Newb problems? Or 0.16 problems?

[whodatwizard]

I'm super new to this forum and modding in general, so I really appreciate all the help that I can get -

It looks like version 0.16 was just released today, so maybe some of my problems have to do with that. I've been trying to follow the install guides that I see online, but some of them no longer seem to be applicable.

For instance - in the install guide, it says that I should make my set up look like this, but when I go through my setup, I don't have the option of a "base path" to change, just an install path, as you can see.

Further, when I try to install my downloads, I get this error message.

Does anyone have any tips for me? Thanks!

[Grestorn]

Tannin has changed the directory structure for version 0.16, so yes, both the Base Path and the Download Path are no longer selectable. Only the path where you want the mods to be installed (unpacked) to. This must be a directory on the same disk as the game itself, but OUTSIDE of the game's installation directory.

 

For the second error message, did you select that directory (Documents\mods) somewhere? This is not a good place to put mods to.

[Grestorn]

Actually, I get the same error message. A cross-game-version (like installing a mod from Skyrim SE to Skyrim VR) doesn't seem to work currently.

[sopmac45]

Tannin has changed the directory structure for version 0.16, so yes, both the Base Path and the Download Path are no longer selectable. Only the path where you want the mods to be installed (unpacked) to. This must be a directory on the same disk as the game itself, but OUTSIDE of the game's installation directory.

 

For the second error message, did you select that directory (Documents\mods) somewhere? This is not a good place to put mods to.

 

 

Hi Grestorn,

So far the game directory in my case is : C:\ProgramFiles(86)\Steam\Steamapps\common\Fallout4\data .... here is where all my mods are ....

 

... however, mods are also stored in : C:\users\xxxxxxxx\appdata\Vortex\Fallout4\mods ..... so when you point out that we need to choose where we want our mods to be installed ( same game disk - C: - but outside of the game's installation directory ), are you saying that we will no longer have our mods in : steamapps\common\fallout4\data, or the other path ? I am confused, please help.

 

Thanks .. :cool:

[whodatwizard]

 

For the second error message, did you select that directory (Documents\mods) somewhere? This is not a good place to put mods to.

 

Oh interesting, I didn't know that. Can you tell me why that is?

 

 

EDIT. I've tried following your tips, here's my progress, and the problems that I'm having.

 

First, I was told that 'Documents/mods are a bad place for mods to be stored,' so I changed where I stored my mods, here are my DOWNLOAD PATH and INSTALL PATH.

 

The general problem that I'm having is this installation issue.

 

I don't know what ENOENT means, but I tried to interpret the error message, which says 'no such file, open...', but I can't tell if OPEN is a command or not, like a suggested solution? So I tried to open the folder that it was talking about, and then I hit install again. Here's what the result looks like

 

So maybe instead of the folder open, it was the 7z file open? So I tried that, but that also didn't work.

 

And now I'm out of ideas again. Can anyone help me out please?

[Grestorn]

As I've said before, there is most definitely a bug in 0.16 that makes it impossible to install mods meant for a different version of the same game (like Skyrim SE -> Skyrim VR). I've experienced the same problem. You can circumvent that by manually copying the file to the "correct" download directory, or you just go back to 0.15.9

 

I've reported that bug to Tannin already.

 

@sopmac45:

 

To clear things up, there are actually THREE directories where your mods are stored:

 

1. The download directory, where the compressed archives are downloaded to. In 0.16 you define a single directory and Vortex will automatically create a subdirectory there for each game. In older versions you could define a download directory for each game separately. Your download directory can be anyplace, there's no restriction. Even a network path (that's what I do).
2. The mod installation directory. This is where Vortex unpacks and installs the mods to. This is a representation of the mod after it has been unpacked and after a FOMOD wizard has done its work. This directory HAS to be on the SAME DRIVE as the game you want to mod, but it must NOT be in the game's directory. If you want to alter a mod, you can change the files in the mod installation and redeploy (NOT reinstall). Or, if a modded file is changed by any other mean, Vortex will detect that and sync that change back to the mod's installation directory (unless you chose to revert the change).
3. The game's data directory. This is where the mods are "blended in" using hard links. As soon as you deploy and "Enable" a mod, all the mod's files are linked from it's installation directory into the game's data directory. This is where the load order rules are taken into account, so that the correct mod is getting used, if a file is provided by more than one mod.

 

Since 2 and 3 are technically not copies but using links, installed and active mods only use their space once, not twice. Inactive (but installed) mods, however, still take their space in their installation directory, even though they're not used.

[whodatwizard]

Thanks Grestorn! Things seem to be working, and I even learned a little something today

[capella6707]

 

To clear things up, there are actually THREE directories where your mods are stored:

 

1. The download directory, where the compressed archives are downloaded to. In 0.16 you define a single directory and Vortex will automatically create a subdirectory there for each game. In older versions you could define a download directory for each game separately. Your download directory can be anyplace, there's no restriction. Even a network path (that's what I do).
2. The mod installation directory. This is where Vortex unpacks and installs the mods to. This is a representation of the mod after it has been unpacked and after a FOMOD wizard has done its work. This directory HAS to be on the SAME DRIVE as the game you want to mod, but it must NOT be in the game's directory. If you want to alter a mod, you can change the files in the mod installation and redeploy (NOT reinstall). Or, if a modded file is changed by any other mean, Vortex will detect that and sync that change back to the mod's installation directory (unless you chose to revert the change).
3. The game's data directory. This is where the mods are "blended in" using hard links. As soon as you deploy and "Enable" a mod, all the mod's files are linked from it's installation directory into the game's data directory. This is where the load order rules are taken into account, so that the correct mod is getting used, if a file is provided by more than one mod.

 

Since 2 and 3 are technically not copies but using links, installed and active mods only use their space once, not twice. Inactive (but installed) mods, however, still take their space in their installation directory, even though they're not used.

 

Thank you for this. This is absolutely the clearest explanation of the differences between the purposes of each of the locations that Vortex uses - that I've seen, at least...