How to move the whole game + mods to a different drive?

[Deleted914215User]

I decided to start on compiling a new installation of F4 a while ago but I didn't have enough space on the SSD drive. No biggie, I thought. I'll just move the game over once I'm done with stuff on the SSD and with the mods ready on the HDD.

 

Unfortunately, moving the game directory makes the game crash on load, even creating a symlink to the folder doesn't work.

 

What is the community way of moving the whole installation of the game over to a different drive without NMM freaking out?

Edited July 2, 2017 by Guest

[Fonger]

first you google how to move steam

[SMB92]

Install game and NMM fresh after taking a backup of Fallout 4 Data folder and also Appdata/local/fallout 4 folder, as well as backup of NMM folders, then after installing fresh drop the old folder straight on top of the new ones. Make sure to set up NMM directories in the fresh install first before dropping old folder on top.

 

Should pick up where it left off. I've done this a few times now.

[BarazSeighfryd]

first you google how to move steam

Best and clearest answer yet. Sounds sound. Thanks !

 

I converted your message into steps as follows :

Note : I made sure the steps were really in the right sequence and added notes.

 

Steps to move game and mods without breaking the set-up (version 1*) :

 

1) First make *backups* of : these are not simply security back-ups, but the data you need to keep!

a) Fallout 4 Data folder (contains all the installed mods)

b) folder Appdata/local/Fallout4 [invisible folder under your Windows user path]

c) NMM mod folders [location may vary: NMM software can show you where it is].

 

2) Do fresh Installs for both game and mod manager (ex: NMM).

- They can be on different disks, but fresh installs makes sure there are no erroneous sim links and other confusions.

- Steam now has an option to move a game. This is logically shorter/faster, but I have not tested the end-result with mods it yet.

 

3) set up good settings in your new NMM install

- If you wish to use the new Nexus Vortex, I still recommend you begin by making it work well with your current NMM first. You can then import your set-up in Vortex (again, this is to avoid some of the sim links and other mod errors that can happen when you move a game).

 

4) drop the 3 old folders on top of the new ones (replacing all their contents) .

 

* I did this once. Moving Fallout 4 and all the mods to another disk (D instead of C). What I did and the results are explained below.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Seighfryd

[BarazSeighfryd]

End-result when testing the method :

WHAT I DID

1) Used the recent option in Steam to move Fallout 4 (Steam > Fallout 4 in your library > (right-click) Properties > Locale Files > Move...)
--- It maintained all the files and settings, with one exception : it required entering anew the graphics settings. Still, all my FO4 settings and custom settings (Documents > My games > Fallout 4) were saved even if I changed my graphics settings a bit.

2) Instead of reinstalling the mod manager (NMM in my case), I kept the NMM software on disk C, but created a new folder on D (which is fine and doable with NMM), and I fiddled around the settings.
--- NMM : I modified Tools > Change Virtual Folders : zapped everything there and set-up the Multi-HD mode.
--- NMM : and of course modified Settings > Fallout 4 locations.

RESULTS

a) The NMM side of things was not a simple success : even with the 3 old folders mentioned above placed, and though NMM had the right mod/plug-in list, it failed its initial attempt at moving stuff (had to force-quit). After un-confusing NMM a bit, the mods were marked inactive (but at least all there), and I only had to reactivate them. So most of the work then was selected the few options some mods offer at install and then testing in the game to make sure everything worked OK.

b) When NMM re-installed the mods, that does create some new mod settings, like the UI mod for example, but I only had to copy-paste a few old files back, case by case (like the custom UI/HUD and the Hotkeys mod).

c) Otherwise, most mods were A-OK, since their original settings were not crushed.

All in all, all my saved games load with all the original mods, and I only had to do a bit of tweaking for about three mods (mentioned at b here).

For NMM, my method was probably imperfect and noobish, but I pulled it off. I switched from just a virtual folder to a multi-HDD mode in the middle of the process and I did not really apply the method exactly as named above. Maybe NMM would have been easier work with if I had fully done what SMB92 said.

--
[ deleted the question I had posted here before ]

Edited May 30, 2018 by Seighfryd

[clusterz]

I don't know if it's bad form but I wanted to thank SMB92 and Seighfryd for the how- to. It works.