ASA - MODS Not Working - My Story:

[Ratt]

So here is my story:

* ASA releases - I install on my "older" computer. Log into servers, boom. Everything worked fine. Played the game here and there. No issues.

* Then I purchased a new computer with much better specifications. I loaded ASA and entered the same server I was playing on. But, I was having mod load issues. Finally got on the server. Played for some time. Some new mods were added, some updated and then I started having nothing but issues... Mods wouldn't load. Game would crash. On and on. It had been months and months trying to find/fix the issue. I was removing mod folders, mods, the game itself, etc. Nothing work. I had contacted everyone - Forums, X, CurseForge or tried, discords, etc. NOTHING WORKED. It always failed loading mods that were "large sized (usually over 300mb).

Then I found an article somewhere on Google to try moving the game from a drive that has Windows on it. I got to thinking. My old computer had a separate 2TB SSD that the game was on & Windows was on it's old HDD.. My new PC had only a 2TB SSD where the game was at along w/all other files. So that was my next step.

I purchased a new SSD drive. I formatted it, named it Game Drive. Downloaded ASA on it and then tested it out. AND BOOM - I was able to download mods, I was able to get into the server w/those mods, etc... All was good --- at least for a few weeks.

* After a few weeks - game started doing the same thing. Mods wouldn't update or load. It was always only with Mods that were "Large" (this was the same as before as well)... Small Mods would load no problem. So I'm right back into the same boat. Mods not loading, game crashing, etc... I was so pissed that I deleted the game for about 3/4 weeks but still unable to find an answer.

Yesterday. I loaded the game up again. Same damn issue. BUT then, something popped in my head. On my new "Game Drive" that I had ASA on. I had also loaded a few other games on that drive. That got me to thinking. So last night - I deleted everything off of this drive, reformatted it again and then only loaded ASA... I then opened the game, went to Mods, and downloaded a small mod. It worked fine. I then tried a large mod that I know is on the server I was playing on (Dwarven Structures). This mod is over 800mb+ and it worked fine. I then went to the server, joined game, and the other mods (15 or so) loaded up fine and boom ---- I'm back in the game.

NOTE - One other thing I did before reformatting my drive above is that I also turned off my firewall. Not sure if that had any impact or not.

I don't know if this is the final fix. I'm not 100% confident that this problem won't happen again. But, this is what has helped me after at least 6/7 months of dealing with this issue. Hope this helps others.

[Ratt]

FIGURED I would touch on this again... Today is 9/5... I hadn't played the game for 2/3 weeks as I've been out of town for work.... GUESS what - Game is right back to doing the same ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. It will not load large mods.

So - I did the same steps as above. Removed everything off of my SSD Drive (only ASA was on there). Reformatted the drive and then reinstall ASA to it... Smaller mods will load fine. But when start to try to load any mods over 300mb, it doesn't work. Times out, crashes, etc...

It's absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that this is happening still. ASA can suck my ass. I won't ever attempt to play this game again.

[Sox'n'Fox]

sounds like you've over-complicated this whole thing. All that's happening here is your big dumb mods need to be updated when the base game is updated. And if you are using a lot of big dumb mods, there is a near certain chance that at least one of them will not be updated correctly/timely and you'll boot up the game and the mods will crash you.

It's really amazing to sit here and ponder what could possibly be going on in your head. Modding an early access game requires your brain to be turned on.

[Splutty]

This sounds very much like you have a hardware issue. None of what you described or did has anything to do with ASA or "large mods". It sounds a lot more like a disk controller is totally screwed. Reformatting an SSD drive is plain ridiculous as a "solution".

[Ratt]

Originally posted by Anarchic Fox:

sounds like you've over-complicated this whole thing. All that's happening here is your big dumb mods need to be updated when the base game is updated. And if you are using a lot of big dumb mods, there is a near certain chance that at least one of them will not be updated correctly/timely and you'll boot up the game and the mods will crash you.

It's really amazing to sit here and ponder what could possibly be going on in your head. Modding an early access game requires your brain to be turned on.

SO - how is it that there are others are on these same servers? I have been searching for answers for months and months and no one can provide an answer to fix this. SO since you are so smart - how do I get this fixed so I can play on these servers?

[Ratt]

Originally posted by Splutty:

This sounds very much like you have a hardware issue. None of what you described or did has anything to do with ASA or "large mods". It sounds a lot more like a disk controller is totally screwed. Reformatting an SSD drive is plain ridiculous as a "solution".

AND I'll ask you as well.. Any clue how I fixed this. You can't imagine how many reddits, steam asks, twitters searches, google searches, tons of discord requests and can't find a simple solution to this problem. YES. have to reformat a drive is crazy - it was something I tried once, it worked and then now, this time it didn't work. I HAVE NO clue what is going on and how to fix it.

[Ratt]

Originally posted by Anarchic Fox:

sounds like you've over-complicated this whole thing. All that's happening here is your big dumb mods need to be updated when the base game is updated. And if you are using a lot of big dumb mods, there is a near certain chance that at least one of them will not be updated correctly/timely and you'll boot up the game and the mods will crash you.

It's really amazing to sit here and ponder what could possibly be going on in your head. Modding an early access game requires your brain to be turned on.

AND since you know so much about big dumb mods jack, this has been going on for about 6-8 months or more now and guess what, no one can seem to help to fix this f-ing problem. So, it's not just "your big dumb mod needs to be upgraded"... But thanks for the genius answer/assistance.

[Splutty]

"Got new computer, and suddenly really really strange unexplainable ♥♥♥♥ starts happening." My first thought would be: Something's wrong with that computer, or maybe the OS install.

If no one else on any of the forums you've visited has this problem, then it's not a problem with the game, it's a problem with you and your system.

[Ratt]

Originally posted by Splutty:

"Got new computer, and suddenly really really strange unexplainable ♥♥♥♥ starts happening." My first thought would be: Something's wrong with that computer, or maybe the OS install.

If no one else on any of the forums you've visited has this problem, then it's not a problem with the game, it's a problem with you and your system.

Several people have complained about having issues w/large mods not loading... I just for the life of me can't figure it out and how to fix it.

[Nateko]

hey, so have you ever actually managed to find any permanent fix? some mods just DONT work for me as well, specifically dino depot and cybers structures out of the bigger ones and i've just been bashing my head against the wall for a long time trying to fix this, but it seems that this issue is not only extremely rare, it also just does not have a fix when it happens to someone. theres also two small mods that dont work. all the broken mods are widely used so i dont see how this problem even managed to pop up.