Mods vs Original SE4

[Wenin]

I've had SE4 for years and never touched mods. Don't know why, I guess I just simply liked Vanilla SE4. Well in the past couple of weeks I've learned the joys of playing with Mods. The problem I have is that I don't want to get rid of my Vanilla SE4. So when Mods are asking me to replace my Race's AIs and such, I'm refusing to do so... so then when I play a Mod the Vanilla AIs flail against me in a world they aren't designed for....... blah...


Is there something I'm missing here?

Can you have a Mod in a Mod Folder, that utilizes whatever files are in the Mod folder and if a file is missing it then goes to the Vanilla SE4 Data and Pictures folder and find the needed file?

I've tried the ModLauncher, but it didn't seem to do this. Perhaps I'm using it wrong.

Need help, getting my setup squared away.

Thanks

[Ed Kolis]

You can have mods in separate folders; some files are required for a mod (basically all of the files in the Data directory) and some are optional (basically everything else). Matryx's Mod Launcher will autodetect mods if you place them in folders under your SE4 folder; my Mod Selector will autodetect mods if you place them in folders under a Mods folder under your SE4 folder. The structure of the mod folder is identical to the structure of the SE4 folder, so it would have its own Data, Pictures, etc. and you might have something like se4\Adamant-Mod\Data\Components.txt for one of your mod files.

[Wenin]

So say a mod changes all the information in the Data Folder and ONLY that information. This information is stored under the folder structure of:

Space Empires Gold IV\KILLERMod\Data

Now when I go to start a game, using the Mod Launcher, is it going to look in the Space Empires Gold IV\KILLERMod\Pictures\Races and error out because no folder exists? Or will it see that no folder exists and then go to Space Empires Gold IV\Pictures\Races and get the needed files?


Example2:
Killer mod has changed the AIs for the Races, and has a folder called:
Space Empires Gold IV\KILLERMod\Pictures\Races

But it only contains the AI files.

Will the Modlauncher use the AI files in the KILLERMOD and then use the ship set under the default Races folder?

[Suicide Junkie]

Aside from a few critical files in the data folder, anything missing from the mod, will be looked for in the stock files.

This means that you only need to include the stuff you actually want to change in the modfolder.