Does Vortex make a mess of the data folder?

[LaurellaBellaBean]

Sorry if this has been answered but honestly, I've been Googling for a while and haven't found an answer that was recent. All of the posts I've found addressing this question are from February when Vortex was still new. I'm guessing things have been changed/improved since then.

 

I just want to know if Vortex makes a huge mess of the data folder. I really like Mod Organizer's system of having a virtual data folder and how it automatically sorts each mod into its own folder.

 

Yes, I know I can keep using MO if I like it so much, but I still would like an answer to my question.

 

Thanks in advance :smile:

 

Edit: Sorry, this question is for Skyrim SE. Should have clarified that.

[Pickysaurus]

Vortex doesn't "make a mess" as Nexus Mod Manager does.

 

It deploys mods to the data folder directly, but when you undeploy it will clear up all files and folders added and reset the game back to a "clean" state.

 

It uses Hardlink deployment, so it's much cleaner than NMM and not as temperamental as VFS (which Mod Organizer uses).

[LillenB]

Assuming you're still looking, yes, Vortex does still make an absolute mess of the data folder. It does its job very well and there are a lot of good things about it, but this is one of the great annoyances I have with it; if I ever need to manually go change something, there's a lot of nonsense to sort through to find anything in there.

[Guest deleted34304850]

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[Zanderat]

, but this is one of the great annoyances I have with it; if I ever need to manually go change something, there's a lot of nonsense to sort through to find anything in there.

??? Absolutely not true, if Vortex is used correctly.

[AugustaCalidia]

Assuming you're still looking, yes, Vortex does still make an absolute mess of the data folder. It does its job very well and there are a lot of good things about it, but this is one of the great annoyances I have with it; if I ever need to manually go change something, there's a lot of nonsense to sort through to find anything in there.

 

Your use of the word "mess" in this context is totally baffling. What would the game data folder have to look like so as not to be a "mess"?

 

Furthermore, why are you even trying to change things manually in the game data folder? That's a recipe for disaster. There are other, safer ways to alter the contents of the game data folder.

[HadToRegister]

Assuming you're still looking, yes, Vortex does still make an absolute mess of the data folder. It does its job very well and there are a lot of good things about it, but this is one of the great annoyances I have with it; if I ever need to manually go change something, there's a lot of nonsense to sort through to find anything in there.

 

 

I wish just for once, complaints like this were fact based.

 

 

[LillenB]

I must have it set up wrong if people are this pissed at me for saying a folder that they haven't seen is a mess >.>

What I mean by 'a mess' is this:

 

 

 

 

Now, I suppose granted some of this stuff is extras and optionals from the mods themselves but vortex has seemingly extracted the mod install files here as well as the staging folder. The mods have all installed correctly so it's not an actual problem it just looks horrible if I need to go navigate in there.

 

Yes, I have correctly set the staging folder path.

 

 

 

 

Assuming you're still looking, yes, Vortex does still make an absolute mess of the data folder. It does its job very well and there are a lot of good things about it, but this is one of the great annoyances I have with it; if I ever need to manually go change something, there's a lot of nonsense to sort through to find anything in there.

 

why are you even trying to change things manually in the game data folder? There are other, safer ways to alter the contents of the game data folder.

 

I am aware, but there are times when it's more convenient to test changes manually, such as when testing new textures swaps that I've made rather than packing the whole thing repeatedly.

[AugustaCalidia]

@ChavezAeries

 

 

I must have it set up wrong if people are this pissed at me for saying a folder that they haven't seen is a mess >.>

What I mean by 'a mess' is this:

 

What you've pictured is indeed a mess, but my own Vortex managed Bethesda game data folders look nothing like that. They consist only of BSA's, ESM's, ESP's, and a variety of folders such as Meshes, Textures, Sound, etc., and nothing more. It would appear that you're using your game data folder as your Vortex mod staging folder.

 

What are the paths for your game, your downloads, and your mod staging folder?

 

EDIT: Rattledagger's response (below) is spot on! Forget what I have written and pay close attention to his comments.

[Rattledagger]

I must have it set up wrong if people are this pissed at me for saying a folder that they haven't seen is a mess >.>

What I mean by 'a mess' is this:

 

 

All the numbered directories looks like NMM's mod-directories as they're created under NMM's VirtalInstall-directory.

 

You having such directories in Vortex is on the other hand not as it should be. One possibility is Vortex import from NMM has gone horribly wrong.

 

Another possibility is you've copied the mod directories from NMM into Vortex, but made a mistake and put all of them under a sub-directory of the \mods\-directory (Mod Staging Folder).

 

A third option is you've copied the mod directories from NMM to the data-directory.

 

Making a mistake with the directories also is a possibility, but at least your current game data folder that appears to be "d:\program files\steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\data" should be ok and the same with your current mods-directory "d:\games\vortex\mod install\skyrim"

 

To find out where all the numbered directories comes from, in Vortex on mods-tab click "Purge". After Purge has finished, check your data-directory again. If the numbered directories are still present, this means you've manually added these directories to the data-directory or NMM has screwed-up or something. In this case deleting everything in data-directory and afterwards verify game files in Steam would be my suggested approach.

 

If on the other hand Purge removes the numbered directories from data-directory, this means these directories are located somewhere under your \mods\-directory and you should look here to find them.