There are many ways to install and manage mods but it's not always convenient to have third-party tools manage everything. However, it's actually pretty easy to have your own mod management system and all you need is some HDD space.
In this example we'll use F1 2012 The Game to create a step-by-step guide on how to do so.
Requirements
It's not a requirement but it'll make it a lot easier to find that one mod you're looking for. After you've done that (as I said, optional) you can start building the framework. All you need to do is manually recreate the folder structure from the F1 2012 The Game directory. In the end it should look like this.
That way all you need to do is marking all folders (CTRL + A) and copy (CTRL + C) them so that you can insert (CTRL + V) them into your game folder. Overwrite all files if asked and all mods are installed immediately. I suggest having a clean backup of the game ready in case anything goes horribly wrong - that way you don't need to download files from Steam again. In this picture you can see the following directories:
Just keep the following in mind and always install mods accordingly:
In this example we'll use F1 2012 The Game to create a step-by-step guide on how to do so.
Requirements
- double (better thrice) the space that's actually needed for the game
- a rough idea which mods you'll need
- new mods will go into the PLAY directory of the game, that's the folder you're starting the game from
- if you like those mods they will go into the FRAMEWORK directory of the game, that's the folder you're storing your mods in
It's not a requirement but it'll make it a lot easier to find that one mod you're looking for. After you've done that (as I said, optional) you can start building the framework. All you need to do is manually recreate the folder structure from the F1 2012 The Game directory. In the end it should look like this.
That way all you need to do is marking all folders (CTRL + A) and copy (CTRL + C) them so that you can insert (CTRL + V) them into your game folder. Overwrite all files if asked and all mods are installed immediately. I suggest having a clean backup of the game ready in case anything goes horribly wrong - that way you don't need to download files from Steam again. In this picture you can see the following directories:
- f1 2012: the game itself, the PLAY directory
- f1 2012 - Kopie: kopie means copy, so that's an older copy with some mods installed (you don't need that after all)
- F1 2012 Modding Base: the FRAMEWORK directory, containing all mods but NO original files
- F1 2012 Original: a fully patched and updated copy of the game without any mods
Just keep the following in mind and always install mods accordingly:
- never install new mods to the FRAMEWORK directory, test them in your PLAY directory
- if you like them install them to the FRAMEWORK directory as well
- avoid mixing the folders up to avoid a possible file mismatch
