Different Profiles, or Different Installations?

[AddictedxGamer]

Hey, everyone.  I've just got a quick question.

 

Can you not remove mods from the left pane for just a single profile?  I just finished installing STEP Extended, but decided I also wanted to install and test Skyrim Revisited: Legendary Edition.  So, I made a new profile and started removing mods from the left pane in the new profile.  I didn't realize until a little ways in that this was removing them from the completed STEP Extended profile too!   :O_o:  

 

Is there a way to remove mods from one profile without removing them from another, or do I need to have separate installations of the program?  I know if you want to use Mod Organizer for both Skyrim and Fallout, or any other game that it supports, you need to have multiple installations of the program, which is easy enough to do.  Is this the case for this situation as well?  Furthermore, can I even have two installations of the Mod Organizer that handle the same game, or would that cause issues?  It would make sense if it did, as they'd be installed in different locations, but grabbing mods from the same place and installing them for the same game.  Although, they'd still have their own virtual directories, as they'd be installed in different locations...

 

Sorry; I'm rambling!  Anyways; I hope someone can clear this up for me!

 

Thanks!  

[DoubleYou]

Be glad you're using MO 1.2.9. Look in the Recycle Bin for your removed mods Restoring them will restore them to Mod Organizer. I'm glad Tannin added that enhancement.

 

No, you can't hide mods in different profiles. If you made a separate MO, you could indeed do what you say and install two Mod Organizers.

[Nozzer66]

That's what I've done. Two loads of MO. Keeps all the saves etc apart too, if I'm correct in my thinking.

[AddictedxGamer]

Be glad you're using MO 1.2.9. Look in the Recycle Bin for your removed mods Restoring them will restore them to Mod Organizer. I'm glad Tannin added that enhancement.

 

No, you can't hide mods in different profiles. If you made a separate MO, you could indeed do what you say and install two Mod Organizers.

Alright, that's what I'll do.  Thanks!

 

That's what I've done. Two loads of MO. Keeps all the saves etc apart too, if I'm correct in my thinking.

You can separate your saves through different profiles by checking the local savegame option in the profile manager.  

[Tannin]

I'm not sure why you'd go with two installations.

If you dont want a mod active in one profile then uncheck it.

If the mod list is too long/complex, use categories. I.e. you could put the mods you want to see in profile A into a category "visible in A", those for profile B into "visible in B" and so on and then activate the corresponding filter to get a reduced list.

[AddictedxGamer]

I'm not sure why you'd go with two installations.

If you dont want a mod active in one profile then uncheck it.

If the mod list is too long/complex, use categories. I.e. you could put the mods you want to see in profile A into a category "visible in A", those for profile B into "visible in B" and so on and then activate the corresponding filter to get a reduced list.

Could you elaborate on this, please?  I'm interested to know how I would go about doing this.

 

Currently I've got categories set up within the Mod Organizer already.  I created them as I went through the installation of STEP Extended.  Before I started installing the mods in each category, I would create a dummy mod inside the Mod Organizer Mods directory using the category name.  Inside each folder is a blank text document with the category name, zipped into an archive using, again, the category name.  Then I activate that in the Mod Organizer so that I know which mods belong to which category.  

 

Essentially, it looks something like this in the left pane of the Mod Organizer.

 

 

2.D. FIXES CATEGORY

Distant Decal Fix

Unofficial Skyrim Patch

Etc, etc, etc.

2.E. INTERFACE CATEGORY

Better Dialogue Controls

Better MessageBox Controls

Etc, etc, etc.

 

 

This, however, I fear would be insufficient to handle the installation of two entirely different guides, i.e. STEP Extended vs Skyrim Revisited.  I'd get confused as to which mods were which, especially because both guides share a number of the same mods, but with different installation options (files, plugins, etc).  That's why I was planning to use two separate installations of the program after DoubleYou told me that it could be done.

 

But, if you're suggesting you know of a way to get this to work in a way that doesn't cause me any confusion, then I'm all for hearing it!  Please; elaborate!  

[Nozzer66]

Must admit I didn't think of using the categories like that. Will probably try that next time, now I have my two copies stable and working.

[AddictedxGamer]

Must admit I didn't think of using the categories like that. Will probably try that next time, now I have my two copies stable and working.

I actually got the idea when making an Excel spreadsheet showing my entire list of desired mods, and where they can be found throughout STEP (Core, Extended, one or more of the Packs, etc).  It gave me the idea of making dummy mods to use as category markers within the Mod Organizer.  This way, when I start installing non-STEP mods, I can place them in the categories used within the STEP guide with extreme ease.

[Tannin]

Could you elaborate on this, please?  I'm interested to know how I would go about doing this. Currently I've got categories set up within the Mod Organizer already.  I created them as I went through the installation of STEP Extended.  Before I started installing the mods in each category, I would create a dummy mod inside the Mod Organizer Mods directory using the category name.  Inside each folder is a blank text document with the category name, zipped into an archive using, again, the category name.  Then I activate that in the Mod Organizer so that I know which mods belong to which category.   Essentially, it looks something like this in the left pane of the Mod Organizer. 

2.D. FIXES CATEGORYDistant Decal FixUnofficial Skyrim PatchEtc, etc, etc.2.E. INTERFACE CATEGORYBetter Dialogue ControlsBetter MessageBox ControlsEtc, etc, etc.

 This, however, I fear would be insufficient to handle the installation of two entirely different guides, i.e. STEP Extended vs Skyrim Revisited.  I'd get confused as to which mods were which, especially because both guides share a number of the same mods, but with different installation options (files, plugins, etc).  That's why I was planning to use two separate installations of the program after DoubleYou told me that it could be done. But, if you're suggesting you know of a way to get this to work in a way that doesn't cause me any confusion, then I'm all for hearing it!  Please; elaborate!  

MO has categories built-in which you can customize from settings->"Configure Mod Categories". You can assign each mod multiple categories.Only the "primary" category will be displayed, but a filter will match all of them.So you could assign a mod the categories "Armor", "Step 2-D", "Profile a" and "Profile b".Now if you filter for Armor it will show up, if you filter for "Profile a" it will show up but if you filter for "profile c" it will not show up.

[TechAngel85]

I have to say...I never thought about using categories like this either. Interesting.

 

I have two installs of MO as well though. One for Skyrim and one for Fallout:NV.

[AddictedxGamer]

MO has categories built-in which you can customize from settings->"Configure Mod Categories". You can assign each mod multiple categories.Only the "primary" category will be displayed, but a filter will match all of them.So you could assign a mod the categories "Armor", "Step 2-D", "Profile a" and "Profile b".Now if you filter for Armor it will show up, if you filter for "Profile a" it will show up but if you filter for "profile c" it will not show up.

I actually figured this out with some help from someone in one of my other topics, and through the Mod Organizer Wikipedia page. It's a neat feature!The reason I was doing it the way that I was before is for two reasons. First, I didn't know that I could add categories and then view them in groups through the left pane. Second, I'm under the impression that the order of the mods in the left pane has to match the order of the mods in the guide. If I view by category and install mods into those categories, won't that mess up the order, which has to match the STEP Guide?

[DoubleYou]

Filters are not mod groups.

[Nearox]

The way I add categories is by simply making a new empty folder in MO/mods and name them --- XXXXXXXX ---. That way you can easily preserve the STEP/SRLE category order without having to do more things in MO. 

[AddictedxGamer]

Filters are not mod groups.

Oh, I know they're not. But they can be used as if they were.Take a look at this picture, posted in another topic of mine. He's created custom categories in the filter panel on the far left side, then grouped his mods into those newly created categories. Then he changed the option in the bottom drop-down menu to "Categories," and a bunch of expandable "groups" appear.I was thinking that by changing the category of a mod so that it fit into a certain category, or "group," you'd ultimately be changing the installation order, thus affecting mod priority. Aren't they supposed to be in the exact order of the STEP Guide?

 

 

The way I add categories is by simply making a new empty folder in MO/mods and name them --- XXXXXXXX ---. That way you can easily preserve the STEP/SRLE category order without having to do more things in MO. 

That's how I was doing it before, but I was doing it that way because I didn't know about setting it up the way I mentioned in my above reply to DoubleYou.

 

However, now I'm wondering about how changing the category of a mod and using the "Category" view in the bottom drop-down menu affects mod priority.  Seeing as they are to be installed in the exact order presented in the guide, if changing their category and viewing them in "groups" changes their priority, perhaps it can negatively affect the STEP installation.

 

Or, and more likely, I'm just over-thinking this and confusing myself/others for no reason.  

[AddictedxGamer]

It would appear I was worrying for no reason.  The priority of a mod does not change when using different categories, filters, etc.  The only way it does change is if you change it yourself, either by dragging and dropping the mod to a new location, or changing the number.

 

That being said, I still think it would be nice to be able to remove mods from one profile without it being removed from every other profile it's associated with.  I've currently got the Mod Organizer installed on my system twice, but in different locations.  One is for STEP and the other is for SRLE, because the two use a multitude of the same mods, but with different versions, options, etc.

 

It would still be doable to use one installation of the program and use profiles to install both guides.  When working with the SRLE Profile you would just disable the mods installed by STEP and install those used by SRLE.  When you come to a mod that's already been installed, you would just change the name of it.  For example, "SkyFalls and SkyMills" is already installed by your STEP Profile, so when you install it (with different optionals) for SRLE, rename it to "SkyFalls and SkyMills SRLE."  Since the previous version is disabled in the SRLE Profile, there won't be any file conflicts between the two (they obviously share a lot of the same files; ESM, ESPs, meshes, etc).

 

All in all, it can be done, but I fear it might cause me undue confusion by cluttering my mod list in the Mod Organizer.  If the ability to remove mods from one profile without removing them from another can be added, that'd be awesome!  If not, then no hard feelings!  I imagine it might be impossible due to how the program's virtual filing system operates.

[Tannin]

I'm very careful about providing multiple ways to achieve the same thing, that's just bound to confuse people, make explanations harder, overload the interface,...

 

You can currently disable a mod in a profile by unchecking it. You can hide it by putting it into a category. You can hide it in a profilie by creating categories that align with profiles.

 

Providing a new, parallel way to "remove" mods from a profile would be redundant. I am however willing to consider options that would make using existing functionality (categories) for the goals mentioned more intuitive.