Send Downloads to Specific Mod Manager

Current System Overview

Nexus Mods provides a 'Mod Manager Download' button that automatically sends downloads to your mod manager using nxm:// protocol links.

• Status: Unknown/Shortlisted

'Mod Manager' download button, as seen today.

Pressing this button opens a URL that starts with nxm://; and it is sent to the last application on the user's computer that said 'I can handle nxm://'.

How It Works Today

When you click the "Mod Manager Download" button, it creates a special URL starting with nxm://. Your operating system then sends this link to whichever mod manager was the last one to register as being able to handle these links.

Current Problems

Problem 1: Vortex-Only Policy

Download button is ONLY allowed for games supported by Vortex

The current site policy is to only allow 'Mod Manager' download button to be shown if a game is supported by Vortex Mod Manager.(1)

1. A few (<10) legacy games from before this policy are exceptions.

This is stated to be in order to 'avoid confusion', but it goes against our core ethos of making modding easy.

Without a 'mod manager download' button, users would have to explicitly read the mod description in order to learn how to install a mod.

In a world where attention spans are short this is difficult. People expect things to 'just work'. With people new to modding this creates a barrier to entry. Especially affected are smaller, less popular games which have the potential to become big in the future.

Modding has to be simple enough that a dad can do it.(1)

1. Original Image designed by lunnadesign / Freepik

In the past this has prevented myself from integrating with the Nexus Mods website.

If someone creates a piece of software that supports modding for a game, they should be able to get a working 'Mod Manager' download button for it, with the appropriate branding.

The current limitation sometimes leads to the creation of some 'minimal' plugins for Vortex; just to unlock the download button and then redirect users to the actual modding tool.

These plugins are often unmaintained, become broken, and unsupported, making easy modding hard.

Vortex is only available on Windows

Users on other operating systems (e.g. Linux, macOS) cannot even natively run Vortex; effectively locking them out of the 'Mod Manager Download' button without massive, difficult hacks.

This also creates issues for our very own Nexus Mods App

Problem 2: Downloads Go to Wrong Mod Manager

The system sends downloads to whichever mod manager registered for nxm:// links most recently

This isn't always the mod manager you actually want to use for that specific game.

Example scenario:

1. You have both Vortex and another mod manager installed
2. You're modding a game that Vortex doesn't support well, but your other manager handles perfectly
3. You click "Mod Manager Download" expecting it to go to the appropriate manager
4. Instead, it goes to Vortex (because you opened it recently), which can't handle the mod properly

Existing workarounds (and their limitations):

Some 'proxy' tools exist, but have major drawbacks

• nxmproxy: Command-line only, requires technical knowledge
• nxmhandler: Built into Mod Organizer 2

Problems with current solutions:

• Windows-only
• Limited game support/hardcoded games (especially nxmhandler)
• Not user-friendly for average modders

The Third-Party Mod Manager Experience Gap

I am also a Modding Framework author outside of the Nexus Mods App

People use my modding framework with lesser known games, both on Nexus and elsewhere.

The contrast is stark: on Nexus, I must ask users to drag-and-drop mod archives into my software's UI for installation.

Which means the users get an inferior experience 😔

A 1 click install button on a competitor's website.
Which as a tool author I'm not allowed to have on Nexus.
Automatically attached to mods uploaded in the correct format.

Users can't get hot anime titties on the Nexus just as easily 🥺
Need to rely on install instructions in mod description, which not many people read.

Users sometimes struggle—they skip mod descriptions and tutorials, leading to occasional "how do I install mods from Nexus?" questions.

A simple 'Mod Manager Download' button would solve this instantly, but I'm not allowed to have one because my software is not Vortex.

As a tooling author I can't bring new users to Nexus in good conscience if I can't provide a good experience that matches my expectations.

Result: All mods require manual installation

This creates a harder barrier to entry, especially for less technical users.
In this case, we failed to make free modding easy.

What I Want

I want an improved system that allows the users to download mods to alternative mod managers, not just Vortex.

Below are some ideas, not the exact implementation details, use those as reference rather than a strict specification.

Minimal Criteria

A very rough sketch as an illustration.

A dropdown (or similar) beside the Mod Manager Download button that allows users to select a specific mod manager to send the download to.

Clicking the buttons could/would open aliases of the nxm:// protocol, such as:

• mo2-nxm:// sends to Mod Organizer 2
• vortex-nxm:// sends to Vortex
• r2-nxm:// sends to Reloaded-II

Mod managers could register themselves under these aliases such that the downloads will always be sent to the correct mod manager specified by the user.

The button on the right would allow the user to set a 'default' such that the next time they visit the web page, the default manager is shown without needing to click the dropdown.

Automatic Association of Modding Framework Mods with Mod Managers

Mods using standardized modding frameworks should automatically be marked compatible with supporting Mod Managers.

We can look through the structure of the uploaded files and in many cases determine which mod managers support downloading a specific mod.

Stardew Valley (SMAPI)BannerlordReloaded-II

📁 SpaceCore
    📁 docs
        📄 README.md
    📁 i18n
        📄 default.json
    📄 manifest.json
    📄 SpaceCore.dll

Every mod contains a manifest.json file that describes the mod and its metadata.

📁 ImprovedGarrisons
    📄 SubModule.xml
    📁 bin
        📁 Win64_Shipping_Client
            📄 ImprovedGarrisons.dll

Every mod contains a SubModule.xml file that describes the mod and its metadata.

📁 reloaded.sharedlib.hooks
    📁 x64
        📄 reloaded.sharedlib.hooks.dll
    📄 Preview.png
    📄 ModConfig.json

Every mod contains a ModConfig.json file that describes the mod and its metadata.

In these cases if we find an upload with a matching file structure, e.g. <folder>/manifest.json (or simply manifest.json) we can deduce that in the case of Stardew Valley, the mod is a SMAPI mod.

Behind the scenes, we should tag the mod as smapi, and show Mod Manager Download buttons for all mod managers that support mods with the smapi tag.

If tagging is done with tags on a per-game basis, then the probability of false positives is low. If it is done on a global basis, we would need more advanced metadata parsing.

Avoiding Spamming Mod Manager Options in UI

Some games may have multiple mod managers available.

In which case, you may want to filter which mod managers are shown in the dropdown.

Most games usually have 1/2 mod managers, so this is low priority.

When a user logs in with a specific mod manager, the option to download with that mod manager should appear in the UI. Until then, we can hide (in some way) the other mod managers.

We may choose to have an extra place to see what mod managers can be used, e.g. in an extra dropdown, or section of the dropdown; but that would be left to design team.