Could somebody please explain how NMM breaks Skyrim and why I should use Vortex?

[jspee1965]

I don't use MO because I am too stupid and daunted to figure it out. I read recently that NMM will eventually break your game and that I should switch to Vortex, can some knowledgeable person kindly explain why??

 

THANKS!!

[Zebsi]

NMM works just fine until you want to change your load order. If you never plan to change your load order, then there's no need to make the switch, although I still would. Just not to Vortex.

 

Just make the switch to MO. It might seem daunting at first, but it's really no more difficult to use than NMM, and there are plenty of guides out there to help you get started with it.

[Gorsha]

Well, imho I think every change in the loadorder can break things. Point is MO don't put files in your game directory (don't know it by experience, never used it) and Vortex do it in seperate maps. So uninstall don't let garbage behind.

Vortex let you manage the loadorder better (after some learning) and don't overwrite files so if you uninstall you get the previous files back. Vortex also can have fnis integrated (if you download and use it of course), and the loadorder goes also automatic.

But if you are content with your setup in NNM, I think it is better not to switch.

[Kraggy]

Vortex doesn't put files in your game folder that's true, but instead it fills it with hard links to the actual mod files, so for some purposes there's no difference between manually installing, using NMM or Vortex; for example, if you backup the game tree all the mod files will be copied to the backup instead of the links, which often isn't really what you want to do.

 

MO doesn't alter the game's directory tree at all, it 'fakes' it at runtime so the game sees the mod data but no programs not run directly within MO do .. this is a great feature with one Achilles heel; the file sysm tech. it uses can easily break with A/V packages and the like, I use Malwarebytes and 95% of the time have to disable it when running MO2 (which you have to do to run the game), otherwise most of the time I try to run the game or anything else inside MO2 the program I'm trying to run never starts, it's because the tech. MO2 uses is also used by malware so A/V packages can easily upset the mechanism.

 

Sadly there's no ideal solution to my mind, it's a balance of factors you have to weigh up.

 

@ jspee1965, I know what you mean, I used NMM to start with and only switch to MO2 after watching many videos from a couple of Skyrim YouTubers where watching them do it and explain why began to make sense, but it can be bewildering to begin with. I've just started to look at Vortex and it works fine for basic modding needs but right now IMO it seems more tedious dealing with stuff like mod conflicts, which MO2 does is a simply drag/drop manner with easy access to the more detailed information you might sometimes need; Vortex has means to access this but it's not as convenient, to me at least.

 

All that said, Vortex is easy to get into with some very helpful 'beginner' videos which are linked to in Vortex itself or can be found here, maybe if you watch those you'll get some confidence to try it yourself:

 

 

Good luck whatever you choose to do.