We have a name! And a Q&A session with Tannin regarding the new mod manager.

[Deleted28570945User]

Well then...from a programming perspective, I can understand how virtualization would simplify things and make it easier to create the universal translator of modding for all games on Nexus. From a Skyrim modder only perspective, all I care about is the freedom to mod Skyrim the way I want!

 

When I first began modding Oblivion, I used to just install mods, not really understanding how one mod may affect the other. In time, I started extracting the mod archives, combining and replacing what I wanted. For example, Gamwich has a ton of great mods, but I got sick of installing them all individually. So I combined them into one mod archive, click-click-click, done! This is how I learned what all these file types actually do and how they interact. Then I started doing this for other mod authors and mod types. It's convenient to install 300 armor mods from one archive!

 

So I guess you could say that it is pretty important to me that I be able to maintain my custom mod archives. Mod Organizer always shows that I have only 200 to 300 mods installed. In reality, it's an insane number of mods though.

 

I also keep a backup of the entire Skyrim folder, with clean esm's, tweaked ini's, Mod Organizer, SKSE, Crash Fixes, ENB, LOOT, TES5Edit, Wrye Bash, DynDOLOD, and PoserDataGen already installed in MO or sitting in the Skyrim folder, tweaked, and ready to rock.

 

So if I find it necessary or desirable to re-mod from scratch...I just delete the 3 Skyrim folders and then copy and paste the already-tweaked folders right back into the Steam folder, etc. Been doing this for years and it saves a considerable amount of time. I start modding with USLEEP because of the frequent updates. I occasionally update the utilities and swap out my ENB and DOF...never had issues from from using this foundation method.

 

So I don't know what virtualization might potentially mean, as far as my custom style of modding is concerned, but I will definitely give it a shot. Hopefully I gave noob modders some crazy ideas with this post!

Edited May 12, 2017 by Guest

[axonis]

Does Vortex adhere to the FOMM XML schema for mods that use it ? Or does it allow invalid installer declarations to run on it when they would break FOMM ?

[othmanarnaout]

I don't know if this has been asked before, but here goes,..

 

Does this mean that a Vortex-made modded, say, Skyrim can run without launching it through vortex. What I mean to say is, will one be able to share one's custom Skyrim with a friend, by giving said friend a copy of one's Skyrim folder, and that friend would be able to run it by starting skse without the need for them to install or use vortex?

 

please forgive one for one's language.

[othmanarnaout]

In response to post #50032012.

othmanarnaout wrote: I don't know if this has been asked before, but here goes,..

Does this mean that a Vortex-made modded, say, Skyrim can run without launching it through vortex. What I mean to say is, will one be able to share one's custom Skyrim with a friend, by giving said friend a copy of one's Skyrim folder, and that friend would be able to run it by starting skse without the need for them to install or use vortex?

please forgive one for one's language.

please note that I am not referring to piracy, but the act of sharing a modded Skyrim with a newb friend :P

[TechAngel85]

In response to post #50017357. #50023137, #50023837, #50026827 are all replies on the same post.

sopmac45 wrote: Hi Tannin42 ... I started to play Skyrim SE like 4 months ago so I've never used MO and I am just familiar with NMM, however, I am practically a rookie to mods ( but I am not a teenager though .. lol .. ) and my question are :
1 - Will Vortex clean up files as SSEDIT does ?
2 - Will I have to use LOOT or Vortex will do the sorting ?
3 - Assuming that I want to restart the whole game again, will Vortex allow me to just deactivate/delete all the mods and most important, must I delete all Skyrim data/files and reinstall it again as I am doing now ?
If I do not make any sense, just please bear with me because I am new to mods as I said but it is a pain in the butt to go nuke and restart the whole thing again .. will be there a more practical/fast solution to this ?
Regarding the name, I did not vote for Vortex but I am ok with that name. It will be impossible to please the world. Simplicity and reliability of this new program is what it count IMHO.
Thanks so much.

Pabulum wrote: I'm not Tannin but at least there's a response.

1 - Will Vortex clean up files as SSEDIT does ?
2 - Will I have to use LOOT or Vortex will do the sorting ?

I hope not! xEdit doesn't belong within a mod manager. Same with LOOT. It makes stuff harder to keep updated.

3 - Assuming that I want to restart the whole game again, will Vortex allow me to just deactivate/delete all the mods and most important, must I delete all Skyrim data/files and reinstall it again as I am doing now ?

That won't be until the VFS-related crap is released.

TerminusVitae wrote: @Pabulum not Tannin either, but I'd dispute your last assertion; the "purge" feature that the Q&A describes would *effectively* uninstall all mods without un/re-installing the whole game, much like trying to run a game outside of Mod Organizer.

For those who don't know, when running a game with MO, the VFS makes it seem to the game as if the files are there when they aren't, (Virtual File System; think of it like a Virtual Reality headset that MO puts on the game's head, so the game can see and interact with files that aren't technically there.) But when not running the game through MO, the folders are clean of all those files, and the game is essentially entirely unmodded. No mod files visible, thus no mods installed.

Ostensibly, the purge feature would allow instant access to the exact same thing even in a symbolic link set-up, instantly and easily removing the file system links that made the files visible and the game modded at all. (For symbolic links, imagine that instead of making the game wear a headset, you just tie a bunch of strings to it's fingers, and tie the other end to stuff that's not usually in reach. The purge button feature would cut all the strings, until you pressed a different button to re-tie them.) You'd theoretically almost never have to "empty out the whole game folder and reinstall" again, as any files that are mod related could be automatically and precisely removed without ever touching or otherwise damaging the original game files (or, for that matter, the mod files at the other end of the strings), as opposed to the usual "wiping everything to make sure nothing got missed".

Additionally, the intent from day one to support a wide range of games means that unlike NMM or even MO, the manager would theoretically be able to handle a wider range of folders within the game's files than usual, as it'd have to... not all games are as cleanly organized as Bethesda's "stuff it all in .\ Data" mentality. :P This would still help Beth games though, because by being able to handle (for example) the main Skyrim folder (as opposed to only the Skyrim\ Data folder) even stuff like ENB presets and SKSE loaders can be handled (and for ENBs, even easily switched between) by the manager and thus purged by it if needed, even if only needed temporarily.

Tannin42 wrote: 1) No, we don't integrate xedit and for now we have no plan to do so. Vortex will be extensible through extensions so if someone with development experince comes along they could add such a feature
2) Vortex integrates loot and userlist management from inside the gui so you don't have to run loot manually. This can of course be disabled for users who don't like convenience. ;)
3) Sure. You could either simply create a new, empty, profile and switch to that or use the purge option.
Both should lead to a clean data directory (at least clean of the files Vortex added, of course we don't remove anything added through other means like steam workshop).

2) Will this solution be similar to that of MO's sort feature? The reason I ask is because you couldn't create any sort of meta rules with the sort feature alone, thus you were still required to have LOOT for any medium to heavily modded game unless you locked the plugins into place which wasn't the best solution for ease of management.

[Roccondil]

In response to post #50032012. #50032057 is also a reply to the same post.

othmanarnaout wrote: I don't know if this has been asked before, but here goes,..

Does this mean that a Vortex-made modded, say, Skyrim can run without launching it through vortex. What I mean to say is, will one be able to share one's custom Skyrim with a friend, by giving said friend a copy of one's Skyrim folder, and that friend would be able to run it by starting skse without the need for them to install or use vortex?

please forgive one for one's language.

othmanarnaout wrote: please note that I am not referring to piracy, but the act of sharing a modded Skyrim with a newb friend :P

you specifically sharing just your (mod) data folders? probably not- if I understand this correctly, what's placed in your Skyrim directories are not the actual mod files, which are stored elsewhere. You'd have to share both your Data folders and your mod folders, and hope that the paths to the mod folders are identical on both machines.

[TechAngel85]

In response to post #50031637.

axonis wrote: Does Vortex adhere to the FOMM XML schema for mods that use it ? Or does it allow invalid installer declarations to run on it when they would break FOMM ?

I'd be interested to know this as well. MO's handling of FOMODs was far superior to NMM, imo. Having written dozens of FOMODs it was always NMM that was the pain in my backside. Not to mention that MO used the code more fully and accurately than NMM due to the work of ThosRTanner.

[lukemc2005]

I, for one, really like the new name.

Looking forward to it!

[TheEyeIsBlind]

should have named it "Goober"

 

"download with goober"

 

"Goober is now installing the mod"

 

it just has a nice ring to it.

[Neuba]

Vortex sounds like a vacuum cleaner brand! :D

 

Nice Q & A.