General mod loader questions

[chrisagreat]

I'm kind of confused about the mod loader. I see some posts saying that the mods load from the bottom-to-the-top, and others that say they load top-down.

So Question #1 does the game load mods from bottom of the loader list to the top or from top-bottom? I haven't seen a clear answer.

Question #2. this really isn't a question as I've seen many answers but what is the general load order that YOU use - from the top to the bottom using categories like maps/trailers/AI/Sound/GFX etc... again, this isn't really a question, just a census on how others load


Question #3

What is the load order of multi-part mods

I have 2 examples

1: jazzycat trailers: is it? (from the top>bottom) (TACpart1>TACpart2>TACEng) or (TACpart2>TACpart1>TACEng) or (TACEng>TACpart1>TACpart2) or (TACEng>TACpart2>TACpart1) and jazzy has a ton of multipart mods so do other modders

do mods generally go base(top)>addon(bottom)? and in multi-base mods is it base1>base2>base3 or the opposite base3>base2>base1? I have seen more than a few times posters saying either way for the same mod and doing forum/web searches don't bring me the exact answers so I'm directly asking my query. Does anyone know what the game needs to load first in the cases of multipart mods?

2: the heavy pack v2 from Blade1974

heavy pack>heavy addon or heavy addon>heavy pack?

Blade1974 says: ATTENTION! THIS VERY IMPORTANT! Priority file big heavy pack heavy v2.scs must be higher then file big heavy pack v2.scs !!!!!!!!!

but being unsure of the mod loader loading from top>bottom or from bottom>top. where is the higher of the priorities? being on the top of the loader or at the bottom?

please don't just push off this post, I know it's not a new post but still is a question that is new to me.


Thanks ya'll for the help!!!..

Chris

[jdenm8]

1:
The game loads files from the bottom of the list to the top. Files higher in the list will override files lower in the list.

2:
Stuff that has to override everything else but is proven to not maliciously crash the game (These exist, some people's irrational hatred allow them to pull off dick moves like this)
Trailer Mods
Map Mod Files
Vehicle Mods
Accessory Mods
Miscellaneous Mods

3:
Shouldn't matter.

For the examples, follow the instructions from the Mod Author. They're the ones most acquainted with what their mod modifies and how it interacts with other mods that do the same thing.
However: Addons and unofficial fixes should be higher in the list than the mod they're an addon or fix for. Preferably immediately above.

[chrisagreat]

Thanks for the quick reply, you say maps up top and misc at the bottom correct? I think I've done it backwards, here is an imgur of my modloader.

Can you confirm I did it backwards so I can fix it. and I do try to follow modder instructions when they exist. again thanks so much

Chris

[jdenm8]

I've made a slight change to the list I posted. Some mod authors add our custom companies to their trailer mods, sometimes they need to override the map to do it.

I can't see any issues aside from overriding the companies a few times. I think you first override them with Jazzy's, then with ours, then with that 'New company v1.27' mod.

[chrisagreat]

so I'm not backwards from your list? you have maps at the top of your list, but my maps are at the bottom. or are you saying maps 1st from the bottom to misc at the top. the load order that people say the mods should be in is confusing. They say load first but it goes last in the loader. it's confusing/counter-intuitive. my list is the opposite of yours, I'm slightly confused, so in your list:

Stuff that has to override <--- is this the top of the modloader or is it lowest priority to be put at the bottom of the list to load first

Trailer Mods
Map Mod Files
Vehicle Mods
Accessory Mods
Miscellaneous Mods <--- is this the bottom of the loader or is it highest priority to be at the top of the list to load last.

sorry the orientation of the modloader doesn't really make that much sense to me,

just one more confirm if you could... you've been a big help then
I can do any rearranging I need to.

Chris

[Volleybal4life]

I can imagine you've got problems with colliding mods, you've got quite some running

[MandelSoft]

The bottom of the list loads first. Everything on top of that loads later, and only the last override counts. So if you want to let mod Y override mod X, then mod Y should be above mod X.

[chrisagreat]

I can imagine you've got problems with colliding mods, you've got quite some running

actually it only burps up/crashes only once in a while. I'm just trying to optimize the load time. it takes about 10 mins... I don't really mind as there is a crap ton of goodies well worth the wat to load, but if I could load it in a more effective way to cut down load time and maybe help fps(if that works) that's what I'm after. but the modloader loading order is kind of counter-intuitive to me for some reason but MandelSoft made a clear point. but when people make lists maps are always at the bottom. wouldn't that be low priority? granted the below list by jdenm8 has the Maps in the middle, but still, shouldn't the super big things like maps have highest priority at the top?

Stuff that has to override
Trailer Mods
Map Mod Files
Vehicle Mods
Accessory Mods
Miscellaneous Mods

1 -- misc get loaded first if I'm understanding correctly followed by accessories up to stuff that need override? yes/no
2 -- visually in the loader the mods stack on the mod below it, overwriting/changing the lower one if needed, correct? yes/no
3 -- is the above quoted category loadorder good? it's from jdenm8's post

Thank you all for the answers... I feel like an idiot being stumped on how a list works, oh well... thanks again ya'll

Chris

[Drive Safely]

Stuff that has to override everything else but is proven to not maliciously crash the game (These exist, some people's irrational hatred allow them to pull off dick moves like this)

I don't get it... what?

[Josh0]

I will add my "two cents" to this discussion. The order of the mod files only matters for mods that contain different versions of the same file(s). If two mods share some of the same file(s), and you want mod X to override mod Y, then place mod X higher (above) in the mod list than mod Y. If two mods have no common files, then it does not matter which mod has higher priority. It is not necessary to be category-strict about the location of the mods in the list, for example "map mods" vs. "vehicle mods" doesn't matter unless they have common files. Modding your game sometimes requires you to experiment with the mod list to determine the best load order for you.

I'm just trying to optimize the load time. it takes about 10 mins... I don't really mind as there is a crap ton of goodies well worth the wat to load, but if I could load it in a more effective way to cut down load time and maybe help fps(if that works) that's what I'm after.

The order of the mod files won't affect load time or FPS. The only way to possibly improve load time is to remove mod files from your mod list. FPS may or may not be affected (there are a lot of possible causes for low framerate).

but when people make lists maps are always at the bottom. wouldn't that be low priority? granted the below list by jdenm8 has the Maps in the middle, but still, shouldn't the super big things like maps have highest priority at the top?

Mods at the bottom of the list are indeed "lower priority". But this is not necessarily a problem. The order of the mod list is not based on "mod size" or category.

1 -- misc get loaded first if I'm understanding correctly followed by accessories up to stuff that need override? yes/no
2 -- visually in the loader the mods stack on the mod below it, overwriting/changing the lower one if needed, correct? yes/no
3 -- is the above quoted category loadorder good? it's from jdenm8's post

In your list, yes, "Miscellaneous Mods" will be loaded first. Any mods above "Miscellaneous Mods" will be loaded next, and will have higher priority (the higher-in-the-list mods override any common files in the lower-in-the-list mods).