Do not put mods/downloads into your Vortex install directory!

[Grestorn]

Putting *any* data in a program's installation directory is JUST A VERY BAD IDEA.

 

Not just since Vortex. At least since 2000, since Windows 2000, actually even before that.

 

So why people are still doing that or even considering that this might be a good idea, is beyond me.

[Michelangelos]

Putting *any* data in a program's installation directory is JUST A VERY BAD IDEA.

 

Not just since Vortex. At least since 2000, since Windows 2000, actually even before that.

 

So why people are still doing that or even considering that this might be a good idea, is beyond me.

If you click the info button in the path selection in the program, the program itself shows you as an example to place the mods inside that directory.

D:\VORTEX\SKYRIM\MODS is the example provided.

[maverikch]

If you click the info button in the path selection in the program, the program itself shows you as an example to place the mods inside that directory.

D:\VORTEX\SKYRIM\MODS is the example provided.

 

 

well, thats actually not correct. if you take the standard installer it puts vortex under program files. the text in the info button will stay the same. if you take the custom installer, you may choose, like me, a custom location. like c:\games\vortex.

 

but anyway, did my advise help you out?

 

How did you get the exact list to re/download them?

There has to be a backup list in VORTEX somewhere

 

Can anyone provide advices on how to recover from this situation? even if that means a manual re-download and re-install of all mods I need to know where to get a list of all I had...or maybe there is a better/quick way.

 

 

EDIT: hm.... try out this path:

%appdata%\Vortex\

goto "Game Foldername" than "profiles"

 

there is a loadorder.txt and plugins.txt stored.

 

[Michelangelos]

thank you ! yes, that list was worthy ... in case I need to re-download them. NICE!!

 

but now, I selected the UNDO option on that big message that appeared. It seems it appears when I tried to install a new mod.

THIS ONE: https://imgur.com/a/ADFjgZ0

 

after selecting UNDO all the files appeared back magically in the MODS directory. But, the plugins are not there.

I'm about to test if the game will work correctly this way..right now

 

EDIT: IT WORKED!! I recovered all the mods at once without re-downloading.

After trying to install one mod, Immersive Weapons. VORTEX showed me that message... so I selected UNDO on each mod (one by one) that way the modification will not be accepted and VORTEX will undo the change and copied all mods back to the directory. The problem with the plugins was solved after enabling the mods. I selected to disable and enable on each mod and the plugins were appearing again. Once I finished doing this I went to plugins and enable all of them. Started the game and the savegame claimed that I had only 1 missing mod, IMMERSIVE ARMORS! so I quit the game, installed that one again and it worked!!!

 

I just tested it and works flawlessly.

 

NOW, I HAVE ALL THE MODS in D:\TOOLS\Vortex\skyrimvr\mods

How do I move them correctly to a new directory and point VORTEX there to avoid issues or reinstalling??

Just copying them to the new destination and selecting the new path in VORTEX?? that's it? or there is any other step required?

Edited May 6, 2018 by Michelangelos

[Grestorn]

 

Putting *any* data in a program's installation directory is JUST A VERY BAD IDEA.

 

Not just since Vortex. At least since 2000, since Windows 2000, actually even before that.

 

So why people are still doing that or even considering that this might be a good idea, is beyond me.

If you click the info button in the path selection in the program, the program itself shows you as an example to place the mods inside that directory.

D:\VORTEX\SKYRIM\MODS is the example provided.

 

 

That's not and should not be the installation directory of Vortex. It's just an example(!) of a custom directory where to store your mods. Not the best example in my point of view, but it works.

 

Why would you want to install(!) Vortex in D:\Vortex? Not a good idea. Programs belong to C:\Program Files. Only for games (and very few other, very special cases) I'd make an exception.

[Tannin42]

i have a hard time to understand, that this can't be handled easily. did read furhter up that its only due to ressource issues "not being worthy to spend effort on it or difficult to fullfil". well i have to assume that implementing an folder exclude rule in the de- and installation routine can't be easily achived wiht the code or framework you are using.

 

Vortex is currently using an automatically generated set of installer/deinstaller using the standard framework for electron installers.

Getting the deinstaller to keep your mods and downloads would require us to write the deinstaller script manually. That wouldn't just take a lot of time, it also carries

the risk of introducing bugs and I don't fancy the idea of breaking the uninstall for users who used Vortex as intended, so I protect users who clicked

"I know what I'm doing, stop protecting me" at least twice.

 

there are many games that even set i.e save folder within the appliction folder

Do you have an example for that? I haven't seen a game do that since the 1990s...

 

and when uninstalling it leaves the save folders behind.

Sure, if I were writing an application that stores data files in it's application directory then I'd have to invest the time to write an uninstaller that

leaves the data files. But I did not! Vortex installs to a read-only directory in c:\program files and it puts its data into %appdata%. Why would I spend the time

(time the nexus pays for. time that users paid for with their premium accounts or by looking at annoying ads. time I could use for other things) to prepare for a use case that isn't supported anyway?

I just feel this bears repeating: It would actually be in my own selfish interest to agree to as much work as I can because I am being paid for it. When I say things like "I don't want to waste the time"

that's me acting in the interests of NexusMods, not me be being lazy.

 

but this is a question of philosophy and/or crossplattform support: put the user content in the micosoft windows given variables thus being in need of programming two code branches. one for ms and the other mac or linux. or placing them within the application folder and thus only the need of one code branch.

I don't see what cross-platform support has to do with it. All unix variants also store applications in read-only directories and have separate directories for data.

If an application went and tried to put its application data in /usr/bin on linux they will get a visit from a pitchfork-mob.

Any cross-platform toolkit (including electron) has functions to abstract away the concrete directory names, for example vortex doesn't have code to access %APPDATA%, it calls getPath('userData') which will return

a platform specific directory for the application with guaranteed write-access on any supported platform, without separate code branches.

 

as stated vortex didn't prevent me from setting the path within application.

Yes, this is in fact a bug. Vortex was supposed to produce an error message when you try to use the application path for mods but unfortunately that same electron "getPath"

"getAppPath" functions can produce different results between development build and production so when I developed the warning-feature it worked in development but not in the

release version.

[maverikch]

NOW, I HAVE ALL THE MODS in D:\TOOLS\Vortex\skyrimvr\mods

How do I move them correctly to a new directory and point VORTEX there to avoid issues or reinstalling??

Just copying them to the new destination and selecting the new path in VORTEX?? that's it? or there is any other step required?

 

if you set a new path for downloads and mods under vortex settings > Mods then it will move all the files to the new directory.

the "base" directory is not the installation directory. which i still have to figure out why they set a base path anyway. maybe for upcoming features on their to do list.

 

and instead of setting the base, downloads and mods seperatly, which most people will tend to do, set the base directory to the new location and type in the path for

mods

{base}\mods

downloads

{base}\downloads

 

after saving it will move your downloads and mods to the new location.

[maverikch]

hey tannin42 thank you for taking your time replying on my post. didn't exspect that at all. i really appreciate it!

 

there are many games that even set i.e save folder within the appliction folder

Do you have an example for that? I haven't seen a game do that since the 1990s...

 

oh my, you caught me there. so what did i play the most? lets see..

Diablo 3: stored on their server

Mass Effect Series: documents\bioware

Fallout 4: documents\my games\fallout4

Command & Conquer Series: Documents\[gamename]

Legend of Heroes: Trails series: either %appdata%\Falcom or if bought through steam under %programfiles%\Steam\userdata\

xcom: EU and xcom 2: Documents\My Games\[gamename]

wolfenstein: saved games (wow, someone effectivly used that location)

Anno 2070: Documents\[gamename]

 

yup. the only known game i can recall was half-life and yes it is released in the 1990s. and many, many mods i played.

man, now i feel old :laugh:

oh, and half-life 2. Release Date 2004 according to wikipedia.

 

well, out of curiosity, i chedked about the savegame location for portal 2 (didn't played it) and... appliction directory.

 

hm, Anno 2205 seems to place them under \Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\savegames\[accountid] - technically installation directory.

 

ok, so the only game dev, i can remember, placing saves under installation directory is valve.

and every mod based on half-life or source engine.

 

but i still remember encountering it the last two yers. meh, maybe indie games i don't remember anymore.

Edited May 6, 2018 by maverikch

[Michelangelos]

 

NOW, I HAVE ALL THE MODS in D:\TOOLS\Vortex\skyrimvr\mods

How do I move them correctly to a new directory and point VORTEX there to avoid issues or reinstalling??

Just copying them to the new destination and selecting the new path in VORTEX?? that's it? or there is any other step required?

 

if you set a new path for downloads and mods under vortex settings > Mods then it will move all the files to the new directory.

the "base" directory is not the installation directory. which i still have to figure out why they set a base path anyway. maybe for upcoming features on their to do list.

 

and instead of setting the base, downloads and mods seperatly, which most people will tend to do, set the base directory to the new location and type in the path for

mods

{base}\mods

downloads

{base}\downloads

after saving it will move your downloads and mods to the new location.

 

 

Thanks I did that and yes, all were moved.

NOW..something else happened.

 

The same notification as before appeared this time stating that ALL THE LINKS dissappeared (??)

And now I do not see ANY PLUGIN LISTED....

 

what the hell just happened??

[SkunkMonkey]

 

NOW..something else happened.Thanks I did that and yes, all were moved.

 

The same notification as before appeared this time stating that ALL THE LINKS dissappeared (??)

And now I do not see ANY PLUGIN LISTED....

 

what the hell just happened??

 

 

Do you have any filters set? If you have it set to display only enabled plugins and they are all disabled, you will get a blank list.