Vortex breaking DAO Ultimate Edition (Origins version)

[Vhardamis]

So i decided to give Vortex a try on my new play through of DAO and i'm having some weirdness. I used it to install just 3 mods but in the process it ate all of my additional content (it blocked out / ignored/ all DLC and promo pack items),

 

When starting up the game if you select new game it doesn't give the option for Awakening it jumps immediately to the base game. Under the downloadable content tabs nothing shows installed or available to install.

 

I check the folders and the content is still in them ,its just not recognizing them anymore. All my completion saves for the DLC are still in there as well. Running the game repair via Origins does replace them but that takes 2 hours for file validations.

 

The 3 mods are:

• Grey Wardens of Ferelden
• Respecification
• No Helmet hack

It did give a conflict warning to which i ran repair but that doesn't explain why the mod manager would ignore the game files. The onlky one of the 3 that actually works is GWoF

 

 

I'm stumped on why its doing this. Has anyone else experienced this and have any fix suggestions?

[theskymoves]

Don't use Vortex for DAO; it's not supported, per Thandal (a Nexus moderator).

 

The best and preferred manager for DAO mods is DAO-ModManager; DA Modder is another option.

 

Note that even after you get mods properly installed and working, if you repair via Origin, any DAzips may need to be reinstalled yet again... the repair process sometimes overwrites AddIns.xml with a vanilla version.

Edited November 21, 2018 by theskymoves

[Pickysaurus]

So i decided to give Vortex a try on my new play through of DAO and i'm having some weirdness. I used it to install just 3 mods but in the process it ate all of my additional content (it blocked out / ignored/ all DLC and promo pack items),

 

When starting up the game if you select new game it doesn't give the option for Awakening it jumps immediately to the base game. Under the downloadable content tabs nothing shows installed or available to install.

 

I check the folders and the content is still in them ,its just not recognizing them anymore. All my completion saves for the DLC are still in there as well. Running the game repair via Origins does replace them but that takes 2 hours for file validations.

 

The 3 mods are:

• Grey Wardens of Ferelden
• Respecification
• No Helmet hack

It did give a conflict warning to which i ran repair but that doesn't explain why the mod manager would ignore the game files. The onlky one of the 3 that actually works is GWoF

 

 

I'm stumped on why its doing this. Has anyone else experienced this and have any fix suggestions?

 

Sorry to hear you're having issues with DAO. I'm thinking if DAO has a "load order" like some other games, Vortex may have a bug in how it manages it. I'll feed this back to the devs and let you know what I find out :)

 

I'm keen to understand what exactly is going wrong, but I don't have a copy of DAO myself to test with.

 

Can you confirm if launching the game via Vortex with all the mods disabled loads the DLC correctly?

 

 

Don't use Vortex for DAO; it's not supported, per Thandal (a Nexus moderator).

 

The best and preferred manager for DAO mods is DAO-ModManager; DA Modder is another option.

 

Note that even after you get mods properly installed and working, if you repair via Origin, any DAzips may need to be reinstalled yet again... the repair process sometimes overwrites AddIns.xml with a vanilla version.

 

There seems to be a little misunderstanding here. Thandal perhaps wasn't aware of the supported games for Vortex (as they change over time).

 

A full list of our supported titles is found here: https://www.nexusmods.com/about/vortex/ (Click "Supported Games").

 

Sorry for the mix-up!

[theskymoves]

My apologies for the spurious information; I thought it was current and offered it in good faith.

 

Re DAO having a load order, it does, sort of, but not in the same way that Bethesda games do. I wrote a bit about that here... it's too complicated to rewrite, sorry.

 

With additional apologies for hijacking the discussion, as a modder (of sorts) I'm now curious (and concerned) about a couple of Vortex-related things:

 

Does opting out of the 'download with mod manager' for a mod also remove the option to download with Vortex?

 

How does Vortex deal with mod archives that contain multiple either/or options, which many DAO mods have? For example, an armour mod package that contains several colour options, only one of which can be installed at a time... or, to use an example from the OP's mod list, the Grey Wardens of Ferelden mod archive includes two folders, only one of which can be installed: a 'standard' version of the mod, and a version adjusted for compatibility with the Improved Atmosphere overhaul.

[Pickysaurus]

Alright, I've heard back from the Vortex developers on this one.

 

There is currently a known bug with DA:O support whereby Vortex will incorrectly clear addins.xml and add only the most recently installed mod. This removes the DLCs from the loading list.

 

We'll be sure to patch this up in a future update (quite likely the next one) so for now, you may want to use one of the alternatives suggested by theskymoves.

 

 

[...]

Re DAO having a load order, it does, sort of, but not in the same way that Bethesda games do. I wrote a bit about that here... it's too complicated to rewrite, sorry.

 

[...]

 

Does opting out of the 'download with mod manager' for a mod also remove the option to download with Vortex?

 

How does Vortex deal with mod archives that contain multiple either/or options, which many DAO mods have? For example, an armour mod package that contains several colour options, only one of which can be installed at a time... or, to use an example from the OP's mod list, the Grey Wardens of Ferelden mod archive includes two folders, only one of which can be installed: a 'standard' version of the mod, and a version adjusted for compatibility with the Improved Atmosphere overhaul.

 

That's some good information you have there, could I interest you in sharing some of it on our wiki? https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Category:Dragon_Age

 

Regarding Vortex questions:

 

1 - Yes, removing that button will prevent automatic downloading into any mod manager, manual install can still be achieved though.

 

2 - If you have multiple "vairants" of the same mod in a single archive, for example:

MyMod.zip

> Gold version

> Silver version

 

Currently, both the gold and silver folders will be dropped into the "mods" directory. You can right-click and choose "open in file manager" to make the changes to the files as required, then when you deploy you'll need to accept the External Changes dialogue.

[theskymoves]

Alright, I've heard back from the Vortex developers on this one.

 

There is currently a known bug with DA:O support whereby Vortex will incorrectly clear addins.xml and add only the most recently installed mod. This removes the DLCs from the loading list.

 

We'll be sure to patch this up in a future update (quite likely the next one) so for now, you may want to use one of the alternatives suggested by theskymoves.

 

 

[...]

Re DAO having a load order, it does, sort of, but not in the same way that Bethesda games do. I wrote a bit about that here... it's too complicated to rewrite, sorry.

 

[...]

 

Does opting out of the 'download with mod manager' for a mod also remove the option to download with Vortex?

 

How does Vortex deal with mod archives that contain multiple either/or options, which many DAO mods have? For example, an armour mod package that contains several colour options, only one of which can be installed at a time... or, to use an example from the OP's mod list, the Grey Wardens of Ferelden mod archive includes two folders, only one of which can be installed: a 'standard' version of the mod, and a version adjusted for compatibility with the Improved Atmosphere overhaul.

 

That's some good information you have there, could I interest you in sharing some of it on our wiki? https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Category:Dragon_Age

 

Regarding Vortex questions:

 

1 - Yes, removing that button will prevent automatic downloading into any mod manager, manual install can still be achieved though.

 

2 - If you have multiple "vairants" of the same mod in a single archive, for example:

MyMod.zip

> Gold version

> Silver version

 

Currently, both the gold and silver folders will be dropped into the "mods" directory. You can right-click and choose "open in file manager" to make the changes to the files as required, then when you deploy you'll need to accept the External Changes dialogue.

 

TY for the clarification on how Vortex handles things! I'll see if I can craft a wiki-appropriate version of the info... I'm not much of a writer, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks again! :smile:

[Thandal]

All;

I've written an extensive post on how DAO/DA2 decides which mod will be "active" when two or more that affect the same game file are present.

This process is similar to, but not exactly like, what BethSoft game modders call "Load Order". I've been on holiday for the past week and am not yet at my main rig, so I'll dig up that old post when I get back.

Meanwhile, until it receives significant updates to handle them, I don't think Vortex is the appropriate mod manager for DAO/DA2.

The DAO Modmanager (DAMM) is the better option.

[WraithTDK]

All;

 

I've written an extensive post on how DAO/DA2 decides which mod will be "active" when two or more that affect the same game file are present.

 

This process is similar to, but not exactly like, what BethSoft game modders call "Load Order". I've been on holiday for the past week and am not yet at my main rig, so I'll dig up that old post when I get back.

 

Meanwhile, until it receives significant updates to handle them, I don't think Vortex is the appropriate mod manager for DAO/DA2.

The DAO Modmanager (DAMM) is the better option.

 

Welllll, crap. There goes several hours of work. You should really put some sort of compatibility notice somewhere about this.

[RagingRoach]

Downloaded Vortex 16.15 last night and a bunch of mods (It wouldn't see mods I already have using NMM). Same issue; after going through all mods and loading them as per the instructions it made the game go completely vanilla (even ignoring DLC). The 6/12/18 update didn't address the DA:O problem. I'd suggest removing DA from the supported games list until it actually works.

 

In the mean time I'll go back to NMM as it still works reliably.

[daltonimperial]

And I thought it was DAO-ModManager that was having issues when it was giving me (a completely novice modder who was just about to play Origins for the first time) a blank white screen.

 

So, what is the solution?

 

First, in terms of Origins: do I need to Update or Repair within Origin in order to be able to get the .xml file and/or access my DLC? Do I need to redownload the game completely (perhaps deleting what's on my computer)?

 

Whatever the appropriate step is, will it delete all mods (installed through Vortex or not), just the mods Vortex installed, or will all of the mods still be there but with the .XML file restored?

 

Second, in terms of Vortex, is it necessary to completely uninstall it from my computer? Or can I just "delete" Origins from the games it can access?