installing Mods with Mod Manager

[EdwardHead]

I'm trying to get some mods running with the mod manager. I understand the principles of installing dazip and override files, but some mods just contain folders with files with all sorts of endings. What about these files? Where to drop them?

[theskymoves]

(By 'the mod manager' I'm going to assume that you mean DAO-ModManager, since that is the only way to install .override archives.)

 

Those folders of loose files are probably manual overrides.

 

Manual overrides don't require an 'installer' and are usually copy/pasted to the Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override folder; the description or ReadMe of the mod should indicate as such. (Some mod installation basics here.)

 

You can, of course, create DAO-ModManager .override archives and install them with that utility, though IMO that's wasted effort for most mods. (Info on .override creation here.)

Edited August 16, 2017 by theskymoves

[EdwardHead]

Thanks!

[EdwardHead]

I just don't get it why these mods follow such a weird file structure. Why not just follow the file structure of the game? Combine the "Meshes" folder with your "Meshes" folder in your game directory, do the same with the "music" folder and so on? But no, some files get here, others there... Kind of makes you wonder why even bother about such a game. I mean, I really appreciate the creativity of mod writers, but gaming companies seem to be hell bent on making users just say "Screw it! I've got better things to do!". :(

[theskymoves]

I just don't get it why these mods follow such a weird file structure. Why not just follow the file structure of the game? Combine the "Meshes" folder with your "Meshes" folder in your game directory, do the same with the "music" folder and so on? But no, some files get here, others there... Kind of makes you wonder why even bother about such a game. I mean, I really appreciate the creativity of mod writers, but gaming companies seem to be hell bent on making users just say "Screw it! I've got better things to do!". :sad:

 

Welp. Firstly, the base game doesn't use loose files (everything is stored in archives... ERFs, RIMs, etc.). So 'combining' would mean replacing/overwriting vanilla files and rebuilding the archives, and TBH, I can't think of a WORSE way to handle modding... :yucky: :wallbash: :sad:

 

In fact, modding the Mass Effect games is largely as you've described (replacing textures in the original location) and it's a royal effing PitA when something goes wrong or a texture isn't what I wanted... the entire game has to be 'vanilled' (reinstalled) to fix the issue and then remodded to add back the things that I actually want. :facepalm: :ohmy:

 

Even worse is a Baldur's Gate Tutu-modded install (which also replaces vanilla files). You can't change ANYTHING about the install once you start playing, since the saves won't load if you do. :ohdear:

 

With DAO, I just delete the offending files or uninstall the unwanted DAzip, and it's done... the worst that can happen is a removed mod baking info into a save (and that's not a function of the way the mods were installed). DAO actually uses a very very efficient and practical way of modifying a game, since almost everything is easily reversible. :thumbsup:

 

tl; dr - No one is forcing you mod the game. If it's too much trouble or too complicated, play vanilla. /tsm out

Edited August 16, 2017 by theskymoves

[EdwardHead]

Try Morrowind mods. Simple file structure, no overwriting. Just drop the files in the corresponding folder, activate the mod and done.

[theskymoves]

Try Morrowind mods. Simple file structure, no overwriting. Just drop the files in the corresponding folder, activate the mod and done.

 

My Morrowind install is modded extensively, and for anything other than simple replacers, it's not that simple. You have to be concerned with load order. And dirty mods that require cleaning. And cell conflicts. And merging levelled lists. And registering BSAs. And merging mods when you hit the hard-coded esm/esp limit.

 

Yes, a lot of that can be streamlined/automated with a toolbox of 3rd party utilities, but modding Morrowind properly is still a LOT more complicated (and time consuming) than anything involved in modding DAO, where the most complex thing a mod install can require is reading and understanding some instructions and maybe making some edits to the dragonage.ini file.

Edited August 16, 2017 by theskymoves

[Thandal]

Adding to what tsm said above, NWN was the first game I modded extensively, and I've modded almost every game I could since then. Some more, some less. Some are simple to mod, some aren't.

 

DAO is by far the easiest in this regard of all the ones I've ever modded. Basically only three kinds of mods, (".dazip", ."override", "all other") with straight forward drag-n-drop rules for how to process each of them. Adding and removing mods in DAO is a breeze. Even managing those "loose files" in your \override folder is simple. (Just keep each mod's files in its own sub-folder.) Conflicts between mods can usually be sorted by simply renaming one of those folders (the DAO equivalent of "load order".)

 

Both DAMM and NMM can make some things even easier than they already are, but I find I do most things manually anyway.

 

I will admit that installing multiple mods for DAO's Character Creator is truly complicated. The whole "CharGenMorphConfig.xml" edit process can be incredibly tedious. Thank the Maker for TerrarEx's CharGenMorph Compiler!

 

For a general overview of how things work see Using Dragon Age Mods for Dummies, but here's a little basic information:

• If a download is packaged as a .7z, .rar, or .zip, it will need to be unpacked before it can be used.
  NOTE: Chrome and IE11 have a nasty habit of re-naming a ".dazip" file as ".zip" during the d/l process.
  Check the original file type on the Nexus d/l screen and change the extension back to ".dazip" if that happens.
  
• Only DAMM can handle ".override" mods. It can also handle ones packaged as ".dazip" files, (but not any others.)
  
• No manager handles multiple Character Creator mods correctly (the ones that add new options to the character-build phase.)
  At best, they can install a single one by overwriting what you already have. (But see the "Compiler", above.)