How do I merge mods?

Merging mods is both simple, and complicated. Actually merging the mods is relatively simple. Make sure you backup any mods you wish to merge before you do so. Load the mods in the TESCS, and select Combine Loaded Plugins. The complicated part is determining which mods to merge.

As a general rule, here are some types of mods that are usually safe to merge:

• Playable face packs (not replacers)
• Item mods that simply add items to caves/houses/etc.
• New birthsigns (not replacers)
• New classes (not replacers)
• New ("simple") races

Again, as a general rule, here are some types of mods that are usually not safe to merge:

• Quest mods
• Gameplay balancing mods
• Dialog(ue) heavy mods
• GMST editing mods
• Morrowind Script Extender and Morrowind Enhanced mods
• Mods that are multi-.esp for a reason
• Mods that specifically say not to merge them (obviously)
• Mods that other mods require.
• Mods with conflicts.

Before merging mods you should ensure that the mods you intend to merge do not make conflicting changes to the Morrowind world. The best tool available for this is TESPCD. It is not the most user-friendly program in the world so you should ensure that you have read and understood the help file that comes with the program. Yacoby's Load Order Tutorial has more useful information on using TESPCD.

You should ensure that all conflicts reported in TESPCD are removed before attempting to merge the mods. Note that TESPCD is not able to report on conflicts within Cells (one mod could add a bottle to a table, another mod could remove the table) so you should check the mods you intend to merge in game or in the TESCS.

Merging mods is something that you will have to learn by trial and error. To minimise the chances of mistakes you should always test your merged mod before committing to playing with it in an active game and keep backup copies of your original, unaltered mods.

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