Vortex is hosing latet Bepinex in Valheim

[VulcanTourist]

This is a band-aid fix I concocted after I noticed finally that the extension is storing a BepInEx version as part of its data, so it's accessible:

 

For anyone who experiences problems with Valheim while using Vortex to manage it and happens to check Player.log and notice that the version of BepInEx IS NOT the one that they thought they had downloaded and installed:

The Valheim Vortex extension distrusts users to correctly handle the crucial BepInEx DLL injector, so it keeps its own private copy of it and forcibly installs it, overwriting any attempt you might make to install a different version. At first I assumed that Vortex was downloading it from a hidden NexusMods repository, but instead it's delivered and stored as data with the plugin itself in Vortex. This can be overwritten! Below I have assembled what I believe are complete instructions for how to do this, current as of 2023-10-14 and game version 0.217.24 and BepInEx version 5.4.22. I hope they prove to be useful until this pernicious recurring issue is resolved properly.

 

• Locate the following directory in Windows (File) Explorer:
  %AppData%\Roaming\Vortex\plugins\Vortex Extension Update - Valheim Support v1.0.24\BepInExPayload
• delete the subdirectory InSlimVML; it's no longer valid or necessary;
• manually download the latest BepInEx "pack" for Valheim from thunderstore.com:
  https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/denikson/BepInExPack_Valheim/?
  • the current version as of 2023-10-13 is 5.4.2200;
  • either download this file directly to, or move it to, the Vortex downloads directory for Valheim:
    %AppData%\Roaming\Vortex\downloads\valheim
  • doing so will cause it to appear as Never Installed in Valheim's Mods list;
  • you will actually install it later, but first...
• navigate to that downloads directory in another Explorer tab or window;
• open the .zip file with Windows or 7-Zip or whatever compression tool you use;
• within the Zip file, navigate into the \BepInExPack_Valheim directory;
• the .sh files are for Linux and won't be useful for Windows systems;
• into the \BepInExPayload directory, copy and overwrite the following files:
  • changelog.txt
  • doorstop_config.ini
  • winhttp.dll
• next, copy the \doorstop_libs directory whole; it probably doesn't already exist;
• to copy BepInEx, in Explorer navigate "down" into the Vortex \BepInExPayload\BepInEx directory;
• in that directory, first delete the \patchers subdirectory, which is no longer needed;
• next, navigate further into \plugins and delete the \VortexWorlds subdirectory there;
• navigate back "up" to \BepInEx; remaining are \config, \core, and \plugins;
• now, back in the Zip file in its \BepInEx directory, copy and overwrite \config, \core, and \plugins into the Vortex \BepInEx directory;
• now BepInEx will be current when forcibly copied by the Valheim Vortex extension.
• You're not quite done yet: time to install the "pack" with Vortex;
• start Vortex, and click Mods, in the left nav bar;
• scroll to find the denikson-BepInExPack_Valheim-5.4.2200.zip file in the Never Installed section;
• click the drop-down menu arrow next to the Never Installed button at the left in the Status column, and from the short menu select Enabled;
• now the "pack" is staged, ready for deployment, but confirm some details first:
  • double-left-click its entry in the Mod Name column, which opens a detail pane at the right;
  • in this pane, confirm or edit the following:
    • Version: currently 5.4.2200
    • Source: Website
    • Source website: https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/denikson/BepInExPack_Valheim/
    • Category: Utilities (optional, I think, probably empty by default)
    • Mod Type: Unstripped Assemblies (this directs Vortex where to install hardlinks to staged files)
• when finished, you may double-left-click in Mod Name column to close the details pane.
• Finally, you should be ready to Deploy; try it.
• Assuming all appears well, you can confirm the correct BepInEx version was deployed by checking
  Properties | Details | File Version (or Product Version) of BepInEx.dll in the \Valheim\BepInEx\core game directory; the version should of course match what you downloaded.
• - Profit!

IF the Valheim extension updates without also updating this private copy of BepInEx (or better reworking this whole mechanism), then when it updates it will of course overwrite your handiwork here and you will have to repeat the process! Let's hope that doesn't happen.

 

[VulcanTourist]

Today (October 24, 2023), a v1.1.0 update to this extension was released that makes the above steps unnecessary. It now stores the current version of BepInEx AND adds an extra option to give players agency to manually update it from GitHub directly whenever they feel it necessary. There's even a new Open drop-down menu option for the directory where Vortex stores it, so that it can be overwritten with any other version if needed.

This is a Good Thing. The modal dialog announcement of this was also a very Good Thing.