Older versions of Mods removed when new one posted

[garthagain]

One thing I find unfortunate is that some mod authors do not leave older versions of mods posted, when they post a new version. I don't know the ins and outs of mod posting, but is shure is nice to be able to find an older version, when you haven't got all the game updates. In my case, I'm running vers.1.5.157.0 of FO4, simply because I didn't like the sounds of what the next updates could do to my game. Don't have Nuka World, but so what.

Please Mod authors, give this some thought.

[llamaRCA]

It depends on the kind of mod and the individual author, but I take down older versions because keeping track of the issues in each version is a nightmare for support.

 

I'd suggest, if you don't want to update your game to the current version, that you do what lots of players do and keep backups of the mods you most enjoy for the version of the game you are willing to use.

 

Mod authors remove files for various reasons over time and the only way to guarantee you'll always have access to a beloved mod is to keep a backup copy of it yourself.

[tomomi1922]

Nexus Mod Manager for the win! I have some mods now at version 3.5 and I still keep their version 1.0. No point really but I am just too lazy to clean them up. But truth be told, I am holding on to a few mods where owners discontinued. One of them was a companion mod, rather primitive, requiring console commands to make them stick around. But it is not buggy and I always need an extra gun (and extra companion to dress up), so I keep it around.

[Moksha8088]

Sometimes leaving the old version is very desirable. For instance, I use a mod called Loving Piper that required the mod TH Brows to be installed. When the author of TH Brows released their mod and all users of Loving Piper dutifully upgraded, it broke Piper. The solution to reload the old version, but it had disappeared.

[SIMJEDI]

Create separate folder called "Mods"

Drag and drop manually downloaded mod to NMM.

Always have every version of a mod you have ever downloaded

???

Profit!

[PoorlyAged]

Let me try to shed some light. I am one that believes in deleting older versions of a mod when releasing a newer one. Leaving an older version is tricky.

 

Do I continue to support the old version? Or do I 'freeze' the old version and make it "use at your peril"? Either option is unpalatable to someone.

What do I tell a user who still has the old version and experiences a problem, "Upgrade and call me in morning". That won't make them happy.

And if i do patch the old version, I now must upgrade the newer version with the delta. Doing so would create a third version of the mod. Nope, that isn't going to happen.

 

It is easier to just delete the old version and take the heat for that. Better that than complicate the maintenance of a mod with multiple versions.

Edited June 3, 2017 by PoorlyAged

[garthagain]

RE: llamaRCA; "It depends on the kind of mod and the individual author..........."

AND: PoorlyAged; "Let me try to shed some light. ............"

Thanks for your helpful replys. What mainly happens with me is that I'll recall seeing a mod I'd previously passed by, go look at it again, only to find it's been updated for Nuka World. The previous Vanilla and Far Harbour versions are gone.

[PoorlyAged]

 

RE: llamaRCA; "It depends on the kind of mod and the individual author..........."

AND: PoorlyAged; "Let me try to shed some light. ............"

Thanks for your helpful replys. What mainly happens with me is that I'll recall seeing a mod I'd previously passed by, go look at it again, only to find it's been updated for Nuka World. The previous Vanilla and Far Harbour versions are gone.

 

 

I USUALLY maintain separate versions for DLC (see here) and will maintain these in parallel. However, if a mod is DEPENDENT on (uses assets from) a specific DLC, you get one version.

 

Some authors will be more restrictive than I and one version is all you get.

Edited June 3, 2017 by PoorlyAged

[MissingMeshTV]

 

One thing I find unfortunate is that some mod authors do not leave older versions of mods posted, when they post a new version. I don't know the ins and outs of mod posting, but is shure is nice to be able to find an older version, when you haven't got all the game updates. In my case, I'm running vers.1.5.157.0 of FO4, simply because I didn't like the sounds of what the next updates could do to my game. Don't have Nuka World, but so what.

Please Mod authors, give this some thought.

 

As previously mentioned, there are various reasons a mod author will take down older versions. Quite often those not familiar with mod creation (or software development in general) don’t realize just how painful keeping track of different versions can be. Some people love that kind of pain. Personally, I’m not one of them. I work with web design as part of my day job and have to collaborate with various dev teams regularly. Version control is something you come to appreciate when you’re dealing with 15 versions of the same HTML file before you even eat lunch. Most of us simply do not have the time or energy to focus on old and probably outdated versions of our mods. Given our time and energy constrains, I think most of us would rather focus our efforts on new projects and improving the ones we already have out there. Supporting multiple versions of the same mod are a huge drain on that. There's a good reason why software companies end-of-life old versions of their products: it's simply not cost-effective to support them any longer. For most mod authors, cost-effectiveness is measured in time rather than dollars.

 

In some cases a older version might be just plain broken, and the mod author is doing the right thing by replacing it with an updated and fixed version and removing the old.

 

One reason many mod authors make their mods dependent upon DLC is that there are lots of great assets for us to use. We like shiny things, and we think most other players do too! Better integration with DLC form lists and leveled lists is another motivator.

 

It’s also worth mentioning the other extreme: when an author never takes down an old version of a mod. From a user experience perspective, that makes no sense. I really don’t want to filter through 19 versions of a mod to figure out which one I need to install because I can’t be sure the one that is set as the default NMM file is the correct version for my game and DLC config. Pulling out the weeds is never a bad thing.

 

For a many, many months after Nuka World I too kept my FO4 install frozen at 1.5.7. I was afraid to upgrade. Then I decided to bite the bullet and Let Go. I came up with an upgrade plan that essentially involved making a duplicate of my FO4 install folder and my NMM mods folder. Should upgrading the game and the mods go south, I would have the backups to fallback on.

 

I also backed up and made a hard copy of my plugins.txt folder. As I reinstalled updated versions of the mods I had been using, I followed my plugins.txt file for the load order to keep the same load order as before since it was preatty well fine tuned. I still make a regular print out of the plugins file any time I install new mods, just for a reference in case of a problem.

 

I mention upgrading because I was in the same frame of mind not wanting to bork my game. I still keep Steam in offline mode and always will so I don't get any surprises. If you have the storage space, consider backing everything up and then upgrading. You’ll be able to enjoy many more of the newer mods require the DLC you might not already have. There's a ton of fun, new stuff out there. Just a suggestion.