Bethesda Modding Wiki

• CC: Creation Club (or related files)
• BA2: A .ba2 file, short for Bethesda Archive 2. Combines multiple data files into a single file with optional compression.
• Module: Any .esm, .esl, or .esp file. Also referred to as a Plugin.

When the game starts and loads MyMod.esp, it tries to find these files and loads them if they exist:

MyMod - Main.ba2
MyMod - Textures.ba2
MyMod - Voices_en.ba2
MyMod - Voices_XX.ba2

The last one only if playing in a non-English mode, and XX varies with language.

BA2 file names don't have to match what's inside them (you could name an archive of textures MyMod - Main.ba2). It also doesn't matter which module a BA2 is loaded with (but this does determine conflict winners!). The only thing that matters is that the game can find them based on their file names.

• A .7z file extractor (I use NanaZip).
• BSArchPro (Comes with xEdit. Download the latest from the xEdit Discord and extract it anywhere.)

1. Create a temporary WIP folder anywhere, containing General and Textures folders:
   
   

   WIP/
   ├───General/
   └───Textures/

2. Open the Fallout 4 Data folder.
   e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4\Data\
3. Sort by Type.
4. Scroll to the BA2 files.
5. Select all BA2 files with names that start with cc.
   
   
   
6. Move them all into the WIP folder.
7. Search the WIP folder for Textures.
   
   
   
8. Select all the Texture BA2 files.
9. Drag and drop them onto the Textures folder.
10. Click the Back button or press Backspace to return to WIP.
11. Select all remaining BA2 files in WIP and drag and drop them onto the General folder.
12. Open the General folder.

1. Open BSArchPro.exe.
2. Click Clear List at the top.
   BSArchPro remembers selected files between runs so we want to be sure we have a clean slate.
3. Select all BA2 files in the General folder.
4. Drag and drop them onto the BSArchPro window.
5. Click Pack at the bottom.
6. Choose Fallout 4 (not the DDS option).
   This format can hold any packable file.
7. Give the file a name ending with - Main.ba2 in your WIP folder.
   I will be using Merged - Main.ba2.
8. Click OK to start the repacking process.
   
   
   
9. Click Clear List at the top.
10. Select all BA2 files in the Textures folder.
11. Drag and drop them onto the BSArchPro window.
12. Click Pack at the bottom.
13. Choose Fallout 4 DDS.
    This format can hold only textures, but allows optimized loading.
14. Give the file a name ending with - Textures.ba2 in your WIP folder.
    I will be using Merged - Textures.ba2.
15. Click OK to start the repacking process.
16. Click Clear List at the top and close BSArchPro.
    
    

There are two ways you can have the game load your BA2 files:

1. Use a dummy module to load them.
2. Rename them to be loaded by a CC module.

Either choice is fine; this is primarily a preference-based decision.

1. Download this dummy module file and keep it with your merged BA2 files.
   Merged.esl
2. If necessary, rename it to match your merged BA2 files (refer to Key Concepts).
3. Add the dummy module and merged BA2 files to your mod manager.
4. Set the dummy module to load along with your other CC.
   Order is irrelevant as long as it is before the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.
   This ensures that conflict winners are unchanged from your original setup.

1. Rename your merged BA2 files to match one of your CC modules (refer to Key Concepts).
   Typically your first CC file is used, e.g. if your first CC is ccBGSFO4044-HellfirePowerArmor.esl, you would name them like this:
   
   
   
2. Add the merged BA2 files to your mod manager.