Using OvGME to apply & manage Mods

[HiJack]

The "configuration root folder" should point to the place where the Mod will be applied: usually that is on Program Files or Saved Games, depending on the Mod requirements.

 

 

The "configuration mods folder" is where you have your Mod collection ready to apply ... it is this folder the one you can place wherever you want.

 

Configuration Roots folder is the DCS version root folder you are trying to MOD. Like: C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\

[HiJack]

There is no need to use a MOD's tool on MOD's that goes directly to the Saved Games folders. Those files are never touched by ED.

[Rudel_chw]

There is no need to use a MOD's tool on MOD's that goes directly to the Saved Games folders. Those files are never touched by ED.

 

Let’s say I have installed, on Saved Games, a bunch of modded aircrafts plus several objects mods like VirPil and Ranger79’s ... I update DCS to a new version and now I find that DCS doesn’t start ... how do you know that the cause isnt some conflict with one of these Mods?

 

If I’ve used a Mod Manager to apply them, then it is easy to disable all my Mods and re-test :)

 

If DCS now works, I can easily re-enable my Mods one by one until I find the one causing the fail.

[JanK]

[quoteThe "configuration root folder" should point to the place where the Mod will be applied: usually that is on Program Files or Saved Games, depending on the Mod requirements.

 

 

The "configuration mods folder" is where you have your Mod collection ready to apply ... it is this folder the one you can place wherever you want.]

 

Yes my game is installed in E:\DCS World

 

What's weird is that it does take backups.

[Rudel_chw]

Yes my game is installed in E:\DCS World

 

What's weird is that it does take backups.

 

 

It's strange .. I have the same Mod, its file structure is like this:

 

 

 

 

This being a terrain Mod, its not immediately noticeable if it is applied or not .. why are you sure it isnt applied?

[JanK]

This being a terrain Mod, its not immediately noticeable if it is applied or not .. why are you sure it isnt applied?

 

thought of this myself, so checked the Integrity check in mp, when it's activated it should't pass

[SnowTiger]

PS> I apologize for my Misinformation.

[HiJack]

Let’s say I have installed, on Saved Games, a bunch of modded aircrafts plus several objects mods like VirPil and Ranger79’s ... I update DCS to a new version and now I find that DCS doesn’t start ... how do you know that the cause isnt some conflict with one of these Mods?

 

If I’ve used a Mod Manager to apply them, then it is easy to disable all my Mods and re-test :)

 

If DCS now works, I can easily re-enable my Mods one by one until I find the one causing the fail.

 

Yes you can use it like this of course. If I have problems after an DCS patch I usually rename the main folder in saved games and let DCS recreate the files and then move old files in steps. In 90% of the time ther are no problems after update so just go fly :pilotfly:

[JanK]

can terrain mods go into the saved games location and still work?

[Rudel_chw]

can terrain mods go into the saved games location and still work?

 

 

No ... on Saved Games you can put Mods that "add" someting to DCS: a new vehicle, a new livery, a new custom cockpit.

 

 

If your Mod "changes" or "replaces" standard DCS files, like new Sounds, new textures, new LUAs, then the Mod has to be applied on the program's folder.

[HiJack]

can terrain mods go into the saved games location and still work?

 

This used to work when added to "autoexec.cfg" but I'm unsure if it works anymore. Maybe ask Ranger79.

 

table.insert(options.graphics.VFSTexturePaths, "C:/DCSTexture")

[davebert]

Great write up. :thumbup: Is it a good place to put the _OVGME MODS folder in the Saved Games Folder? Seems like a safe place to me.

 

Thanks

[Rudel_chw]

Great write up. :thumbup: Is it a good place to put the _OVGME MODS folder in the Saved Games Folder? Seems like a safe place to me.

 

Yes, you can put it wherever you want, as long as you dont forget where it is :)

 

I have mine on a separate drive, just a personal preference .. it looks like this:

 

 

00_Mods is where I've the Mods that are applied to DCS program Folder

 

01_Mods_SG_2 is where I've the Mods that go into Saved Games (the "2" is because I used to have another for DCS 1.5)

 

03_Mods_Ships is same as previous folder, I had so many ship Mods that the list in OvGME was getting too big, so I separated them into this folder :)

 

03_Bib_Mods is where I've the Mods on their original state, while on 01_ 02_ & 03_ the Mods are zipped using OvGME format ... this is so I can more easily edit and make small improvements to the Mods ... think of it as a "sources" repository.

 

04_Backups are where my OvGME leaves the backups when applies Mods.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Eduardo

[davebert]

Yes, you can put it wherever you want, as long as you dont forget where it is :)

 

I have mine on a separate drive, just a personal preference .. it looks like this:

 

 

00_Mods is where I've the Mods that are applied to DCS program Folder

 

01_Mods_SG_2 is where I've the Mods that go into Saved Games (the "2" is because I used to have another for DCS 1.5)

 

03_Mods_Ships is same as previous folder, I had so many ship Mods that the list in OvGME was getting too big, so I separated them into this folder :)

 

03_Bib_Mods is where I've the Mods on their original state, while on 01_ 02_ & 03_ the Mods are zipped using OvGME format ... this is so I can more easily edit and make small improvements to the Mods ... think of it as a "sources" repository.

 

04_Backups are where my OvGME leaves the backups when applies Mods.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Eduardo

 

 

Thanks Eduardo. I have just installed OVGME yesterday so I have a question. I am sending the Mod Folder to the Saved Games Folder. But I see you have "00_Mods is where I've the Mods that are applied to DCS program Folder" above. Does that mean I need to have 2 profiles in OVGME? And add another Mods Folder in the game folder?

Thanks

[Rudel_chw]

Thanks Eduardo. I have just installed OVGME yesterday so I have a question. I am sending the Mod Folder to the Saved Games Folder. But I see you have "00_Mods is where I've the Mods that are applied to DCS program Folder" above. Does that mean I need to have 2 profiles in OVGME? And add another Mods Folder in the game folder?

 

Yes, you need one Config for every destination folder where you intend to install Mods. DCS uses two folders: the Sim itself is on Program Files, so to install Mods there I use this Config:

 

 

and DCS also uses a folder within Saved Games, to install those Mods I use this other Config:

 

 

Installing a Mod is basically copying a bunch of files from where you store your Mods (Mods folder) onto the game folder (Root folder) ... and in order to be able to later undo the Mod, the Mod Manager also needs a place to store the original files (Backup folder)

 

Best regards

[davebert]

Yes, you need one Config for every destination folder where you intend to install Mods. DCS uses two folders: the Sim itself is on Program Files, so to install Mods there I use this Config:

 

 

and DCS also uses a folder within Saved Games, to install those Mods I use this other Config:

 

 

Installing a Mod is basically copying a bunch of files from where you store your Mods (Mods folder) onto the game folder (Root folder) ... and in order to be able to later undo the Mod, the Mod Manager also needs a place to store the original files (Backup folder)

 

Best regards

 

 

Thanks Eduardo, makes perfect sense. I only had a few mods in the saved games folder and don't know if I even have any in the games folder...yet. So it was a good time for me to get OVGME set up so I will avoid problems with mods in the future. I appreciate the help. :)

Thanks

[davebert]

Eduardo, How do you implement the Custom Backup Folder? I have added one to each build but am not sure if we just manually add the mods to the folder for safe keeping, or there is a button to click that does it automatically?

 

Thanks

[Rudel_chw]

Eduardo, How do you implement the Custom Backup Folder? I have added one to each build but am not sure if we just manually add the mods to the folder for safe keeping, or there is a button to click that does it automatically?

 

 

The Backup is not for your Mods, its a folder where OvGME stores the original DCS files that your Mod modifies .. then when you disable a Mod, OvGME takes the original files from this backup location and puts them back on their original position.

[davebert]

The Backup is not for your Mods, its a folder where OvGME stores the original DCS files that your Mod modifies .. then when you disable a Mod, OvGME takes the original files from this backup location and puts them back on their original position.

 

 

Ahhh, I see. Ok, thanks for the info. :) I likely didn't realize that as I am just doing some simple skin mods in the beta version in the saved games folder. When I checked the backups folder it was empty whether the mod was enabled and disabled.

Edited August 14, 2019 by davebert

[davebert]

Some skins won't work properly.

 

I don't know if this is an OVGME question or not but I have used OVGME to install some skins and after sorting out the path by making some extra folders I got them working. So I have 3 skins working from my Saved Games\dcs.OpenBeta\Liveries\FA-18C_hornet folder where it added the folder that contained the description file and dds files. Thinking I had the path sorted out and that is would make things easier, I have had no luck adding any more skins to that folder. The skin name shows up in the livery list in the game but when selected only the Bort numbers change but the paint and textures do not change at all. Can all skins be added to the Saved Games folder or do some have to be installed in the main dcs folder?

Thanks

 

 

edit: I figured it out. I went back to go try again and started the game again and then the other skins worked. So I guess the whole game has to be restarted for new OVGME mods to work, not just exiting the mission, but a whole restart of the game. :thumbsup:

Edited August 20, 2019 by davebert

[Rudel_chw]

edit: I figured it out. I went back to go try again and started the game again and then the other skins worked. So I guess the whole game has to be restarted for new OVGME mods to work, not just exiting the mission, but a whole restart of the game. :thumbsup:

 

 

Glad you got it working, on my side I don't use OvGME to handle my Liveries, as I never need to deactivate a skin once installed .. I just store them at /Saved games/dcs/liveries

 

 

There was a time when a skin was actually a true Mod, as you had to put it into DCS program folder where it could be overwritten during DCS updates .. but nowadays DCS uses a much better system, that allows the default liveries to be on the Program Files path, while the custom liveries are safe at /Saved Games/dcs

 

 

This is what my current liveries for the Hornet are:

 

 

 

 

and within the ME I get to see only the liveries that belong to the proper country, for example UK:

 

 

 

 

Chile:

 

 

 

 

Spain:

 

 

 

 

for USA I have only a couple that I needed for a specific mission, since this country has plenty of default liveries ... I use custom names for the liveries, so they stand out from the defaults:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Eduardo

[davebert]

Thanks for the reply Eduardo. I kind of figured the skins would be safe in the Liveries folder in Saved Games but I just started with OVGME and wanted to do get my feet wet without making a mess so I started with the skins. If a skin in the future is the source of a problem I can deactivate the whole folder for a test with OVGME. But I see your point and I appreciate the reply.

Thanks again,

DB

[davebert]

Eduardo,

I have a question that I am sure you will know the answer. :) A friend wanted me to help him install a mod for the FA-18C HUD. I followed the path all the way to the files but they were in a zipped folder on the main game folder. I stopped and thought about it and figured I could unzip the folder and install the 2 modded files and either rename the old ones or remove them from the folder before zipping it back up. But I figured something could go wrong like not using the correct zip type or fail an integrity check etc. Does DCS use zipped folders in realtime and unzip them when the game is first started??

Thanks,

DB

 

 

edit: Here is the path for the textures recommended by the mod maker to remove old files(2) and install the 2 new ones.

 

DCS World/Mods/Aircraft/FA-18C/Cockpit/Textures/FA-18C-CPT-TEXTURES/

Edited August 22, 2019 by davebert

[Rudel_chw]

Eduardo,

I have a question that I am sure you will know the answer. :) A friend wanted me to help him install a mod for the FA-18C HUD...

 

No, sorry but that has nothing to do with OvGME .. may I suggest to ask on the Mod's thread if any, or on the Comments section of the User File (if it was downloaded from ED's User Files).

[davebert]

No, sorry but that has nothing to do with OvGME .. may I suggest to ask on the Mod's thread if any, or on the Comments section of the User File (if it was downloaded from ED's User Files).

 

 

Ok, Thanks. I will post on the mods thread.

DB