[A17] Transfering my saved A17B mods back to A17B version when A18 releases

[Jayplaygame]

Hello, I would like to know if anybody can instruct me on how to transfer the A17B mods that I have compiled, and saved to my desktop for safe keeping for when A18 releases. Specifically I need to know how to put them back in whatever folder Rimworld mods go in, AND how to "OVERWRITE" all my steam workshop mods WITHOUT unsubscribing from them in order for me to successfully revert back, and resume playing A17B. Most of my workshop mods will of course be updated for A18, however some won't be. I need to overwrite them all, and replace them with the versions I have saved to my desktop (If all of this makes sense). The reason for this is that I have a hundred mods or more, and I know for certain that not all of them are going to be updated, and I rather enjoy the current A17 build with all my mods. Once A18 comes my game will be broken. Can anybody assist me?

[harpo99999]

first, copy the entire rimworld folders from the steam folder, then copy the rimworld folder from the user space (follow the mods button in game then go up two folders) then create a batch file containing
".\RimWorld1557Win.exe" -savedatafolder=SaveData
in the rimworld game folder next to the rimworld1557win.exe, then create a folder called 'SaveData' (this can be created by running the batch file then exiting the game)
then copy the contents of the user space rimworld folders into the 'SaveData' folder
(and someone with a bit more familiarity with the way mods are handled in steam can advise on the re-locating the mods from where steam puts them to the 'SaveData'\mods folder( or rimworld mods folder (not steam rimworld mods folder)))

[Albion]

There is actually a rather simple solution (Link to description).
Short summary
Copy all mods you want to keep from the workshop (win7: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\294100 ) to the Mod folder of the Rimworld games folder (win7: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\RimWorld\Mods ).
You therefore have a copy of all mods while they were compatible with A17 and you can still be subscribed to them in the workshop and will even get the updates to A18.

However, Rimworld will be automatically patched to A18 so you go to Rimworld in your Steam library, right click the game, click Properties, go to the BETAS tab, click the drop down menu and select alpha 17b. No code required.
Your game will then automatically patch back to A17 at which point you can activate all your desired mods and continue to enjoy A17.
Hint: The hard copy of the mods in the mod menu will have a little folder icon instead of the steam icon so you can instantly see which ones are the hard copies and which one are the workshop versions.

Also: A lot of mods usually release a legacy version either to download in the forum or to subscribe to in the steam workshop so you can usually get your A17 version via that track too.

[Jayplaygame]

first, copy the entire rimworld folders from the steam folder, then copy the rimworld folder from the user space (follow the mods button in game then go up two folders) then create a batch file containing
".\RimWorld1557Win.exe" -savedatafolder=SaveData
in the rimworld game folder next to the rimworld1557win.exe, then create a folder called 'SaveData' (this can be created by running the batch file then exiting the game)
then copy the contents of the user space rimworld folders into the 'SaveData' folder
(and someone with a bit more familiarity with the way mods are handled in steam can advise on the re-locating the mods from where steam puts them to the 'SaveData'\mods folder( or rimworld mods folder (not steam rimworld mods folder)))

Alright so Albion, have you expanded on what harpo has said, or is yours completely separate?? I'm just trying to decide whether I have an option on who's one to follow. I'm more confused with harpos then I am with yours. What I don't understand about harpos is why I'm copying the entire rimworld folder, and making batch files. Is this an alternate method to the downgrading the version method through the steam Betas tab in properties under the game, or something different/extra I am required to do?

[Albion]

harpo's solution is to basically have you make a backup copy of the current Rimworld version and move everything into a seperate folder.
As mentioned by harpo, for his solution you'll still have to copy the mods as described by me but into the new folder you created following him.

It's an option but unnecessary since you can just follow the method described by me. They are two seperate solution for the same issue.

[Jayplaygame]

Alright, thanks Albion. However, I have two questions. 1. Will copying the mods to my Rimworld mods folder require me to create a new game/ditch the current saves I have? Is Rimworld going to think the mods are new since I'm pasting them fresh into a new folder, and forget all the tweaks and settings I have made for them? Is it going to break my game? 2. From that link you sent me, it said to remove my workshop mods. However, when I'm ready to switch to A18 it will be a pain to reacquire those mods, so do I have to remove them or will they somehow be separated so I don't get them muddled up with the mods I have copied and pasted? Can I then just disable them??

[Albion]

As described above you have to copy all the downloaded mods from the workshop folder to the rimworld mods folder.
Hint: this way you can also add mods not available on steam or even create your own mods.

After doing that you'll have to go to the Rimworld main menu and click on Mods. There you'll now see two copies of every mod you had. One with the steam icon and one with a little folder icon. As you should know the ones with the green check icon are the active mods. Currently those should be the ones with the steam icon since you were using those.
What you'll have to do is to uncheck all the steam mods and activate/check the ones with the folder icon. At least the ones you were using or want to use.
This will have you switch from the workshop versions to the hard copies of the mods.
The workshop versions are still available and still in your list but they are inactive and won't affect your game. You therefore don't have to unsubscribe and can reactive them at your leisure whenever you want to make the switch to A18.
Hint: having both copies of the same mod active will 100% result in weird effects or even errors.

To continue with your savegame all you need to do is to have the correct mods active you had active while saving, so the game will load the savegame correctly.
If you're missing a mod or have more than before the game will give you a warning that you are trying to load the game with 'list' of mods but it was saved with '2ndList'. You can therefore compare if you're missing a mod or have one to many active.
Hint: there might be the problem that the hardcopies of the mods have slightly different names than the workshop versions so the above mentioned message might be given either way.

If you have any questions left I'm happy to help.

Edit:
Bonus hint: as mentioned above a lot of mods release legacy versions for older Rimworld versions either in the workshop or to download in the forum.
To use these either subscribe to them the usual way you already know or download and unpack them into the above mentioned rimworld mod folder like the hardcopies.

[Jayplaygame]

Last question (I think), there is a Core mod in both my workshop mods and Rimworld mods folders. Which "Core" do I use, the one in the workshop has numbers as the title of the folder but the one in the rimworld mods folder is titled "Core"

PS: Copying all my mods and everything is fine, it's just with all those mods comes the vanilla "Core" which is in my steam workshop folder, however I have discovered another "Core" mod that was already sitting in the empty Rimworld mod folder. What I am asking is which Core mod do I use? One of them is titled "704181221" and the other that it is in the folder I am pasting my workshop mods into is titled "Core". Sorry, I might be repeating myself quite a bit, but I have to make sure you understand what I mean. Thanks.

[Albion]

Running the game without the Core mod will result in no game since the "Core mod" is technically the entire vanilla game.
You therefore HAVE to have the normal core mod active that already was in the mod folder.
I'm not sure what this other mod is that you found in the workshop folder. It could be a mod that rewrites the core game with some changed functionality but I'm not sure many of those exist. Is there a "about" folder in that folder and what does it say? I'm on my mobile phone right now but I could check later which mod has the id mentioned by you.
Generally only activate one Core mod and only the one already provided by the game since that's the vanilla version of the game

Did you already do a dry run? You can activate the copied mods in the menu and load and play your Savegame while still playing with the normal A17 version. It should work fine if everything is done correctly and you can be sure you won't run into any issues once A18 hits steam and you have to patch back.

[Jayplaygame]

Ah. My bad, I see now that I misunderstood the picture in the folder of the mod in question. It said Miscellaneous Core in the picture, which I assumed was the Core mod for the game. It in fact was not. It's a Core mod for some other mods that I have in use. Thanks anyway though. I will update you if I run into any further issues.

*Hours later* Update: Works fine, no issues so far. Was a pain to setup the mods, but it works beautifully. Thanks for the help once again.

[Albion]

No problem. Glad it works now.
Enjoy the game and once A18 hits you know what to do.