Do mods still need "Dying light mod manager" to work?

[Tar]

Hi

 

When I download some mods it say that it require "Dying light mod manager".

I see that the Dying light manager is removed from nexus at the moment and it is for a older version of the game.

 

So I wonder if this mods that say they require "Dying light mod manager" still need it? and if so, what happen if I use mods like that without the manager?

 

[StinVec]

No, that mod manager is not needed to use mods and I do not think it ever has been a requirement for any mods to function. Those mods stating they require it are likely to be extremely out of date themselves and should not be used without manually updating them to use the latest versions of the game files.

 

_____

 

It was likely way, way back in game version 1.2 or 1.3 when Techland removed and then later reinstated the Data3.pak file as the official way of installing mods. This mod came out while the game was still utilizing the "My Documents\Dying Light" folder as where raw mod files were placed. I believe the mod simply offered a way of choosing which mod's files would be used at runtime by separating mods and their files into different folders (instead of placing them all inside a single Data3.pak file as became standard). If two mods altered the same file, I believe you would select which one was to be used instead of it doing any kind of merging of the files so both could be used at the same time. As game version 1.4ish restored and standardized the Data3.pak file for mods, it has not really been of use for several years, especially since many of those graphics/performance options it also offered (if I recall correctly) have been altered or removed entirely from the game (like chromatic aberration) a long time ago.

 

Also, as you noted, it is quite out-of-date and no out-of-date mod should be used on any game without accepting the risk of problems using them would is sure to cause (crashing, corrupted saves, potentially requiring a full reinstall of the game in some cases).

 

Any mods stating they require it are also likely to be very out-of-date and should not be used as-is. Instead, the mod needs to be manually updated to use the latest version of the game files. As you are already familiar with the WinMerge program, each file from the mod should be compared with the current version of the file from your Data0.pak file. It really is a very useful program for performing the transfer of changes made by out-of-date mods into the current file versions.

 

Of course there are some mods, such as those by lyravega (who has been gone from Dying Light modding for a long time), that are heavily and unnecessary altered in such a way that a quick WinMerge is not possible. He essentially reorganized everything in the files he altered, even if he made only a single change to a single setting, instead of just making changes to values of settings and noting the change made to it. Because every line of the file is completely different from the original (everything in the file is rearranged, lines completely removed instead of commented out/disabled), it is not possible to quickly compare the files. One would essentially need to go line by line in the modified file and run a search for the setting in the original file in order to compare its value to see if it was altered or not. It can be done, it would just take an absurd amount of time to undo all of the pointless reorganizing that was done just to find the settings that were actually altered or removed.

 

(Sorry for the rambling)

[Tar]

Thanks again StinVec for explaning this. Yeah I have used winmerge for a long time to tweak other games, and it make updating easy as you say. I see that many players have problems with older mods, and it probably would made things easier for them if the knew about winmerge.