I Broke my Game With Mods. Please Help

[cannedfruitz]

hi. so, long story short: i tried installing a mod. when i downloaded it on my pc, it wasn't a .dazip file. i didn't know this at the time but this is really dumb idea. i saw somewhere that you can force convert files into .dazip by renaming. when i did this, and tried to add into my DAO mod manager. chaos. it made all my mods disappear on the manager, including dlc. i can see descriptions but they're invisible. cannot open game anymore due to me have installing two different DAO launchers, one for the 4GB mod and another i cannot remember specifically. it confuses my pc and brings up two of the 'allow this blah blah to make changes to dao?' which i believe just cancels them out. steam says there's an error and it was running, as if i clicked it twice while it was open. also, when i try to redirect my mod manager to my override folder, it shows the image below. i have such limited knowledge on computers, this stuff has taken me awhile of research and stuff, i'm so sad i broke and feel like a dumb chick. if im cooked and i might just have to not play it, just let me know bro. thank you.

[theskymoves]

I'm  just a 'dumb chick' (and an old one to boot), but here goes, at least until a smart 'bro' comes along with his big strong man brain.

Firstly, it's impossible to 'convert' a manual override mod (like Personal Annoyance Remover) to the DAzip format just by renaming the archive. 100% impossible. A million percent impossible. Anyone who wrote that is either very ignorant, or willfully malicious. DAzip archives require a specific internal folder hierarchy, and certain 'housekeeping' files (manifest.xml, etc) to work; manual overrides are usually just loose files in a folder or folders.

The only time a Zip archive should ever be renamed to ".dazip" is when the mod is (1) known to be a DAzip (and was uploaded by the modder as a 'naked' .dazip; i.e., not enclosed in a container ZIP/RAR/7zip archive) and (2) the browser has for some reason, and in error, changed the extension on the download.

That all your previously installed DAzip mods and DLC have seemingly disappeared indicates that your attempt to install the renamed override mod may have damaged or even wiped your existing Addins.xml file. That's an issue usually seen when using Vortex to mod the game, but

Secondly, replacing your game executable may be part of the issue, but since you can't even identify where the second mystery launcher originated, there's no way to tell if that's the problem. (You did run a virus scan on that executable that you can't remember where it came from, I hope...)

If you are installing the game from Steam, to make the game Large Address Aware (able to use more that 2GB of RAM), you can either follow this guide, or use this (apparently)  pre-patched daorigins.exe file. Don't try to re-patch an already patched executable (which is what you seem to be describing with the 'allow this blah blah to make changes to dao?').

Thirdly, there have been quite a few reports that modding the game while using OneDrive as the location of the system Document folder causes issues. I regret that I can't offer any advice on how to address or remedy that, since (again) I just have a fluffy empty lady brain, and also getting rid of OneDrive is the first thing I do for my PCs.

Fourthly, make sure your install of DAOModManager is not nested under any of the auto-generated default Dragon Age folders. The modmanager and its mod storage folders (the 'override packages' and 'DAzip packages' folders) should be located outside of the installer created Dragon Age folders (in Documents and Programs). And double check your the configuration of your DAOModManager, and make sure the folder paths are correct. The easiest way to set the paths is to just click on the field to be populated and browse to the folder you want to set. (Likewise, if you intend to install cosmetic mods for your player character, the CharGenMorph Compiler must also be located outside of the BioWare Dragon Age folders.

So... you've got a wide variety of issues. I recommend uninstalling both the game and mod manager. Reinstall just the game, and run it once, to create some settings files and folders that are generated at that point.  In the 'Downloadable Content' area of the game's launch menu, make sure your DLC are present and activated (checked off).

Before doing anything else, make a backup copy of the 'daorigins.exe' file in Dragon Age/bin_ship. That way, if your replacement executable (or patching) goes bad, you will have a known-good vanilla version to fall back on.

Next, make a backup of the entire 'Settings' folder in Documents/Bioware/Dragon Age. That will preserve, among other files, a known-good vanilla copy of the AddIns.xml file. (The AddIns.xml file enumerates all the installed DLC and DAzip mods, and as with the executable, it's good to have something to revert to if necessary.)

Only then would I progress to replacing (or patching) daorigins.exe, installing DAOModManager, installing mods, etc. Unsolicited pro tip: read the mod documentation for each mod, and follow the installation guidelines from the modder: install DAzip with either daupdater.exe or your mod manager (DAOModManager is the most reliable, but not the only option); install manual overrides by unzipping them and manually placing the mod files in \Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override; install .override installer packages with DAOModmanager.)

Some basic information on modding the game:

Installing Dragon Age mods
Using Dragon Age mods for Dummies
Installing Cosmetic Mods for Dragon Age

And an explanation of the three types of mods for DAO.

Oh, and there's still that OneDrive thing to sort out. I'm sure a helpful bro man will be along shortly to help with that.

Sincerely,
Old Dumb Chick