Solved City plans mega packs

[Nick Farrell]

I'm probably missing something simple but I downloaded the plan packs and have been trying to get them to show up in selections window for awhile now with no luck, also I built a house and it took 18hrs w/o furnishings I can test it in game but don't see it in recreational selection window either.

 

[snarkywriter]

Just want to confirm; did you activate the .esp files for the Mega Pack and your custom mod after your downloaded/created them? Silly question, but I've forgotten to do that very thing myself before.

 

[Nick Farrell]

yeah I even tried setting it to required for sims to run set it before and after too, been making new games and trying different things all week, no luck :/

 

[snarkywriter]

Are you using a mod manager, or did you manually install everything?

 

[Nick Farrell]

using vortex not gonna lie but that's my next step is put them in by hand

 

[Nick Farrell]

wait i did put in my house manually and was able to test it in game with the function call so i no its in there somewhere but its not populating in the ingame selection menu

 

[snarkywriter]

Worth a try. Just to confirm, the archives (.ba2 and/or loose files) are in the correct locations in Vortex? I use Mod Organizer 2, so I'm not as familiar with Vortex's file setup.

 

[Nick Farrell]

cf "testbuildingplan" ID# stage#

 

[Nick Farrell]

yeah havent had any trouble meshes going to mesh nifs going to charassets, or files reaching proper locations, did have an issue with workshop plus tho i glitched through the floor and didnt use it again haha, prob cuz i was using an xbox controller haha

 

[Nick Farrell]

inside my data folder? right :D

 

[snarkywriter]

Yeap, that looks right.

 

[snarkywriter]

Where is the .esp file and archive files for your custom plot, though?

 

[Nick Farrell]

oh its in there but i cant post the name or itll give away my idea haha XD

 

[snarkywriter]

Fair enough. Did you add the plot to the correct FormID List?

 

[Nick Farrell]

I really feel that's my issue because it might be null -.-

 

[snarkywriter]

Possibly. @VersusXV may know more, as he has a lot more experience building plots than I do.

 

[Nick Farrell]

Ive learned alot these last few days I dont mean to keep bothering everyone but i appreciate all of the help :D

 

[snarkywriter]

No problem at all, you're good. I admire your enthusiasm, jumping right into building a PC, playing on a PC, and making a mod all at the same time. I wish I had your energy!

 

[Nick Farrell]

If I'm not on a roof I need to be on a pc, I look at coding and construction very similarly. They give you the materials tell you what they want and you have the freedom to build it anyway you want, as efficiently as possible :D

 

[VersusXV]

The short explanation is this: The Build Plan's MiscItem needs to be included on a FormList, this FormList needs to be included in the properties on the AddonPack Quest, there will be fields for Recreation and all the other plot types. The FormList tells Sim Settlements all of the building you added for Recreation which all get combined in with the other addon packs.

There are a lot of categories, I think the easiest for newcomers is to try starting out making Residential, Martial, Recreation, Agriculture, maybe Industrial. Commercial and Advanced Industrial tend to be a bit harder. For Spawn Items, I find the xEdit method far easier.

When all is set up correctly it can still take some time to see all plot options appear in game, it can be about 3 minutes or a bit more if you are using every Addon Pack and I believe it only starts to load them after the first time entering into build plan select(this is likely to reduce the script load when first getting in game which if too much will crash the game). Maybe about 5 minutes for the most extreme scenario like all addon packs, all Creation Club, large mod list including many script heavy mods. It might seem like a long time but with a fully loaded game you have hundreds of plots in a lot of the categories plus thie entire Sim Settlements system is light years beyond anything Bethesda imagined and the FormLists method allows everyone's additions to seamlessly combine.

If that didn't make sense, there is extremely comprehensive Kinggath tutorial series that pretty much goes from A to Z and a Discord also. Fallout Miami's lead dev got his start in modding by learning to create Sim Settlements plots. The best starting point will be reading the Builder's Toolkit PDFs provided here:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22808/

If you prefer video format- There is also Kinggath's Bethesda Mod School series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2g2oK5KhZT0WUOw0Y_8HFudZbgfmcdEl

These 4 videos are specific to Sim Settlements plots, the earlier ones cover Creation Kit basics:

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This is an ongoing tutorial series, with Mod School videos every week or 2 & Builder's Toolkit getting updates as major new features are added.