Mystery of ../Mods/tech folder in Saved Games

[kfarley215]

As I learn to install missions with mods, I understand that mods are generally intended to go to <Drive>/Users/<user>/Saved Games/DCS (or DCSOB)/Mods/tech

 

However, each mod has its own peculiar directory structure ultimately containing LUA, EDM or DDS files. Are we supposed to preserve a directory structure for Mods/Skins etc or are we supposed to place the files in Mods/tech/main/Liveries; Mods/tech/main/Shapes; Mods/tech/main/Textures?

 

I ask because I don't seem to get any mods to load when I just unzip into /Mods/tech

 

Thanks!

[wasizyayo]

Put all files in the folder DCS / Mods / aircraft / FA-18C / Missions / Campaigns, assuming it's a mission on F-18C

[JUICE-AWG]

The path you have in your Saved Games folder is correct. You place the MOD folder in the path as you described, but then you have to go to your Module Manager on the Main Menu and activate it. It's under the INSTALLED tab. Slide the button to the right and restart the mission. It's probably a good idea to have the MODs installed and activated before creating missions with MODs and running others missions with them as well.

Edited December 27, 2019 by =JUICE=

[JUICE-AWG]

Put all files in the folder DCS / Mods / aircraft / FA-18C / Missions / Campaigns, assuming it's a mission on F-18C

 

 

It's a good idea to place all third-party missions and missions you create yourself in your users/"PC NAME"/savedgames/dcs.openbeta(or other version)/Missions folder. Updates from ED and potential file corruption could occur if you mix them in with mission files.

[wasizyayo]

Thank you for following me

[kfarley215]

Good info, all! Understand that placing User content in Saved Games will keep ED content clean and manageable. It was the original VPC Object Zip that created the confusion. It has a deeper directory structure than the others and it used 'main' as its placement under /Mods/tech instead of using /Mods/tech/VPC Objects.

 

So the lesson for me or anyone downloading mods is, a mod is best managed as a Folder in /Mods/tech and will declare itself a plugin in an 'entry.lua'.

 

But I see a bunch of Liveries with various folder structures. Some have /Bazar/Liveries path. Do Liveries go to Saved Games/DCS/tech/Bazar or do they go to the actual ED install folder Bazar/liveries?

[Harker]

Liveries should go to Saved Games\DCS\Liveries\F-16C_50\ for a custom livery for the F-16C Blk50 module. Livery creators should specify. If the folder doesn't exist, you can make it yourself.

As for mods, they don't necessarily go to Mods\tech\. Something like the Civilian Aircraft Mod (CAM), that adds new AI aircraft to the game, will go to Mods\aircraft\. Again, the mod designer should specify.

[kfarley215]

Ok. Makes sense. Liveries go in their own folder outside of /Mods/tech.

 

Now, when downloading the latest liveries I'm seeing various folder names and even aircraft type information in the description.

 

Example: 'VFA-97 300 (CAG)' contains description file starting with

 

livery = {

 

{"f18c1"

 

While the ED notation is folder 'f_a-18c' and the description file uses:

 

livery = {

{"F-18C_Texture1", 0, "F-18C_Texture1_NSAWC_25", false},

 

I checked the Mission Editor and I see that in the Payloads tab for a Unit you can view and edit the Paint Scheme. I see that some Livery creators are not following standard naming conventions and so their Liveries will not be found until it is registered under the correct unit signifier (in this case "F-18C"). I do have Liveries loading now, thanks for your help!

Edited December 27, 2019 by kfarley215

[kfarley215]

I checked the Mission Editor and I see that in the Payloads tab for a Unit you can view and edit the Paint Scheme. I see that some Livery creators are not following standard naming conventions and so their Liveries will not be found until it is registered under the correct unit signifier (in this case "F-18C"). I do have Liveries loading now, thanks for your help!

[kfarley215]

I have this working now. User/DCS/Mods/tech S the home for Mods while User/DCS/Liveries is the home for Liveries.

 

In the case of Mods, each mod should have a subdir with an entry file declaring itself a plug-in for Mod Manager.

 

In the case of VPC Objects, this needs a patch available in in google drive. Also the subdir in the original zip file for VPC declares itself main and has numerous subdirs. Change this to VPC bjects for clarity.

 

Each mod author tends to create their own peculiar dir structure in their zip file. Some think they are adding to ED nstall folders instead of the standard Saved Games folder. Some think artifacts go under the Bazar directory. All of this leads to confusion and mods or liveries not working.

 

I’m told that mod managers help with this. I will research them and learn more. For now I hand tune my Saved Games folder for each mod or livery (and fix the unit name references to match ED standards) and now everything is working.

[BlacleyCole]

I am wondering if something goes in the saved game folders if you couldn’t use ovgme to install it so if you need to update,repair or clean dcs it will still work and not be deleted in the saved games folder.

[Slug72]

I am wondering if something goes in the saved game folders if you couldn’t use ovgme to install it so if you need to update,repair or clean dcs it will still work and not be deleted in the saved games folder.

 

Nothing in \Saved Games\DCS is deleted by Update/Repair/Clean operations. ;)