Unable to install mods because of game file structure (change request)

Request change to the way mods are installed

from Sins Forums
This is a huge problem for me and I'm hoping this gets addressed soon. Currently Sins is set up so that mods are installed on the same drive as your OS every single time regardless of if the game is installed on another drive. In my particular configuration I have the following setup:

C drive (primary Windows drive; internal 72k RPM 60 GB mobile Hitachi laptop hard drive)
E drive (external IEEE 1394 72K RPM 500 GB Western Digital inside portable enclosure)

Because of limited space being available on the C drive, I install all games to the E drive. This normally works well with the exception of a few games like Sim City 4, UT3, and now Sins. These games want me to put mod content into the Documents and Settings subfolders on my C drive when I've installed these games on the E drive. Obviously I installed them there because there's a ton of space for all that extra content, pretty much as many programs as I want, and whatever else that demands memory. Space is an issue on the C drive, especially with all the productivity/work programs that I also have gobbling up memory there.

Is it possible for the developers to patch in some sort of way that mods and other custom content can be stored where the game actually resides? (in this case, on a drive other than the one with Windows on it)

Until this is resolved, this is a huge barrier to me getting into modding for this game or downloading mods for this game. I can't have add-ons eating up 1.07+ GB's on my C drive when the game isn't even installed there.
15,882 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
I think that this is an issue that is due to the restrictions placed on Windows games by Microsoft. It's not something that Ironclad can control, I believe. At least, that's the impression I've heard. A related question is what OS are you running? There might be an option in XP to modify where the Documents and Settings folder is, but I'm not sure there is one in Vista.

Bottom Line - A LOT of people have complained about this...but so far, there's been no hint of anything that can be done.

I'm sure one of the IC people will be along sooner or later and clarify.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
There is no excuse for this. I have installed many games on non-windows occupied drives and then used mods with them without having to install them on the windows drive. This is bonkers to put it mildly.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Marikir is correct. Because Sins went for the Games for Windows program, they are mandated by Microsoft to use that path for user files.

That said, 1.03 will lift the need to have the entire Textures folder in your mod, and the game will be fine with just the mod-specific textures present in the mod folder, which will alleviate the majority of the issue since that's the only thing making mods large.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
I remember playing Sim City 4 and having all this great content I was able to add on. However, it was in my My Documents folder because that's where the game wanted it. Needless to say, that 2.8 GB's of data had to be wiped out immediately after I was finished enjoying it. In the case of UT3, I don't develop maps for it anymore or download them either because it wants that content in the My Documents folder too instead of the install directory (I am the person behind DM-Phobetor). When good maps average 35+ MB each it quickly builds up and eats up space that has to be reserved for other more important programs.

I think that this is an issue that is due to the restrictions placed on Windows games by Microsoft. It's not something that Ironclad can control, I believe. At least, that's the impression I've heard. A related question is what OS are you running? There might be an option in XP to modify where the Documents and Settings folder is, but I'm not sure there is one in Vista.Bottom Line - A LOT of people have complained about this...but so far, there's been no hint of anything that can be done.I'm sure one of the IC people will be along sooner or later and clarify.
End of quote

The bottom line is that I'd like to have another mods folder in the game's install directory. The current Documents and Settings mods folder can stay, but I'd like a second as an alternative sitting in the game's install directory. There simply isn't enough room on the Windows drive and increasing the amount of memory on that drive without sacrificing performance is currently out of the question due to the cost of 72k RPM notebook drives.

I run Windows XP Pro 32bit right now. I don't think changing the location of the Documents and Settings folder would work since the external drive is hooked up only when I want to use something that's on it. Normally it's only running if I'm playing a game or making content for a game. I really would like to see some sort of alternative come out though. I know Microsoft wants games to put their info in the Documents and Settings folder in order for different user accounts to store their stuff separately, but it's honestly extremely stupid to do that with mods, which normally take up a ton of space.


Microsoft is in for a rude awakening later this year.......... *mumbles something about a cross platform game*