Feature request: Skyrim upgrade handler

[leithmc]

Hi,

I noticed a couple interesting things when I accidentally allowed Skyrim SE to upgrade 1.6.640

1. Vortex popped up a dialog bow warning me that Skyrim had updated and this might break some mods

2. When I upgraded SKSE and started a game, I got a modal dialog that listed all the broken DLLs

 

This made me realize there is an opportunity for Vortex to vastly simplify not only the process of adapting to a Skyrim upgrade, but also *assessing whether downgrade or not based on your current mod list*.

I thought about creating an extension, but I think it's a much better user scenario if it's baked into the tool.

Here's how I would implement the feature:

 

1. Replace the existing "Skyrim has updated" dialog with this.

Vortex has detected a new Skyrim version 1.6.640. This may break existing mods in your load order.

Would you like us to check for you?

<link> Yes please! [Prepares an Upgrade Impact report]

<link> No, just take me to the downgrade tool. [open page for downgrade tool]

<link> No thanks. [Close dialog and do nothing]

 

2. If "Yes", create an Upgrade Impact report:

 

"Upgrade Impact Report for Skyrim AE version 1.6.640 for [current date]

 

The following mods contain DLLs which may be broken by the current update. If any of the mods you care about don't have compatible versions yet you may want to <link to downgrade page> downgrade to the previously installed version."

 

[Table of affected mods with the following columns]

* Mod name [link text to mod page]

* Affected DLLs [comma separated list] of file names]

* Mod updated since game release? [yes, no, or unknown (non-nexus mod)]

* Mods that depend on this one [one mod name per line in the same table cell, including secondary dependencies]

 

In the table, each mod should get one row.

Rows where all of the DLLs are overwritten in the load order should be greyed out and have a note to that effect.

 

3. *If* you can get the list of incompatible DLLs from the SKSE output or object model, you can further simplify the UI:

* If there are no incompatible DLLs, the dialog texts becomes "Vortex has detected a new Skyrim version 1.6.640. This does not break any DLL mods in your load order, though it may introduce other incompatibilities." The downgrade option is still available but no report is created.

* If a report is created, include only those mods that are incompatible.

[showler]

One issue would be how Vortex could know that a mod has been updated to work with the new game version. Game version compatibility is not yet implemented on Nexusmods.com.

[leithmc]

Yeah, it's not a perfect solution.

My thinking as I go through the process manually is this.

1. We know the dates that new AE versions are released to Steam

2. The 'Check for Updates' control knows, at least to some extent, when mods release updates.

3. If there is an update after the version change, there's at least a *decent chance* that it is a compatibility update.

 

It's still a manual process for the user in the end, but it removes some of the hurdles, especially for newer users.

* The user now knows which mods to check and doesn't have to figure out what DLL goes to what mod

* The user now knows what other mods in their load order will be impacted if a key mod doesn't have an update available

* The user can now see at a glance what the overall impact is likely to be and make a more efficient assessment about whether to downgrade or not

* All the pieces of the process are there in one place, automatically, without the user having to know what to look for

[Pickysaurus]

We're not going to support downgrading the game, but you're welcome to make an unofficial extension. There's also no way to "dry run" SKSE mods so Vortex would have to try launching the game. And I'm not sure if SKSE writes an error log now it has that popup.