Guide - Finding the Mod path in Vista

from Sins Forums

I have had troubles finding the Sins of a Solar Empire(SoaSE) mod path in Vista.

I searched multiple google searches and couldn't find any resourses that actually helped.

Every post I have seen just says what the path is, not how to find it.

This is a small guide based on my experience of actually finding the correct directory and why it is so hard to find.

The mod path is in the "C:\user\{computer name}\AppData" series of directorys. This directory is hidden. As Vista is fairly different in it's method of handling hidden driectorys than the other versions of windows it can be a bit of nightmare trying to get access to this series of directorys.

The easiest way of getting access is to right click on the Windows "Start" button and select "Explore". This will bring up the "Start" buttons directory. This directory is apart or the "AppData" series of directorys, so from there you can backtrack your way to the "AppData" core directory and then on to the Mod directory.

To find the correct Mod path, start SoaSE, Select Options, and there should be a tab "Mods" ,select this, and there should be a button that says "Show Mod Path". Select this button so you know exactly where you have to put the mods in order to get them to work. NOTE - Entrenchment uses it's own Mod path. Mods for entrenchment must be placed there to get them to work.

modding
1,592 views 6 replies
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Cool thanks, but alot of people cant be bothered trying to type out the path name, the information i've given is just the easiest way I found to get to the mod path. I realized beforehand that typing the full path would get me to the right dirrectory but I couldn't be bothered. And I think that I would not be the only person that lazy. XD

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Well you could write an app or bat file that will do the installation

what I mean is that a standard file that they release each time they update the game, and if you click it, it will just automaically copy the files into the correct mod folders, even if the folders don't exsist yet, it will automacially create one and copy the files.

Write a version for Xp and Vista, the two operating system that the game runs on.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

mooster there is an easier way for PROGRAMS to find the local apps and that is to query the registry for the localappdata path and this method works in xp32 xp64, vista 32,vista 64 windows 7 32 AND windows 7 64bit, and the real benefit is that is windows install language INDEPENDENT meaning that it will work with all language installations of windows. I actually use it in my sins map updater which has to access the localapps path to find the galaxyforge, mapdesigner & mods folders to update all galaxy files to the latest version format

harpo

 

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

well I was assume that people use the default path so we don't have to actually query the paths

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

mooster, I had made the default path assumption in my sins map updater v1 from the downloads page, but I was KLOBBERED by silvermindpl and his polish windows which had different names for the localapps folders, but with help from silvermindpl I found a method that correctly found his ironclad games folder as well as my english language one, and should work for ALL versions of windows from 2000 and up on all languages, which is why I had to release a new version of the map updater, then ironclad released 1.16 forcing another update as they changed the galaxy folder locations and the version of sins. later I decided to correctly convert even older maps ie version 0 & 1 to version 3 and wrote & released my version 2 sins map updater.

now you see why I suggested the method

harpo