Manually downloaded mods behave weird when installed as versions

[be94mercy]

[Problem ocured on Vortex 1.7.4 and after updating to Vortex 1.7.6 the problem persists.]

[using Vortex to mod Cyberpunk 2077.]

[as of writing this I have about 70 mods installed.]

[i am running x64 Windows 10 with 32 GB RAM.]

Solution has been found and has been posted in replies

 

Sry for making this a long read, but I just can't seem to figure this out by myself and I need help. Tried to be as concise as possible but I found my issue difficult to describe and opted for clarity over making it short.

I have stumbled upon issues in Vortex when trying to install variants of mods that are only able to be downloaded manually on NexusMods. When I'm on NexusMods and download with the mod manager download, everything works fine and I am able to create variants by going in to Vortex and using the "reinstall" option. But when I install a mod in Vortex using the "install from file" button the option to "reinstall" is unavailable and I can't get the variants to work properly.

Ok so here's my problem

• My current method:

Download fresh zip-file from nexusmods. Then I go into Vortex and "install from file" and select the zip. So far all is good and the mod gets installed. Now to make a variant of the mod... Since the "reinstall" is unavailable I instead use "install from file" again. Doing this leads to a prompt about either replacing the previous installation or installing as a variant. I choose to install as variant and move on. Here's where things get weird. For some mods the variants are created correctly but for (at least) one that I am interested in Vortex messes up. The only thing different about this mod that I can think of is the fact that when installing it I get prompted with "mod installed but but may need manual adjustment", whereas the other mods were just installed without any prompts. Specifically, this mod contains *.archive files in subdirectories.

• The result / issue:

Vortex does actually create a variant of the mod I try to install. But for the mod that needs manual adjustment, Vortex messes up the folder names as well the data in the info.json-file. If I open my mod staging folder, the newly created variant will be in a folder named after some other mod I've downloaded manually. Vortex even gets a conflict with whatever other mod that it randomly gets named after, even though the apparently conflicting mods have different contents.

• Example (link to images is provided in "PS.-section"):

I download and install Material and Texture Override manually from file and install it a second time to get a variant. This works just fine. I then want to install 2 different variants of the mod Type66 Custom Paint Job. First installation prompts me about needing manual adjustments, I click Understood and it installs just fine. Time for the variant. I install the Paint Job again, following the same method when installing a variant for the Texture Override mod. I first get a prompt where I choose I want to install "as variant" (so far everything is normal) and I name the variant metallic paint. Then when the "manual adjustment"-prompt pops up is where my issue arrives. The variant incorrectly gets installed into a folder called Material and Texture Override+metallic paint. And because the variant gets installed in a folder with the name of another mod, Vortex notices a conflict between this new mis-named variant of Paint Job and the original Texture Override mods. When looking in the staging folder you can see the incorrect name on the folders. When inspecting the contents of the folders the new "bugged" variant still has the correct contents of what the variant should have; only the folder name and the data inside the info.json-file are incorrectly matching up to a previously manually installed mod.

(Now yes, there is a workaround if I install the variants before any other manual mod installation. But that won't work if I want to install variants of two manual mods, since the second mod's variants will get mis-named and conflict with the first mod.)

Not sure how to make variants work for this mod. I am able to install variants of other mods so long as there's is no "manual adjustment"-prompt. I thought about trying to prevent the "manual adjustment" prompt by adjusting the mod zip before I go to install it, but I can't seem to alter any contents of the downloaded zip. Further, if I instead copy my desired contents to a new zip then Vortex won't be able to fetch any metadata that I'm guessing Nexus somehow bakes into the zip. And when Vortex is missing any data the variants won't work, so it doesn't matter that a new zip can prevent the "manual adjustment" prompt.

PS. Here's a link to a google drive folder with attached files and a folder with images depicting the steps mentioned in my example-section.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1x2GVMSo9w6LN19_n_JtEj5XV1kJYYcfm?usp=share_link

PS.PS. took a quick glance at the logs and found this segment:

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:28:06 GMT - info: [cyberpunk-2077-vortex-support] (Special) REDmod Autoconversion Installer: Generated REDmod instructions for archive kind=Archive layout transformed to REDmod Canon, instructions=[type=generatefile, data={

"name": "Material and Texture Override",

"version": "1.1+V2077RED"

}, destination=mods\Material and Texture Override\info.json..............

Shown above is the mis-named contents of the generated info file. I am not sure if this is where the naming error occurs or if this section merely displays an error that occurred elsewhere. If the former is true then maybe there's something wrong with the auto REDmod conversion process?

And most importantly, thank you for providing this support forum. I hope you are able to find out what is causing this bug/error or come up with a solution to my issue.

Kind regards,

Dennis

Edited February 17, 2023 by be94mercy

[be94mercy]

RESOLVED

 

When dealing with manually downloaded mods from NexusMods there are some extra requirements that are needed in order to be able to install variants of it. To install variants you are supposed to right click the mod in Vortex and select "reinstall" and then proceed to choose "as variant". However, for the reinstall option to be available on a manually downloaded mod, the zip-file of the mod has to be placed in Vortex's "Downloads Folder" (can be found and/or changed in Settings -> Download).

 

One way to solve it is to download the zip file straight to the correct Downloads Folder (or simply move it in there after downloading it). However there is another setting under the "Download" tab that is useful here. If you turn on the setting that says [Copy files when using "Install from file"], whenever you use "install from file" on a zip-file Vortex will automatically create a copy inside of your designated Downloads Folder. With this setting toggled on you only need to "install from file" on a zip file (that you may have downloaded to where ever) and then to create a variant on that mod you can just right click and go with the "reinstall" option to create variants.