Help with using Vortex installed on another drive with Starfield

[fishman]

Okay. So I've been using Starfield for a while now. I stopped playing for a while, but wanted to get back into it.

Here are my issues:

 

I installed Vortex on my D drive and installed about 670 mods for Skyrim. I also installed my Skyrim AE AND Starfield on my D drive. I didn't want Steam, Vortex, or my games on my C drive. I wanted all of this separate from my operating system drive. 

This works GREAT for Skyrim. My mods have these two paths.

For Skyrim, it's D:\Vortex Mods\skyrim se

For Starfield, it's D:\Vortex Mods\Starfield

While my Steam, Vortex, and games are on the D drive, I still have content in my "My Documents" folder. My saves go to a Starfield Folder and a separate Skyrim Special Addition folder. In the skyrim folder, I have a saves folder and a few loose ini files. You know, the usual. My Skyrim is thriving and perfect. My Starfield is not. It's kind of shitty.

So, Starfield also sticks a data folder there. I know that it's SUPPOSED to do this. I've made the Starfield Custom.ini file. I only have about 30 mods added to my game. Most of them work fine, but a LOT of the mods that I've tried to install do NOT work.

My vortex download is set to the following:

D:\Games\Vortex\Starfield Downloads

My Mod Staging Folder is set to the following:

D:\Vortex Mods\starfield

I've got the Starfield Support for Vortex mod installed. I'm not sure that it's installed properly. I installed it using Vortex.  I have the mod load order manager box checked in the settings\mod tab. I also have the folder junction box checked.

What bothers me is that if I try to install a mod, it looks like usually doesn't install properly unless I manually add the content from the zip archive into my data folder in my Starfield folder, which is in games folder (my documents on my C drive.)

I recently got an error that says that I need a folder junction. I already have the box checked and also have a mod that is supposed to "fix" this problem.

I don't want troubleshooting about what I'm doing wrong. I know it's buggered. What I want is a step by step set of instructions for doing it the right way. I'll do what I need on my end to align with the instructions.

Any help would be massively appreciated. If I can't get this working well, I'll keep Skyrim on Vortex, but will wipe out my Starfield mods and give Mod Manager 2 a shot. I'd rather stick with Vortex, but I'm getting frustrated. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pickysaurus]

Are you sure the files are actually on C:\ ?

Vortex makes a junction that tricks the game into thinking the data folder it wants to use on C:\ is actually the one on D:\ 

[fishman]

Yup. Is Vortex supposed to add this content to the Starfield data folder (from the initial install) in the D drive?

When I tried adding a mod yesterday, I got a prompt that I had this data folder in two different places and that mod might not install it properly. It told me to delete the content in C:\Users\XXXXXXXX\Documents\My Games\Starfield. When it did this, my old mods didn't work anymore. I was perplexed because a had the junction box checked AND the Support for Vortex mod added as well. 

I backed up the data folder before doing this. I decided to take the content of that folder and tried moving it into my Starfield data folder for the Starfield installation. I launched the game and the mod content was still missing. Next, I put the files back into C:\Users\XXXXXXXX\Documents\My Games\Starfield and my old mods worked again.  

Is it wrong to have the Support for Vortex mod AND the file junction activated. I looked all over my D drive to see where this information was at. I couldn't find it anywhere. Where is this information supposed to go? Should I have the Support for Skyrim mod AND the folder junction thing activated in Vortex? I've always had issues with adding most mods, so I mostly have mesh and texture mods added. I recently fixed my meshes from one of the recent updates. I just don't want to play Starfield until I have this sorted out. I'm getting close to a good stopping point in Skyrim and was getting the itch to play Starfield again. I just wish that they didn't screw around with moving stuff around for this game. It's really one of the main reasons that I haven't been playing that game.

Edited August 1, 2024 by fishman