new to nexus mods, how do i install downloads?

[silence731]

ok, so i joined today to get teh workshop mod and it gives me a .zip file that DLed into my downloads folder, opening the file i do not see the standard readme.txt file that used to come with mod files back in the day, so im not sure how to install said mod, i do a search on the fallout 4 forums and find some great beginners guides on what files i need and what to avoid, but nothing on where to drop mod files to make them work, so what folder(s) do i put what file/folder in to get them into my game?

[showler]

Generally, you'd use a mod manager to install the mods.  Vortex, Mod Organizer 2 or Nexus Mod Manager Community Edition are the current ones.

[subaverage]

Are you new to modding FO4 at all or "only" to this site?

[RoNin1971]

To answer the question:

Inside your fallout 4's installation folder there is a folder called "Data". Here you will find the games data files. Like *.esm, *.esp & *.ba2 files. That's where all your mod files need to go. Any *.esl, or *.esp and .ba2 archive should be directly inside the "Data" folder. Any other file or folder should go there as well. Note that if you have a mod with separate files not in a *.ba2 archive like meshes (*.nif) and textures (*.dds) you will need to add a few .ini settings to get fallout to load these "loose files".

 

In the game go to "mods" & "load order" to enable it, if it is an *.esp file. Loose files will always load (last) and can't be enabled or disabled.

[silence731]

On 8/10/2024 at 4:45 AM, RoNin1971 said:

To answer the question:

Inside your fallout 4's installation folder there is a folder called "Data". Here you will find the games data files. Like *.esm, *.esp & *.ba2 files. That's where all your mod files need to go. Any *.esl, or *.esp and .ba2 archive should be directly inside the "Data" folder. Any other file or folder should go there as well. Note that if you have a mod with separate files not in a *.ba2 archive like meshes (*.nif) and textures (*.dds) you will need to add a few .ini settings to get fallout to load these "loose files".

 

In the game go to "mods" & "load order" to enable it, if it is an *.esp file. Loose files will always load (last) and can't be enabled or disabled.

ok, so inside the workshop framework mainfile, there is the workshopframework - main.ba2 and workshopframework.esm, both of those files would go into to top "data" folder, while the 3 "loose" folders consisting of "F4SE" "fomod" and "MCM" would also go into the top "Data" folder".

now for the question, inside each of those folders are individual files, im guessing, that effect the various parent mods that those names present, like the fallout 4 save editor(F4SE) and whatever the other 2 mods reference, i do not use any of those 3 files, yet, would i still need to edit the .ini file to add those files in or would they automatically be referenced if i ever download those particular mods?

[RoNin1971]

Those 3 refer to mods & mod managers. You should have gotten a warning about F4SE being "required" when you downloaded the workshop framework.

You need to install that first. F4SE stands for Fallout 4 Script Extender and comes with its own launcher for the game.

I personally don't know FOMOD & MCM but both are used in managing your mods (options). Probably not required unlike F4SE, but I can't be sure (I don't use mod managers myself)

In your case that would probably make your life easier, as they take care of such things for you (up to a point)

[showler]

FOMOD is a scripting system that allows Mod Managers to automatically select needed patches and also allow you to select mod options that you want to install.

MCM is the Mod Control Menu, which is a mod that allows the in-game settings for a mod to be added to the main menu of the game instead of needing an item to bring up a menu in the game.

[fraquar]

New User?   

Go see GamerPoets

Seriously, you need to get clear, consise information for setting up your game to be modded properly.

Put on some popcorn, watch the videos.    

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For the love of god - don't take shortcuts.    Learn and understand the basic fundamentals of setting up your modding environment.

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Added:   You are not going to find better videos - trust me.   Pause them and reverse them as necessary - they aren't going anywhere.