Vortex mod installation confusion

[EQBallzz]

I haven't used vortex before. Last time I used mods I was using the Nexus Mod Manager. I'm a bit confused on some elements of what vortex is doing and also with general mod install instructions. I should also say that my OS is on one drive and my games are installed on a separate drive. When installing Vortex I pointed to the Starfield folder in my Steam folder on my game drive. Normally games have their files in the game directory and then you have like the config.ini files, save files etc..in the OS "my games" directory. What I noticed is that it appears Vortex has it's own "my games" directory now in my games folder and then another one in the Vortex directory? Is that correct? I'm so confused by this and it appears to not be working properly.

 

When I first installed via Vortex I tested with the mod Cleanfield which removes some of the initial splash screens. This was an easy mod to test with since it happens immediately. If I just installed with Vortex it didn't work. If I added the StarfieldCustom.ini file mentioned in the mod install instructions into my Windows > Documents > My Games > Starfield directory it started working. However, I seem to have that same StarfieldCustom.ini file in my steam game folder and also in the vortex directory. Which of these 3 copies of the file is the one that is being used? Even though that mod was working I had another that didn't seem to be working so I tried removing the one from the OS directory to see if that would work and now it doesn't work at all even if I put the file back.

 

 

 

So can anyone tell me why there are 3 different locations for the StarfieldCustom.ini file when using Vortex and which one is being used? For clarity...and to reiterate I did add the one at the top (in the attached img) manually because that was the only way I got that first mod working.

 

Also, if you install a mod using vortex but the mod info page says you need to edit the .ini file is Vortex supposed to be doing that or do you still have to do this manually? The instructions/readme never seem to make that distinction. These questions are sort of related I guess depending on the answers.

[Aezriel]

bump..

 

i have same/similar issue,

 

it seems that vortex isnt putting any files into Documents/ My Games/Starfield/Data , in symlink or hardlink deployment. (havent tried Move deployment yet) but rather the {game install dir}/data instead. only when i copy the mod files over to the Documents/ My Games/Starfield/Data does the mod(s) work. from testing it seems having the mod files in the install directory doesnt do anything.?

 

until i figure out what is wrong here its better to just manually install.

 

is the fact that Documents/ My Games/Starfield/Data is in C: and the intall and mod locations are in E: causing this? (originally the mod staging dir was in the default C/Users/appdata....etc location but didnt work either

Edited September 5, 2023 by Aezriel

[CQCoder]

Yeah seeing the same thing. It constantly gives a warning that a deploy is needed and never seems to actually deploy.

[RedDog6911]

Same issue, some mods are working, but others are not. When I try to deploy mods, nothing happens. I'm also not seeing any way to launch Starfield from Vortex. I have directed Vortex to the location of my Starfield files (which is not the same drive as the My Documents folder).

[Aezriel]

Same issue, some mods are working, but others are not. When I try to deploy mods, nothing happens. I'm also not seeing any way to launch Starfield from Vortex. I have directed Vortex to the location of my Starfield files (which is not the same drive as the My Documents folder).

i couldnt load starfield from vortex either UNTIL i set my mod stage folder to be on the same drive as the game install... after that it now loads from vortex (trivially) .... but no mods

[RedDog6911]

 

Same issue, some mods are working, but others are not. When I try to deploy mods, nothing happens. I'm also not seeing any way to launch Starfield from Vortex. I have directed Vortex to the location of my Starfield files (which is not the same drive as the My Documents folder).

i couldnt load starfield from vortex either UNTIL i set my mod stage folder to be on the same drive as the game install... after that it now loads from vortex (trivially) .... but no mods

 

I do have it set as the same drive as my game folder (G Drive), but it's not the same drive as the Documents/My Games (C Drive).

 

One mod installed through Vortex is definitely working (even though I'm not launching the game through Vortex), but none of the others work.

 

I miss Nexus mod Manager, it was so much simpler.

[RedDog6911]

I just saw something posted in the FAQ for the High Definition Texture Pack mod that may be the solution.

https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/496

Extract the contents of the zipfile to the Steam Starfield directory. (Right click the game name in your library list or library browser, click Manage, click Browse local files)
In the %userprofile%\Documents\My Games\Starfield\ directory, make sure your StarfieldCustom.ini contains the following:
[General]
bEnableMessageOfTheDay=0

[Archive]
bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
sResourceDataDirsFinal=
Delete the Data directory in the %userprofile%\Documents\My Games\Starfield\ folder.

NOTE: You can not have mods using loose files in both the My Games location and the Steam Game Data directory. If you have mods using
the same paths in both locations they will not all load correctly.

 

I'll try it later today when I get home.

[shutupgivememods]

edit: nevermind. This somehow didn't work right

Edited September 5, 2023 by shutupgivememods

[dragonblack13]

 

 

Same issue, some mods are working, but others are not. When I try to deploy mods, nothing happens. I'm also not seeing any way to launch Starfield from Vortex. I have directed Vortex to the location of my Starfield files (which is not the same drive as the My Documents folder).

i couldnt load starfield from vortex either UNTIL i set my mod stage folder to be on the same drive as the game install... after that it now loads from vortex (trivially) .... but no mods

 

I do have it set as the same drive as my game folder (G Drive), but it's not the same drive as the Documents/My Games (C Drive).

 

One mod installed through Vortex is definitely working (even though I'm not launching the game through Vortex), but none of the others work.

 

I miss Nexus mod Manager, it was so much simpler.

 

Anyone else found a solution for this?

[1Evo1]

So can anyone tell me why there are 3 different locations for the StarfieldCustom.ini file when using Vortex and which one is being used? For clarity...and to reiterate I did add the one at the top (in the attached img) manually because that was the only way I got that first mod working.

 

Also, if you install a mod using vortex but the mod info page says you need to edit the .ini file is Vortex supposed to be doing that or do you still have to do this manually? The instructions/readme never seem to make that distinction. These questions are sort of related I guess depending on the answers.

 

I'd also like to know that^

 

Personally, I haven't done modding for many years since Skyrim and had to download Vortex for Starfield.

 

Starfield is on my gaming drive (D) along with Steam. I've set the download and mod folders to be on drive D as well and in Vortex, everything looks fine but no mods are ever appearing in-game (I've been trying for days!!!).

 

There's no errors so nothing to investigate but it just doesn't work. I've tried resetting vortex, swithing from single user to shared, uninstalling a few times, unmanaging and re-managing the game a few times, deleting mods and re-installing, selectively trying to deploy them (to rule out a mod issue causing it) and nothing shows any errors but as I mentioned, nothing is working either.

 

I'm wondering if I missed something about the ini file. I haven't been editing ini files or moving / copying the file to other locations as I presumed that is what the mod manager does???? Is that wrong and do we all need to do that to set up mods to work in general, or every time a new mod is installed or..?

 

I'm feeling very frustrated about this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Edit - I've just seen the previous post and should also mention in case it's relevant - my documents folder is not on my OS Drive ©, nor my Gaming drive (D), but is on my Storage drive (E)

Edited September 7, 2023 by 1Evo1