Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

Halgari joins Nexus Mods to help shape the future of Vortex

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We're super excited to announce that starting next week Halgari - the tool developer best known for the Wabbajack mod list downloader - will become the latest addition to our team here at Nexus Mods. Acting as the Product Manager for Vortex, he will be focusing on the development of the mythical 2.0 update, which is still very much in the planning stages but will make our mod manager even better. 


Vortex was first released to the public in February 2018 as an alpha build - replacing the ageing Nexus Mod Manager as our official modding tool. Since then we have continued to iterate on it based on feedback from the community by adding support for new games, implementing new features and fixing pesky bugs. The app can now help you manage mods for 230 games and boasts over 1,000,000 monthly users, so it's fair to say that it's been a massive success. We're not under any illusions that it's perfect, though. 


Halgari joins the team as a fresh set of eyes with a wealth of experience making tools both in the modding space and professionally. He will be working closely with our team and the community to highlight what Vortex does well and investigate what could be better as we start planning our next major update. 


Before you get too excited, this isn't going to change anything overnight. These things take time, so you aren't likely to see many differences in Vortex itself for a while yet. Just rest assured that the combined skills of Tannin (the lead developer on Vortex and creator of Mod Organizer 2) and Halgari are working together in the background to make the next version of Vortex even more powerful and intuitive. 


I'm sure you will have a bunch of questions about this change, not least what it means for the future of Wabbajack. Halgari has written a statement on that which you may have already seen elsewhere but if you haven't here's a copy:

I wanted to take some time to update you all on my personal life a bit, in order to “get out ahead” of any rumors that will likely start brewing in the next few weeks. 

Two weeks ago I gave notice to my IRL employer that I’m leaving the company. On October 24th, I’ll start my new job at Nexus Mods as the Product Owner of Vortex. Although this may seem like a sudden change, it’s something that’s been in the works for several months. I’m extremely excited for this new job as it will allow me to focus full time on something I very much enjoy: building open source modding tools. 

Naturally the first question many of you will ask is: what does this mean for Wabbajack? First of all Wabbajack isn’t going away. Both Vortex and Wabbajack are open source (GPL-3) and can easily continue to operate in their own spaces. I will be scaling back the time I spend on Wabbjack, but part of the point of the transition to 3.0 was to make the project easier to maintain. And as it stands I can easily go several weeks without having to spend chunks of time fixing bugs to keep the project going. In the short term, nothing will change, I will continue to fix critical bug reports in my spare time, but I will not be adding new features to the project. In the long term I hope that the need for Wabbajack will decrease, but time will tell how realistic that goal is. However, the code will always be available on Github, so anyone is welcome to pitch in on fixes or features.

I can’t answer any questions at the moment as to what my plans for Vortex are, as I want to spend some time getting the lay of the land before finalizing my plans. But in broad strokes, I will say that I want to focus on making Vortex so amazingly awesome that it becomes the de facto standard for modding on any platform. 

Thanks everyone for your support of Wabbajack, and I’m excited to see what the next year holds for the community.

To add to this, here are a few extra questions we've anticipated.


Is Wabbajack going to be merged with Vortex?

No, Wabbajack and the Collections feature in Vortex serve slightly different needs and will continue to peacefully coexist as they always have. Halgari has covered the future of Wabbajack in his statement above. 


Will the 2.0 update for Vortex have this feature or that feature?

At this point we can't really answer these questions - it's way too early to say anything definitively. Although we'll keep you updated on any significant changes in future new posts. 


I have some ideas for how to make Vortex better. How can I help?

Your feedback is invaluable to us and helps us decide what to work on next. If you would like to submit a suggestion or vote on the best ideas sent in by others you can do so in our swanky new feedback portal


That's all we have for you today. If you have any other questions, feel free to post them in the comments but please keep it civil and respectful. Thanks!

109 comments

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  1. Pickysaurus
    Pickysaurus
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    Thank you all for your comments. This thread is now closed. 
  2. mrmatchg
    mrmatchg
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    y'all should encourage teamwork amongst the developers more I'm tired of having to download 30 side mods for just one.
    1. Nickname863
      Nickname863
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      Not sure what you mean. But if you mean shared dependencys then this "download sidemods for just one" is already the optimal solution.
    2. Gxsaki
      Gxsaki
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      What are you talking about? If you download a mod that is based on features or things added by another mod ofc you need this one too.
      If i understand your statement right all mod devs should just be able to use mods created by others without there permission so that you doesn't have to download every dependency? Bro lmao you lazy
    3. zoobxms
      zoobxms
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      Agree, there needs to be a better way to articulate(nexus)/fetch(vortex) dependencies. Currently you try to download X mod and it says it'll need A, B and C mod to install, ok, but B mod needs D, E and F mod and so on, sometimes this can be _insane_ with a pen and paper and 10 browser tabs investigating each and just as you're about done compiling your list the final dependency has a conflict with another mod you're using. lol. More integration between Vortex current profile and Nexus would be _incredible_.  "nope, this mod dependency tree is going to f*#@ your install friendo, here's another cool mod i found that does a similar thing: MakeAllMongrelsUnicornsYouCanRide". Given the delta on progress with Vortex/Nexus, fkn fabulous, i figure this isn't far away.
    4. TMPFRTT
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      just want to say, love this idea. The amount of fucking pain i could avoid if they implemented something like this lmfao. 
  3. Atampy26
    Atampy26
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    This is like the 1984 book, "George Orwell"
    1. InsaneGizzardSauce
      InsaneGizzardSauce
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      Now I'm confused.
  4. xRustedAutomatonx
    xRustedAutomatonx
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    I mean, they've already had the MO2 guy for how long, yet majority of people still prefer MO2 to Vortex. When they hired Tannin I was excited. I thought Vortex would become the "de facto standard"  back then with their help. Obviously that didn't really happen. Sadly, that makes me unsure about this. Guess I could say I'm very cautiously optimistic for Nexus, and irritated for Wabbajack. And irritated for myself for donating to the Wabbajack Patreon for the last few months. I've been doing it for years, but feel like Halgari should've told the Patreons he was getting ready to drop support for it. I may have been happy to continue donating, but we'll never know, and springing the news like this feels a little dicey to me. 
    1. IKobi
      IKobi
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      I'm on the same boat, it rubbed me the wrong way also when they stated on this article Vortex was a huge success, when we all aware of it's flaws.

      Vortex only got so much traction, cause Nexus reinforces it and doesn't actually give anyone the choice to use anything else, I personally rather install my MODs manually nowadays.

      Vortex is extremely intrusive and bloated in it's current state.
    2. Dark0ne
      Dark0ne
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      By every metric Vortex is, most definitely, a success. Vortex now accounts for almost 80% of mod manager users on Nexus Mods, with MO2 usage close to 20%.

      However as the news post says, we're under no illusions and there is room for improvement.
    3. CrEaToXx
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      The reason why I'm staying with MO2 is because I'm sick of constantly having to adapt to changes no one asked for. I don't care if even the boss states superior numbers, or the dedicated fans passively aggressive bully anyone not marching in line. I'm busy enough having to unfuck what Bethesda breaks every now and then, with there uncalled updates. I see absolutely no reason why I should use a different wheel, if the wheel before just rolled the same way.

      Welcome to the team new guy btw.
    4. fraquar
      fraquar
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      Only thing that ever prevented me from using Vortex was it's UI.   It's a look I can't stand in Windows as it is, which is why I use Classic Shell.   MO2 has that simple classic look I just prefer - to each their own.
    5. zoobxms
      zoobxms
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      With the death of NMM and the rise of Vortex, Nexus has finally become the most powerful force in the galaxy.

      Support the imperium before your rim worlds are all turned to glass!

      Give Vortex another go, i know it sucked hard there for a while but it's been swimmingly awesome for 18 months at least. And that's managing the top two rows of the Nexus most modded games. At this stage I'd ignore collections though until they get some sort of qualification rating, otherwise it's just a bunch of some guys sneezes in a semi coherent list, then they add 350 more items and it's like "is this science?"  no it is not, it is crash magic.
    6. revenantmaster
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      thats cuz new people will know vortex before MO2 on this site, just cuz its popular doesn't mean its better
    7. rashikgutpa1994
      rashikgutpa1994
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      And here is me, still putting the file in the data folder, the same way since Morrowind ^_^
    8. luppchri
      luppchri
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      I second that. MO2 is IMO by far superior to Vortex. Cleaner look & feel, easier to manage profiles and much more versatile. I have to say however that I like the competition between both products as this helps us users in the long run.
      I am just a bit concerned seeing that some of the best coders are being sucked into the development of Vortex. I hope this will not become a monopoly.
  5. davidhoussain
    davidhoussain
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    Man if you could get this dude to turn vortex into a wabbajack like item, that would be incredible, right now vortex collections dont work so god but wabbajack is hella good. I hope this pans out.
    1. Gxsaki
      Gxsaki
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      The collections work like a charm.
      Maybe you are just using it wrong
    2. davidhoussain
      davidhoussain
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      I dont know, sometimes when i download them they just dont work. They work on average maybe 60% of the time. Plus wabbajack can download from other modsites, I dont see why vortex should just be limited to nexus.
    3. deleted34304850
      deleted34304850
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      so you're literally saying 60% of the time it works 100% of the time?
    4. Zanderat
      Zanderat
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      I dont see why vortex should just be limited to nexus.
      Because it is a Nexus proprietary tool?
    5. LastPunkJedi
      LastPunkJedi
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      This has been possible since day one, it's just many other sources don't have a proper API and/or nobody in the community has made an extension to support it yet. 

      Here's an example of how it works for Collections.
    6. joaquin0829
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      i found wabbajack mod collections not working at all and getting errors and never installing property, i have not tried again maybe i was doing something wrong but im sure they worked for others, just like vortex collections, for me they work as intended
    7. MasterDeluXXXe36
      MasterDeluXXXe36
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      WJ is SUPERIOR to the nexus collections.
      just because nexus mod packs work, doesnt mean its great.
      WJ doesnt even touches your OG files and their stockgame folder is a blessing.
    8. emteeskull
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      Question: Can/will any good functionality form other opensource projects be brought into the next version of V?
      To that question is there a downside?

      Sorry for my ignorance. I think this might be my first ever post here. I'll see after I post what is my current count.
      Anywho. From my perspective is I begrudgingly moved to Vortex from nexus mod. And it does great. I don't have to mess with LOOT. Although if I remember correctly I did with NM. For my mileage, It just pretty much works. And what more can one ask for from a technology?
    9. zoobxms
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      I was surprised when i installed my first nexus collection that it wasn't a logically curated list, it's just literally some dude randomly selecting mods into a list. I'd have thought that'd be 30 minutes of work to shovel into any app.  What i had _imagined_ was there was a database of known conflicts and load orders and the collection would have automatically navigated that and then gone through basic testing. 

      Instead it's just a random list that people vote on whether it was good/worked or not. "good luck everybody else!"

      Am I wrong?
    10. michaelwhitenton
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      This has been my experience as well
  6. andrei89tym
    andrei89tym
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    Шо за хлеб?
  7. jeremyinteractive
    jeremyinteractive
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    Wabbajack is probably the best thing that ever happened to modding. I play Fallout 4 with over 770 mods, and it runs better than vanilla. If that's not progress, I don't know what is. 
    1. WraithBerserker
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      Which modpack?
    2. Rudyalo
      Rudyalo
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      Also wanna know which modpack
    3. joaquin0829
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      can you please tell me which mod pack you used? i am playing storywell from collections but id love to try the whooping 700+ im sure it looks and plays great
  8. Rudyalo
    Rudyalo
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    Will Vortex eventually support downloads from websites other than nexusmods?
    1. Pickysaurus
      Pickysaurus
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      This has been possible since day one, it's just many other sources don't have a proper API and/or nobody in the community has made an extension to support it yet. 

      Here's an example of how it works for Collections.
    2. EvilGeoff
      EvilGeoff
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      Hmmmmm...  I guess I'm doing it wrong, since I don't have any issues with getting mods from places like ModDb, LL, gitlab/github, etc.  Manually download, point Vortex to the .zip file location and... "Oh!  Look!  I have a new mod installed to use!"
  9. KillerMarine
    KillerMarine
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    Congrats, can't wait for future updates, as well as new and improved features. Keep up the great work. (^ 0 = 0 ^)
  10. Pyromant
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    Congrats Halgari!

    But I'll predict slowly but surely Halgari will drop working on Wabbajack.
    Vortex is such a pain to work with, when coming from MO2.
    1. Gxsaki
      Gxsaki
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      Yes ofc he will, did you ever took a new job but kept your old one? Bro lmao
    2. deleted34304850
      deleted34304850
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      But I'll predict slowly but surely Halgari will drop working on Wabbajack.

      No flies on you Mystic Meg, can you give us the lottery numbers while you've got your prediction hat on, and do you foresee the sun rising tomorrow morning?
    3. halgari
      halgari
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      I mean, I flat-out said I was only doing bugfixes and *very* small feature updates on it from here on out. So they're not wrong
    4. davidhoussain
      davidhoussain
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      I gave it a shot the other day, I gave up. I did get a decent modlist for fallout 4 working, maybe 159 mods though. It really is hit or miss with vortex. It really needs the ability to bash patch and see internal conflict like xedit. Maybe it does and I am just not proficient enough but with MO2 I can get a 1000 mods to work with a game.
    5. davidhoussain
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      Hey dude, wabbajack really got me to finally experience skyrim. I never could really get beyond adding about 150 mods to a game. Thanks for getting that together. I hope you take nexus to the stratosphere