dferstat

Many thanks, subaverage! The Steam links and discussion don't seem terribly current, so I'll follow your lead and use the 162 CK files I've found.

As detailed below, Steam ignored my "do not update" instructions, and updated my FO4 to Next-Gen. So, I uttered a collection of obscenities, and ran my GOG Old-Gen installer. I now have a working v1.10.163.0 install, but no matching Creation Kit files. I don't run Next-Gen because of the well-documented issues with it, and so I don't want to create any mods that will require it. Can anyone please point me in the direction of Creation Kit files for v1.10.163.0? I have searched for 'em, honest I have, but the closest I've been able to find is for v1.10.162.0. Any assistance would be gratefully received.

By "crack it open", I didn't mean run it. I meant open it with an editor such as FO4Edit. This will show you exactly what the mod changes.

GOG version is simply v1.10.163.0, and so final Old-Gen release.

If you already have access to a mod that does what you want, why not crack it open and find out how it works?

I'm not, technically, screwed. I could follow the downgrade procedures enumerated elsewhere on this forum. Or I could use my GOG back-up installer files. (Yes, I did buy GOG versions of FO4, and Skyrim, even though I already have them on Steam). But where I really have problems is trying to find somewhere on my choked-to-the-gills more-than-a-decade-old PC I can actually fit a new install of FO4. I desperately need a new PC. But I also desperately need NAS/server, and somewhere to put them. Ah, well. Using the lemons-to-lemonade philosophy, maybe this'll be a good thing. But right now, it's fecking frustrating.

I had, quite deliberately, set my FO4 update preferences in Steam to "Wait until launch the game", and then, again quite deliberately, only run the game through Vortex. This should, on the face of it, have kept me on Old-Gen FO4. Imagine my ... dismay (to avoid being more explicitly accurate) ... when I fire up Vortex this morning, only to get two error messages, one telling me that my archives have to be updated, and another telling me that my game has been updated, and F4SE requires updating! Feck, feck, and feck again!

I'm using an up-to-date Chrome (though this problem has persisted through several updates) on Windows 10. I don't delete my cookies, because there are many sites I want to remain logged in to.

Can someone please explain why the site logs me out every week or two, forcing me to wait for the verification process to load, and then decide I am who I say I am? Further, can anyone suggest a way for me to stretch this out to every quarter, perhaps, or even do away with the forced logout entirely?

You should have a look at kinggath's Salvage Beacons. If I recall arightly, he (many, many moons ago) stated that he'd assigned his NPC salvagers to a new faction that was neutral to all factions.

Thank for your reply, Pickysaurus. While not the answer I wanted, it's what I expected. As a result, I've posted this site update request.

Background When an author uploads a new version of a mod, but doesn't increment the version number, we can end up with two different installed copies of the mod, but with the same version number. Vortex shows two installs with the same version number in the pull-down menu, with no easy way to tell which is which. I have lost count of the times that I've asked mod authors to increment. Most authors are apologetic, and fix the issue once I've explained the problem. A few authors find that re-versioning their files to be laborious, especially if they have many patch files that also would need re-versioning to avoid confusion. This reluctance is understandable. However, not re-versioning files becomes a pain in the arse for users. If Vortex users are lucky/observant enough to notice the duplicated version numbers, they can uninstall, and delete, the old version, and then download the new one. If they aren't so lucky/observant, they'll have two installs, with no way to distinguish between them. Their only option is to delete both packages, and install the new one all over again. I don't know what it's like for people still using MO2. But for Vortex users, which must be a large percentage of the people downloading mods, this is a real issue. It doesn't matter if it's just a change to the packaging of the mod; users need to easily tell which release is the most current. Proposal Please add some functionality to the file upload page that forces authors to increment the version number if they upload a a new version of a file. It probably doesn't even need to be a sequential increment; just a check that the version number hasn't been previously used would probably do the job. Thank you for your time, and your patience.

I have, I fear, annoyed a number of FO4 modders over the last year, by pleading with them to increment version numbers when they issue new versions of mods. The problem that I (and, I'm sure, many other users) have is that when an author tweaks a mod, but doesn't increment the version number, I end up with two different copies of the mod, but with the same version number. Vortex shows me two installs with the same version number in the pull-down menu, and I have no way to tell which is which. Does anyone have a solution to this?

You've got a better chance of getting help if you post on the mod's page. The author is still active on the site, and other users of the mod may have already posted solutions to your problem.

Let's look at this ... In FO4Edit, did you make sure that you saved your edits to a new file, with a new filename? Did you test your new file in-game, and confirm that it gave you the new/edited results? Did you pack up your edited file into an acceptable archive (ZIP, 7Z - as specified by the site)? Did you go through all the (many) steps of uploading a new mod, including selecting a new mod title, crediting authors, uploading a picture, a description, and your new mod? Did the the site eventually leave you on the new page for your mod, with the option to manage it near the top right of the page? When you download the mod again, is the date on the enclosed file new, or that of the original mod?