What problem does it solve?
Manually handling Bethesda BA2/BSA archives for game modding is error-prone, with common pitfalls including writing packed archives to protected game directories, misjudging asset precedence, and attempting unsupported archive packing operations that break mods.
Core Features & Use Cases
- Archive Inspection & Detection: Automatically detect archive family, version, format, compression type, and entry count for any supported BSA/BA2 file.
- Safe Asset Extraction: Extract filtered archive assets to designated staging or MO2 mod folders, avoiding clutter and conflicts in game Data directories.
- MO2 Overlay Packing: Pack modified assets into supported archive formats placed directly in MO2 mod overlay folders for safe testing and deployment.
- Asset Precedence Guidance: Built-in judgment rules and KB integration help modders resolve common asset loading conflicts without misapplying plugin order fixes.
- Use Case: A modder fixing a missing texture can use this skill to extract only texture assets from a game BA2 archive, edit the files, and repack them into their MO2 mod folder without risking corruption of their base game installation.
Quick Start
Use the using-bgs-archive skill to extract all mesh assets from the 'Fallout4 - Meshes.ba2' archive to your MO2 mod staging folder for inspection and editing.