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Vortex Terminology - Deploy/Purge


Pickysaurus

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Hi guys,

 

We've been having some internal discussion about some of the language we use in Vortex to describe certain features and I'd like to hear from you guys about a few different things we've been pondering.

 

The first of which is the use of the terms "Purge" and "Deploy" in Vortex. While I am very aware that this is an entirely new concept for a lot of gamers, it may not be the best way to describe what is happening. (As a note, Mod Organizer 2 actually "Deploys" mods to a VFS when you start it, but it's not explicitly described that way). These terms of technically correct and accurate, but may not be as "user-friendly" as they could be.

 

So we're clear, I'll first define the terms we're talking about:

 

  • Deploy - When mods are deployed, Vortex will carry out the action (specified by the deployment method) to make the mod playable with your chosen game. This usually includes creating hardlinks or symlinks between the mods in the staging folder and game mods folder.
  • Purge - When mods are purged, Vortex reverses the action taken on deploy. Essentially, if removes all files added by Vortex and reverts any files that have been changed back to the originals. All traces of content added by Vortex is removed from the game mods folder, but your mods are not deleted or uninstalled.

During both of these actions, certain other action may be taken such as updating INI files, merging conflicting mods and more depending on the game being managed.

 

With that in mind we've been thinking about changing "Deploy" to "Apply" and "Purge" to "Unapply/Revert" as one possible example. What do you guys think, how would you describe what Vortex does when it deploys and purges your mods?

 

 

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I think the biggest problem is is that there's THREE terms for doing ONE thing to begin with.

You INSTALL the mod, then ENABLE it, then DEPLOY it.

People should just INSTALL the mod, and be done with all the other terms.
I think that's where some major confusion from beginners comes from, and is one of the biggest questions asked by Tech Support in the help forums.

"My mods don't work"

"Did you DEPLOY them mod?"

or "Did you INSTALL, ENABLE and DEPLOY the mod?"

Installation should be ONE STEP, and ONE TERM.

PURGE, could change to PURGE LINKS, or SEVER LINKS, or BYPASS, or DISCONNECT etc.

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I agree on there being a weird number of actions to add a mod. Like it should default to enabled and we have to choose to disable.

 

Purge is fine but it could use a tool tip that explains it. Or just make it "disable all"

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The problem is that deploy is not _just_ creating a bunch of links. In some games (i.e. Conan Exiles) we don't even need to create links. In Bethesda games we also have to update ini files. In GTA5 we have to launch OpenIV and update the game package files, similar for Dragons Dogma, RE5 and DMC, processes that can take forever.

 

If we go the "install leads to enable leads to deploy automatically" it would become literally unusable for those games because every mod install would kick off a process that can take several minutes.

Even with the bethesda games, installing 20 mods and then running deploy *once* will save you sooo much time.

 

> Purge could be Purge/Sever Links

As I said, it's not just links and it's not always links. Also I'm pretty sure there are much more users who don't know what a link is than there are users who can't read. Because you don't actually have to understand any of this. You install mods, Vortex *tells* you that you have to enable them. You enable mods, Vortex *tells* you to please click deploy. You start the game without having deployed Vortex *tells* you you have to deploy first. Users only have a problem if they don't know what Deployment is and are also convinced they don't want it.

 

> Or just make it "disable all"

Well, disabling a mod is very fundamentally different than purging it.

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The problem is that deploy is not _just_ creating a bunch of links. In some games (i.e. Conan Exiles) we don't even need to create links. In Bethesda games we also have to update ini files. In GTA5 we have to launch OpenIV and update the game package files, similar for Dragons Dogma, RE5 and DMC, processes that can take forever.

 

If we go the "install leads to enable leads to deploy automatically" it would become literally unusable for those games because every mod install would kick off a process that can take several minutes.

Even with the bethesda games, installing 20 mods and then running deploy *once* will save you sooo much time.

 

> Purge could be Purge/Sever Links

As I said, it's not just links and it's not always links. Also I'm pretty sure there are much more users who don't know what a link is than there are users who can't read. Because you don't actually have to understand any of this. You install mods, Vortex *tells* you that you have to enable them. You enable mods, Vortex *tells* you to please click deploy. You start the game without having deployed Vortex *tells* you you have to deploy first. Users only have a problem if they don't know what Deployment is and are also convinced they don't want it.

 

> Or just make it "disable all"

Well, disabling a mod is very fundamentally different than purging it.

 

 

That's the Problem, there are too many terms for doing something

 

 

Why not just treat them the same across the board, despite what they are doing for different games in the background.

For newbies, it's very daunting to have a dictionary's worth of terms for uninstalling and installing mods.

 

I.E. DEPLOY, can be creating links for one game, or Whatever it needs to do for GTA or Conan, but the term stays the same.

 

 

INSTALL + ENABLE + DEPLOY = TOO MUCH for a beginner, which is why I think some people compare "ye olde NMM", because you INSTALLED mods with NMM, and you UNINSTALLED mods with NMM.

Then they switch to Vortex, and INSTALL a mod with Vortex, and (If the switches in Settings are turned off), have no idea, why INSTALL wasn't good enough to get the mod working in their game, because they don't realize there's also ENABLE and DEPLOY

 

 

Maybe it should just be called "INSTALL", but the "Install PROCESS" be explained that Installing will, Install, enable and Deploy" the mod, with only the User required to click INSTALL.

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One step Install does not fit my use case at all... I probably Install three times as many mods as I Enable and Deploy. The others I use on different profiles.

Enable I really want just as it is - a permanent flag independent of the Deployed state. Purge followed by Deploy --> all mods that were enabled before Purge get Deployed.

Purge does exactly what I want.

Deploy does exactly what I want.

We are used to the current terms now - if you change them - you will confuse a lot of the current base.

From what I have seen - new users confused by these terms will be confused no matter what you call them.

 

Only change I would suggest are tooltips that covers everything said here.

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I really think nothing truly needs renaming. Adding one click install would be nice as a feature I can turn on. Also better tool tips and better knowledge base would help me a ton in just overall utility of the app. Also, I agree with Tannin on what he is saying. I have no clue what you mean by links. I don't know computer software lingo all that great (more knowledgeable than your average user but still) and I really don't need to to use the tool. I think the current names are fine.

 

Also, hindsight makes me realize that "disable all" is a bad suggestion as it could mislead people on what will happen.

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I really think nothing truly needs renaming. Adding one click install would be nice as a feature I can turn on. Also better tool tips and better knowledge base would help me a ton in just overall utility of the app. Also, I agree with Tannin on what he is saying. I have no clue what you mean by links. I don't know computer software lingo all that great (more knowledgeable than your average user but still) and I really don't need to to use the tool. I think the current names are fine.

 

Also, hindsight makes me realize that "disable all" is a bad suggestion as it could mislead people on what will happen.

 

 

go to SETTINGS--->INTERFACE-------------> turn on "Enable mods when installed" and "Deploy Mods when Enabled"

 

Then you'll only ever have to click INSTALL, and the rest will be done for you

 

That's how mine is set.

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Guest deleted34304850

I like the concept of using APPLY over deploy however that could be seen as a semantic argument and still not remove layers of confusion.

 

I think it's been touched on by HTR and others, the steps involved in deploying a mod are where people trip up.

 

To install a mod is not and never has been a single action, such as copy this file from here to there and you are done. I believe that the necessary additional steps are somewhat obfuscated by the term DEPLOY. DEPLOY is not DEPLOY/ENABLE it is simply DEPLOY. The ENABLE is an additional step that is often times missed completely. Not the fault of Vortex, probably not even the fault of the end user, although that's a different topic entirely.

 

Could you look at INSTALL/ACTIVATE to deploy and enable a mod?

 

It's not enough to INSTALL a mod, you have to ACTIVATE it. Conversely it wouldn't be enough to DEACTIVATE a mod if you wanted to remove it completely from your system, you would also need to UNINSTALL it conceptually similar to how we would uninstall a program we no longer require from our systems?

 

The activate would be the physical changes Vortex makes to get the mod finalised and the game configured so that when the game is started the mod is installed and ready to go.

 

If the user wants to remove the mod from their game, then that would be a DEACTIVATE which would remove the mod, and restore the game to a state where the mod doesn't exist, but the game can be started without issue.

 

If the user wants to delete the mod completeiy they would UNINSTALL it, the ultimate action being that the mod and any files are physically removed from the user's machine as a conventional Windows uninstall does.

 

Just some thoughts.

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