file, and as long as it maintains the folder hierarchy that I mentioned, it will extract the files to the appropriate locations and make sure there are no conflicts between ESPs or textures,meshes etc. This is why it is crucial to make sure that the folder hierarchy in the mod is correct. If the mod needs to be installed into the data folder, then it must be arranged with the resource type (mesh,texture,sound), as the first step of the hierarchy. If a data or alternate folder name is used, Wrye Bash will not extract correctly because just assume that it doesn't know what Data is, it just knows what data contains.



Well I cleaned it up a bit, tried to make it a look a bit nicer and cleared up some inconsitencies and errors. Still working on getting images in there and perhaps attempting to define the folder hierarchy a little better. Ill work on this soon but now I really need to do some schoolwork!

Awesome. Thanks for this. I'm still using NMM, but these are some very helpful instructions for if/when I decide to switch to BAIN. If you're so inclined, an explanation like this regarding when/how to add mods into a bashed patch would also be helpful (for me, at least). I've read the readme's and a lot of the discussions here, and I'm still not "getting it" for some reason.

This grandma is getting old and needs links to the stuff you talk about. In addition break it down into steps 1. 2. 3... because her eyesight isn't so good. Where's my dentures!

Keep up the good work! and I just might give you a candy

Just a suggestion: it'd be easier reading for most folks if you prettify it. As in, formatting it to separate things up. Not a problem for me, personally, since I rather like walls of text but think of the standard forum user. Their eyes man!

Yep thanks for the advice from the last two posts. I was getting ready for class as I copy pasted this over from my earlier post ; and am currently late and running out the door. My goal for tonight is to put up some screenshots of the menus I take about, fix up the order and reduce the word count down a lot by using visual aids and links. Again, like I said, this post was going to be a quick runthrough with 4-5 steps but I felt that actually explaining some of whats going on will help. I attempted to base the guide off of what I feel is missing when I follow a tutorial and that is essentially the groundwork. If I dont understand the basic level of it, and can only follow a specific mod installation, then how can I use the guide later on for something else?

Hope the crappy format helps a few of you now, but I promise to have a cleaned up and bookmarkable thread ready for you by the morrow. But first, 6 hours of classes

I would split out the description of how searching for files works into a separate section.

(By the way, my ideal mod manager would combine the features of NMM's download manager, BASH's install manager and a save game manager. Except without all the bugs. And I can almost make that work right now, but I need to figure out how to get BASH to look in my current save directory for its mod configuration target.)

Ty. I need to do this since PISE war in skyrim and armoury of Tamriel have a few mild conflicts like leveled loot lists. Its a bit more daunting when I already have everything installed verse a fresh client.

This. I just switched from NMM to wyrebash and as far as I can tell it doesn't retrieve versions and let you know when a new version comes out. I loved that feature in NMM. Is there any disadvantage to using NMM to actually download and install the files, and then wyrebash to manage them?

I have also been looking into WyreBash and just not wanting to deal with what seems to be too much work I'll wait to look this over until you edit it down some, Thanks!

Just a few minor points for you:

You use the term "Bash Installer Script", which implies there's some sort of thing in the installer that's running to setup the install, when you're actually just referring to a package with Sub-Packages. This could become confusing if you use this term, when you start looking at packages with a BAIN Wizard in them, which actually is a script that can be run to configure the package. The term you're actually looking for is simply a "complex" installer.

"complex" just means the package has Sub-Packages. For example, if the archive has everything like this:

Archive.7z\  Data\    ..files..

Wrye Bash is actually treating the whole thing like a "complex" package with one Sub-Package: "Data".

"complex/simple" is just the special case of a "complex" package with only one Sub-Package, like the above example.

That's what the blue text coloring is indicating: black = "simple" package, blue = "complex".

Also, the term you were looking for is BAIN (BAsh INstaller).

Yeah I knew the term was wrong lol. Couldnt recall it. Wrye Bash is your brain child and I truly appreciate your hard work. I'll be sure to update the guide to be as accurate and maintain as high a level a quality as the program itself has maintained. My guide is really just my way of showing people who, at one point like me, are afraid or cautious in using Wrye Bash despite its core installation method being so simple to use. If you would prefer that I drop this as to avoid confusion for future forumers, I will be more than happy to bow out. Overall I would like readers to know that when it comes down to it, the Wrye Bash readme and Wrye Bash thread are the definitive place to find answers and recieve help. I'm really just attempting to reach people on a much simpler level, a level that has ease of installation as well as protection against the issues that come with mod installation.\


Otherwise, thanks for the information and I am getting to work on this the moment by programming homework is complete.

Ok here are some tips and clarifications to spruce this up a little.

Consider a larger text line denoting the start of the tutorial.

BAIN Wizard

BAIN compatible archive.

Never include the default address for the game unless you specify that as most people if having good gaming practices will have installed their game outside of the program file folder in any number of possible root locations not to mention it will be just be Program Files for x86 OS. It's good pratice to just start at highest common folder which in this case would be Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim Mods\Bash


It's actually an esm



That's all i got, good job.

No problem. There's nothing wrong with more helpful guides, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any confusing terms getting out there

Well, I cleaned it up a bit and formatted it some. Didn't do much, but it is an easier read now. Feel free to hijack the edits I made to your original as I did the same.

I didn't fix all the errors in it, though. Some spots I wasn't too sure what you were trying to refer to, so I left most of the things that weren't obvious.

Cleaned up and mostly edited. I made this rather quickly assuming that the user had almost little to no knowledge and it really only covered very basic files that did not have alternate esps or resources that had to be removed to prevent conflict. Still going to try and include pictures and if I get enough feedback will describe Bashed Patches the best I can.

Guess our two edits should be combined, eh? >.>
Put together, it should be much better than both separate.

Ok, sorry again: just correcting some points again:

Blue text in BAIN means the package is "complex" - either "complex/simple" or "complex", with "complex/simple" just meaning it only has one Sub-Pacakge, so it's displayed like a "simple" package.

A BAIN Wizard, is indicated by the "http://oblivionworks.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/oblivionworks/Programs/Wrye%20Bash/Mopy/bash/images/checkbox_green_off_wiz.png" on the icon - this means the package specificially has a file called "wizard.txt", which can be run to make selections. This is totally different than the checkboxes for selecting Sub-Packages and ESPs/ESMs. http://oblivionworks.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/oblivionworks/Programs/Wrye%20Bash/Mopy/bash/images/selectmany.jpg is an example of what it looks like when a BAIN Wizard is run.

And finally, for the latest online readme, link to the one on http://oblivionworks.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/oblivionworks/Programs/Wrye%20Bash/Mopy/Wrye%20Bash.html instead. The one on Wrye Musings is very out of date (and says so on Wrye's site).

I'd just like to offer my input for everyone.

I have always used Wrye's programs because they are far easier and more powerful than the mod manager equivalents. For example, profile changing for different characters is much simpler. The bashed patch is far more powerful and one of the most important elements for me. Etc.

I started using NMM for Skyrim because Wrye's program had not been ported fully (and now I have used it for FONV too) but I still need Wrye's options to really mod the game the way I need to in order to enjoy playing it. NMM just died with the update today to 14.1, too, and I have never had such a thing happen with Wrye's stuff. Unfortunately, Wrye Flash NV does have some problems with FONV (at least with the Steam version) so I have been using both Wrye Flash NV and NMM (until today when NMM died). Not sure what happened or when it will be fixed.

Anyway... for anyone considering using many mods, Wrye's software is invaluable, particularly if you want to tweak various game settings in a bashed patch, or merge various mods together. The GUI is very intuitive once you use it and the various color coding and symbols used to offer information are far better than what you have in the mod managers, at least right now. Of course, the downside to all this functionality is that the readme may not keep up to date and the software might refer to something that was used in TES IV (or FO 3) that does not get used now in Skyrim (or FO NV). However, I think there is a merging of functionality taking place, so this type of confusion may vanish in the future.

As far as checking for the latest version of mods, you should do that anyway for any mod you like. However, an update may not be a good idea for some mods (i.e., you could wind up with conflicts that you did not have). A modder may change something because they think it is better, or because some people wanted it, but that doesn't mean that you want it or need it. Another thing to consider for some people is that they complain about connecting to Steam, but NMM also requires connection to Nexus, so that may not be desirable for some people even if they wish to use some mods.

The walkthrus for using NMM will tell you that you should always extract and check the structure of the mods you try to use, anyway. This is true for both Wrye and NMM. Many of the problems that people have are caused by not manually checking the mod structures. Honestly, I think that Beth and Valve may face a large number of email complaints once the CK is out for Skyrim even though many of those complaints are not the responsibility of either Beth or Valve, but rather rely on users learning how to properly manage their mods. No software tool can offer one-click solve-all-problems functionality, and people have to learn to be willing to take the time and have the patience to learn mod use and management, as well as the fact that mods will likely increase crashing, conflicts, etc. However, the flexibility is worth it for many people, as well as the vast increase in game value.

You hit the nail on the head. With the influx of new player using mods it is quite clear that Bethesda, the Nexus and Steam have all used their resources to try and make this complex process as simple as possible. However, I am wary that once mods start to require proper archive management, conflict avoidance and unique installation methods that any sort of blanket installation program will cause these new players more trouble in the long run. Just look at OBMM or FOMM. They were great programs and I give credit to their creators but many of us found issues with it as we installed more, and more complex and unique mods which caused us to switch to Wrye Bash in the first place. I have always been one of those types to avoid the programs that appear confusing but it is quite simply the only way to minimize installation issues.No matter how hard anyone tries, PROPER mod installation will be a relatively difficult affair that requires time,patience and most importantly reading.

Good idea to get a guide like this up

A suggestion however. This entire section:

Can be shortened (and thus made much easier) dramatically.

• Firstly -- to install mods to Wrye Bash you can simply drag a .zip, .7z, .rar etc from Windows Explorer to the Wrye Bash window, and it will add it. You can also drag directly from your web browser's download dialog. Hence download from Nexus, drag file from download dialog, and you're done!

• Secondly -- if as you say a mod isn't packaged correctly and you need to move directories or files around before adding to Wrye Bash, this too you can do within Wrye Bash much easier. First add the mod as above, and then:
  
  • When you add the mod to Wrye Bash, if it is Red then it's an archive it can't install unless you do something with it first (so Hunter you don't need to unpack every mod you download, Wrye Bash will let you know). Then if it is red:
    
  • Right-click on the mod archive and select 'Unpack to Project(s)...'
    
  • Once unpacked, the mod will appear with a diamond next to it instead of a box. This simply means the files are unpacked and not in an archive.
    
  • Double-click on the unpacked mod and Windows Explorer will open. Do your thing moving directories/files.
    
  • When you're ready, right-click on the unpacked mod and select 'Pack to Archive...'. Wyre Bash will compress it to a .7z for you. If the original mod was a .7z, you can elect to overwrite it. If it wasn't, you can hit Delete to remove the old archive.

And that's it! Three simple steps -- unpack, modify, repack. All within Wrye Bash.

Special bonus point notes: You can also install and uninstall unpacked mods just as you would an archive of the mod from Wrye Bash. This makes it easy to test your changes before repacking, if you want to repack at all.

Hey hunter2121, I like your guide a lot, very informative. It saves me the time I had already planned on spending this weekend to make one. Mind if I add in a section to your guide that I believe would woo users of NMM over even more to Wrye Bash? My little addition will allow users to download mods on the Nexus straight to their Wrye Bash Installer's directory and still have the “Latest Version” feature of Nexus Mod Manager (which is extremely helpful if you aren't a Nexus Premium member).

Have you heard of the “NMM to Wrye Bash Adapter” on the Nexus? Basically what it does is takes a Fomod installation script, lets you choose what items you want from the mod, run the adapter, and it creates a new package that is compatible with Wrye Bash's installer directory with only the items you chose during the Fomod installation. Until these Fomod's are either made into a BAIN-ready format or you download a BAIN conversion file from Lojack's mod, this adapter is the best way to use Fomod scripts for Wrye Bash.

Post redacted, too many errors because these forums messed up everything and won't let me post the whole section. I've PM'ed you this part of the guide Hunter2121.

redacted, doesn't make sense without the first part.

redacted, sorry for the triple post..... this is midly annoying..... Why on earth the Full editor can't show me my full post is beyond me. I've PM'ed you the entire guide Hunter2121. Let me know if you'd like to add it to your guide.

quite good info, and the links will be most usefull when i have the time!

thanks hunter!

Thanks! The wording and flow of those steps are certainly a bit simpler to follow. I was having trouble wording it because it really is something that differs from person to person. I know I always avoid extracting files because I hate untidy folders , but also for newbies it is a nice blanket step that will force you to look into the file structure. Better yet, your method is certainly more effiecient and was something I have never really tried. When I am back at my PC I will be sure to alter the post to include those notes and perhaps a link to modinns NMM to Wrye Bash converter. I have a bit of hesitation for that because I do think that it is important for people to organize files themselves so that they learn it isn't just magic behind it