How do you design a game to be "Vortex Compatible"?

[grumposaurus]

Hi. I'm neither a modder, nor have I ever used Nexus before.

I'd like to make my own game, with Unreal Engine, and I want it to have "maximum moddability".

I've only remember using mods from Steam, and I'm here because I was told the "Nexus Modder Community" is the "best" (and/or "biggest").

I would have thought Vortex had some "API" that you can build into your own game, to make it moddable, but seeing as Vortex is licensed under GPL-3, that is clearly not the case.

If I believe what I read here:

https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/367844/can-i-include-a-gpl-v3-binary-with-my-proprietary-application-if-i-prompt-the-us

I can't even legally link to Vortex from my game.

As far as I can see, most (all?) the FAQ/resources here about Vortex are geared toward modders themselves, not "game devs", so I'm looking for info into how I could make my game work with Vortex. Potentially, I am misunderstanding the purpose of Vortex.

I was also considering adding support for Mod.io, because there is an Unreal Engine plugin for it, but after seeing the reaction of modders in the Space Engineer's community recently, when Keen tried to add support for Mod.io, I think it's best I stay away from it...

[AugustaCalidia]

Vortex is extensible. Develop your game and then create a Vortex extension: https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Creating_a_game_extension_for_Vortex

[rmm200]

Also keep in mind what Vortex is - and what it is not.

Vortex is a mod installer. It takes an existing mod and puts it in the right place for the game to find it.

Vortex has no interaction with a running game. Vortex itself can be stopped while you play - so no need for an API.

[TheGreatFalro]

To add to what the others have said, the best thing you can do is just to ensure the game is moddable at all - Vortex will then be able to properly install mods once an extension is made. I suggest taking a look at how other popular modded games have set up modding capabilities and going from there.

[Pickysaurus]

If you're using UE4, most builds are moddable "out of the box" by placing additional PAK files in the "content\paks\~mods" folder.

 

What would be your expectation of Vortex hooking into the game?

 

Would this be better than the user setting up their mods in Vortex and starting the game through the manager?

[grumposaurus]

If you're using UE4, most builds are moddable "out of the box" by placing additional PAK files in the "content\paks\~mods" folder.

 

What would be your expectation of Vortex hooking into the game?

 

Would this be better than the user setting up their mods in Vortex and starting the game through the manager?

Well, I've read Vortex can (automatically?) "order the mods correctly", so they work together. I assumed this required the mods themselves to either "implement some API" or at least provide some meta-data, that Vortex uses to determine the "correct order" for the mods.

[Pickysaurus]

 

If you're using UE4, most builds are moddable "out of the box" by placing additional PAK files in the "content\paks\~mods" folder.

 

What would be your expectation of Vortex hooking into the game?

 

Would this be better than the user setting up their mods in Vortex and starting the game through the manager?

Well, I've read Vortex can (automatically?) "order the mods correctly", so they work together. I assumed this required the mods themselves to either "implement some API" or at least provide some meta-data, that Vortex uses to determine the "correct order" for the mods.

 

 

So at present the automatic sorting of mods is currently a feature of Bethesda titles (Oblivion, FO3, FNV, Skyrim, FO4) and to a lesser extent, Bannerlord. For UE4 games it's a little different because mods are self-contained in their own PAKs.

 

You are correct in saying we'd need some way of determining the correct order. In the case of the Bethesda games, we use a masterlist known as LOOT and for Bannerlord we use the information provided by the mod manifest files.