Category tiers
The 11-tier community system, mapped from the Bethesda Creations category taxonomy. The always-available baseline sorter — and the input to Fast Lane classification.
The 11 tiers
| Tier | Role | Typical content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Master files | ESMs that other content depends on |
| 2 | Game menu / launch / framework | Menu overhauls, SFSE-style frameworks |
| 3 | Invasive world edits | Large overhauls that touch many cells |
| 4 | Major systems | Economy, needs, faction overhauls |
| 5 | Gameplay tweaks | Combat, stealth, damage balance |
| 6 | Quests & content | New quests, locations, ships |
| 7 | Items & gear | Weapons, apparel, ship parts |
| 8 | Characters & NPCs | Companions, NPC overhauls |
| 9 | Visual & audio | Textures, shaders, soundtrack |
| 10 | UI & HUD | Menu skins, HUD tweaks |
| 11 | Non-invasive world edits | Small cell additions, prop placements |
Mapping from API categories
Bethesda Creations exposes a flat list of categories per creation (Weapons, Apparel, Audio, Quests, and so on). The Category sorter has a lookup table that maps every known API category to a tier.
For each creation it emits a tier(X, N) soft constraint at priority 10. "Soft" means
a matching-priority load_after can override it — but in practice nothing else emits
at priority 10, so the tier effectively holds unless TES4, rule books, or LOOT say otherwise.
SAFE vs LOW_RISK refinement (for Fast Lane)
The same category data feeds the Fast Lane check. There, categories are partitioned into three buckets:
- SAFE — Skins, Apparel, Body, Photo Mode, Audio. Purely cosmetic. A version change in a SAFE-category creation cannot trigger Fast Lane incompatibility. Marked Unaffected.
- LOW_RISK — Weapons, Gear, Ships. Additive content that almost never alters shared systems. Marked Low risk even when the version differs from baseline.
- Default — everything else. Subject to full version/hash comparison against the baseline.
Internal references
- Feature 003 — Category sorter
- Feature 011 — Fast Lane category refinement