Edit: Rolled back and turned off the Lua mod installer for now
I pushed the update with the automatic downloads of Fluffy Mod Manager and REFramework, as well as the mod installers for .pak mods to the Fluffy Mod Manager folder and lua mods to the REFramework scripts folder. Please let me know if you have any issues with this update. I left the old version available on the Files tab if you need to roll back.
It seems like no one else is having this issue, but I am unable to use it properly.
It appears that all mod files have been thrown into the game's root directory.
In the screenshot, the left one is the root directory after deployment through Vortex, the right one is the root directory after deployment directly through Fluffy.
(Before switching to Fluffy, I made sure to clear the deployment in Vortex. The same applies in reverse.)
So right now, I have not yet implemented the installer for reFramework mods to strip away any top level folders before the "reframework" folder. That is why you are ending up with multiple folders in the root directory. There is some difficulty here since not all mods are packaged exactly the same by the various mod authors.
Pak mods should be going to the correct folder for Fluffy to install them. It is just the lua mods that you need to remove any unnecessary folders above "reframework" so that it will install correctly. If the mod happens to contain both Pak mods AND lua files, you would need to set the mod type as Engine Injector and copy files to the staging folder manually to get everything in there since the pak mod installer will strip away anything that is not a pak file.
This will be fixed once I get the code figured on filtering to the correct folder. I can possibly also fix the code for if there are both lua AND pak files in the same mod, but that would be a bit more complicated.
I have no idea if it is possible, but the REFramework part should send mods to the "reframework" folder, instead of just deleting all the folders automatically and send them to "autorun". Like mentioned before, there are some mods that use other subfolders inside "reframework" and the extension is basically deleting them. So having the extension send the folders inside "reframework" would be a better ideal than what we currently have, imo. Also, most mods are already packaged correctly to be thrown into the game root folder, which basically means they will go inside "reframework" automatically (if you install them manually).
I rolled back to the version without the Lua mod installer for now. Unfortunately, many mods have a top level folder above reframework that will end up in the root folder with reframework inside. I need to rework the installer to go to the reframework folder and remove anything above it.
There is a small problem with the latest update. Now files for REF are lost if the mod contains files not only for the "autorun" folder, but also for the "datа" folder, the files for the "datа" folder are simply cut out. for example https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonsdogma2/mods/195?tab=files
Yes, that is how the installer works. There is really no way around this if we want to use the installer so that you don't have to manually manipulate files for mods that are not packaged correctly.
I may just roll back to the previous code since it seems like this installer might cause too many problems.
In my opinion, it’s easier to immediately remake the unpacked archive in vortex before installing the mod, than to search for pieces of the mod in the archives, so I vote for a rollback.
You can not use it unless you download REFramework with Vortext itself. There is no option to manually download the file and install it, because as soon as I click on `skip`, the game fails to get set, so I have no opportunity to install anything.
The newest version of the extension will download and install REFramework automatically. The extension will download it with Vortex and overwrite a manual installation, which shouldn't cause any issues (it is only a single dll file).
My problem is that I cannot use nxm:// links, so it cannot install REFramework automatically.
The Extension fails to initialize, which is the main problem. I got past the issue by editing index.js by hand. Line 303 throws an error because it tries using an undefined variable: try { const modPageId = 818; // whatever } catch (err) { const errPage = `https://www.nexusmods.com/site/mods/${modPageId}/files/?tab=files`; Just move it outside of the try block, and it should be good.
I see what you are saying. I can say that when I tested the code I intentionally entered an incorrect URL to see if the catch would work, and I did not get an undefined on that variable.
In any event, I will go ahead and move that variable outside of the try/catch to make it more reliable.
Thanks for the heads up!
Edit: new version is uploaded. Let me know if that works for you now.
Don't know if the update has yet to reach Vortex Extension page/download/database, but when I download the extension, the default version showing is the 1.2 and not the 2.0. This is the case even when I use the "Mod Manager Download" from website and it redirects me to the extension window/page within Vortex application. If I were to install the extension manually, do I still get the updates to the extension or would I have to re-download the updates to it?
Other than that, I guess most of my problems could be solved once the extension is successfully updated to the latest version since right now, only some of the mods I have installed are showing in-game and the rest are just in the root folder. By the way, how is the situation implemented when using files that have multiple "plugins"? Asking since I cannot seem to be able to directly select the correct files to activate in Vortex (like plugins for Bethesda related games) for the profile.
Yes, v0.2.0 is uploaded as the main file. I double checked and the files are correct.
Unfortunately, the "Mod Manger Download" button does not seem to work well with extensions. You need to use the Manual Download, then drag and drop into Vortex. Best thing would be to just let Vortex download the extension when you add the game.
You will still get updates after downloading manually. I am not entirely sure when Vortex checks for updates to 3rd party extensions, but it does at some frequency.
If by "plugins" you are referring to .pak files, all the files need to be packaged in one folder together, or Vortex will just take the first one it finds and remove the rest. If this happens, you just need to do some manual file manipulation to get all the files in there. Strictly speaking, mod authors "should" use .fomod installers if they have multiple versions of their mod packaged together.
You can use Fluffy to turn individual .pak files on and off from then on. Fluffy takes the .pak's and repackages the game assets with them. That's the reason for the integration.
Note: If you have .pak mods chilling in the default location (game root folder), you need to Reinstall those mods in Vortex to run them through the mod installer and have them placed in the correct folder automatically, or, you can just change the mod type to "Fluffy Mod Manager" manually for each mod.
Sorry if I might be asking "stupid" questions and/or sounding condescending (I'm really not, I'm just stoopid), but then:
1) What is the benefit of using Vortex (aside from updates) if I need to manually set each mod downloaded into the right category + activate it in the FMM? Is there going to be an update on the extension into which we, as users, only need to download and don't need to worry of the installation or is that left to the side of the modders themselves? E.g.
Escenario 1 (Not Ideal) -> I download the mod with vortex/mod manager download -> Install mod within vortex and enable it/elevate permissions to install -> Change "Mod Type" to "Fluffy Mod Manager" -> Open FMM to enable said mod -> Repeat for all the mods
Escenario 2 (Ideal - Normal Flow) -> I download the mod with vortex/mod manager download -> Install mod within vortex and enable it/elevate permissions to install -> Repeat for all the mods (? except the ones that have multiple .PAK files that must be installed/selected)
2) What would be the correct workflow that I should follow for the mod's installation? Is there a certain type of mod that is going to be installed correctly by default but not other types? E.g. LUA script mods works just fine, but other mods need an specific type of installation process. Do I need to select "Unpack (as is)" instead of the "Install" button within vortex for said files that have multiple "plugins" which can or must be activated? I'm just confused as to what the process of installation should look like since I'm pretty used to only doing the "bare minimum" when it comes to mod download + installation using vortex (and just some times having to change mod type to certain value when mod author specifies it)
3) I don't know if it could be fixed from the extension side or, if once again, it is again from modders side, but there seems to be a problem with the "modinfo.ini" file in which we, as users, need to select the dependencies/rules for each of these conflicting files, even if the file itself (from what I little understand of the content just shown on the .INI file) is just descriptive information that makes it easier to distinguish/read description within FMM.
You don't have to change the mod type anymore for .pak files. There is a mod installer that does that in v0.2.0. Lua files for REFramework should be installed in the correct location if the mod author packed them correctly.
You only need to use Fluffy for .pak mods. Fluffy repacks the game data to incorporate the .pak mods.
The modinfo.ini files are, from what I understand, just for showing info in FMM. You don't need them since you can see the mod info in Vortex and on the mod page.
Thanks for the clarification and the time taken to reply. Regarding the .PAK file installation process: Is there an alternative that can be used out-of-the-box using Vortex and/or the extension for mod installation? This to prevent the file being manually drag&drop'ed after being modified and needing to manually check for updates.
After doing the manual installation of the extension and automatically having it download the latest FMM and REFramework as mods, I still seem to have issues with the mods installation. For more context:
From the 32 mods, only 5 mods seem to activate out of the box, all of them being LUA scripts/REFramework mods that seem to work fine downloaded and installed as is.
From the 32 mods, 9 have a .PAK file that can be seen from the fluffy program while running it through vortex that are currently in a "Turned off state"
From the 32 mods and from the 9 .PAK files mentioned previously, 2 of them have a multiple choice of files (either select 1, 1 or more, none of the options) but I can only see the first option from the compressed downloaded file
I'm currently using "Symlink Deployment" method of installation for mods
Separate folders for both Mod Downloads and Mod Staging for all games
Game folder and Vortex folders (Mod Download and Staging) are within the same drive
This same mods were all previously installed with FMM (just drag&drop method, no manual editing needed) and had no installation issues
Regarding the mods: Could this (18 inactive/defective mods) be an issue with the installation process that the extension is using? Are there any other factors aside from mod packaging that could affect mod installation process? E.g., Is it my deployment method that is messing with the installation process? Or is this just an issue with the mod packaging presented by the author (as in using the "FMM Method" instead of the .FOMOD method or ?traditional Vortex packaging?)
From the reply, I understand that the solution for point [2] and [3] would be to turn-on/switch-on the .PAK files on FMM run-through Vortex and manually arrange the .PAK files to be inside the same folder, respectively. The follow-ups are more of general questions with regards to the development of the extension as in:
Could this (solution to [3]rd point) be a feature in the future of the extension development or is the extension already in a "complete" sense of development already? E.g., this feature of pseudo-FOMOD installation does not correspond/allign with the goals/objectives of development of the extension and is solely responsibility of mod authors
Can [3] be avoided altogether with any use and/or other implementations of the extension and/or Vortex itself that are already present? E.g., any other tool, "injection method" or mod packaging wizardry that I may not know (but can look up and familiarize myself with). This to avoid the manual labor that involves the loss of the update feature for the respective mod + ease of implementation for mod download + installation
By the way, thanks for the extension! Willing to test features if needed if that means I can have all the modded games running through the same application!
You need to Reinstall the mods in the Vortex mods list to run them through the mod installer. You can simply select the full mod list, right click, and click Reinstall. This will run them back through the new pak installer to get them to the Fluffy folder.
This extension is still being actively developed. The issue is that there is really not a good way to let you choose what files to use for "multiple choice" mods. A good example is the mod linked below. It has 10 different versions of the mod included. Currently, you'll need to download in Vortex, then download the mod manually to select the file you want, and past them into the staging folder for the mod. You could just install it manually, but this would not allow for checking for updates from Vortex and deployment control. This is a common modding experience for me, even for well supported and longtime modding communities like Fallout and Elder Scrolls. If the mod author does not provide an installer, there's really no other way to handle this situation (without a level of development that would be extremely difficult and time consuming).
There is a mod installer that does that in v0.2.0. Lua files for REFramework should be installed in the correct location if the mod author packed them correctly.
As far as I can see now this is the main problem, authors add an extra directory and the mod is unpacked in the game directory, not in the mod directory. Is it possible to automate this at the moment or only manually throw the files into the correct directory?
This is currently not implemented for REFramework mods in the extension, so you need to remove extraneous folders manually. PAK mods will be placed in the FMM folder automatically by the installer added in v0.2.0.
Thank you for this. But seems like mods that require REFramework aren't working properly. Also they are giving an error in Fluffy, if you install them through Vortex.
So REFramework should install to the game root folder. Which it will by default. You do not want to feed REFramework mods to Fluffy, only .pak mods. This will be less confusing once I get the mod installer for .pak mods running, since that will assign the Fluffy mod type automatically for .pak mods.
Note the instructions on the REFramework mod page:
Scripts can be installed in the "reframework/autorun" folder.
Plugins can be installed in the "reframework/plugins" folder. Loose DLL files with no REF functionality can be loaded in here too.
Just install any lua mods for REFramework to the default location (game root folder). Sometimes the folder structure is not consistent between mods, so you may need to do some manual file manipulation. Because of the way some mods are packaged, it would be rather difficult for me to get a mod installer to handle them automatically.
I know and I did all that aside from the file manipulation. But I will try to do that. So, your advise in this case, is to create the folder path to the REFramework folders ? That should make things easier/load better. But what is weird is that is that if I use FMM without Vortex and just install the mods (including REF mods and the Framework itself) I have no issues activating the mods later on Fluffy. That is my main issue here, is that Fluffy doesn't allow me to activate some of the REF mods, gives me an error that I don't get if I don't use Vortex.
Edit.: The error I get, on FluffyMM.: "PAK mods can currently only be installed as one PAK at a time with no other modded game assets". This error happens even if I don't have any mod installed or activated.
That sounds like a limitation of Fluffy Mod Manager. I don't think you should try to install REFramework mods through Fluffy. It is intended for only .pak mods, if I understand correctly.
Just need to make sure the path for the REFramework files is correct, per that mod's instructions. Just check when you download an REFramework mod that it has a "reframework" folder as the first directory, and then the "autorun" and/or "plugins" folder inside there, with luas and plugins inside those folders. If it has another folder above "framework" you need to remove that folder.
Hey Chem, i already had Fluffly installed,so moved everything to the Game folder but it not worked. Then i tried to click on the notification link to on Vortex to install FMM, i did, but it still asking to download again. I verified that Fluffy is installed inside Game folder.
You can just dismiss that notification now with the little gear icon. I am working on getting my code so that it will just download Fluffy automatically and the user won't have to worry about it.
So the mod location should be: [game_root_folder]]\Games\DragonsDogma2\Mods
Just keep in mind that Vortex won't be able to "see" the mods for updates and such unless you install them through Vortex.
28 comments
I pushed the update with the automatic downloads of Fluffy Mod Manager and REFramework, as well as the mod installers for .pak mods to the Fluffy Mod Manager folder and lua mods to the REFramework scripts folder. Please let me know if you have any issues with this update. I left the old version available on the Files tab if you need to roll back.
It appears that all mod files have been thrown into the game's root directory.
In the screenshot, the left one is the root directory after deployment through Vortex, the right one is the root directory after deployment directly through Fluffy.
(Before switching to Fluffy, I made sure to clear the deployment in Vortex. The same applies in reverse.)
Pak mods should be going to the correct folder for Fluffy to install them. It is just the lua mods that you need to remove any unnecessary folders above "reframework" so that it will install correctly. If the mod happens to contain both Pak mods AND lua files, you would need to set the mod type as Engine Injector and copy files to the staging folder manually to get everything in there since the pak mod installer will strip away anything that is not a pak file.
This will be fixed once I get the code figured on filtering to the correct folder. I can possibly also fix the code for if there are both lua AND pak files in the same mod, but that would be a bit more complicated.
for example
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonsdogma2/mods/195?tab=files
I may just roll back to the previous code since it seems like this installer might cause too many problems.
You can not use it unless you download REFramework with Vortext itself.
There is no option to manually download the file and install it, because as soon as I click on `skip`, the game fails to get set, so I have no opportunity to install anything.
The Extension fails to initialize, which is the main problem. I got past the issue by editing index.js by hand.
Line 303 throws an error because it tries using an undefined variable:
try {
Just move it outside of the try block, and it should be good.const modPageId = 818;
// whatever
} catch (err) {
const errPage = `https://www.nexusmods.com/site/mods/${modPageId}/files/?tab=files`;
In any event, I will go ahead and move that variable outside of the try/catch to make it more reliable.
Thanks for the heads up!
Edit: new version is uploaded. Let me know if that works for you now.
Other than that, I guess most of my problems could be solved once the extension is successfully updated to the latest version since right now, only some of the mods I have installed are showing in-game and the rest are just in the root folder. By the way, how is the situation implemented when using files that have multiple "plugins"? Asking since I cannot seem to be able to directly select the correct files to activate in Vortex (like plugins for Bethesda related games) for the profile.
Unfortunately, the "Mod Manger Download" button does not seem to work well with extensions. You need to use the Manual Download, then drag and drop into Vortex. Best thing would be to just let Vortex download the extension when you add the game.
You will still get updates after downloading manually. I am not entirely sure when Vortex checks for updates to 3rd party extensions, but it does at some frequency.
If by "plugins" you are referring to .pak files, all the files need to be packaged in one folder together, or Vortex will just take the first one it finds and remove the rest. If this happens, you just need to do some manual file manipulation to get all the files in there. Strictly speaking, mod authors "should" use .fomod installers if they have multiple versions of their mod packaged together.
You can use Fluffy to turn individual .pak files on and off from then on. Fluffy takes the .pak's and repackages the game assets with them. That's the reason for the integration.
Note: If you have .pak mods chilling in the default location (game root folder), you need to Reinstall those mods in Vortex to run them through the mod installer and have them placed in the correct folder automatically, or, you can just change the mod type to "Fluffy Mod Manager" manually for each mod.
1) What is the benefit of using Vortex (aside from updates) if I need to manually set each mod downloaded into the right category + activate it in the FMM? Is there going to be an update on the extension into which we, as users, only need to download and don't need to worry of the installation or is that left to the side of the modders themselves? E.g.
2) What would be the correct workflow that I should follow for the mod's installation? Is there a certain type of mod that is going to be installed correctly by default but not other types? E.g. LUA script mods works just fine, but other mods need an specific type of installation process. Do I need to select "Unpack (as is)" instead of the "Install" button within vortex for said files that have multiple "plugins" which can or must be activated? I'm just confused as to what the process of installation should look like since I'm pretty used to only doing the "bare minimum" when it comes to mod download + installation using vortex (and just some times having to change mod type to certain value when mod author specifies it)
3) I don't know if it could be fixed from the extension side or, if once again, it is again from modders side, but there seems to be a problem with the "modinfo.ini" file in which we, as users, need to select the dependencies/rules for each of these conflicting files, even if the file itself (from what I little understand of the content just shown on the .INI file) is just descriptive information that makes it easier to distinguish/read description within FMM.
You only need to use Fluffy for .pak mods. Fluffy repacks the game data to incorporate the .pak mods.
The modinfo.ini files are, from what I understand, just for showing info in FMM. You don't need them since you can see the mod info in Vortex and on the mod page.
After doing the manual installation of the extension and automatically having it download the latest FMM and REFramework as mods, I still seem to have issues with the mods installation. For more context:
Regarding the mods: Could this (18 inactive/defective mods) be an issue with the installation process that the extension is using? Are there any other factors aside from mod packaging that could affect mod installation process? E.g., Is it my deployment method that is messing with the installation process? Or is this just an issue with the mod packaging presented by the author (as in using the "FMM Method" instead of the .FOMOD method or ?traditional Vortex packaging?)
From the reply, I understand that the solution for point [2] and [3] would be to turn-on/switch-on the .PAK files on FMM run-through Vortex and manually arrange the .PAK files to be inside the same folder, respectively. The follow-ups are more of general questions with regards to the development of the extension as in:
By the way, thanks for the extension! Willing to test features if needed if that means I can have all the modded games running through the same application!
This extension is still being actively developed. The issue is that there is really not a good way to let you choose what files to use for "multiple choice" mods. A good example is the mod linked below. It has 10 different versions of the mod included. Currently, you'll need to download in Vortex, then download the mod manually to select the file you want, and past them into the staging folder for the mod. You could just install it manually, but this would not allow for checking for updates from Vortex and deployment control. This is a common modding experience for me, even for well supported and longtime modding communities like Fallout and Elder Scrolls. If the mod author does not provide an installer, there's really no other way to handle this situation (without a level of development that would be extremely difficult and time consuming).
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonsdogma2/mods/35?tab=files
As far as I can see now this is the main problem, authors add an extra directory and the mod is unpacked in the game directory, not in the mod directory. Is it possible to automate this at the moment or only manually throw the files into the correct directory?
Note the instructions on the REFramework mod page:
Just install any lua mods for REFramework to the default location (game root folder). Sometimes the folder structure is not consistent between mods, so you may need to do some manual file manipulation. Because of the way some mods are packaged, it would be rather difficult for me to get a mod installer to handle them automatically.
But what is weird is that is that if I use FMM without Vortex and just install the mods (including REF mods and the Framework itself) I have no issues activating the mods later on Fluffy. That is my main issue here, is that Fluffy doesn't allow me to activate some of the REF mods, gives me an error that I don't get if I don't use Vortex.
Edit.: The error I get, on FluffyMM.: "PAK mods can currently only be installed as one PAK at a time with no other modded game assets". This error happens even if I don't have any mod installed or activated.
Just need to make sure the path for the REFramework files is correct, per that mod's instructions. Just check when you download an REFramework mod that it has a "reframework" folder as the first directory, and then the "autorun" and/or "plugins" folder inside there, with luas and plugins inside those folders. If it has another folder above "framework" you need to remove that folder.
Thanks for everything. Do you have Patreon ?
So the mod location should be: [game_root_folder]]\Games\DragonsDogma2\Mods
Just keep in mind that Vortex won't be able to "see" the mods for updates and such unless you install them through Vortex.
https://www.patreon.com/chemboy1