how are Vortex "suggestion" load orders handled?

[redlantern]

referring to when there is a file conflict. if something isn't manually sorted, will it just go by it's suggestion? (before or after)
and what if nothing is suggested? (some mods don't have a suggested response)

[HadToRegister]

referring to when there is a file conflict. if something isn't manually sorted, will it just go by it's suggestion? (before or after)

and what if nothing is suggested? (some mods don't have a suggested response)

 

 

 

 

In my experience, the suggestions have been correct so far.

You need to pick the suggestions, otherwise vortex will still report a conflict.

 

The way to determine the other mods that don't have a sugegstion is to consider what each mod does, and which mod that you want to overwrite the other mod's files.

 

Reading the Description pages of the mods that conflict and don't have a suggestion is the way to go, in case they mention something like "Make sure my mod loads AFTER the other mod so my textures will show up in the game"

 

You can also click on the "View Conflicting Files" on the Manage Rules screen to see exactly which files with be overwritten or if you want those to overwrite the other mod

[nt5raham]

I've been baffled by this issue on several occasions. For example, I'll download a mod and it's related patch from the same mod page. On more than one occasion, Vortex has "suggested" that the patch be loaded BEFORE the mod. Weird.

[Guest deleted34304850]

could you report such an anomaly to the LOOT developers and make them aware, so that they can code a specific rule to allow the mod to load in postition 'x' and any related patch to load after it in position 'x' + 'n'? I know that there have been threads in these forums where that has been done and the problem was resolved.

[Tannin42]

Please don't confuse file conflicts (which file overwrites which on disk) and load order (which plugin gets loaded after which when starting the game). The latter is handled by loot and set up on the plugins screen, the former is handled by Vortex and set up on the mods screen.

 

For file conflicts the suggestion is purely based on the modification time of the files within the mod.

If mod a and mod b conflict on 5 files and *all* 5 files in mod a are newer than in mod b, Vortex will suggest mod a to be loaded after mod b, so that the newer files are loaded last. The assumption being that a) the mod with the newer files may be a patch for the other one or b) even if they are from different authors, the mod released later had an opportunity to ensure compatibility whereas the older mod can't be designed to be compatible with the newer one.

 

If some files from mod a are newer and some are older than mod b, or if some have the same file time, Vortex makes no suggestion.

 

This is purely an algorithmical suggestion, you really should just use it as a "fallback" if you don't have any better information. If you have any indication (from the mod author, from your own experience or based on suggestions from the forum) you should use that over the Vortex suggestion.

That is different from what LOOT does for plugins because LOOT incorporates curated information from knowledgeable users. If your information contradicts what LOOT suggests you should dig a bit deeper and double check your information is correct and up-to-date instead of dismissing LOOT outright.

[nt5raham]

Yes, Tammin42, we're on the same page. This is not about plugins and LOOT. And thanks for the explanation. I went back and looked at one situation, and it was a follower mod that offered 4K textures as a separate download option. After the 4K textures had been posted, the mod author went back and made a change to the main file. Thus the main file was newer than the 4K textures, and Vortex suggested using the main file to overwrite the 4K textures (obviously not the right choice).

 

I was just wanting to bring out the fact that the suggestions are sometimes obviously wrong, and as you said we can use it as a fallback if we don't have better information.

 

1ae0bfb8, I apologize if my post was not clear. When we are speaking of "suggested" in this context, it is literal text that shows up in the drop down menu for resolving file conflicts in the MODS window. This is in contrast with LOOT sorting in the PLUGINS window. And yes, I have reported a LOOT anomaly in the past, and Pickysaurus forwarded it to have it updated in the LOOT database the very same day.