What is the real reason mods stop the game from loading on win 7?

[user1679]

So I've read a bunch of posts giving advice on mods that won't load in the game's "extensions" folder on Windows 7. Suggestions range from "pack it in a CAT file" to "just add all languages to content.xml". But nobody explains exactly why certain mods stop the game from loading, and the proposed solutions are annoying when you can't even track down which mod is causing the problem. Also, I have a mod (Better Tractor Beam) that *is* packed into a CAT file but it still requires I put it in my "documents" folder so even one of the proposed solutions doesn't work.

So, would someone explain exactly why some mods stop the game from loading on Win 7 if they're put in the game's "extensions" folder? In some cases the EXE dies almost immediately after launching (just sits there doing nothing) and doesn't generate any logs. Other times I get past that part but progress stops while loading the game. Right now I've got 107 mods (most are QOL mods like removing stardust and such) and it sucks having to install them one at a time to find the culprit.

[Deeparth]

Have you tried running the game as admin? It could be a permission issue.

Why still run windows 7? It's not better than windows 10. It's far more vulnerable now that MS support is gone. Win10 has its issues but nothing close to what the bandwagon says. It's also way more secure. As time goes on games and other software will start behaving badly in windows 7.

[user1679]

Have you tried running the game as admin? It could be a permission issue.

Why still run windows 7? It's not better than windows 10. It's far more vulnerable now that MS support is gone. Win10 has its issues but nothing close to what the bandwagon says. It's also way more secure. As time goes on games and other software will start behaving badly in windows 7.

I don't see any difference running as Admin or not but I typically run games as Admin because legacy programs often have problems with permissions (not that X4 is a legacy game).

I have a Win 10 machine for development with Visual Studio and I just don't like it and it's not just the intrusive behavior,I actually hated the Win 7 GUI at first too. I've considered switching to Linux but I'm not interested in learning something new. I use a 3rd party antivirus with a stateful firewall so I'm not too concerned about security. So until games like X4 and others stop supporting Win 7 I'll probably keep using it.

[kuertee]

permissions. i remember pre-win10 UAC being problematic regardless of what permissions and user levels you set the folder or file to or run whatever program with.

there was always, like, a small few problematic files. most times we had no problems.

e.g. the graphic designer's photoshop files were from one computer that they then copied to the project folder on our local file server.
then when i tried to open it on my computer, it wouldn't. or it would, but i wouldn't be able to edit it.
files from other graphic designer's were fine. and sometimes, files from the same designer were fine.
it took less time for me to jump on their computer to do what i need than to troubleshoot the problem.

[user1679]

permissions. i remember pre-win10 UAC being problematic regardless of what permissions and user levels you set the folder or file to or run whatever program with.

there was always, like, a small few problematic files. most times we had no problems.

e.g. the graphic designer's photoshop files were from one computer that they then copied to the project folder on our local file server.
then when i tried to open it on my computer, it wouldn't. or it would, but i wouldn't be able to edit it.
files from other graphic designer's were fine. and sometimes, files from the same designer were fine.
it took less time for me to jump on their computer to do what i need than to troubleshoot the problem.

The strange thing is that some mods simply don't work when installed in the game's extensions folder, even if I pack them in a CAT file the game just stops loading until I move them to Documents...

[SirNukes]

I have a Win 10 machine for development with Visual Studio and I just don't like it and it's not just the intrusive behavior,I actually hated the Win 7 GUI at first too.

Win10 with Open Shell, after some fiddling with settings (O&O Shutup is helpful here), is basically a strictly better Win7. The only real reason not to upgrade is if you are stuck on decade old hardware that doesn't work on Win10.

That said, when I was on Win7 I had no problems when modding. Whatever the problem is it isn't fundamental to the OS, but somehow related to its configuration.

[user1679]

I have a Win 10 machine for development with Visual Studio and I just don't like it and it's not just the intrusive behavior,I actually hated the Win 7 GUI at first too.

Win10 with Open Shell, after some fiddling with settings (O&O Shutup is helpful here), is basically a strictly better Win7. The only real reason not to upgrade is if you are stuck on decade old hardware that doesn't work on Win10.

That said, when I was on Win7 I had no problems when modding. Whatever the problem is it isn't fundamental to the OS, but somehow related to its configuration.

Interesting, hadn't heard of Open Shell.

As for the mod problem, it's really curious. For example, ImprovedRepairLaser doesn't work from the game's extension folder even if I pack it. The game stops loading at 69% until I move it to my "documents" folder, and of course I get no debug info about why. I know it isn't a permission issue because I literally removed all permissions and granted "Everyone - Full Control" on the install dir and chose "run as administrator" (while even logged in as an admin).

Fortunately most of the mods that do this to me aren't critical so I usually end up learning to live without them. A lot of my modlist is "fluff" like piloting pilots, etc. and the overhauls like FOCW and VRO actually do work from the game directory.