Jump to content

Supermarket Simulator Mods and Vortex: A Mod-User Experience


Recommended Posts

Update 9/21/24: Senjay, the coder behind the Supermarket Simulator extension for Vortex, saw this guide and did some MAJOR updates to the extension for Vortex. Vortex now does an INCREDIBLE job installing mods from Nexus mods, to the point where all the steps I've written below are no longer necessary.

Check out the attached image of Vortex with beautifully-installed mods!

Now your steps are MUCH easier:

1. Go to the Nexus Mod page for the mod of interest.

2. In the top right of your Nexus Mod page, you'll see either 2 buttons (Vortex and Manual) or just one button (Manual) next to "Download:".

  • For those that have the "Vortex" button:
    • First install Vortex on your computer
    • Ensure you have Supermarket Simulator added as a managed game
    • Ensure you have the Supermarket Simulator extension installed on Vortex
    • Click the "Vortex" button next to the "Download:" option in the top right of the Mod page
    • This will allow Vortex to both download and install the mod.
      • You can see the download progress in "Downloads" on Vortex
      • Once done, the Mod will show up in "Mods" on Vortex
  • For the mods that just have "Download":
    • You can still use Vortex - install it!
    • The following steps are the same as above:
      • Ensure you have Supermarket Simulator added as a managed game
      • Ensure you have the Supermarket Simulator extension installed on Vortex
    • Use the "Manual" button next to "Download:" to download the mod
    • Go to "Mods" on Vortex, and ensure the "Drop File(s)" section is visible on the bottom. If it isn't, click the expand up-arrow in the bottom right (looks like ^).
    • Drag the downloaded zip file to the "Drop File(s)" section - this will install the mod.
    • Once done, the Mod will show up in "Mods" on Vortex

3. You can now use Vortex as it was meant to be used!

  • Managing your mod list
    • Mod titles
    • Authors
    • When you installed them or enabled them
    • What version they are
    • Disable/enable them
    • Remove them entirely
  • Checking for updates
  • Endorsing mods
  • Tracking mods
  • And more!

Great job, Senjay!

 

As of writing this article, 17 of 18 mods installed successfully on first go. Sweet!! Senjay's revisiting how the 18th mod didn't install correctly (Night Glow) and will be patching that particular issue at some point. Otherwise, all other mods installed successfully!

 

--------------------------------------------------- Old article below for reference ------------------------------------------------------------

 

Disclaimer: This was written on 9/1/24. The mod list and versions this was written for are included in this article. I am not affiliated with these mods, Nexus, or have any endorsements by these mods or Nexus. Just sharing what I've learned because I found this information hard to find and thought I'd share for those who are less skilled and want to know the same information I rounded up!

 

I have been absolutely loving Supermarket Simulator for a bit - my boyfriend, a streamer, found it first and after watching him play it a bit I thought I'd give it a go!

Most of my "real world" time is spent in tech support for a software company. When I sign out after 8-10 hours of the day on a computer, I want to have an easy game where I can poke around, have the game my way, and then sit back and watch things happen. I'm an extremely casual videogame player and have no problem with using mods to speed up my gameplay, especially since I've spent so much time on the computer for work and I only have a few hours of patience or tolerance before migraines kick in and I have to close up the computer for the day. The game has to be easy for me to be able to play it and for it to be enjoyable. But I do love the fun of upgrade and design-type games, so that's the appeal here, for me!

 

The following mods are the mods I've dug into, for varying reasons, and the versions below are the versions I've got going that seem compatible:

  • Required to let other mods run:
    • Tobey's Bepinex Melon Loader 5.4.23 Payload 0.3.2
    • Texture Replacer 1.1.9
  • Real USA Products Take 2 v. 2.2.0 - For the look of the products. It helps me remember product names when running around the store if I recognize them from my own daily life!
  • Mods that help manage the stockroom. I kept getting migraines and dizzy (yes, dizzy off computer) trying to spin around in-game helping the restockers. These helped understand the stock and manage stock better.
    • FNK Rack Consolidator 1.1.3 - Drives me nuts when I can't combine boxes, so this does it for me on the shelves in storage.
    • Store Delivery 1.1.1 - If I want to pay a pretty price to have the delivery guys deliver direct to the storeroom, I pay it. There's times I don't want to pay the price and I dump them out to the street.
    • RDC Stock Manager 1.6.5 - This helped me understand what stock was where without having to run around and look at everything.
    • Rack Refill 1.0.0 - A lovely mod that you can click to just fill your cart. Sadly half the time I can't afford the full cart, but I start with it over-full and take away what I don't want to fill for the day.
  • Mods that help me manage prices.
    • Tdo Statistics 1.0.8 - I can't remember who said what about a product, so it's easier if the computer remembers it for me!
    • Automatic Price Updater 0.1.2 - For a while I was running around the store with a calculator on my phone trying to update all the prices. Then I found this mod can just do that for me. Huzzah!
  • Mods that help me manage customers.
    • Bonus Customers 1.0.0 - More customers! Makes the game go faster and makes me feel not as lonely in the store, haha.
    • Better Checkout Choice 1.1.2 - The customers don't go to the closest checkout. Instead, they go to the checkout that has the shortest line... I mean, this is what I do in a store.
  • Mods that help manage the store front.
    • Smart Pocket Boxes 1.4.2 - When I need to re-arrange the store (I do this A. LOT.), I don't have the right boxes... I used to try and store them on the shelves, but RDC Stock Manager doesn't let me do that anymore... Then I stored them on the floor, but my restockers throw those away. So this lets me whip out a box when I need one. Still need to turn off the restockers when I re-arrange, but that's fine!
    • Night Glow 0.0.8 - Lights on at 6 PM in-game. Another huzzah!
    • Run In Background Mod 1.0.0 - If I need to go double-check something about a mod or feel like I want to go post a question on the Nexus mod page or endorse a mod or report a bug while playing, I can do that without the game having to pause.
    • The Night Shift 1.0.2 - Just used this once so far, but it was wonderful to know I didn't have to just leave the game running to let the restockers finish their job. My computer's hardware health thanks me for it, I'm sure.

 

Things I learned while using these mods:

  • Nexus' Vortex Mod Manager relies on folder structure.
    • I'll say it again: Folder structure is *CRITICAL*.*
    • When you ask Vortex to manage your mods, the mods have to be released and packaged by the Mod owner in the right structure or Vortex won't be able to install it.
    • Some of them are good at packaging their mods in the right folder structure that Vortex can manage... some of them aren't.
    • All of the mod owners are GREAT at providing instructions on how to use their mods regardless (ex. "unpack this file/component and put it HERE in your game's folder structure")
    • So what I did was download all the above mods and re-package them myself and deploy them through Vortex... What this means is:
      • I can enable/disable them myself through Vortex
      • I can uninstall them through Vortex
      • I have a list of the mods I use
      • But Vortex doesn't actually:
        • Recognize them as part of the Nexus Mods community files
        • Tell me when there's an update
        • Update them for me

*Weirdly, I picked this concept up the most watching a video about modding Skyrim using Vortex, and I have no interest right now in returning to Skyrim with mods at the moment - was just trying to figure out how to make the Supermarket Mods work easier...

 

I'm okay with that. The mod authors do HARD work. They take time out of their own jobs and their own day to make content for us to enjoy. Just doing this service for us as volunteer work is kind, and they often get trashed for it by spammers and dissatisfied users who run into a bug and complain without providing enough information to resolve the problem. Not to mention the communities who expect that once the mod is made, they're required to keep the mod updated for the rest of their lives. Thank your mod creators, friends!

 

Here's an example of how I downloaded, re-structured, and then used Vortex to deploy one of the mods above, Texture Replacer (v. 1.1.9). I am by no means an expert - this is just how it worked for me!

1. Install Vortex and be sure it points to your Supermarket Simulator folder.

  • In Vortex, on Profiles on the left, click on your Supermarket Simulator profile to check where Vortex is pointing to for your Supermarket Simulator profile
    • For me, this is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Supermarket Simulator
    • This is basically intended to be where your Supermarket Simulator.exe application is, but you won't see it when you open this folder within Vortex. If you open the same path in File Explorer, you should see it.

2. Get instructions on where the mod needs to be installed.

  • Go to the Mod's description page (https://www.nexusmods.com/supermarketsimulator/mods/70?tab=description)
  • Look for instructions like "place this downloaded thing at this folder location". Usually you'll see the words BepinEx or MLLoader or MelonLoader somewhere in there.
  • For Texture Replacer at the time of writing this:

    Install:
    Download MelonLoader and put the mod into:
    X:\Steam\steamapps\common\Supermarket Simulator\BepInEx\plugins\

3. Download the mod

  • At the top right I chose "Manual" download.
  • I would only use "Vortex" if I knew the file structure was correct for Vortex to be able to instantly deploy.

4. Review the downloaded mod structure

  • In downloading this mod, I receive a zip file named "TextureReplacer 1.1.9-70-1-1-9-1724293235.zip"
    • Inside this is a folder named "TextureReplacer". Inside this folder are 4 folders and a .dll file:
      • objects_meshes
      • objects_textures
      • products_icons
      • products_names
      • TextureReplacer.dll

5. Make a folder that matches the folder structure as explained in the instructions in step #2

  • With Vortex, the .zip file we give it has to be the same structure it dumps into the Supermarket Simulator folder.
  • The mod put on their page that to work, the structure must be:
    • ... Supermarket Simulator
      • BepinEx
        • plugins
          • TextureReplacer
            • objects_meshes
            • objects_textures
            • products_icons
            • products_names
            • TextureReplacer.dll
  • But if we put it in as it is zipped right now, it would become:
    • ... Supermarket Simulator
      • TextureReplacer
        • objects_meshes
        • objects_textures
        • products_icons
        • products_names
        • TextureReplacer.dll
  • Vortex may be smart enough in the mod installer to help you if you choose "BepInEx" or "MelonLoader" but I've found iffy results, so I re-structure before loading it in. I make a folder structure myself that contains just the following items from the download:
    • BepinEx (made this myself)
      • plugins (made this myself)
        • TextureReplacer (from the download)
          • objects_meshes (from the download)
          • objects_textures (from the download)
          • products_icons (from the download)
          • products_names (from the download)
          • TextureReplacer.dll (from the download)

6. Zip up the folder and make sure the proper structure is inside the zip

  • When I zip up the contents above, I make sure that inside the new zip file, the top folder is "BepinEx", not the zip file name".
  • GOOD:
    • TextureReplacer_1.1.9.zip
      • BepinEx
        • etc...
  • BAD:
    • TextureReplacer_1.1.9.zip
      • TextureReplacer_1.1.9
        • BepinEx
          • etc...

7. Deploy through Vortex

  • In Vortex > Mods, toss the zip into the "Drop Files" section.
  • When you get the pop-up asking "BepInEx" or "MelonLoader"? I just hit the "install" button.
  • It'll show a "failed to install" error in the top right, but it will be added to the list of mods.
  • On the "remove" button on the right, hit the drop down and choose "Unpack As-Is" Voila!

8. Optional?: Add metadata in Vortex

  • The version and category don't appear in Vortex. If you double-click on the Mod Name, you can add metadata to the mod panel on the right that appears.
  • I like to add:
    • The author info
    • The version info
    • The source (Nexus Mods)
    • The category from the Nexus Mods page
    • Then to the right of Mod ID, I click "Query Server" to get the errors to go away.
  • Feels good to me to have warning symbols disappear. And to have a list of the mods I have at my disposal.

9. Track the mod

  • On the mod page, track the mod so you get a notification if it gets updated.

10. Highly recommended: Tell the mod maker how awesome their mod is.

  • Most importantly, thank your mod maker! They work so hard for us!

 

Anyway... This isn't perfect. There may be (and are PROBABLY!!!) easier ways to do this... I'm new here. I'm fussing around with things. Documentation is a bit hard to find for me at the moment. This is just a way I found that works that I wanted to share! Please share easier ways that YOU know how to do it.

 

Most importantly, have fun!

CutieMapNerd, signing off!

VortexWithModsInstalled.png

Edited by CutieMapNerd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...