Install order help

[Avarium]

I am having a bit of a issue here, just finished installing mostly every mod in the entire step guide (267 mods) and it works just fine BUT the one thing i dont seem to understand about Mod organizer compared to Nexus mod manager is: Do install order even matter here? 

As i understand it no mod is ever overwritten comparatively to Nexus mod manager so does this mean i can just as an example pop a new mod in wherever i want it or remove a mod that i no longer want WITHOUT having to reinstall lets say 100 mods, like I would have had to in Nexus mod manager?

What I am asking is basically do the order i install the mods in matter in Mod organizer

[GSDFan]

 

Am i right in that if i install one texture mod first and then install another and the first one is supposed to be installed after the second one i can just drag it in place?

Yes you can.

 

Assuming that the left pane is sorted by priority and zero is at the top, which it looks like it is. Then as the picture shows Skyrim HD- 2kTextyres would have a higher priority that Serious HD Retexture. If you were to reverse them then Serious HD Retexture would win any conflicts.

 

Remember this is for any files that conflict between mods. If there aren't any conflicts then it is not a problem.

[GSDFan]

The STEP guide is assembled with a specific order to accomplish a certain look and feel so yes it is important.

 

With MO installed mods will never delete files on disk from another mod as all mods are installed to their own folders. MO will present the overwriting or top priority files to the game. You do have to be careful about removing things as the game may throw fits, CDt and so on. The drag and drop function in MO allows you to do whatever you want to the left pane priority without fear of having to install 100 mods again.

 

If you want to add additional mods on top of STEP, then the general rule of thumb is to install them in the section that best fits.

[Quinnbeast]

edit - GSD got there first... ;)

 

Yes, install order is just as important in MO as it was in NMM, but it does offer more scope to experiment along with an easy means to backtrack if you break something. The difference is more of a technical one, as in, the MO folder structure is virtual (i.e. a given mod doesn't directly impact your Skyrim install) but it still has the same effect in practice; if installing two sets of textures that edit the same file, the 2nd mod will overwrite the 1st. Individual mods are not actually overwritten, but the effect is the same once you run the game through MO.

 

In MO, the left hand list is your install order. STEP mods on the left should be installed in the same order they appear in the guide. The little + and - symbols show you if a mod either overwrites or is overwritten by, another mod. If you right click a mod with +/- symbols and click 'information', the Conflict tab will let you see specific details on overwritten files. To change the load order, simply drag a file up or down the list.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Quinnbeast

[Avarium]

Am i right in that if i install one texture mod first and then install another and the first one is supposed to be installed after the second one i can just drag it in place? if that sounded confusing please here a picture of what i mean   

Edited September 25, 2015 by Avarium

[Greg]

There are a number of significant differences between Nexus Mod Manager and Mod Organizer.

 

Conflicting Files:

• NMM: When you install a new mod, any conflicting files are overwritten. If you decide you prefer to use a mesh or a texture from a previously installed mod, you have to reinstall the previously installed mod and be really careful about which files you allow to be overwritten. Want to change your mind again? Yeah, it's a nightmare. I have no idea if the current version of Nexus Mod Manager helps with this or not.
• MO: When you install a mod, the files are stored in separate folders so conflicting files do not overwrite files in other mods. If there are any conflicting files, the files in the mod lowest in the left pane (the one with the higher priority number) is used in the game. If you want to use a mesh or texture provided by a mod with a lower priority, you can hide the mesh or texture in the mod with the higher priority (right click the higher priority mod, click the file tree tab, find the file you don't want to use, right click, and select hide). If you change your mind, unhide the file. Alternative, drag the mod before the mod you want to win the conflicts or edit the priority column to give this mod a priority lower than the mod you want to win the conflicts.

Loose Files vs BSAs:

• NMM: Loose files stored in the Skyrim data folder always win conflicts over files stored in BSAs. The only way to workaround this issue is to extract the files in the BSA and manually handle conflict resolution by overwriting the loose files you don't want used in the game.
• MO: The conflicting file in the highest priority mod in the left pane wins the conflict regardless of whether this is a loose file or a file stored in a BSA. One caveat is that loose files can be hidden so they aren't used in the game, but (as far as I am aware) you can't hide files stored in BSAs.
• NMM: You must include the fake plugins (e.g. HighResTexturePack01.esp, HighResTexturePack02.esp, and HighResTexturePack03.esp) if you want the high-resolution texture pack to be used in the game. A possible workaround (although not recommended) is to add the BSAs to Skyrim's ini files.
• MO: Mod Organizer managed all files stored in BSAs for you, so you don't need to include these fake plugins in your load order.

Profiles:

• NMM: Older versions of Nexus Mod Manager do not support profiles at all. The latest version kinda supports profiles, but I'll wait to see how reliable this turns out to be over the long haul. I haven't seen anything mentioning whether Nexus Mod Manager keeps your saves separated by profile, but I'm hoping it does for this to be a viable feature.
• MO: Mod Organizer has supported profiles for a long time and it is extremely convenient to have profiles for the vanilla game, STEP Core, STEP Extended, testing, etc.

INI Management:

• NMM. Older versions, zip, nada, zilch, none. New version, unknown.
• MO: Your Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini are stored separately in each profile so you can easily have baseline settings for most profiles and custom ENB settings with an ENB preset profile.

[GrantSP]

Nice summation. 

[echo451]

I can't imagine trying to do what I do mod wise without MO. Good summary.

[n0mad23]

After seeing this on Nexus today, I'm happier than ever on my decision to go with MO over NMM.

 

 

 

Nexus Mod Manager build 0.60.8 Unofficial Help Forum

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/70019/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D70019%26preview%3D&pUp=1

 

 

Great summary, Greg!

Edited September 25, 2015 by n0mad23

[TechAngel85]

Reading through some of those comments it looks like the best solution is to "move to Mod Organizer". Half those comments are just users saying something along those lines.

[Quinnbeast]

"Backup your entire computer partition before installing 0.60.8... One of our members lost not just Skyrim but his Fallout and Vegas games as well. Todal redo of all."

 

Whoah, you're not kidding either. Gotta love that MO :)

Edited September 26, 2015 by Quinnbeast

[DoubleYou]

I figured there would be some problems like that since they're using symlinks and all. Windows 10 is glitchy enough without tossing beta software on top of the unfinished OS. Definitely something to only use on an entirely separate partition only.

[Greg]

"Backup your entire computer partition before installing 0.60.8... One of our members lost not just Skyrim but his Fallout and Vegas games as well. Todal redo of all."

 

Whoah, you're not kidding either. Gotta love that MO :)

Look on the bright side... you could have uninstalled the Broadcom Bluetooth stack that deleted all unlocked files on the drive due to a bug in the installation package.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=uninstall+wiped+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=broadcom+bluetooth+uninstall+wiped+drive

[patchling]

 

There are a number of significant differences between Nexus Mod Manager and Mod Organizer.

 

Conflicting Files:

• NMM: When you install a new mod, any conflicting files are overwritten. If you decide you prefer to use a mesh or a texture from a previously installed mod, you have to reinstall the previously installed mod and be really careful about which files you allow to be overwritten. Want to change your mind again? Yeah, it's a nightmare. I have no idea if the current version of Nexus Mod Manager helps with this or not.
• MO: When you install a mod, the files are stored in separate folders so conflicting files do not overwrite files in other mods. If there are any conflicting files, the files in the mod lowest in the left pane (the one with the higher priority number) is used in the game. If you want to use a mesh or texture provided by a mod with a lower priority, you can hide the mesh or texture in the mod with the higher priority (right click the higher priority mod, click the file tree tab, find the file you don't want to use, right click, and select hide). If you change your mind, unhide the file. Alternative, drag the mod before the mod you want to win the conflicts or edit the priority column to give this mod a priority lower than the mod you want to win the conflicts.

Loose Files vs BSAs:

• NMM: Loose files stored in the Skyrim data folder always win conflicts over files stored in BSAs. The only way to workaround this issue is to extract the files in the BSA and manually handle conflict resolution by overwriting the loose files you don't want used in the game.
• MO: The conflicting file in the highest priority mod in the left pane wins the conflict regardless of whether this is a loose file or a file stored in a BSA. One caveat is that loose files can be hidden so they aren't used in the game, but (as far as I am aware) you can't hide files stored in BSAs.
• NMM: You must include the fake plugins (e.g. HighResTexturePack01.esp, HighResTexturePack02.esp, and HighResTexturePack03.esp) if you want the high-resolution texture pack to be used in the game. A possible workaround (although not recommended) is to add the BSAs to Skyrim's ini files.
• MO: Mod Organizer managed all files stored in BSAs for you, so you don't need to include these fake plugins in your load order.

Profiles:

• NMM: Older versions of Nexus Mod Manager do not support profiles at all. The latest version kinda supports profiles, but I'll wait to see how reliable this turns out to be over the long haul. I haven't seen anything mentioning whether Nexus Mod Manager keeps your saves separated by profile, but I'm hoping it does for this to be a viable feature.
• MO: Mod Organizer has supported profiles for a long time and it is extremely convenient to have profiles for the vanilla game, STEP Core, STEP Extended, testing, etc.

INI Management:

• NMM. Older versions, zip, nada, zilch, none. New version, unknown.
• MO: Your Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini are stored separately in each profile so you can easily have baseline settings for most profiles and custom ENB settings with an ENB preset profile.

 

you forgot to add that you can switch the instalition order without uninstalling/reinstalling everything. point in case? hdt-pe and realistic ragdolls and force mods don't "overwrite" each other, but if i don't have hdt installed before ragdolls i have problems. in nmm this means i have to reinstall, with mo i just change the priority numbers realitive to each other. trying new mods? depending on the mod(s) in question you may have to unstall over 90% of your mods to get them installed in the correct order if you are using nmm/manual. but mo? a bit of "sort by piroity" drag and drop will do.