Mod Management in Saints Row IV, how to manage mods easily and faster

[ClaraMik]

Hi, I have some questions (newbie here), I already search over the forum so sorry if this is on FAQ or is known or already answered yet, question is related to Saints Row TT and Gat Out of Hell too, as they share common aspects.

I am searching for a way to manage mods easier and install / uninstall them.

First I read related thread How to install mods, so...

Any difference between drop mod files on /Saints Row IV (root) or ../mods subfolder?, and any problem/issue with particular mods installed on ../mods?, I know graphic hooks like ReShade are different my question is for mods released here.

About mods structure, here, Mods in folders, then I saw a tool called Simple Mod Manager (SR3/SR4/SRGOOH)

Any issues about overwriting or conflicts inside different packages? or, for example if a package is named differently is an addon non-replacer?, two packages with same name contain same files?, how to know possible conflicts?, I saw great tutorial here Mergind mods... but conflicts or overrides are not very clear to me.

There are alternative tools to 'Simple Mod Manager', like (oldie) JSGME or OvGME (generic mod managers for any game), so ../mods folder supports subfolders for every mod or plain folder stucture like the root folder?

Thanks in advance for this great modding community, it is great to see passion and love for games like this and for fun purposes.

 

[Henry08]

Any difference between drop mod files on /Saints Row IV (root) or ../mods subfolder?

mods subfolder is using for workshop compatible mods in vpp_pc packages
root folder is using for average mods that replace some values\files

Any issues about overwriting or conflicts inside different packages?

There are three main file format in modding
.sr2_pc - game archives, if there is a conflict with this files, you can't do anything, that means two mods replace same textures\models
.asm_pc - binary list with names and size of the files in game archives you should update it if you add new sr2_pc archives in root folder with ThomasJepp.SaintsRow.Stream2.exe in this package
.xtbl - xml table with some values, you should compare two or more tables that have same name with winmerge or compare plugin for notepad++ and translate all changes to one file.

 

[ClaraMik]

Thanks, it is all clear now, about tools, I recommend this, take a look OvGME a good generic mod-manager (newer, influenced by JSGME), it makes easier to manage backups, uninstall and install many mods, the mods could have a folder-name then inside the same tree-structure the /root game has (compatible with Workshop) too.

For example: (folder names are custom but some convention it is easier)

root is game root, so root/bak a folder for backup original files replaced or overwrites by other mods
root/install a folder to unpack all mods we want to install, any mod could have a folder-name then the files and folders inside with the same 'tree-structure' than root.

The app has easy and clean interface, and notifies you if some file overwrites another one.

 

[Quantum]

My Simple Mod Manager won't let you overwrite one mod with another conflicting mod either. It guarantees you can't install conflicting mods. I never tried OvGME. It looks much more complicated, but if it does what you need then great! It's open source, so that's good. Simple Mod Manager is more custom tailored to the Saints Row games.

 

[ClaraMik]

'It guarantees you can't install conflicting mods', Simple Mod Manager is great and it is very specific, BTW, let me thank you directly for develop that cool tool, I mentioned OvGME as another tool to choose and test.
It is great to see the Saints Row series has such community and tools, an SDK, a set of tools (Minimauls's) and Simple Mod Manager,
OvGME is more generic, but it is useful (I just discovered it a few weeks ago).

 

[ColbyDash]

I'm late to this, I know, but I just want to add to this by saying Reloaded-II is another good mod manager. It doesn't install the mods directly into the game's root directory but instead it deploys it whenever you go to run your designated either through Reloaded-II's launcher, a shortcut, or an ASI loader you can deploy. It also supports sub folders through the Redirector that you're able to download via the launcher. Unfortunately, I don't think it can ever be used tho unless if someone can somehow get through to the game without the deploying process ending. If anyone is interested in trying this out...

Spoiler: Instructions

you would first need to rename the executable for whatever Directx version you use to "game_launcher", then add the renamed executable to your launcher, then follow this to install the mod(s) you want to use and go into your Mods folder located inside your root reloaded-ii folder to set up the mod, and finally follow this.