What if you want to keep some loose files?

[duruantilles]

I'm trying to wrap my head around how to switch to Vortex with my setup, and wondered if someone could clarify a couple of points.

 

So this summer I converted a huge amount of modders resource meshes from Oldrim to SE and dropped them into my Data folder manually. I was going to copy my mod packages from my NMM folder into Vortex and then go into NMM and delete and purge unmanaged files like the directions said, and then I realized I'd lose all that stuff that wasn't managed by NMM. Do I have this correct? What's the best way to handle this? Can I leave the loose resources in my Data folder? Is Vortex overwriting only things that are duplicates when it deploys or the whole Data folder?

 

Second question is I liked to download and install armors to my Data folder to use meshes and textures from them in my own private mods, then uncheck the .esp in NMM so the actual mods don't clutter up my game. What is the equivalent of doing that in Vortex? Do I Install but not Enable? I thought yes, but then I realize you also have to enable for the mods that are only textures? How do I keep the loose files for a mod but uncheck the esp?

 

Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I didn't put enough thought into this when I moved my Fallout stuff over, and ended up losing some resources I forgot I'd customized. Trying to avoid doing that again. Thanks to anyone who can clarify!

[rmm200]

I'm trying to wrap my head around how to switch to Vortex with my setup, and wondered if someone could clarify a couple of points.

 

So this summer I converted a huge amount of modders resource meshes from Oldrim to SE and dropped them into my Data folder manually. I was going to copy my mod packages from my NMM folder into Vortex and then go into NMM and delete and purge unmanaged files like the directions said, and then I realized I'd lose all that stuff that wasn't managed by NMM. Do I have this correct? What's the best way to handle this? Can I leave the loose resources in my Data folder? Is Vortex overwriting only things that are duplicates when it deploys or the whole Data folder?

 

Second question is I liked to download and install armors to my Data folder to use meshes and textures from them in my own private mods, then uncheck the .esp in NMM so the actual mods don't clutter up my game. What is the equivalent of doing that in Vortex? Do I Install but not Enable? I thought yes, but then I realize you also have to enable for the mods that are only textures? How do I keep the loose files for a mod but uncheck the esp?

 

Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I didn't put enough thought into this when I moved my Fallout stuff over, and ended up losing some resources I forgot I'd customized. Trying to avoid doing that again. Thanks to anyone who can clarify!

 

Second point first. Enable all your mods. Go to the plugins tab and disable the esp files you do not want. Deploy from the mods tab.

I do that for xpmse.esp - since I don't want the animations.

On the first point, anything you install before installing Vortex, Vortex considers to be part of the native install. When Vortex deploys, only matching names are overwritten. Well actually, Vortex overwrites nothing. The hard links mean the game will find Vortex files first.

[duruantilles]

O

 

 

Second point first. Enable all your mods. Go to the plugins tab and disable the esp files you do not want. Deploy from the mods tab.

I do that for xpmse.esp - since I don't want the animations.

On the first point, anything you install before installing Vortex, Vortex considers to be part of the native install. When Vortex deploys, only matching names are overwritten. Well actually, Vortex overwrites nothing. The hard links mean the game will find Vortex files first.

 

 

Ohhhh so Mod Enable and Plugin Enable are two different actions--that's what I wasn't getting! Thanks!

 

OK, so in the case of my resources I should just delete all the mods from my NMM, NOT purge unmanaged files, then go about my business in Vortex. That's what I was going to do, just wanted to be absolutely sure.

[rmm200]

Sure sounds right to me. Standard disclaimer: YMMV.

[HadToRegister]

 

 

So this summer I converted a huge amount of modders resource meshes from Oldrim to SE and dropped them into my Data folder manually. I was going to copy my mod packages from my NMM folder into Vortex and then go into NMM and delete and purge unmanaged files like the directions said, and then I realized I'd lose all that stuff that wasn't managed by NMM. Do I have this correct? What's the best way to handle this? Can I leave the loose resources in my Data folder? Is Vortex overwriting only things that are duplicates when it deploys or the whole Data folder?

 

 

 

You would've done yourself a service if you had made a set of folders that recreated the DATA Folder with subfolders called MESHES and TEXTURES and whatever other folders you needed, and then plonked all those converted loose files into that, then zipped it up as a mod, so you could install and uninstall those loose files with a mod manager.

Because someday you're going to end up losing those loose files, because they will eventually get overwritten by SOMETHING.

So, before you go installing everything, you might want to creat actual mods out of those converted loose files fisrt.

For the sake of your sanity

 

 

[rmm200]

Counter point for consideration: If you have thousands of textures (some do), bundling them into a mod will greatly (as in Greatly) extend your time to Deploy.

Vortex has to cross check every file name for possible conflicts with new mods.

If it were me - I would at least bundle all those textures up into a BSA, and zip that into a mod.

Vortex does not look inside BSAs, so file comparison time is not an issue.

[HadToRegister]

Counter point for consideration: If you have thousands of textures (some do), bundling them into a mod will greatly (as in Greatly) extend your time to Deploy.

Vortex has to cross check every file name for possible conflicts with new mods.

If it were me - I would at least bundle all those textures up into a BSA, and zip that into a mod.

Vortex does not look inside BSAs, so file comparison time is not an issue.

 

 

I installed Sands of TIme, that mod has 6,407 loose files in it, and that was posted by the author last year, it's probably grown since then, and I didn't notice Vortex taking a long time to install it.

[duruantilles]

 

 

 

So this summer I converted a huge amount of modders resource meshes from Oldrim to SE and dropped them into my Data folder manually. I was going to copy my mod packages from my NMM folder into Vortex and then go into NMM and delete and purge unmanaged files like the directions said, and then I realized I'd lose all that stuff that wasn't managed by NMM. Do I have this correct? What's the best way to handle this? Can I leave the loose resources in my Data folder? Is Vortex overwriting only things that are duplicates when it deploys or the whole Data folder?

 

 

 

You would've done yourself a service if you had made a set of folders that recreated the DATA Folder with subfolders called MESHES and TEXTURES and whatever other folders you needed, and then plonked all those converted loose files into that, then zipped it up as a mod, so you could install and uninstall those loose files with a mod manager.

Because someday you're going to end up losing those loose files, because they will eventually get overwritten by SOMETHING.

So, before you go installing everything, you might want to creat actual mods out of those converted loose files fisrt.

For the sake of your sanity

 

 

 

 

I'm doing this before I deploy. Even if I don't always keep them in the game folder, at least I'll have them in an easily-usable format on my hard drive.

 

Update: I went to do this & realized I did have them all zipped up into a mod on my backup drive with file structure intact. Good job, past me! So it looks like the only thing I stupidly lost was an .esp from Fallout I made a bunch of changes to rather than making my own .esp and some bodyslide files. Could've been worse!

[HadToRegister]

 

 

 

 

So this summer I converted a huge amount of modders resource meshes from Oldrim to SE and dropped them into my Data folder manually. I was going to copy my mod packages from my NMM folder into Vortex and then go into NMM and delete and purge unmanaged files like the directions said, and then I realized I'd lose all that stuff that wasn't managed by NMM. Do I have this correct? What's the best way to handle this? Can I leave the loose resources in my Data folder? Is Vortex overwriting only things that are duplicates when it deploys or the whole Data folder?

 

 

 

You would've done yourself a service if you had made a set of folders that recreated the DATA Folder with subfolders called MESHES and TEXTURES and whatever other folders you needed, and then plonked all those converted loose files into that, then zipped it up as a mod, so you could install and uninstall those loose files with a mod manager.

Because someday you're going to end up losing those loose files, because they will eventually get overwritten by SOMETHING.

So, before you go installing everything, you might want to creat actual mods out of those converted loose files fisrt.

For the sake of your sanity

 

 

 

 

I'm doing this before I deploy. Even if I don't always keep them in the game folder, at least I'll have them in an easily-usable format on my hard drive.

 

Update: I went to do this & realized I did have them all zipped up into a mod on my backup drive with file structure intact. Good job, past me! So it looks like the only thing I stupidly lost was an .esp from Fallout I made a bunch of changes to rather than making my own .esp and some bodyslide files. Could've been worse!

 

 

LOL, you get a kudos for giving me my first laugh today (highlighted part)

Good sense of humor there!