Quick omod creation guide, by Beurban

Thanks to Timeslip for creating this awesome utility!
Get it here: http://timeslip.chorrol.com/

I was using OBMM incorrectly for a long time, just using it as a bootup tool to change the load order. But it does so much more if you convert all the mods you use into omods before they ever hit your /Data directory.

Some of these steps are optional. If you just want a functional omod for personal use without preserving all the related info you can skip the stuff in italics....

  1. Download the mod zip/rar/etc and don't extract it. View the readme and make sure there are no special installation instructions and that the folder heirarchy looks correct.
  2. Open OBMM and click "Create" at the bottom. This opens a new omod window.
  3. Fill in the Name, Version, Author, Website, Email...and so on... (You can right click an esp and click 'import mod details' to copy some details automatically.)
  4. Now click the "Add Archive" button and click on the compressed file you downloaded. This brings the contents of the archive file into your omod and puts everything where its supposed to be.
  5. Check which files went in and where. Make sure "Plugins" has just .esp files and "Data" has whatever textures/meshes/xml's etc. the mod uses. Make sure the paths are correct...but I have never had them be off.
  6. If there are readme txt files and screenshots in the data folder they can stay...but I prefer to move them out using windows explorer to copy them and then incorperate them in the .omod file manually under Screeenshot, Readme and Description tabs. After I copy the file I delete it from the Data list in OBMM.
  7. Open "Readme" tab and see if it imported the readme file when you added the archive. If it didn't...use Windows explorer to find the readme and copy and paste it into omod. Click save.
  8. Open "Description" tab and Copy and paste a good description blurb from the readme...or write your own. This is what will pop up when you mouse over the title of the omod in your directory. Click save.
  9. Now select "Create omod". When it finishes compressing it will appear in your directory deactivated. Activate/Deactivate omods by double clicking them.

Now you can easily add and remove even large mods with lots of Data files in seconds....check conflicts...sync new mods with saved games...and much more.

If you are building an .omod from a mod that is already in your Data directory or already unzipped you will not do step 4 (add archive) but instead add the files manually by choosing "Add File".

If you make an .omod out of a mod that you have already been using in game you will probably have to restart OBMM before you can activate the .omod file. When you do, it will overwrite the files one time and you'll have to click through a bunch of "confirm overwrite" stops unless you manually delete the files first.