Multiple GameData folders?

[Eric S]

I'm guessing the origin of this question stems from the same issue as I've been having: Not wanting to make a separate installation for each combination of mods you'd like to use.

My solution, which has both pros and cons compared to this, is to use hardlinks/symlinks as needed to have one stock install and one fully modded install that links back to the first install for any stock game files. Any other install links to stock for everything but the mods and links to the modded install's GameData for any mods. That way I have one copy of the game and one copy of any mod I use, no matter how many "installs" I have set up. Takes a bit longer to set up (but not more than a minute or two per install) and lets me run any of them just by doubleclicking on the executable or a symlink to it, even going so far as to let me run two different installs at the same time. Oh, and I never pull up a save file using the wrong set of mods, complete with all the chaos that could cause.

Not up on current unix filesystems, but the idea certainly used to be that there is literally no difference - a "normal" file just has a single hard link. Which in this case is why I prefer symlinks ( not least because I'm not sure I trust NTFS hard links to behave either... ) because they're obvious, and a little easier to manage if you're constantly fiddling with things...

I found that doing this entirely with symlinks actually had problems, at least under windows, because windows tries to be smart and sets the working directory to the symlink's target's directory rather than the symlink's directory, so I'd wind up running the wrong install. Or at least I think that was the problem, it's been a while since I got it working and haven't messed with it since.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Eric S

[Van Disaster]

Yeah, it - or at least explorer - will dereference the symlink. Using a windows shortcut ( which I have to do anyway because of cmdline flags ) will set the working directory but while that will set the output location for logs & so on, not sure if it sets the right gamedata. I just copy the main exe across installs anyway...