Testing Skyrim SE Mods in Vortex

[ricke44654]

Hi there. I'm noobish to Vortex... longtime MO / MO2 user that wanted to give Vortex a spin for this go round with Skyrim AE and try collections to see how I liked them. I'm planning to try to use a good collection as a base, then add some mods to it that I want to play. So far... I'm liking it. A lot.

 

I'm using Vortex 1.8.5 with Skyrim AE 1.6.640 - Steam version. Some searching of the forum didn't yield any results for what I'm wanting, could be I missed it. :smile:

 

I'm using profiles to segregate different test versions of Skyrim SE to play with to get familiar with things and to test mods in a few different environments. Is there a way to have two instances of the same version of a mod installed?

 

Example:

• I'm using the Immersive & Pure collection for Skyrim and it uses Immersive Music 3.2 (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/16402). I'm keeping a profile with no changes to the collection to keep it clean.
• I want to make another profile to use the collection as a base and add mods to it.
• In the modded profile, I'm wanting to use Music Mods Merged (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/4625) in which I'd like to use Immersive Music (a requirement of the collection) but in this instance I need to "hide" the esp file as I only want the loose files.
• I've figured out how to ignore the mod as a dependency in the collection under the collection's Mods tab... but I'm looking to be able to switch between profiles for testing and not have to make changes to the file system to keep the esp from showing up (e.g. rename it to something like "Immersive Music.esp.hide") in one case and then show it again on the other profile.

Maybe I'm making it too hard. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

[ricke44654]

Well, a little reading and some more understanding from a video by Gopher (Starting Your Own Conflict at 21:17 here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSkurhkPSyw&t=17s) and I solved it like this for my particular example:

• Went to Mods in Vortex.
• Selected Install From File (+ icon) at the top menu bar.
• Navigated to Immersive Music folder in Vortex Mods directory and selected the Immersive Music.esp file.
• Clicked Create Mod button in Vortex dialog explaining mods are generally installed from archives and should it create a mod containing just this file. Vortex will default the folder name to Immersive Music based on esp file
  • If Immersive Music was enabled, ignore Vortex warning about unresolved conflicts.
• Head to No category section in Mod list and double click Immersive Music.esp entry.
  • Changed Mod Name to something better - Immersive Music (Music Merged).
  • Changed Source to User-Generated.
  • Changed Category to Audio.
  • Click Close button at bottom of panel.
• Right click original Immersive Music mod and selected Open in File Manager option.
• Copy contents of the mod folder (Music folder in this case) and paste into new Immersive Music (Music Merged) mod. Close File Manager window.
• Drag dependency icon from Immersive Music (Music Merged) mod to Immersive Music mod.
• Select Conflicts with / Can't be deployed together with option in the dialog and click Save button.
• Now Vortex shows Some mod dependencies are not fulfilled warning.
• Disable whichever mod you need to based on the profile you want to use.
  • You may need to confirm External Changes dialog - select Save change (delete file) and click Confirm button.
  • Vortex may get angry occasionally if you had both enabled and you disable one of them - it might still show an Incompatible mods enabled warning. I closed the warning and redeployed after making sure just one was active, no more warning.

Maybe there's a better way, but like I said... I'm noobish to Vortex. :yes: It works as I'd expect... just wanted to share in case it helps someone else.

[AugustaCalidia]

 

• In the modded profile, I'm wanting to use Music Mods Merged (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/4625) in which I'd like to use Immersive Music (a requirement of the collection) but in this instance I need to "hide" the esp file as I only want the loose files.

 

In the modded profile, what would happen if you simply disabled the plugin for Immersive Music but not the mod itself? Would that not "hide" the esp file but retain the loose files? Or have I totally misunderstood what you are trying to do?

[vortexposer]

Sounds like something that a variant for its mod could do. If collection is using default copy, select reinstall and choose to make a variant vs replace mod. This will create a version drop down menu for either copy to be toggled within any selected profile. Select, right click variant copy to Open in File Manager, then delete plugin from the cloned version. The collection should still recognize its own version and continue to use primary copy, while you're free to toggle on its variant which doesn't deploy a mods specific plugin.

Edited June 30, 2023 by vortexposer

[ricke44654]

@AugustaCalidia - sigh, no you haven't misunderstood. Your solution is far simpler than what I did. :rolleyes: That should work just fine.

 

@vortexposer - I hadn't used Vortex variants yet and that was indeed what I was looking for... I glossed over that functionality and actually forgot that was in there, that works great as well. I think I'll go with @AugustaCalidia's solution as I won't have to duplicate the loose files in this instance.

 

Thanks to both of you for the answers, I appreciate it.