Which mod organizer should I go with?

[rubber_duck]

Title. I've been manually installing, updating and removing mods for years. Now I want to use mod manager because it should be easier to manage 250 mods. The question is, which one should I go with? I want to install mods from both LL and Nexus.

 

Thanks in advance and take care!

[chaimhewast]

I've been using LePresidente's fork of Mod Organizer 2. Don't mind that it's in the Skyrim SE category, as it's meant to work for every singleplayer Bethesda game from Morrowind to Fallout 4 VR.

 

It doesn't touch the vanilla files, instead temporarily putting in your mods when you launch something from it and redirecting any changes to files to its own file system. It also removes the issue of bad install orders - if you install a mod that needs to overwrite another one first, fixing it is as simple as dragging the first mod below the one it's meant to overwrite. Also because it doesn't touch the vanilla files, there's no concerns about it leaving files behind.

[rubber_duck]

18 minutes ago, chaimhewast said:

I've been using LePresidente's fork of Mod Organizer 2. Don't mind that it's in the Skyrim SE category, as it's meant to work for every singleplayer Bethesda game from Morrowind to Fallout 4 VR.

 

It doesn't touch the vanilla files, instead temporarily putting in your mods when you launch something from it and redirecting any changes to files to its own file system. It also removes the issue of bad install orders - if you install a mod that needs to overwrite another one first, fixing it is as simple as dragging the first mod below the one it's meant to overwrite. Also because it doesn't touch the vanilla files, there's no concerns about it leaving files behind.

Thanks for response, but I have a few more questions..

So like I said in the post, I've been doing everything manually for the past 3 and a half years. Will this MO2 work if I install it right now or should I reinstall Fallout 4?

Also, how can I install mods via MO2? I mean, I can still install them manually, to me that isn't a problem; however, updating those 250 mods manually just takes up too much time.

And finally, last question. I have all the mods that I play with downloaded and saved on my HDD (most of them are .rar, and others are .zip files). Is it possible to install those mods via MO2 or do I have to download every single one of them again?

Thanks in advance!

[DocClox]

30 minutes ago, roten_man said:

So like I said in the post, I've been doing everything manually for the past 3 and a half years. Will this MO2 work if I install it right now or should I reinstall Fallout 4?

 

Well, it works best with a clean install. The idea is you don't touch the data folder at all, so you always have a clean isntall to go back to. It will work with non-clean data folders, but a reinstall, or at least a scrubbed data folder is the way to go.

30 minutes ago, roten_man said:

Also, how can I install mods via MO2? I mean, I can still install them manually, to me that isn't a problem; however, updating those 250 mods manually just takes up too much time.

 

Dag 'em into MO2's download pane, then double click to install them. I'll make a folder somewhere for the installed files for just that mod on its own. Then you can check the the mods you want active, and MO2 will merge all those folders and the game Data folder into one virtual folder for the run time of the game. Get fed up of a mod and you can uncheck it and it goes away clean.

30 minutes ago, roten_man said:

And finally, last question. I have all the mods that I play with downloaded and saved on my HDD (most of them are .rar, and others are .zip files). Is it possible to install those mods via MO2 or do I have to download every single one of them again?

Thanks in advance!

Yep, see above

[chaimhewast]

8 minutes ago, roten_man said:

Will this MO2 work if I install it right now or should I reinstall Fallout 4?

Best to remove any mods already installed. A reinstall would be the simplest way to do that, but it isn't necessary.

9 minutes ago, roten_man said:

Also, how can I install mods via MO2? I mean, I can still install them manually, to me that isn't a problem; however, updating those 250 mods manually just takes up too much time.

There's two ways to do it - it's set up so you can have it handle the "install with manager" links on Nexus, but for files from other sites (like here) you click on the icon that looks vaguely like a box with a CD against it (second from left, says "Install a new mod from an archive" on the tooltip), then select the zip/rar/7zip/etc that you downloaded. Updating them still requires you to install a new mod and remove the old one but you can set MO2 up with your Nexus account so it can check for updates on mods from there; there's no automation for other sites (like here) but it'll let you set their Neuxs ID to 0 so they're ignored, their version number so you don't forget it, and an external link so you can just go straight to the mod page.

13 minutes ago, roten_man said:

And finally, last question. I have all the mods that I play with downloaded and saved on my HDD (most of them are .rar, and others are .zip files). Is it possible to install those mods via MO2 or do I have to download every single one of them again?

See the previous answer, but no, you don't need to redownload them, just have to click that button to install from an archive. I personally stuff the zipped mod downloads into MO2's "downloads" folder just so I don't have to go hunting around for them but you can install from archives anywhere.

[rubber_duck]

1 hour ago, DocClox said:

 

Well, it works best with a clean install. The idea is you don't touch the data folder at all, so you always have a clean isntall to go back to. It will work with non-clean data folders, but a reinstall, or at least a scrubbed data folder is the way to go.

 

Dag 'em into MO2's download pane, then double click to install them. I'll make a folder somewhere for the installed files for just that mod on its own. Then you can check the the mods you want active, and MO2 will merge all those folders and the game Data folder into one virtual folder for the run time of the game. Get fed up of a mod and you can uncheck it and it goes away clean.

Yep, see above

 

1 hour ago, chaimhewast said:

Best to remove any mods already installed. A reinstall would be the simplest way to do that, but it isn't necessary.

There's two ways to do it - it's set up so you can have it handle the "install with manager" links on Nexus, but for files from other sites (like here) you click on the icon that looks vaguely like a box with a CD against it (second from left, says "Install a new mod from an archive" on the tooltip), then select the zip/rar/7zip/etc that you downloaded. Updating them still requires you to install a new mod and remove the old one but you can set MO2 up with your Nexus account so it can check for updates on mods from there; there's no automation for other sites (like here) but it'll let you set their Neuxs ID to 0 so they're ignored, their version number so you don't forget it, and an external link so you can just go straight to the mod page.

See the previous answer, but no, you don't need to redownload them, just have to click that button to install from an archive. I personally stuff the zipped mod downloads into MO2's "downloads" folder just so I don't have to go hunting around for them but you can install from archives anywhere.

Well thanks guys! I've just deleted everything in the Data folder and I'm reinstalling FO4 atm. It was kind of sad to delete those 100 GBs since I'm literally 'collecting' them since 2017 lol

Anyways, both your instructions seem very clear and fairly simple. However, if I get stuck somewhere I might message you or ask here, so I'd appreciate if you could help me (in advance)

Again, thanks for these responses, and take care!

[chaimhewast]

Well, while you're reinstalling take a look at the installation guide video. From a quick skim it only covers installing and setting it up so you can click the "install with manager" links on Nexus but it'll get you started.

[Indarello]

Check vortex vs MO2 comparison

[Carreau]

23 hours ago, roten_man said:

Thanks for response, but I have a few more questions..

So like I said in the post, I've been doing everything manually for the past 3 and a half years. Will this MO2 work if I install it right now or should I reinstall Fallout 4?

Also, how can I install mods via MO2? I mean, I can still install them manually, to me that isn't a problem; however, updating those 250 mods manually just takes up too much time.

And finally, last question. I have all the mods that I play with downloaded and saved on my HDD (most of them are .rar, and others are .zip files). Is it possible to install those mods via MO2 or do I have to download every single one of them again?

Thanks in advance!

I manually installed mods for years, and about two years ago, I decided to install Mo2. I ran my manual install in parallel with MO2’s virtual folders with no major issues. Then, a few months ago, I decided to fully migrate my install by going one mod at a time. Install a mod, inspect the folder and delete the files from my manual install.  I did this in the middle of active development of my mods with no ill side effects

 

the thing i really like about MO2 is that once you understand how priority and the overwrote folder work, you can get some VERY flexible, customized load orders running

[quarzo]

i after try vortex and mo2. i stick to mo2. is very easy to use, remember if you want use bodyslide, then configure it for launch  from mo2. for it work

[Gameplayer]

Mod Organizer all the way.

 

Its like asking the question of should I use FOMM or NMM for Fallout 3/FNV?

FOMM all the way.

 

Why FOMM and MO?

Cause these managers were built specifically for these games and NMM/Vortex were meant to be universal managers for every game.

I want to know that the manager Im using is specific to a game Im spending so much of my time on modding.  It has not let me down like NMM.

 

PS FOMM was a Fallout3 and Fallout New Vegas manager, doesnt work for FO4.