Maximum number of loaded BA2 files?

[Xan]

Anybody knows the maximum number of loaded BA2 files before the whole thing became haywire?

 

[BinaryMisfit]

Anybody knows the maximum number of loaded BA2 files before the whole thing became haywire?

I seems to have a problem when I go over about 460. That's how many I currently have and adding one or two more tends to crash the game for me.

I tend to take a lot of smaller mods and extract the BA2 and combine them all into a single big BA2 I load at the end of my LO. That way I can get around this challenge.

 

[mrudat]

A quick google suggests that there's something like a limit of 255 (simultaneously open) ba2s.

I suspect that the total number of archives limit isn't one as such, you just become more and more likely to need assets from over 255 archives at the same time the more archives there are in your game; textures meshes and scripts from n different retexture mods, n different outfit mods, n different weapon mods, n different plot mods, n different gameplay mods, etc. all in use at the same time because you're wearing cool clothes and using cool weapons, you've given cool clothes and weapons to your settlers, you're using oodles of different plot mods... and they're all on-screen at the same time.

You may need to be somewhat careful with repacking archives, if only because a file in an archive attached to a mod later in your load order overrides the same file supplied by an archive earlier in your load order, and both get overridden by a file of the same name sitting around in your data folder; there are tools for merging mods that take care of keeping track of that for you, though.

 

[Xan]

I don't think 255 is the max number either. I have nearly 400 ba2 files and the engine still ok. More than 460 though, I don't know, never reached that number. I want to have stable game, especially for SS2. I my last game, I have 5 fully developed SS2 settlements and FO4 engine seems to have difficulties to process any SS2 plot changes. I think to start over, and now I need to stabilize my load order. I have lots of CC skins, I will need to merge their BA2 files, especially the textures in order not to break any quest.

 

[BinaryMisfit]

A quick google suggests that there's something like a limit of 255 (simultaneously open) ba2s.

I suspect that the total number of archives limit isn't one as such, you just become more and more likely to need assets from over 255 archives at the same time the more archives there are in your game; textures meshes and scripts from n different retexture mods, n different outfit mods, n different weapon mods, n different plot mods, n different gameplay mods, etc. all in use at the same time because you're wearing cool clothes and using cool weapons, you've given cool clothes and weapons to your settlers, you're using oodles of different plot mods... and they're all on-screen at the same time.

You may need to be somewhat careful with repacking archives, if only because a file in an archive attached to a mod later in your load order overrides the same file supplied by an archive earlier in your load order, and both get overridden by a file of the same name sitting around in your data folder; there are tools for merging mods that take care of keeping track of that for you, though.

255 is the limit for ESP/ESM. 4096 for ESL

Considering that most mods ignoring the 30+ ba2 that FO4 itself loads, has 2 BA2 each that is not at all the correct analysis.

In my testing anything between 450-500 can cause a crash if it's not a corrupt BA2 or has damaged files.

When someone starts asking around the BA2 limit I will assume they have a fairly good understanding of how mods work and will understand how to correctly merge. Also, as I noted, load the combined assets mods last in your LO. MO2 will also show archives overwriting files from each other.

 

[msalaba]

255 is the limit for ESP/ESM. 4096 for ESL

IIRC (if you want to get technical) this is 253. FE is reserved for esl and I can't remember what the other one is reserved for... :P

 

[BinaryMisfit]

IIRC (if you want to get technical) this is 253. FE is reserved for esl and I can't remember what the other one is reserved for... :P

Base Game plus the DLC also so technically its 24x.

 

[AtomicTEM]

Okay I found out the maximum number BA2's is not about how many files that end with .ba2 you have but how many plugins that load BA2's. So you can have 700 files that end with .ba2, but can only have 255 minus each main plugin, plugins that are loading BA2 files.