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Mod Managers Comparison

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Al edited this page Feb 21, 2020 · 17 revisions

Comparison to other mod managers

There are many mod managers around these days and it's may be a bit difficult to choose the one you need. This page is designed to highlight key features of known mod managers.

Legend

Features

Kortex MO2 MO1 Vortex NMM
Supported games TES games starting from Morrowind.
Fallout series starting from Fallout 3 and Sacred 2. 		Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout NV, Tale of Two Wastelands (TTW), Skyrim, Skyrim SE, Skyrim VR, Fallout 4, Fallout 4 VR, Enderal (Steam Edition) Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas. Supports over 90 games including TES and Fallout games. Supports many games including TES and Fallout games.
Importing from other managers Nexus Mod Manager, MO1, MO2.
MO2, MO1, NMM.
Profile management Multiple instances per game, multiple profiles per instance. One instance for one MO installation, multiple profiles per instance. Multiple profiles per game Multiple profiles per game.
Assets conflict management
Conflict visualization
Different conflict flags on modlist for different conflict types, Highlighting of conflicted mods on selection, Listing of conflicted files for each mod. Advanced per-mod conflict views with alternatives, sorting, search etc. Different conflict flags on modlist for different conflict types, Highlighting of conflicted mods on selection, Listing of conflicted files for each mod, Single flag on modlist for all types of conflicts, Only an active-relationship icon once conflict has been resolved though a rule, Avanced per-mod filtree of file conflicts with alternatives from other mods. No visualization of conflicts as there can't be, just one time popup during mod installation to either overwrite or keep old files.
Conflict resolution Using mod priority that can be changed by drag & dropping mods in a specific order
? 		Using mod priority that can be changed by drag & dropping mods in a specific order.
Per file resolution though hiding of files (renaming with .mohidden). 		Using mod priority that can be changed by drag & dropping mods in a specific order.
Per file resolution though hiding of files (renaming with .mohidden). 		Through definition of order rules between mods, which can be created through drag & drop of the relationship icon. Per file resolution through advanced conflict view (this can be different on different profiles) One time popup during installation to decide whther to keep or overwrite other mods files.
Game archives (BSA) management
Extraction, Creation, Content preview, Experimental conflict detection. Extraction, Conflict detection, Loading without plugins.
Game archives (BSA) Conflicts
Only experimental WIP conflict visualization of archives though BSA specific conflict flags. BSA order is decided by plugin order like normal. Change of how the game handles BSAs to allow BSA files to be loaded without plugins, in a different order, and allow BSA contents to overwrite loose files. Order is decided though mod priority and conflicts are shown as part of the normal loose assets conflicts. Cons: some mods and programs relayed on the previous game behavior.
Saves management Virtualization per profile and dedicated tab to visualize them.
Config (INI) management Virtualization per profile and advanced editor. Virtualization per profile and editor. Virtualization per profile.
Load order management scheme Drag and Drop for mods and plugins. Based on LOOT and its own rules system. Drag and Drop for plugins. Mods ..?
Integrated LOOT support
One click sort, detailed loot report, visualization of loot info on pluginlist though flags and tooltips. One click sort, detailed loot report. (! severely outdated version of integrated Loot) drag & drop dependency icon for specific "load after" rules full features native to loot group management including: adding groups removing groups changing a plugins groups order of groups loot defaults automatic loot updates plugin details visible by double clicking plugin visualization of info through flags
Backup features
Modlist loadorder, Plugin loadorder, Individual mod folder backup. Modlist loadorder, Plugin loadorder, Individual mod folder backup. Via extension only.
Program list
Mod package creator FOMod (XML), KMP.
Supported mod package formats FOMod (XML), KMP. FOMod (XML, C#), freeform1, simple2. FOMod (XML, C#), simple.
Virtualization scheme KxVFS - based on Dokany - kernel-mode file system driver. USVFS - user-mode WinAPI hooks, a successor to the hook.dll to support 64bit. Hook.dll - a user-mode WinAPI hooks (32bit only). Hardlinks by default, Symlinks or move deployment as an option on specific games, USVFS as an experimental extension (no overwrite support for now). Symlinks
Virtualization Pros and Cons
    Pros:
  • Game folder remains clean all the time as exclusively hooked programs see the mods.
  • Zero overhead when installing/enabling mods or switching profiles.
  • Mounter VFS visible to all processes on the system (it's kind of a con too).
  • Can link mods across different drives.
  • Allows top-level virtualization.
    Cons:
  • Slower than alternatives.
  • Requires target folder to be empty.
  • Huge memory consumption on large mod setups (~5 GB for 975k files).
  • Program startup overhead for VFS initialization.
  • Kernel-mode driver, requires administrator privileges to install.
    Pros:
  • Supports 64bit programs.
  • Game folder remains clean all the time as exclusively hooked programs see the mods.
  • Zero overhead when installing/enabling mods or switching profiles.
  • Doesn't require write access to destination.
  • Sources and target can be linked across different drives.
  • Intercepts creation of new files in overwrite, keeping game folder clean
    Cons:
  • Can be less intuitive to users since only the programs can see the mods.
  • Can often be flagged by antiviruses.
  • Can't virtualize some top level files like load-time linked .dll.
  • Can lead to hard to diagnose issues in case there is a bug.
  • Small memory and computation overhead at runtime.
  • Program startup overhead for VFS initialization.
  • Can potentially break if Windows changes something.
  • Uses Overwrite folder that can require some user cleanup and management
    Pros:
  • Game folder remains clean all the time as exclusively hooked programs see the mods.
  • Zero overhead when installing/enabling mods or switching profiles.
  • Doesn't require write access to destination.
  • Sources and target can be linked across different drives.
  • Intercepts creation of new files in overwrite, keeping game folder clean
      • Cons:
    • Can't be used for 64 bit programs.
    • Can be less intuitive to users since only the programs can see the mods.
    • Can often be flagged by antiviruses.
    • Can't virtualize some top level files like load-time linked .dll.
    • Can lead to hard to diagnose issues in case there is a bug.
    • Small memory and computation overhead at runtime.
    • Program startup overhead for VFS initialization.
    • Can potentially break if Windows changes something
    • Uses Overwrite folder that can require some user cleanup and management
      Pros:
    • Remains even when the program is not running
    • Faster than alternatives because NTFS
    • Deployment only necessary when adding/removing mods "set and forget"
    • Windows updates shouldn't break it.
      Cons:
    • Improper removal of mod will cause mods to remain
    • "Dirty" data folder
    • Some applications may see the hardlinks as duplicates and count them as used disk space
    • Requires deployment
    • Requires full write/read access to target folder
    • Takes time (based on file count) to switch profiles and enable/disable mods
    • Can't link across drives
    • Can be less convenient to use for mod authors messing with mod files
      Pros:
    • Can link across partitions.
    • Mostly same as Hardlinks (assuming good implementation)
      Cons:
    • Requires Admin Rights to create Symlinks.
    • Can leave the game folder with mess in case stuff goes wrong
    • Mostly the same cons as Hardlinks
    Game root directory virtualization
    New files handling (overwrite) All new files end up in profile specific Overwrite. All new files end up in overwrite folder. Manual detection of new files in game folder and popup to ask user how they wish to deal with them, keep there or remove them.
    VFS persistence Manager runtime. Only present for programs started though the manager and their child applications. For hardlinks, move, and symlinks it persists until purged. For USVFS - same as MO2/MO1. Symlinks - persists until purged.
    Game (virtual) folder layout visualization Using any file explorer (when VFS is enabled) or with dedicated Data tab. Through dedicated Data tab, or running Explorer++ and similar programs though Mo2. Through dedicated Data tab. Not needed as Explorer already shows the correct final result.
    Websites-integrations NexusMods, partially LoversLab and tesall.ru NexusMods
    Nexus Mods Integration features Account login, Download with manager, Mod update check Account login, Download with manager, Mod update check, Mod endorsements, Mod tracking, Mod meta info like categories etc, Browser for mod description, Integration no longer works since Nexus API update. Account login, Download with manager, Mod update check, Automatic mod update for premium users, Mod endorsements, Mod tracking, Mod meta info like categories etc, Browser for mod description, Account login, Download with manager, Mod endorsements, Mod meta info like categories etc.
    Web-integration extent NexusMods: Account, mod updates, mod source, downloads.
    LoversLab: mod source. TESALL.RU: mod source.     		Account, mod updates, mod source, metadata query, downloads, endorsements.
    Auto-update check
    Integrated download manager
    Mod Categories Custom tag system. Import from Nexus, support for custom categories. Broken import from Nexus, support for custom categories. Import from Nexus, support for custom categories. Import from nexus, custom categories?
    Problem detection
    		Plugins with missing masters, Files in overwrite, Form 43 plugins for Skyrim SE, Script Extender plugin load failure, Need to run FNIS, Presence of files with attributes that the game can't handle. Plugins with missing masters, Files in overwrite, Need to run FNIS. Bug report automation in menu. Notifications in the bell icon including xSE error notifications. Missing masters? Form 43 with loot? Missing masters.
    GUI customization
    		Comes with 15+ built in styles, more available on Nexus. Styles created through QSS files, with CSS like syntax. Very limited color customization for highlights and separators from menu. Comes with some built in styles, more available on Nexus. Styles created through QSS files, with CSS like syntax. Comes with 3 built in styles, several on nexus, customizable via CSS/SASS. Change colors and fonts via a setting menu.
    ?
    Exporting modlist/pluginlist Non-customizable export of modlist to HTML file. Import and export of plugins list. Customizable modlist export to CSV file. Otherwise only simple copy of loadorder.txt and modlist.txt. Less customizable modlist export to CSV file. ?
    Modlist features can color mod, no filtering that I see. ask kerber tomorrow. Mod metadata: name, priority, version, author, tags, sources, date installed, date uninstalled, folder, install package, signature Grouping by Category or Nexus Id. Filtering with advanced filters and regex search. Colored separators. Avanced mod counters. Conflict highlighting on selection. Plugin Highlighting on selection. Full refresh from disk. Backup, export as CSV. Update check. Various Keyboard shortcuts and support for multi selection operations. Mod metadata: Conflits, Catagories, Contents, Version, Target Game, Custom Notes, Install time, Nexus ID, Flags: Endorsed,Tracked,hiddenFiles,valid Mostly same as Mo2, but somethings are missing like separators and notes. grouping by state, category, content, author, version, source. filter by state, name, version, install time, category, endorsed state, content, dependency resolution. update check, install from file, manage rules. Mod metadata: mod name, version number, author, install time, source (nexus or not), category, endorsed, Content, priority, dependencies, highlight I dont know, if someone cares let me know
    Game files preview
    		.DDS Textures complete preview support. BSA/BA2 content preview. Normal images and text (txt, ini, cfg, log, json) files. .DDS Textures partial preview support Normal images and .txt files.
    Available translation
    default distribution
    • English
    • Russian
    • English
    • French
    • Dutch
    • Polish
    • Italian
    • Spanish
    • Russian
    • Portuguese
    • Chinese
    • Japanese
    • English
    • ..?
    • English
    • German
    • Various Extensions
    • English
    Extensions
    		Bundled with some extensions, additional are available at NexusMods and GitHub. Supports C++ and Python extensions. Additional extensions are available at NexusMods. Supports JavaScript, C++, and various other electron extensions
    1. Any content inside the mod archive. This installation mode usually requires user input to some extent.
    2. Just some files such as .esm/.esp and/or Data folder inside the mod archive.

    Page Contributors

    • Kerber (Kortex Author)
    • AL (MO2 Dev)
    • yggdrasil75 (Vortex virtuoso)
    • We found no one for NMM yet :/
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