Testing Vortex w/ Dragon Age II

[Norstaera]

I was browsing this forum and saw somebody commenting about not many non-Bethesda or Fall-out games were mentioned. Ta-da! I'm gonna talk about my experiences w/ DA2. I don't play FO, but I do play Skyrim. I won't test it w/ Vortex because now that I finally have a reasonably stable build I'm hoping to finally get through the %!@ main campaign. Not gonna risk it. Over 3,000 hours and . . . but this isn't about Skyrim.

I like the look of Vortex and wanted to try it out. I haven't played DA2 for awhile and my override folder was pretty clear except for one or two items (and, of course, the chargenmorph compiler in a higher directory). Perfect for testing. Ran the scan for games, and Vortex found them, no problem. Oh, I use the symlink setup, in case you were wondering (you probably weren't).

There are 59 files (some from the same mod) in my mod directory. I downloaded and installed some mods w/ Vortex. I installed some with the 'install from file' feature, I copied some archives and pasted them into the downloads directory, and I unpacked and rezipped some mods and moved the rezipped version to the downloads directory (will explain why later). All the archives I moved into the Vortex/dragonage2/downloads directory are recognized by Vortex, no problem, be they .7zip, .zip, or .rar. Which is what I expected.

1 - When installing a mod archive that has several options - such as different colors for a dress replacer, you need to enable the mod and then go to the override folder and remove the options you do not want. Go back to Vortex and hit Deploy Mods. A dialog box will appear* and you need to confirm. If you hit apply, the deleted choices will be reinstated. This step is necessary to update the .json file. Knowledgeable people, correct me if I am wrong. Optionally (and my preference), I could have unpacked the mod elsewhere and repackaged my choice into its own archive and installed that.

* Also appears after changing name of a folder to make shorter path. But, that may only mean links are broken. Will wait to see if they show up in game (can't find in .json file). DO NOT RENAME INSTALLED MODS!!!! Am now reinstalling those I did rename. I did find out later how to change a mod name,

You CAN change the name of an installed mod from within Vortex. Double-click the mod on the mod page, but if you rename a folder within the mod after you install it, you're gonna break the link.

REQUEST: Add 'Mod Description' to top of menu bar for mods and downloads in order to show mod details. If I hadn't browsed the forums I wouldn't have known to double-click the mod.

2 - able to launch game from Vortex

3 - Menu bar check for updates did something but I don't know what. Maybe it didn't find anything.

4 - the vigilance weapons didn't add. I think the path to the code might be too long. override/Vigilance Weapons All-In-One V1.0 (Less Powerful Version)/Vigilance Weapons All-In-One (Less Powerful Version)/Vigilance Weapons All-In-One (Less Powerful Version).erf. (Probably would have been better to unpack elsewhere, reorganize, repack, and reinstall).

Even when I reinstalled, the override folder didn't contain the .erf file.

renamed archive to something a great deal shorter (vigil all lp)

installed renamed archive, got error message about conflict

.erf file is in override

checked associated texture files - had to repack the texture files I wanted into their own archive. This worked. It's one instance of repacking I had to do.

5 - character creator: can't rename a chargen, so in order to make sure all your mods are accounted for do one of these:

• a - install and enable mod 1
• b - run chargen compiler (this step not necessary at this time if mod installed in its own folder)
• c - copy new chargen file to new folder chargen 1 (this step not necessary if mod installed in its own folder)
• d - repeat step a, b, and c, creating new chargen folders as necessary
• e - Once all are installed and you have chargen files for all of them, compile

OR

• a - create a chargen folder for each chargen file
• b - install/enable the mods one at a time. Copy the chargen file from main override folder to appropriate chargen folder (unless it's a .symlink file). When you're done, there should be no chargen.xml in the override folder - only in subfolders
• c - after last cc file installed, run compiler

OR and THIS MAY BE THE EASIEST IF YOU CAN CREATE .ZIP, .RAR, OR SOME OTHER ARCHIVE FILE

• a - unpack each archive into its own folder elsewhere: unpack ABC_hairstyles.zip into ABC Hairstyles folder. Now it doesn't matter how the mod author organized the files.
• b - reorganize if need be so that you have a subfolder 'ABC Hairstyles' that includes only the .erf file(s) and the chargenmorphcfg.xml file. Now each archive that adds character creation will have its own chargenmorph file in their mod folder. I don't want to clutter up the .json file with a lot of references to images which is why I don't include them. Query: is it ever necessary to include .jpgs or other image files when installing a mod? If not, I vote don't do it. I can easily view the images if I want to.
• c - zip this new subfolder,'ABC Hairstyles' - and make sure you only zip the subfolder. It should look something like this and In my opinion is the best format for the archive. It will also lessen the possibility of file conflicts.

ABC Hairstyles.zip

'------------------>ABCHairstyles.erf

'------------------>ABC chargen (folder)

'------------------>chargenmorph.xml

• d - Move the archive to the Vortex DA2 downloads folder. In my case its '.../AppData/Roaming/Vortex/dragonage2/downloads' and you're good to go.When you start Vortex, look at your downloads tab and you'll see them all listed in the game. They are ready to install with Vortex. After deployment, run your chargen compiler.

 

If all your DA2 games are going to include these same cc mods, then just make sure you don't disable any of them. I believe you'll be able to make a profile just for your cc and maybe any 'must for any game mods' and then clone it for each new pt or profile.

If the mod author packaged their mod to include the override folder (override/Gorgeous somebody hair/files) then it will not merge with the DA2 override but be a subfolder inside it. You might want to repack it like the ones above. You don't really want a mod named 'override'. This was convenient before to make sure users knew where to put the mod files, but it's not as helpful with Vortex.

6 - As far as DA2 goes, disabling a mod you don't want to use any more isn't enough. You don't have to actually remove the mod from the override folder. You can keep it at the ready for another pt. I didn't even have to exit DA2, just exited back to the main menu. You have to deploy, just as you did to activate it. Although the message to remind you probably shouldn't say 'elevate'. Deactivate or deflate would be better. Or a generic 'click deploy to complete activate/deactivate' might be better.

REQUEST: Would be nice to add categories to a download, not just an installed mod. They should carry over when intalling the mod.

Maybe this should be in the Vortex Discussion thread instead of here, but since I am including some requests/suggestions I'm gonna leave it up to the powers-that-be to move it. I promise I won't get offended :smile:

Dec. 8, 2020

In the Dashboard I added 2 new tools: a launcher w/ the developer console enabled and the Chargenmorph compiler.

For the launcher, it's the same as the original, but in the command line I added "-enabledeveloperconsole" (without the quotes). It's basically the same as making a desktop shortcutt.

I installed the Chargenmorph compiler into a folder "...Documents\BioWare\DAO-DA2 Chargenmorph Compiler". Then, when I added the tool to the dashboard, all I had to do was target the .exe file, C:\Users\Norst\Documents\BioWare\DAO-DA2 Chargenmorph Compiler\DA_CharGenMorphCompiler.exe, and save. The first time I ran it an error message about a missing log file popped up, but when I hit 'OK' the tool opened just fine and I was able to compile chargens. Since then, no error message and all is well.

Note: I use the hardlink deployment method. I don't know how well the symlink method will work.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Norstaera

[RFAurora]

So I migrated my mods for Dragon Age 2 from the old Nexus Mod Manager to Vortex and reinstalled my mods. I noticed that Vortex isn't adding the separate Chargenmorpvfg.xml files to the override folder so the mods aren't working right. Is there any way to fix this?

[Norstaera]

So I migrated my mods for Dragon Age 2 from the old Nexus Mod Manager to Vortex and reinstalled my mods. I noticed that Vortex isn't adding the separate Chargenmorpvfg.xml files to the override folder so the mods aren't working right. Is there any way to fix this?

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, it's been awhile between my op and your request :smile:. You probably figured things out by now, but maybe this will help somebody else. I think there's a problem with mods that have several layers of nested subfolders. IMO it's better to repack them. My only other thought is that you used symlink deployment instead of hardlink. Does it make a difference? I don't know. I used hardlink.

Hope you got things working for you.