Load order still matter?

[Skinjack]

I'm just going to cut and paste my comment from the SE forums here, since this is probably the place to get answers for what I'm asking.

"I'm just finally loading the SE version after my Oldrim died this weekend and I figured it wasn't worth restoring it for no extra "rewards. So I'm upgrading. Please bare with me because I don't know how much has changed and I haven't had to start from scratch in a long time.

Biggest question, although I am sure more are to come. Does it still matter what order you install mods in when LOOT can correct the load order when done? I'm not sure if it's something I should be concerned with anymore or which mods I load first/last or it it matters at all anymore. Right now the concept of rebuilding my hodgepodge of mods is overwhelming."

So, in other words, can I just load all of my mods, say alphabetically, and then have the built-in sorter put them where they belong? Or are there still mods I need to watch out for or place specially?

Sorry. Newbie question, but right now I'm noobish.

[UrizenDe]

In my experience, install order only matters in so far, as you have to make sure that Vortex loads mods in the order you want it too. This isn´t NMM where you had to plan your install in advance.

[Skinjack]

So as long as they are put in the right place on the Plugins tab after I load them they are OK? All I need to do is adjust them if they conflict with the resolution tools? I'm sorry if I seem like Nellie Naysayer, but that sounds just too convenient. And if it works as advertised, the development team has made my life infinitely easier over the next few days/weeks. Can anyone confirm this definitively?

[Grestorn]

The Load order is handled automatically, LOOT is practically integrated into Vortex.

 

However, you still have to care about the install order, i.e. if multiple mods overwrite the same files, you have to tell Vortex, which mod should take precedence.

 

Other than with NMM, where you had to make that decision each time you installed a mod (by answering the 'overwrite files?' dialog), you can do and change that any time in Vortex.

 

All mods which are conflicting have a flash in the mod list. Click that flash and tell Vortex which mod you want to load 'after' (meaning it takes precedence). If you have resolved all file conflicts for a mod the flash will turn green.

[Skinjack]

OK. That theoretically makes this much simpler. Thank you Grestorn and UrizenDe. Now I can get started on downloading and enabling.

[HadToRegister]

Think of Vortex just like MO/MO2 in their handling of Mods and Plugins.

 

The MOD is the archive, and contains the esp (plugin) and the BSA files which contains the textures, meshes etc.

 

When you install a mod, the esps, esls, esms are handled by the Plugins tab.
The BSAs, textures, meshes etc are handled by the MODS tab.
This is why 99% of the time, a file conflict is resolved on the MOD tab.

 

Let's say MOD A and MOD B change some of the same meshes and textures, but the MOD A author says that MOD A has some files in it that need to overwrite some of MOD Bs files, (meaning that MOD A must load AFTER MOD B) so, when you install both MOD A and MOD B, Vortex immediately says there's a file Conflict.

You click on View or More (I forget right now) now Vortex automatically filters the MOD list so only MOD A and MOD B are showing in the list and there's a red lightning bolt next to each one.
No, the easiest way for ME to sort, is to pick the mod that I know must load AFTER the other MOD (Mod A loads AFTER Mod B), you could also pick Mod B instead, and tell it to load BEFORE mod A, but I find that slightly confusing because you have to think from the bottom up, rather than visualizing the flow down.

What I mean by that is picture your Mods in a stack, and everything flows down through the stack starting from the top, the mods closest to the bottom will have more of their stuff appear in the game because they don't have a ton of mods below them, overwriting their contents. (That's probably not helping and only adding to the confusion)

 

So, now I have a Box open and the TITLE of the Box says MOD A and below that, MOD B is there and there's a dropdown next to it where you can pick LOAD BEFORE or LOAD AFTER.
People find this box confusing, because they're not sure WHICH mod the box is referring to load before or after.

The Mod in the Title of the Pop up Box is the one being sorted, and the mod Below it, with the dropdown box next to it, is the Mod that the mod in the Title is going to be loaded BEFORE or AFTER.

EX: In this picture, the TITLE of the popup is "Marts Mutant Mod" and the sorting box is asking if Marts Mutant Mod should load BEFORE OR AFTER The Update to Marts Mutant Mod.
In this Case, you want the Original mod (Marts Mutant Mod) to load BEFORE the Patch, that way, the Patch (Marts Mutant Mod UPDATE 62) loads AFTER the original mod and overwrites/updates things, like a good patch should do.

 

 

Hope I haven't muddied the waters here.

[Skinjack]

Not at all. I appreciate the quick guide through. My issue is I always over-resolve conflicts, and usually I've been getting some things wrong. I think that's what broke my Oldrim game, so here's to hoping I've learned my lesson. Vortex is doing its job capably. Me... well...

[Skinjack]

OK, another question before I head off to bed. How do you do a backup of your mods? NMM used to have a button for that. Has that not been developed yet for this? Something in the works? Not planned at all? I'm not seeing anything on the interface for that.