Mods not working - One Drive Workaround

[TriumphBas]

Hi everyone! Some people have reported that trying to launch the game with mods active does not actually get the mods loaded in the game.

It seems that one of the primary causes for this is OneDrive, so here are some steps to get mods working if you are using OneDrive:

1. Go to One Drive -> Settings
   
2. Remove the Documents folder from the Backup list
   
3. Navigate to the OneDrive/Documents folder, go to Properties -> Location tab
   
4. Change the location of the Documents folder to a local folder on the same drive.
   
5. Move the files from the OneDrive folder to the new Documents folder
   
6. Optional: Unlink your PC from OneDrive and reinstall it.
   
7. Unsubscribe and Resubscribe to the mods you'd like to enable.
   
8. Launch the game again, make sure to add the mods to a playset and set it as your active playset, and enjoy!

The mods get put in your documents folder, however, that documents folder can be an OneDrive folder which isn't an absolute location, meaning the game has trouble finding and loading in the mod content when enabled.

We'll be looking into a fix so these steps will not be neccessary anymore in the future. Sorry for the inconvenience!

[DarkestClaw]

Originally posted by Ansaruk:

Originally posted by Walker:

my game is loaded on E drive if that helps?

I got my game installed also on a separate drive, D: drive. What i did (OS is windows 10) based on AEkornmyr's post was go into the main Documents/My Documents folder, there should be a folder called Paradox Interactive with another folder called Age of Wonders 4 that has a file called content_load.json, copy that file.

Go into the main drive that you have your OS/Operating System installed in, for example C: drive, then Users\"name of your user profile that you use"\AppData\Roaming\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4 and paste the content_load.json file in there, if you can't see the AppData folder after going into your user's folder then you might need to enable/tick the "Hidden Items" setting under the "View" tab.

helped me also

[Antsan]

Does anybody know a workaround for Linux/Proton? OneDrive obviously isn't the problem here.

[Mythico]

Originally posted by Antsan:

Does anybody know a workaround for Linux/Proton? OneDrive obviously isn't the problem here.

I have provide my instructions below on how I got mods to work on my Linux install. This should also work for the Steam Deck as well.

Essentially I made it think the steam installed mods were installed outside of steam via a symlink (folder shortcut) and thus will stay updated as any changes happen to the mods. It also allows it to be dynamic with any new mods that you subscribe to on steam.

Browse to the folder "/home/your_username/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1669000/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Age of Wonders 4/'" replacing your_username with your logged in username and see if you have a mods folder. In my case I didn't have a pre-existing Mods folder. If you do have a "Mods" folder and aren't using mods outside of steam then you will want to delete the folder. This folder that is used for using non-steam mods.

You then want to create a symlink from where steam stores the mods to the folder that it checks non-steam mods. You can run the command below in the terminal to do this, replacing your_username with your logged in username.

ln -s '/home/your_username/.steam/steam/steamapps/workshop/content/1669000' '/home/your_username/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1669000/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Age of Wonders 4/Mods'


The one thing to note here is that when you go to add the mod to the playsets it will show each mod twice. This is because it thinks you have it via steam AND installed via locally even though you only really have the files in one place.

When you add the mod to the playset you want to make sure to choose the one it thinks is installed outside of steam. The way you tell is when you highlight mod you will see 3 dots on the far right. Click on those three dots.

You will see one of 2 options.

Install it thinks is outside of steam.
"Show in folder"

OR

Install it sees via steam.
"Open in Steam Workshop"
"Show in Folder"

Add the one that just says "Show in Folder".

Once you do that, you should be good to go. Should you want to add any more mods you just need to subscribe to them via steam and then when adding them to the playset choose the one that just says "Show in Folder" and you should be good to go.

Please note that if you run into any issues with mods no longer working after an update, you may need to delete the symlink and re-verify the files or re-install the game as that is just a shortcut to the steam folder and it may or may not expect an actual folder in a future update. With that said, if you don't use non-steam mods I don't imagine it breaking as that folder is only used to access non-steam mods.

[Antsan]

Originally posted by Mythico:

Originally posted by Antsan:

Does anybody know a workaround for Linux/Proton? OneDrive obviously isn't the problem here.

I have provide my instructions below on how I got mods to work on my Linux install. This should also work for the Steam Deck as well.

Essentially I made it think the steam installed mods were installed outside of steam via a symlink (folder shortcut) and thus will stay updated as any changes happen to the mods. It also allows it to be dynamic with any new mods that you subscribe to on steam.

[…]

Thank you so much! Makes a ton of sense.

[Antsan]

So I did this with Steam running and AoW4 wouldn't start at all, but after restarting Steam it works fine and mods are now available. Neat!

[Mythico]

Originally posted by Antsan:

So I did this with Steam running and AoW4 wouldn't start at all, but after restarting Steam it works fine and mods are now available. Neat!

Happy to hear that worked for you :)

[Hush Puppy]

I don't have One Drive and my mods still won't load in the game despite showing up in the launcher.

[Maff]

Any word on an official fix for this yet?

[nitzoplax]

i don't have the functional capacity to do this at the moment and afraid I messed up my one drive in the process. Please include a workaround in the next patch. I just need things to work the way they are supposed to, even the warping of the rules and framework of a reality to the subject of my whim on a particular day/play-through. :)

[RedPine]

Things would be a lot easier to troubleshoot if there was an in game list of active mods, so I'd know whether or not mods were actually loaded before starting a game.

[TriumphBas]

Hi everyone! We're going to be delving into the other issue regarding the content loading json and folders missing from installations for mods. Hopefully we can get it resolved soon, but I wanna thank you all for helping eachother out and also describing the steps. That can actually help us get to the issue sooner.

[Maff]

Thanks @Triumph. I'm hoping it won't be too difficult or lengthy a problem to sort.

[Zak]

may need "show hidden files" to see appdata folder.

[Fangvyr]

I messed up and permanently deleted my documents folder, thinking it was the onedrive. Now I've lost everything and need to find an old backup. Hoping for an official fix soon.

[SubjectThrone31]

This is so annoying get it fixed asap. You have game files in the steam directory, in appdata/roaming, and you STILL put more files in Documents? get a grip...