GUIDE GP Tutorials - Mod Organizer Part 1 - Installation

[GamerPoets]

-How to download and install Mod Organizer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsr_8KAuJC0

[keithinhanoi]

Wow, in 16:9 widescreen format and authoritative deep-voiced movie preview announcer style vocal track, even!

[GamerPoets]

lol = ) thank you. I hope it's helpful. If I'm missing any major points please let me know and I'll make a video of it when time permits. Not sure if videos will remain individually or if the administrators will make a sticky for them all or....? Will find out soon. 

[keithinhanoi]

I don't know what the admins will think, but personally I think it would have been better to group links to all episodes of this series in one Open Post of one thread.

 

And... as requested, some initial feedback:

 

First off, it's great to have a fresh, up-to-date set of video tutorials on Mod Organizer - something badly needed. The sound is great, though I would have tried to put a little more breathing space between the voice over edits - the end of some are almost on top of the beginning of another, if that makes any sense. The added graphics are simple and not too flashy, which makes things very straight forward. And it's clear you planned out each episode and what actions you would take / points to cover.

 

But then having viewed just the first four up to now, I'm left wondering a few things:

 

1. Why recommend users to install manually instead of setting MO for Nexus site download integration (by recognizing nxm links)?

I can understand that new users may not be ready to commit and would like to still be able to use NMM, but with the way MO works, it's essentially a one-or-the-other scenario. The contents of the data folder should be cleared out (or backed up) to return it vanilla state, and the user has to be prepared to commit to trying MO.The advantages of MO recognizing NXM links are clear, including:1. Managing downloaded archives right in MO's interface2. Mods get installed with all the important metadata from Nexus, including mod version number recognition and contextual-menu features of a) direct link to mod's page in your browser, b)(un)endorsement of the mod, and c) checking for updates3. You get to click the easy-to-use SHINY GREEN download button on Nexus mod pages.

 

By only showing users how to install mods manually, they are missing out on all of those features of MO, and likely to believe that MO makes mod version management more difficult than it is with NMM or other mod managers.

 

2. Why not explain the basic premise of how MO works early on in this series?

By episode 3, you're talking about files being overwritten, but you haven't yet explained that they're not ACTUALLY getting overwritten on the user's hard drive or SSD. MO just uses the priority number that is set for each mod to decide which copy of any file of a particular name provided by more than one mod gets used when MO builds its VIRTUAL skyrimdata directory that is read by Skyrim/Oblivion/etc. when it starts.The virtual data directory of MO is probably one of its main selling-points, because it gives the user an amazing level of control over managing overwrites of loose files between mods, all without having to worry about the actual files on their drive being overwritten, since each mod's real files are kept in their own separate "sandboxed" folder inside the mods directory of MO.

 

That's it for the moment. More to come later...

 

EDIT: Okay, well never mind on #1 above, but I'm not so sure why it's a good idea to have users start out by doing manual downloads and installation first, thinking MO is crap because of it, and then, if they get to episode 5, finding out that they could have been using the Nexus download integration all the long.

Edited May 6, 2014 by keithinhanoi

[Razorsedge877]

It would be nice to have a video on upgrading MO. I like to delete everything but the downloads, mods and profile folders. I haven't quite figured out which one my executables are in yet so I am always having to redo them.

[DoubleYou]

An advanced discussion on updating Mod Organizer can be found on the Mod Organizer Advanced Guide here: https://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:Mod_Organizer_Advanced#Updating_Mod_Organizer

[z929669]

I have pointed Tannin and the other MO mods to this area for comment, but I generally agree with Keith's comments: MO's primary utility lies in its integration with the Nexus mod catalog and its virtualization methodology. The former makes it super simple to manage mods and mod versioning, and the latter resolves all of the issues associated with file loss and data corruption, which is a huge problem to mitigate with other mod management systems (I used to periodically scrub /Data due to lack of confidence that WB was 100% effective in maintaining file priorities and overwrites ... in fact, I 100% know that WB and other mod managers do not handle this perfectly).

 

WB is still the best tool for learning mod management though, IMO

 

I have not seen the videos (I personally do not typically take the time to learn by video), but I want to recognize that creatiing them requires a lot of work, so it is appreciated.

 

Can anyone confirm that Gamerpoets' videos are indeed linked form within the MO application?

[GamerPoets]

Just messaged Tanning on Nexus myself. I know he's been busy. I asked if he would mind, even if its negative, to let you guys know how he feels about the videos. 

 

I'm going to leave a note on the 3rd video informing people to learn how to use the manager button in episode 5 if they prefer. I actually created episode 3 before ever speaking with Tannin. Tannin is the one who showed me pretty much everything in episode 5, which is when I changed the series from trying to just showcase Mod Organizer and what I personally knew into an entire tutorial series. 

[DoubleYou]

I do provide links to the first five tutorials within the Mod Organizer Guide.

[GamerPoets]

Thank you. I also provided a link to you guys on my nexus page as someone suggested in the comments on it. I will also link to you guys in my video descriptions for further help to people. 

[Tannin]

@z: I mentioned the Videos in one of my "Message of the day"'s, yes. :)

The videos have my full endorsement

[keithinhanoi]

@GamerPoets -

 

After some thought, I think adding an MO overview video guide which meant to be viewed before any other of the video would help immensely. It could briefly explain the key features of MO -

• the virtual directory approach - to avoid actual files being overwritten, and greatly improve conflict management / mod or asset testing
• profiles - to set up multiple mod combinations for different player characters / play throughs, with discrete "local" .ini files & savegames
• Nexus Mod download integration - giving access to mod version info, checking for updates, contextual menu link to mod pages
• mod priority - separate from mod plugin load order, giving ability to easily change which mod supplies conflicting assets to the virtual directory
• BSA priority control - while normally the order of BSA asset loading is determined by plugin load order, MO allows the priority of BSA assets to be changed
• integrated LOOT plugin sorting - an upcoming feature to include the next generation application for plugin load order management
• full manual mod management - mod assets can be split up into separate "sandboxed" mods that can be easily enabled/disabled

and so on.

 

That would help users new to MO to understand its advantages and know what features to explore when learning more about the program.

 

You could name it "Overview of Mod Organizer" or "Introduction to Mod Organizer", and recommend people watch it first to give them better context when watching the other video guides.

 

Just a suggestion, though - it's clear these take a lot of time and effort!