Add an option to check for game executable to be present before doing anything

[smsteel]

So, when Vortex starts it checks for the game executable and if it's not present, manager just removes all mods and a setup (!)

It would be better to just not launch the mod manager or at least ask for some confirmation before removing mods.

How this could happen?

While Steam was updating Starfield i started Vortex and was updating mods as well to a new version of the game (like sfse, address lib, etc). So i selected desired versions of some mods and closed Vortex. Then i decided to change a bit more and opened it again. Meanwhile, Steam deleted executable for a patching process (and it's not like it's hardly reproducible if you launch at exact same second, no, executable was missing for quite a long time). So Vortex told me it couldn't find the game because Starfield.exe is missing and removed not only deployment of mods, but removed my selected versions so after the Steam updater was finished i had to reinstall everything and select desired versions again, which could be avoided if i had an option to do nothing.

[Pickysaurus]

Nothing is removed. The game just fails to be detected. The profile still exists and will be restored once you fix your broken game install (restarting Vortex may be required)

[IDCs]

Hi @smsteel, Vortex installs mods into an interim staging folder; the only way for that staging folder to get removed is by unmanaging the game, or through external manipulation.

As @Pickysaurus stated - once the game had successfully re-installed, you should've been able to restart Vortex and resume modding. That being said, please make sure your staging folder is not located on some cloud-based storage partition as any error in their service/your connection could potentially revert changes you've made.

[smsteel]

Nothing is removed. The game just fails to be detected. The profile still exists and will be restored once you fix your broken game install (restarting Vortex may be required)

I'm pretty sure all updates/new versions selected in mods list were rolled back. Did anything change in last versions of Vortex? If not i can try to reproduce and record how it happens

[IDCs]

@smsteel - if you can reproduce it, please do share a recording and also your vortex.log files found in %appdata%/vortex, alongside your state backup which you can generate through the Settings Page -> Workarounds Tab -> Create backup button.

As stated previously - please make sure the staging folder is not located on cloud-based storage (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc) as that will indeed cause the issue you described.

From a staging folder perspective, nothing has changed in the last 4-5 years. None of the core extensions that Vortex uses would cause what you're describing either.