How to Maintain Mod Installations Across Multiple PCs?

[MrIllusion]

Does anyone have any advice about playing Steam version of Skyrim on two platforms?

 

I usually play Skyrim on my PC at home. Recently I've been playing on my girlfriend's laptop when I'm at her place. It's fine when I play games like Dark Souls between these two rigs. But it's a bit of a challenge when it comes to Skyrim because maintaining the mods is quite a nightmare.

 

What I've done now is to install Nexus Mod Manager, but use my dropbox folder as the mod installation directory. So any mods that I dl can get synced to both machines and the installation log files are also kept on dropbox.

 

But when done this way, the install info shows the mods installed on the last platform played. So when I play on the other platform, the installation info isn't necessary accurate, especially if I update mods or install new mods.

 

What's a good way to go about ensuring that the mod setup on both machines are synchronised?

 

 

[Hyacathusarullistad]

Yeah, don't use a cloud service for this kind of thing. Or anything really if you can avoid it. The cloud folder keeps all your mods in once place, including installation data. So when you install a mod on one machine the other then thinks it's installed as well because it's reading the same information file as the first. You'd be better off using something like BitTorret Sync, which will keep the NMM mods folder identical on two separate machines. Each machine will have its own copy of each mod you download, and any mod you add to one will automatically be added to the other as well. It's entirely peer to peer - the two machines transfer data directly via the internet (or a local network if they're on the same router), with no third party server involved. Be sure to only synchronise the mods folder, however, not the entire NMM install folder. That will let both copies of NMM have their own data to read, but an identical mods list.

 

This won't keep your list of active mods the same between both rigs, sadly. And I don't think there's really any safe way to do this, IMO. I suppose you could set up BTSync to keep your steamapps/common/Skyrim folders synchronised... theoretically this would let you install mods from one machine, and not worry about two copies of NMM. I don't know that I'd recommend such a process, however. Quite apart from anything else, that's a lot of data to be synching via the internet. If nothing else it will eat into your monthly bandwidth.

 

The best way to safely manage it would be the most tedious: start a fresh playthrough, and set up your load order on both machines simultaneously. Pick the same options for the same mods at the same time - don't try to do it from memory or with a list of some sort, that's just creating extra work that may end up not working properly. Have both machines in front of you at once and install each mod at the same time. Once you've got your mods installed on both rigs, don't change your load order on either machine. At all. Even to update anything. This is good advice when modding on one machine, but you'd be full blown balls to the wall insane to try it while running on two.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Hyacathusarullistad

[fraquar]

What I do is use Mod Organizer, since it doesn't touch the Skyrim DATA directory at all.

I install all mods to a primary computer in a MOD subdirectory under Mod Organizer

Configure said mods accordingly

Copy the entire MOD subdirectory and PROFILE to the other computer.

 

Bam, both are synced and you only have to configure once.

 

I don't update very often, if I did this might be a little bit of a hassle without a DIFF utility.

[chanchan05]

I haven't tried it on Skyrim, but in the early days I used to just install the game on an external HDD and just carry that around with copies of the save files. Will that work with Skyrim?

[MrIllusion]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

I'm gonna check out a few of the methods methods mentioned.

 

Chhers!