All these mods want to be "the last in your install order"...

[ktchong]

So I have a few tweak mods to install, and all of them say in their readme that they should be installed the last or near the last.

• A7's Lighting Pack or Shader Pack: "If you plan to re-install the shader scripts with different settings, it is highly recommended to install this mod as late as possible."

• A7's Reveal Hidden Gameplay Options: "It is recommended to install this mod after Tweaks Anthology and any GUI mods." (So, not last, but still very late because the Tweak Anthology is already installed near the end; in my case, CDTweaks go after Stratagems.)

• aTweaks: "For best results, always install this mod after any other mods in order to ensure maximum compatibility." (This one has not been updated in a long time, so why should it still be installed "after any other mods"?)

• EET Tweaks: "In terms of installation order, EET Tweaks should be installed last or close to last. Specifically, it should be installed after any mods which add or alter CRE, BCS, DLG, ITM, SPL, EFF files."

• jmerry's Tweak Collection (jtweaks): "As a tweak collection, this mod should be installed last or nearly last. Whenever possible, it attempts to alter existing game resources in an interactive way."

• Random Graion Tweaks (zgtweaks): "This component needs to come last in your install order. Due to the principle this mod component works, it is possible it exposes a bug in itself and/or in a different mod." (I'll only install one or two components from this one.)

So.

They can't all be the last.  How would you arrange them?

Edited February 1 by ktchong

[jmerry]

Ideally, it shouldn't matter. A tweak mod like these will alter lots of existing resources including stuff that other mods add, and shouldn't add new stuff that other mods will want to tweak.

In practice, it comes down to specific interactions that the mod authors likely didn't plan for. I certainly didn't plan around any of the other mods on the list in designing mine, for example.

There are quite likely to be individual component combinations that are incompatible, in either order. If two tweaks are trying to do the same thing, you probably shouldn't install both of them.

[Jarno Mikkola]

I would add in a list of the 98% of all the mods the BG2 has to offer to want to be the last to install.
It just means the install order especially in the DO NOT readme -files is a LIE !

[jmerry]

So, looking at how my collection interacts with some of these...

EET Tweaks: no problem with most components, in either order. We're just not touching the same things. The XP scaling components, though, will interact with lots of things in ways that make order matter. I have two components that interact with quest XP scaling.

- "Candlekeep XP Boost". Increases the XP for each Candlekeep chore from 50 to 400, so that a lone player can usually reach level 2 before venturing out. And in the current version, that's a straight text replacement, so the order matters. If my component is installed after any version of the quest XP scaling component, it will do nothing because the text I'm replacing isn't there. At least, in the current version; I think I'll tweak how that interacts for the next version.

- "Noober's Game". Completing this dialogue-based text adventure game grants XP. A pretty trivial amount for when it comes in ToB, but it's there and it'll differ based on the order.

Random Graion Tweaks: should be fine in either order. I don't see any likely interactions in the component descriptions.

aTweaks: I've had an issue once; a case in which aTweaks combined with two other mods to mis-index a spell file, which my mod then choked on reading and errored out of an unrelated component. Some interactions are likely, though I couldn't tell you how it would go off the top of my head. Also, note that many components of aTweaks are for older game versions and are no longer relevant to an up-to-date EE install. If you want to "Prevent Mislead Clones from singing Bard Songs", you can - but patch 2.6 already does this by disabling the button for them.

I would recommend using the fork that's actively maintained instead of the original author's version that hasn't been updated in six years. That mis-indexing bug I mentioned has been fixed, for one. (Link for that newer fork: https://github.com/TotoR115/aTweaks)

[subtledoctor]

I feel there are two categories here: 1) basic tweak mods that, like EET Tweaks says, must come after other mods that add ITM, SPL, EFF, BCS, and DLG files; and mods that really want to be installed very late, after SCS. 

The first category is, basically, game tweak mods, and I would install them right before or right after EET_end. But before SCS. Most of these mods could be installed around the same time as Tweaks Anthology, except the few that really do need to be after EET_end. (EET_Tweaks claims to need to be later, but a lot of that mod can be installed earlier and in fact a lot of it does not relate to EET at all. I kind of hate that one for not being what it says on the tin.) 

The second category is things that really want to be installed very late, after SCS. Most people think this includes aTweaks, and if you are likely to uninstall/reinstall the lighting/shader pack I would install that one dead last. 

Here is my current order, if it helps as a point of comparison. 

[DavidW]

As a shorter version of SubtleDoctor’s point: if a mod specifically says “install after SCS”, install after SCS. Otherwise, probably install before SCS. 

[ktchong]

I installed these four tweak mods in these order:

1. EET Tweaks v1.12
2. Random Graion Tweaks (zgtweaks) v1.12
3. aTweaks  v4.53 ToToR fork
4. jmerry's Tweak Collection (jtweak) v3.1

I did not install everything from those mods.  I selected only some components from each mod.

I did not get any conflict or issue from combining aTweaks + jtweaks, (or with any of the mods and components.)

An abstract of the what I installed from those four mods (edited from WeiDU.log) is attached below.

 

I will install A7's Reveal Hidden Gameplay Options the last because it has a graphical/interface glitch.  I will install it the last so it will be easier for me to patch it with a fix later. (Otherwise, I would have installed the Hidden Gameplay Options immediately after the Tweak Anthology.)

I likely will not install A7's Shader Pack.  Having to reinstall the mod every time I want to change the lighting settings does not appeal to me.

 

WeiDU log abstract - edited.txt

Edited February 3 by ktchong

[argent77]

13 hours ago, ktchong said:

I likely will not install A7's Shader Pack.  Having to reinstall the mod every time I want to change the lighting settings does not appeal to me.

Except in the case of reinstallation, mod order is actually irrelevant for this mod. The recommended lighting preset should be good enough if you're unsure what to choose. There is usually no need to change the lighting settings once it is installed.