NMM and "Profiles"

[ImpulsiveAltair]

So I've been using Nexus Mod Manager for a while now, but just today I saw a little tab on the top left stating "Profile 1". After some reaserch it seems that it's a way for user to fluently switch from one mod group to another. My question is has anyone had any problems with this? See, I want to try the overhaul mod "Frost" or "Horizon" but I want to have a profile for just the main game with a few mods installed, will setting one group with all my regular mods, and then switching to the one with frost cause problems? Here is my load order for my regular mods if anyone was going to ask.

0 0 Fallout4.esm

1 1 DLCRobot.esm

2 2 DLCworkshop01.esm

3 3 DLCCoast.esm

4 4 DLCworkshop02.esm

5 5 DLCworkshop03.esm

6 6 DLCNukaWorld.esm

7 7 DLCUltraHighResolution.esm

8 8 Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.esp

9 9 AmmoType223Caliber.esm

10 a ArmorKeywords.esm

11 b HUDFramework.esm

12 c SimSettlements.esm

254 FE 0 TheKite_Railroad_Handmaiden.esp

254 FE 1 CROSS_BreakActionLaser.esp

254 FE 2 CROSS_CourserStrigidae.esp

13 d CROSS_GoreCrits.esp

14 e CROSS_GoreCrits_FarHarborPatch.esp

15 f Pip-Boy Flashlight.esp

16 10 Pilgrim.esp

17 11 PilgrimDarkMeat.esp

18 12 dD-Enhanced Blood.esp

19 13 Fallout Loot Overhaul.esp

20 14 LightSupportWeapon.esp

21 15 ValdacilsItemSorting-00-ValsPicks-DLCVersion-VanillaWeight.esp

22 16 Armorsmith Extended.esp

23 17 Armorsmith All DLCs Patch.esp

24 18 Backpacks of the Commonwealth.esp

25 19 SurvivalOptions.esp

26 1a 3dscopes-framework.esp

27 1b 3dscopes-replacer.esp

28 1c 3dscopes-replacer-addtospawn.esp

29 1d Ak5C.esp

30 1e DOOMMerged.esp

31 1f UsefulCrank.esp

32 20 G36Complex.esp

33 21 WattzLaserGun.esp

34 22 ClassicSniper.esp

35 23 M1Garand.esp

36 24 M1Garand - AWKCR-VIS.esp

37 25 3dscopes-replacer-wattzaddon.esp

38 26 AdrenalineRush.esp

39 27 VaultTecAcceleratedFocusSystem.esp

40 28 FO4Hotkeys.esp

41 29 CROSS_RugerMkV.esp

42 2a VaultTecAcceleratedFocusSystem - FarHarbor.esp

43 2b VaultTecAcceleratedFocusSystem - NukaWorld.esp

44 2c FO4 NPCs Travel.esp

45 2d P99.esp

46 2e CF_AtomicWarlord.esp

47 2f K9TacticalHarness.esp

48 30 BullpupBozar.esp

49 31 AQUILA.esp

50 32 PowerArmorHUD.esp

51 33 Loot Detector.esp

52 34 SalvageBeacons.esp

53 35 SimSettlements_XPAC_IndustrialRevolution.esp

54 36 SimSettlements_XPAC_RiseOfTheCommonwealth.esp

55 37 McMillanCS5.esp

56 38 Mosin.esp

57 39 MP40.esp

58 3a RU556.esp

59 3b 1CAS_serviceRifle.esp

Edited March 28, 2018 by ImpulsiveAltair

[Evangela]

The only problem I have with it is when I forget to turn steam on and launch the gmae through F4SE. The game's launcher will open instead which will screw up my load order, and this is reflected in the profile. So it's a good idea to export your profiles and then re-import it, if something like that happens.

[MissingMeshTV]

Personally, I find the way that NMM handles profiles to be just awful...plain and simple. It will activate/deactivate the mods in your mod list when you change profiles to match what you have activated for that profile. Given that NMM can’t seem to even properly handle mods with one profile with any sort of reliability, switching between multiple profiles opens the door to all sorts of problems with mods not being properly activated. I’ve seen several FROST Let’s Plays where the game eventually breaks because certain mods didn’t get deactivated when the player switched profiles...Survivors were showing up as Raiders and Gunners for starters.

 

MO2 (Mod Organizer 2) handles profiles in a much different manner and I find it far less problematic to use in this regard. I switched to using it months ago and love it. It handles mods installation differently than NMM: it uses a virtual file system rather than installing mods into your Data folder. The end result is managing and switching between profiles is much smoother and less prone to problems...in my experience, anyway.

 

I highly recommend using it for FROST or any major overhaul mod. If you have the drive space to spare you might consider setting up a totally separate game install for FROST or any other overhaul. That’s what I do and it has been 100% problem free and doesn’t interfere with my “main” game install in any way whatsoever. I explain how I do that in this post.

[ImpulsiveAltair]

Personally, I find the way that NMM handles profiles to be just awful...plain and simple. It will activate/deactivate the mods in your mod list when you change profiles to match what you have activated for that profile. Given that NMM can’t seem to even properly handle mods with one profile with any sort of reliability, switching between multiple profiles opens the door to all sorts of problems with mods not being properly activated. I’ve seen several FROST Let’s Plays where the game eventually breaks because certain mods didn’t get deactivated when the player switched profiles...Survivors were showing up as Raiders and Gunners for starters.

 

MO2 (Mod Organizer 2) handles profiles in a much different manner and I find it far less problematic to use in this regard. I switched to using it months ago and love it. It handles mods installation differently than NMM: it uses a virtual file system rather than installing mods into your Data folder. The end result is managing and switching between profiles is much smoother and less prone to problems...in my experience, anyway.

 

I highly recommend using it for FROST or any major overhaul mod. If you have the drive space to spare you might consider setting up a totally separate game install for FROST or any other overhaul. That’s what I do and it has been 100% problem free and doesn’t interfere with my “main” game install in any way whatsoever. I explain how I do that in this post.

 

Ahh, thank you for that. I think it would just be better to download the entire game in a separate folder again and then use that one for Frost.

[MissingMeshTV]

Yeah…that’s what I did when I started playing FROST to avoid any chance of ruining my main install or saves. It also got me onto the MO2 bandwagon.

 

What I like about MO2 is that it allows you make a “portable” install so that it installs all the files it uses to keep track of profiles and mod installation right within the Fallout 4 game folder, but isolated from the game files. The end result is you have a nice, neat package all in one folder that makes it’s snap to back up, archive or duplicate if you want to create another instance of the game. I’ve been super happy with the way it all works.

 

It might be possible to to a portable install with NMM, but I'm not sure. If it is, it will likely be more effort than with MO2. Don't think I'll ever go back to using NMM to find out.