Hello everyone,

I've been creating a companion mod lately and I wanted to place some large statics somewhere (an inn where my companions would live in). I ran into the usual problems we've all been experiencing... my statics would dissapear from the game. Now, there's been a problem with creating new characters as well. They wouldn't load correctly in-game, their face tints would go all over the place and custom hairstyles were a no go. There's been a fix found however. You can create new characters (by duplicating or by creating new ones in the actor screen) in an .esp, then have that .esp convert to a .esm. You would then use an .esp in addition to the .esm to further modify the character. This fixed ALL the character tinting / custom hairstyles problems with newly created NPC's.

Now that got me thinking, what if I'd use the same approach to large statics? So I created a plugin with some ultra-huge statics placed in the Tundra next to Whiterun. I then converted the .esp to .esm like I did with my character and guess what... no dissappearing statics (did this several times with a couple of different plugins and statics). So, this would mean that, if you plan to build a large town / city / dungeon / mountainside you can make a 'base' plugin with your large statics and then convert that plugin to an .esm. This would then become your master file which you can edit using a new plugin. The downside is that you cannot add new statics to the master after you converted it... It is probably possible to move the statics from your master around in your plugin aka give them a new position, but adding new statics to your plugin would generate the same problems as before. If this works as I think it does however, it offers us a viable solution without the decaying perfomance using Full LOD could result in.

Example of the files you would create if you'd be building a large town somewhere:

Large Town.esm: Holds your large statics, your castles, bridges, etc.
Large Town.esp: Holds all your detailed, smaller statics, NPC's, markers, other stuff that wouldn't dissappear ingame (for all I know the problem has been with large statics only?)

Now I don't want to claim that this is the universal fix we've all been looking for (hence the topic title). I'm just posting this because it worked for me and I couldn't find the same solution anywhere else on the forums (if it is there somewhere please post a link / delete this topic if necessary!). So, the next step is: Testing! Please try this and check for yourselves IF this works for every system and setup. Oh, and I can't think of any disadvantages of using a master and a plugin everytime you want to create a mod with large statics, but then again I'm not all that experienced with the Creation Kit either, so please correct me where necessary.

Steps you need to take:

• Download 'tesvsnip' http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=5064
  
• Use the creation kit to place the large statics somewhere
  
• Save your plugin (lets name it Test.esp for now) and quit the CK
  
• Open 'tesvsnip'
  
• Go to File > Open and find your plugin
  
• Select your plugin in the 'Record List'
  
• Go to File > Save
  
• Choose a name (Test.esm) and make sure you select the .esm type and not .esp
  
• Save the file
  
• Now, open the CK and check 'Skyrim.esm' and 'Test.esm'. You will notice that the CK still thinks of 'Test.esm' as a plugin.
  
• So, load the cell with your statics and change something. Like, raising the static a bit or turning it by half a degree. ANYTHING that makes a change to the static will do.
  
• Now, save this plugin (just use ctrl-s). My CK crashed on several occassions but seemed to save the plugin without problems.
  
• By saving the plugin, the CK now recognizes it as a masterfile. This solved the large static problem for me! They all showed up without having the Full LOD box checked.
  
• Now, you want to complete your village / town / whatever. Thus the next few steps:
  
• Open the CK. Only load Skyrim.esm.
  
• Make a change somewhere (use the cell you put your statics in) and save the .esp (Test2.esp for now). This will become your main .esp file NEXT to Test.esm master.
  
• Open 'tesvsnip' again and load the test2.esp like in step 5.
  
• Right-click the .esp in the Record Lister and choose 'Add Master'. Find Test.esm you just created. Save.
  
• Now you can load the CK with skyrim.esm and use Test2.esp as active file. The CK will load your test.esm file you created in step 13 because you linked it in step 18. You can finish your plugin now.

By all means, try this out, and if it doesn't work, so be it! But I was really glad it fixed the problems for me and I hope this created a workaround untill Beth fixes the CK.

Acthalion

Hm... I'm getting to the point where I have to compare this sweet little piece of software to the Lernaean Hydra. I tried the above posted method and indeed the statics were there. But any landscape height editing which I applied to the plugin was gone, so eventually statics were invisible once more because now the soil swallowed them. I wonder what surprises are still waiting to be discovered in this rare masterpiece of bug-craftsmanship. How about a daedric lord uf software-bugs called Bethesdarion for TES VI...

(I'm sorry for that, I know germans are not funny)

Doing the height editing in your .esp file tied to your .esm file should do the trick right?

In deed! Well, well, well this is all very strange, Lord Bethesdarion. So now I have a plugin that's dependant on three masters because I'm working on a large worldspace - nevermind that for now. Good job!

Pretty cool man. How does this affect the Full LOD option in the edit menu of the static? I've noticed that different statics respond in their own ways to this option. Sort of trial and error.

I'd like to point out that you can use the CK to convert to esm. No additional software is required. I've done this on 3 of my player homes with no issues. Then used esp files to overwrite and update them. Can't upload to SW, but I'm disliking the workshop more and more, so no loss there imo.

You can merge the masters later using Tesvsnip. I managed to fix the landscape problem by deleting al 'land' records in the master file using tesvsnip and then use the plugin to adjust the landscape to statics that were placed by the master, floating around. Still get it?

Delete all the land? I guess you're not working in a new worldpace. I just applied a small landscape edit in every cell which was edited before, that was all. A Vertex color edit should suffice.
Anyway, my method was a little simpler than yours. I just used Wrye Bash to copy myworld.esp to an esm and then saved it in the CK as a new plugin. (At least on my second try)
And how do you manage to merge masters with TESVSnip?

Edit:
You can also just use the region editor to generate a blank region, then check "enable this type of data" in objects and hit generate for the area in which the height has been edited and then save. That way you won't change the slightest bit.