Need information on support for NwN 2 in Vortex

[ShmeeseNexus]

Hello,

I had previously installed mods for Neverwinter Nights 2 manually, but I am currently looking for a way to manage the mods via Vortex. I am not planning to try and get Vortex to work with the already installed mods, and I will be starting with a fresh install of the game. However, I want to ask about how Vortex goes about managing mods for NwN 2. I am asking about the methods and ways that Vortex will go about managing and enabling mods for the game. To install the mods manually, you have to choose what folders that the mods go into in the NwN 2 directory in my user documents folder. Does Vortex use these same folders for deploying mods, or does it have another method similar to the symbolic links and such that it uses for other games?

 

I am also asking about what mods and mod configurations that Vortex is able to work with. I assume that Vortex can work well enough with mods downloaded from the Nexus site, but what about mods sourced via other places such as the Neverwinter Vault?

Basically, I just want to know whether Vortex is or will be able to be an effective and accurate mod manager for the NwN 2 game.

 

---Marc

[Tannin42]

The way basic mod install/deployment works is effectively the same across all games: The mods are first extracted into the Vortex staging folder (each mod separate in its own directory) and then on deployment they get linked (symbolic or hard link depending on your setup) into the directory where the game expects mods.

In the case of NWN2 that is "path\to\your\documents\Neverwinter Nights 2"

 

Now how well the mod installation works depends more on how the mod was packaged than where you downloaded it from, that is: how the mod author has structured the mod files in the archive. There are significant differences between game communities, some have very well established patterns that mod authors adhere to and there usually Vortex works pretty well, with other games it's more chaotic and there it's more hit&miss.

In the case of NWN2 I believe Vortex should do pretty good because the game itself enforces some structure that the mod authors have to adhere to anyway - but I don't think a lot of Vortex users play NWN2 (considering how old the game is and how new Vortex is) so it's possible you will run into snags that haven't been documented yet.

I would be very happy if you tried it and gave us feedback if you have problems.

[HadToRegister]

[ShmeeseNexus]

Thank you Tannin42 for the helpful info. This is exactly what I was looking for. You mentioned - "I would be very happy if you tried it and gave us feedback if you have problems.". I will try and get back to you with some feedback later.

 

At HadToRegister, I appreciate the explanatory graphic, but I was mostly looking for info regarding specifics for the NwN 2 game and Vortex

 

--- Marc

[ShmeeseNexus]

Okay, so my first attempt to mod NwN 2 with Vortex is both good and bad. Vortex seems to be able to figure out what folders to put the symlinks in only if the mod files are placed into the same named folders within the mod archive. If a module is simply put within the top level of an archive, even if the file has the required .mod extension, Vortex does not seem to be able to figure out to put it into the modules folder. This makes it seem like Vortex support for NwN 2 is based on the folder name and folder heirarchy, rather than the ability to check file types.

I guess that this is okay, in that it allows for a manageable way to work with mod downloads, but I will have to check all mods before installing them with Vortex.

--- Marc

[Nagev]

Hi Marc, thanks for testing our NwN 2 extension - looks like we have missed the .mod at top level packaging pattern. Can you please send us the link to the mod you had tested with so we can add an installer for it?

 

Also could you please let us know if you're aware of any other missing patterns.

[ShmeeseNexus]

Hello to Nagev & the staff,

The module that I tested was The Corruption of Kiahoro, located at - https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/corruption-kiahoro

It is a simple one-file module with the .mod extension.

 

I also tried a more complicated install mod. This one - https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/asphyxia

That one seemed to install perfectly. However, inside the game the background is all pink and discolored. I am assuming that this is a bug from the mod, and not from Vortex.

 

---Marc

[Jaysyn]

I had come here to ask if there were technical issues with getting Vortex to support NWN2. I'm happy to see someone is looking into it already.

 

If I can be of any assistance with this please let me know.