Import existing loaded mods

[bpengu1n]

If trying to use the Mod Manager with existing mods loaded, BMM does not recognize them, instead requiring the user to re-load all mods once again. This also presents an issue if any mods were manually installed. As a user, I would expect the mod manager to load existing mods from the filesystem when it differs from what the mod manager currently recognizes, especially on initial start.

[revblaze]

Hey @bpengu1n, this is something that I've been looking into. The issue I have yet to resolve is regarding mod package entries—from within the modsettings.lsx file—and associating them with their respective PAK files. For example, take the mod entry for Armor of Talos:

<node id="ModuleShortDesc">
  <attribute id="Folder" type="LSString" value="ArmorOfTalos" />
  <attribute id="Name" type="LSString" value="ArmorOfTalos" />
  <attribute id="UUID" type="FixedString" value="62972c91-51fa-4276-9047-78d38c0a27d8" />
  <attribute id="Version64" type="int64" value="" />
</node>

Here is the name of the Armor of Talos PAK file: ArmorofTalosChosen.pak.

While this may seem easy enough to match, there are 100s of variations like this, many with random combinations that have nothing to do with the modsettings entry. I could write an algorithm that would try its best to match the PAK files with their entries, but even one mismatch could have a cascading effect that would break the mod load order.

Saying that, if there is a way to identify and extract the UUID from the PAK file somehow, this would resolve the issue. Unfortunately, I have not had the time to look into how the Windows mod managers are doing this. Maybe someone on the Discord could help? I sadly don't have the extra time to research at the moment.

If someone was able to describe a method for extracting the UUID from the PAK file in the meantime, then I could possibly implement something quickly. Otherwise, it may have to wait until the summer, which is the soonest I'll have time to look into this issue.

[bpengu1n]

@revblaze Thanks for the reply! I've looking into extracting mod info from the .pak when I am able to find free time for it. If I am able to make headway, would love to contribute. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

[buzsh]

Just going to quote your response in the other issue here so we can have it as reference!

Would be really cool to bypass info.json altogether and read the .pak files directly, as they contain the metadata needed (BG3 MM on Windows uses LSLib to read them, they're a proprietary archive format, that contain metadata XML files with the other mod data -- https://github.com/Norbyte/lslib/blob/master/LSLib/LS/PackageFormat.cs)