Julan - cleaning with TESTool?

[aqualectrix]

Hi folks,

I hope I've found the right place to ask my question. This seems to be the only site on which Julan is uploaded, and the section title for this forum says "for mods on Emma's site", so I think it's right...

Anyway, it's a fairly simple question. I'm a little obsessive about cleaning my downloads. Julan's readme says "Do NOT clean this mod with TESTOOL, it doesn't need it."

Well, I don't want to break anything, and I know enough never to use Merged Dialogs. But the mod is not quite clean -- it's got some stray AMBI entries and an empty cell or two. And some dialog entries which TESTool thinks should be cleaned -- it's these that perhaps shouldn't be cleaned?

I guess I'm just confused about how something that doesn't need cleaning has "dirty" entries. I can refrain from cleaning if necessary, of course -- fortunately I use no lighting mods, so setting the AMBIs to default values doesn't really bother me. But if it's safe to clean the whole thing, including those dialog bits, it would satisfy the cleaner-upper in me.

Is the warning in the readme maybe from a previous version, and the mod got dirtied a bit accidentally when it was updated?

(I realize this is a small and silly concern; please feel free to tell me I'm being overly-obsessive.)

[Jac]

The CS changes light values, but I've only had one complaint from somebody about a mod I made who hadn't even played it yet. So my advice is to not clean it unless you can verify that it's causing issues with other mods. It's one of those if it isn't broke, don't fix it because you'll likely only break it in the process.

[Emma]

If the author of a mod says "Do NOT clean this mod with TESTOOL", I think it is fair to assume that the author has a valid reason for this. For instance, that changes that might appear as "dirty" in fact are there for a purpose and that this will be ruined if you, contradictory to the readme-instructions, go ahead and clean the mod with TESTOOL.

What I do know for sure is that any attempt to touch the "dirty" dialog entries will completely and irreversibly break the mod. This is valid for all dialog-intense mods.

So, my recommendation would be that you leave your obsessiveness behind, trust the judgement of an experienced mod-creator like Kateri, and simply enjoy the mod instead of dissecting it in a way that Kateri has urged you not to do.


(I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but this is a pet-peewee of mine, as so many overly obsessive tool-addictives have been breaking my mods by "cleaning" the dialog).

[kateri]

Please don't clean it - I already spent a long time scrutinising data records and only leaving in what I needed. TESTOOL can break dialogue-heavy mods. It's possible I did miss something, but please don't take a sledgehammer approach - it may be that they are deliberate changes. If you post the precise data entries, I can probably tell you.

In any case, I know of no problems caused by the mod due to "dirty" refs in the four years since release, so even IF there is anything, it's almost certainly harmless.

K.

[aqualectrix]

Thank you all for the replies! I do not mind at all a little harshness; I am sure it must be very frustrating when people DO clean dialogue-intensive mods and then claim "your mod doesn't work"! I am quite certain the AMBI records I see are harmless, especially since I use no lighting mods, so I will hit that clean-obsessiveness with a great big "NO!" hammer and happily ignore its dictates.

(Such big companion-mod names replying! Thank you all not just for the replies but for your tireless work to improve Morrowind.)