How do you use Mods offline?

[Wonder_Platypus]

I've seen lots of discussions about this topic but none seem up to date. Is there a current way to use mods offline and if so can someone pull out the crayons and help a guy out.

[Manwith Noname]

You'll need to convert them to "local" mods by finding the subscribed items in their workshop folders and moving them to the mods folder in the %AppData%/Space Engineers/Mods folder.

Edit: You may or may not need to unpack them too.

Another edit: Just realised I should have perhaps been clear you need to make folders for each mod inside the appdata mod folder but I imagine whatever you've read already still applies if it sounds like this sort of procedure, so I'm not going in depth.

[Dan2D3D]

Tho we can create a save with all your Fav Mods in, name the world "My 27 Fav Mods" and always use this save to start a new world using the "Save as" to create a copy (change the name)

This way you always have your Fav Mods ready to load even OFFLine tho you must save it once online to have all Mods in.

You can create more than one "Premade Modded save" with the Mods you like.

= You will never have to create it again, just copy the one that got all your Fav Mods in and withdraw the Mods you don't want.

[Wonder_Platypus]

@Manwith Noname i'm trying to use midspace SpeedUnlimited mod i've spent the better part of two hours trying different configurations in %appdata% and in the space engineers mod folder. could you give me a hand on what the file should look like and where it should go?

[Manwith Noname]

Ok, so this is the mod I tested with....

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=380165093

1) Subscribe to workshop item and let it download.

2) Locate the workshop folder. This will be near where you have Space Engineers installed. For example, if your game install path is...

D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Space Engineers

...you will find the workshop folder for SE at...

D:\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\244850

Inside that folder you'll find what appears to be randomly numbered folders. These will match the workshop ID for the mod. So in this case folder 380165093 contains speed unlimited.

3) Copy the contents of this folder somewhere. It can be anywhere. In this test, I simply copied it to the "local" mod install directory I had created.

C:\Users\*your PC username*\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Mods\Speed Unlimited

To be clear, the "Speed Unlimited" folder was made by me. After copying, it then contained a file that was a string of numbers with .bin at the end.

4) If you don't have 7zip, download and install it.[www.7-zip.org] It's possibly the best free archive handling program for Windows.

4a) Right click the .bin file and select "7zip > Extract here". You should now have the bin file alongside a "data" folder and "thumb.jpg". You can now delete the bin file.

Additional: You can also just rename the file extension to .zip instead of .bin and use Windows built in archive tool but I do recommend having 7zip around.

5) Load SE. Add "Space Unlimited" mod to your save as usual.

NOTE: Local mods have a white folder icon while workshop mods have the Steam logo. Make sure you enable the correct files and do not have both enabled. I would mostly recommend unsubscribing to the workshop item if you do not plan to host or join multiplayer worlds.

Now you can enjoy playing with mods and not have the game tell you they only work while you are online. You will however get the reverse message if you try to run a game that is not an offline world. You cannot run "local" mods with an online save.

[Wonder_Platypus]

@Manwith Noname Thank you for all the help mate.

[Manwith Noname]

No worries. I typically convert / backup workshop content for all games as I dislike the way workshop functions. Nothing quite like having a save game broken when an author decides to remove their mod from the workshop.

[Phrixos28]

Unable to use mods in OFFLINE MODE

Hi folks, firstly im not computer savvy at all. i play S,E offline more than online, but i have recently wiped my pc and re-installed space engineers. when i set up a new world, i download the mods in to the world online, then i switch to OFFLINE MODE, then load said world, i get an error message saying ERROR, STEAM IS IN OFFLINE MODE, PLEASE SWITCH WORLD TO OFFLINE AND RELOAD. but it already is in offline mode!!!!!!!!!!! PLS HELP, I never had this issue before and as a result i cant play offline with my mods! Please try to explain in laymans terms as i get easily confused by tecnobabble!!!!

[Dan2D3D]

Phrixos28,

similar discussion just before you and Veterans shared some good info in :

https://steamcommunity.com/app/244850/discussions/0/1769259642880628422/


I will merge your discussion in to avoid too much duplicates, merging ...

[Dan2D3D]

Similar thread merged.

[Phrixos28]

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

Ok, so this is the mod I tested with....

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=380165093

1) Subscribe to workshop item and let it download.

2) Locate the workshop folder. This will be near where you have Space Engineers installed. For example, if your game install path is...

D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Space Engineers

...you will find the workshop folder for SE at...

D:\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\244850

Inside that folder you'll find what appears to be randomly numbered folders. These will match the workshop ID for the mod. So in this case folder 380165093 contains speed unlimited.

3) Copy the contents of this folder somewhere. It can be anywhere. In this test, I simply copied it to the "local" mod install directory I had created.

C:\Users\*your PC username*\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Mods\Speed Unlimited

To be clear, the "Speed Unlimited" folder was made by me. After copying, it then contained a file that was a string of numbers with .bin at the end.

4) If you don't have 7zip, download and install it.[www.7-zip.org] It's possibly the best free archive handling program for Windows.

4a) Right click the .bin file and select "7zip > Extract here". You should now have the bin file alongside a "data" folder and "thumb.jpg". You can now delete the bin file.

Additional: You can also just rename the file extension to .zip instead of .bin and use Windows built in archive tool but I do recommend having 7zip around.

5) Load SE. Add "Space Unlimited" mod to your save as usual.

NOTE: Local mods have a white folder icon while workshop mods have the Steam logo. Make sure you enable the correct files and do not have both enabled. I would mostly recommend unsubscribing to the workshop item if you do not plan to host or join multiplayer worlds.

Now you can enjoy playing with mods and not have the game tell you they only work while you are online. You will however get the reverse message if you try to run a game that is not an offline world. You cannot run "local" mods with an online save.

Respectfully, non of this will work! i cant find the mods folders on the workshop, as i have said i am not computer savvy! i understand this wasn't aimed at me. thanks for the help, i don't get how one minute all things are fine then, it all goes wonky! why did they change things??? its all so complicated and confusing for an old duffer like me!

[Dan2D3D]

Phrixos28,

I have reported about this directly to Keen Team and I recommend to do the same if you don't like this new Mod Directory changed.

Mods Dir changed, now all goes to the Steam folder and we don't have to mess with those, well I had to go to the Mods folder one time cause a Modder told me to delete his Mod in appdata SE Mods folder.

And I got the fix because I asked the right Mod author so he was able to tell me exactly what to do, so always ask the Mod author and he will help.

All community Testers report here > https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers/general

[Manwith Noname]

Originally posted by Phrixos28:

Respectfully, non of this will work!

Respectfully, it does work. I've followed this exact procedure multiple times for SE and similarly with some differences on other games because I don't like being tied to workshop on long term saves.

It may be that you are not looking to solve the same problem as the OP here or that your initial procedure of setting up your game is causing you issues. Can you clarify some things?

Originally posted by Phrixos28:

when i set up a new world, i download the mods in to the world online, then i switch to OFFLINE MODE, then load said world

This online offline business. Are you talking about Steam or the setting for the save in game, or both? If you are going to be playing offline and only offline, don't make any save and just follow the procedure I outlined above. Then, when you start a new save, make it an offline world and apply local mods through the game inteface.

Originally posted by Phrixos28:

ERROR, STEAM IS IN OFFLINE MODE, PLEASE SWITCH WORLD TO OFFLINE AND RELOAD.

As I have just mentioned above, when creating a new save game one of the dropdown menus allows you to set if a game is offline, private, friends or public. This message you have quoted tells me Steam is indeed offline but your save game is set to something other than offline or contains mods from the workshop.

[Dan2D3D]

And my Easy trick is not working?

(my comment # 2)

[Manwith Noname]

No. I just ran a test to confirm. Procedure...

1) Create new save.

2) Set world as offline.

3) Add a workshop mod.

4) Load to game, move around, save on exit.

5) Close SE, put Steam in offline mode.

6) After Steam restarts offline, load SE and continue game.

7) Receive error "Steam is offline, set world as offline and reload".

You'll notice that when any save contains workshop mods, there's a very brief almost subliminal moment where it runs a check as you try to load it. It seems if it cannot reach the workshop to check the mods you cannot load the save. Hence, the need to convert to local mods if you want to run without any internet.

[Dan2D3D]

Ah! Ok thanks for specifying.

I will add this in my report