X4 Support or manual add possible?

[Kloetentreter]

Hello, I just found out about your nice Download Manager and would like to use it for X4.

 

As I see,its not in the supportet Games section yet, is there a way to make my own list of downloads I would like to do? We (X4 Community) really need a way to download and compile more mods in one as we have so many nice QOL Mods already which makes X4 in the current state enjoyable which it is in Vanilla not yet.

[HadToRegister]

Hello, I just found out about your nice Download Manager and would like to use it for X4.

 

As I see,its not in the supportet Games section yet, is there a way to make my own list of downloads I would like to do? We (X4 Community) really need a way to download and compile more mods in one as we have so many nice QOL Mods already which makes X4 in the current state enjoyable which it is in Vanilla not yet.

 

You can always TRACK the mods you're interested in by hitting the "Track" button on each mod page, that way, you end up compiling a list of mods you're planning to use in the future.

Tracking the mods also notifies you of any updates to the mod, etc, in the "Update" section of the top menu on the Nexus site.

Also, in order to quickly check the mods you have tracked, you can click the "Mods" dropdown in the top Nexus Menu, and then pick "Tracking Centre"

 

Support for X4 in Vortex hasn't been added yet, so you might have a while to wait.

[Kloetentreter]

Hello HadToRegister,

 

My problem is the slow navigating to each mod on the nexus site and downloading every mod on single click. So I was hoping for this manager to easier manage a big list of mods to download and update.

[HadToRegister]

Hello HadToRegister,

 

My problem is the slow navigating to each mod on the nexus site and downloading every mod on single click. So I was hoping for this manager to easier manage a big list of mods to download and update.

 

That's actually a great idea for a feature.

Where you could tag the mods on the Nexus, and they get fed to Vortex, for later downloading.

[ssvx]

I'd like to second the request.

 

Maybe I could help? The mod system of X4 is identical to the system of X Rebirth, which is supported already. So in theory it should be as simple as copy+paste, add a new title image, change executable file name, change a few text entries and we're done?

 

Never looked into the repository tho and would need time to warm up. So my hope is that someone here might think "Well, if it's that easy... wait a second!" - hehe :laugh:

 

 

@Klötentreter: Mach blos kein Shice! :geek: (lulz@name)

 

 

/Edit

Oops, I think I already did it. I looked at the Vortex install directory and found this folder: .\Vortex\resources\app.asar.unpacked\bundledPlugins\

 

There I found a folder named "game-xrebirth", copied it, made the changes to the .js and .json and added the gameart.png, restarted Vortex et voila! C'est la! :D

 

I'll attach it here. No idea if that was all that's needed? Must say: very cool setup so far. Using .js and .json is a really simple but effective approach. Now we need the buttons for the Mod Manager activated on the website. Can I has plx plx? :laugh:

 

 

/Edit2

Seem to have missed something, since it doesn't place the contents from the mod's .zip into the .\X4 Foundations\extensions folder yet.

 

 

/Edit3

Fixed that awful indentation and STEAM app name as well as the ID.

 

Vortex now asks for task elevation and successfully deploys the mod in the correct directory! Cool.

 

Tho I'm really not sure if it's a good idea that Vortex spams "__folder_managed_by_vortex" and "vortex.deployment.json" files all over the mod directory. Can I disable that? Management software should never infest the non-related target software with it's own metadata, but should always use its own storage for this. Especially when it comes to mod systems that rely on path and file auto discovery it's very unwise to puke anything else in there than what the game actually expects.

 

On top of being a bad idea, it's really useless, because 1. if the user accesses that directory we should assume he knows what he's doing and 2. it's clear to be managed elsewhere, because all the files are marked as symlinks, so it's not even necessary to spam that intel.

 

 

/Edit4

Meh, tried to remove the mod (disable, then remove including archive) but Vortex doesn't clean up properly. I don't know if it's due to my copy+paste game implementation, or if it's by design, but the way it looks right now I don't plan to rely Vortex in the future. Sorry. Symlinks/Hardlinks are a nice idea, but 1st having to elevate the process every time (instead of once at launch), 2nd creating alot of trash within the game extension directory and 3rd not cleaning up properly really creeps me out :confused: tho maybe I shouldn't judge before seeing how it works with other games - maybe it's all my own fault.

Edited December 21, 2018 by ssvx

[Pickysaurus]

Re: Deployment

If you check the settings with your X4 game managed, try changing to Hardlink deployment, that doesn't need to elevate like Symlinks. (Windows annoyingly needs elevation for Symlink creation even if you're already on an admin account).

 

Re: Cleanup

Turn on advanced mode in Vortex and use the Purge button the mods tab, that will remove all files and folders created by Vortex :smile:

[ssvx]

Thanks for the reply, but will that prevent those files to be created in the game's folder in the first place?

 

As long as Vortex doesn't keep its files to itself, I won't be using it to manage mods. No hard feelings - it's just the very issue that got its own blacklist in my coding philosophy. For example I could argue the point with stuff like loss of control; trash data if one decides to remove the software; in case of error there's no option left to clean up but do it manually; introduction of the risk of conflict - what if the managed software decides to read every file in its mod folder to validate integrity, or considers it as part of the mod and tries to execute it in game - suddenly one introduces bugs to the game that the user probably can't trace back to Vortex. This whole concept relies on the assumption that there won't ever be a game in the future that doesn't allow extra files. It's like mixing namespaces, only hoping there won't be a conflict.

 

Plus it wouldn't be that much of a problem to represent the structure in an own database or cloned folder structure and confine all Votex files (that are not part of the games or mods) to Vortex' folders/database. No need to litter the whole place.

 

Don't get this wrong - I appreciate the work you guys put into developing a convenient mod manager :) , but I already don't use a whole lot of IDEs for the same reason - in my personal opinion it's just majorly flawed by design.