Merging mods to increase Performance!

[Anach]

1. for starters, .dbc is pointless. Name everything .package. That makes it easier to manage and there is no difference in format and you dont need to change your resource.cfg.

2. You need the correct version of S3PE with "(Experimental) as .dbc" in the import menu. That will merge everything and also merge the index (manifest) files.

3. Save it as package, and put it in your mods/packages folder and remove/move the old files you just merged.

5. Clear your cache and start the game.

Nothing more to it. I merged all my sliders into a CAS.package with all my cosmetic, skins and other CAS mods and they all work fine. Clothes and Hair i merged into their own respective .package files as those tend to get quite large.

[Painkiller]

Don't forget the compression, it saves a ton of space and doesn't bork anything.

I didn't merge the CAS sliders as I was being cautious, thanks for the info. I'll go merge them as I'm starting to have a truckload of them.

[Anach]

Don't forget the compression, it saves a ton of space and doesn't bork anything.

I didn't merge the CAS sliders as I was being cautious, thanks for the info. I'll go merge them as I'm starting to have a truckload of them.

If you are using the experimental as .dbc option as stated in the instructions, it automatically applies compression and doesnt give you the option. That option was added there for the purpose of merging mods. If that option isnt there for you, then its the wrong version of s3pe.

[Painkiller]

You do have the choice when you use 'Import from packages', even in the latest version. Anyway Some people post uncompressed merged packages and it's total waste of space, I mentioned the compression part for them.

[LauraW]

Every link I find for S3pe is the latest version and it does not have the import as .dbc option. It seems to work okay for me although I have no idea if it is compressing properly.

[Azureale]

Follow the link from the first post and download the latest version 1003-06-1044, it does have the "(EXPERIMENTAL) As dbc..." option in Import menu.

[Inge]

Look - WAKE UP EVERYONE!   The latest s3pe has the experimental dbc import in it.   Don't bother with the out of date version in the top post here.  Anyone who thinks the latest s3pe does not have it in is DOING IT WRONG

[nekonoai]

Anyone know if I can use this method to repackage Riverview to make it work again? Because I tried extracting the files from riverview and using them in the mods folder like all the other package files and it didn't show up. I don't really use the hood, since WA when it died the first time, but my BF has a lot of saves in this world, so I wanted to see if I could get it working for him.

[ethereal]

I know this topic is a bit old, but I just want to thank Anach for the instructions on how to merge/clean-up packages in S3PE. Everything works great! Before cleaning house with this method, my load times were around 10 minutes (5.88GB, roughly 6,414 files). I have cut the load time down to 3 minutes (3.96GB, 381 files). Object catalogs load super fast also. Thanks again Anach, you've made this bitch of a game playable again!

[Anach]

Look - WAKE UP EVERYONE!   The latest s3pe has the experimental dbc import in it.   Don't bother with the out of date version in the top post here.  Anyone who thinks the latest s3pe does not have it in is DOING IT WRONG

Actually I changed the link last month. It now points to the root s3pe download folder, even if they followed the old link, they still would have got a version with the import as .dbc feature. So all they need to do is press the BIG GREEN BUTTON to download the latest version. It seems it must be down to sheer stupidity if people are getting old versions, as they would need to go out of their way to do so

Latest as of this post is 6th of March 2010, with the file-name to match. This has the import as .dbc option.

[Inge]

Also anyone using s3pe would do well to at least skim for new posts in the section at MTS.  If we suddenly find out a particular release is buggering packages, that's where we'd post

[Anach]

Also anyone using s3pe would do well to at least skim for new posts in the section at MTS.  If we suddenly find out a particular release is buggering packages, that's where we'd post

*edit* Random slowness.

Is there a "known issues" for current release posted anywhere? If there is I must be skipping past it.

[Inge]

No cos we don't release if we know there are issues lol.   You can just find out about them from people posting to complain.  But if we did find out there was a serious issue that could cause game corruption then we would withdraw the release, roll back, and post a warning sticky.

[Anach]

No cos we don't release if we know there are issues lol.   You can just find out about them from people posting to complain.  But if we did find out there was a serious issue that could cause game corruption then we would withdraw the release, roll back, and post a warning sticky.

Good news, that's what I was hoping. I was worried for a moment you were saying there was something wrong with the current version, so i was madly looking around the forum

[nekonoai]

Is there a file limit of how many files you SHOULD compress into a single one? I have a couple of folders that are HUNDREDS of packages and s3pe seems to choke on them somewhat.

[Sparks]

Is there a file limit of how many files you SHOULD compress into a single one? I have a couple of folders that are HUNDREDS of packages and s3pe seems to choke on them somewhat.

I've combined from 1,000 to 500 to 20 package files at a time. The only difference I've encountered is how long it takes to combine them. I've limited myself to no more than 300 files, or 200MB per file. The only time this method choked is the very first time I tried it when I just carelessly tried to combine 4,500+ files which took 9 hours and then wouldn't save.

[Anach]

Is there a file limit of how many files you SHOULD compress into a single one? I have a couple of folders that are HUNDREDS of packages and s3pe seems to choke on them somewhat.

I've combined from 1,000 to 500 to 20 package files at a time. The only difference I've encountered is how long it takes to combine them. I've limited myself to no more than 300 files, or 200MB per file. The only time this method choked is the very first time I tried it when I just carelessly tried to combine 4,500+ files which took 9 hours and then wouldn't save.

No limit that I've found, but there is certainly a time factor and an issue of running out of memory depending on the hardware. I too try to stick to around 200Mb, as it seems to work well. Also keep in ,mind that in all probability we will want to redo the files when something is either updated or we want to uninstall something. Making them too large will increase the time involved.

[Claeric]

This has probably been covered, but...

Can files be added to a big package simply by opening it and adding them? Does that work properly? As it is, I've been making big packages, downloading stuff, and eventually doing it again- keeping a backup of everything, and redoing the entire package each time. Do I have to do that? Or can I just add stuff one at a time as I get it?

[Freezerburn]

This has probably been covered, but...

Can files be added to a big package simply by opening it and adding them? Does that work properly? As it is, I've been making big packages, downloading stuff, and eventually doing it again- keeping a backup of everything, and redoing the entire package each time. Do I have to do that? Or can I just add stuff one at a time as I get it?

By using s3pe, open the big package file and import the package you want to add to and select the option reject duplicates. As posted by Anach, it is recommended you keep a package about 200Mb

[Claeric]

Ok, it's good to know I can add things that way instead of starting over every time.

But 200? Is there a reason or is that just a "just to be safe" kind of thing? At the moment I've got every single store item yet in one single package, about 850mb, and they all load just fine.

[Simsample]

Ok, it's good to know I can add things that way instead of starting over every time.

But 200? Is there a reason or is that just a "just to be safe" kind of thing? At the moment I've got every single store item yet in one single package, about 850mb, and they all load just fine.

200Mb is the default maximum size of dbc and ebc files created by the game.

[Claeric]

Hm. It doesn't seem to be causing an issue...I guess I just won't add anything more to it to be safe? Clearly the game can load it just fine, though.

[Freezerburn]

My stuff01.package was about 1.5Gb, after compressed through s3rc, it became 300Mb, YEAH!

[Indiasong]

Is there a way to mark the 00000 lines as to be deleted automatically? It takes a long time to find them, hurts the eyes, and as I usually miss some, I have to do it twice. Or is there a reason for not deleting them?
Thanks.

[GlamGirl]

Is there a way to mark the 00000 lines as to be deleted automatically? It takes a long time to find them, hurts the eyes, and as I usually miss some, I have to do it twice. Or is there a reason for not deleting them?

If you click on the Tag heading, it will sort them all by file types.  Once all the XML files are together, they are a cinch to delete.  Use Shift key to select more than one at a time.