diff --git a/modsman-cli/src/main/kotlin/modsman/cli/main.kt b/modsman-cli/src/main/kotlin/modsman/cli/main.kt
index 6a60022..9a52587 100644
--- a/modsman-cli/src/main/kotlin/modsman/cli/main.kt
+++ b/modsman-cli/src/main/kotlin/modsman/cli/main.kt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.Flow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.collect
 import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
 import modsman.BuildConfig
+import modsman.ModlistConfig
 import modsman.ModlistManager
 import modsman.Modsman
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException
@@ -70,11 +71,28 @@ internal object RootCommand : CommandBase() {
 
 @Parameters(commandNames = ["init"], commandDescription = "initialize a new mod list")
 internal object InitCommand : CommandBase() {
-    @Parameter(names = ["--mc-version", "-M"], required = true, description = "the target MC version (repeatable)")
-    lateinit var gameVersions: List<String>
+    @Parameter(
+        names = ["--require-version", "-R"],
+        required = true,
+        description = "required game version tag; specify multiple times for multiple versions"
+    )
+    lateinit var requiredGameVersions: List<String>
+
+    @Parameter(
+        names = ["--exclude-version", "-X"],
+        required = true,
+        description = "excluded game version tag; specify multiple times for multiple versions"
+    )
+    lateinit var excludedGameVersions: List<String>
 
     override suspend fun run(jc: JCommander): Int {
-        ModlistManager.init(Paths.get(RootCommand.modsFolder), gameVersions).close()
+        ModlistManager.init(
+            Paths.get(RootCommand.modsFolder),
+            ModlistConfig(
+                requiredGameVersions = requiredGameVersions,
+                excludedGameVersions = excludedGameVersions
+            )
+        ).close()
         return 0
     }
 }
diff --git a/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modlist.kt b/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modlist.kt
index f49e7bd..59f9860 100644
--- a/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modlist.kt
+++ b/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modlist.kt
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 package modsman
 
-import com.google.gson.*
+import com.google.gson.FieldNamingPolicy
+import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder
 import java.io.Closeable
-import java.lang.reflect.Type
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.Path
 
@@ -13,36 +13,18 @@ data class ModEntry(
     val fileName: String
 )
 
+data class ModlistConfig(
+    val requiredGameVersions: List<String>,
+    val excludedGameVersions: List<String>
+)
+
 data class Modlist(
-    val config: Config,
+    val config: ModlistConfig,
     val mods: List<ModEntry>
 ) {
-    data class Config(
-        val requiredGameVersions: List<String>
-    )
-
     companion object {
-
         const val fileName = ".modlist.json"
-
         internal val gson = GsonBuilder()
-            .registerTypeAdapter(
-                Config::class.java,
-                JsonDeserializer { element: JsonElement,
-                                   _: Type,
-                                   _: JsonDeserializationContext ->
-                    val obj = element.asJsonObject
-                    Config(
-                        when {
-                            obj.has("required_game_versions") ->
-                                obj.get("required_game_versions").asJsonArray.map { it.asString }
-                            obj.has("game_version") ->
-                                listOf(obj.get("game_version").asString)
-                            else -> emptyList()
-                        }
-                    )
-                }
-            )
             .setFieldNamingPolicy(FieldNamingPolicy.LOWER_CASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES)
             .setPrettyPrinting()
             .create()!!
@@ -87,14 +69,14 @@ class ModlistManager(val modsPath: Path, modlist: Modlist) : Closeable {
     override fun close() = save()
 
     companion object {
-        fun init(modsPath: Path, gameVersions: List<String>): ModlistManager {
+        fun init(modsPath: Path, config: ModlistConfig): ModlistManager {
             modsPath.resolve(Modlist.fileName).let {
                 if (Files.exists(it))
                     throw FileAlreadyExistsException(it.toFile())
                 else
                     return ModlistManager(
                         modsPath = modsPath,
-                        modlist = Modlist(config = Modlist.Config(gameVersions), mods = arrayListOf())
+                        modlist = Modlist(config = config, mods = arrayListOf())
                     )
             }
         }
diff --git a/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modsman.kt b/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modsman.kt
index a209a7f..5f8eb77 100644
--- a/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modsman.kt
+++ b/modsman-core/src/main/kotlin/modsman/modsman.kt
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.Executors
 
 class Modsman(
     modsPath: Path,
-    val numConcurrent: Int
+    numConcurrent: Int
 ) : Closeable {
 
     val modlist = ModlistManager.load(modsPath)
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ class Modsman(
                         file.gameVersion.any { fileVersion ->
                             configVersion in fileVersion
                         }
+                    } &&
+                    modlist.config.excludedGameVersions.none { configVersion ->
+                        file.gameVersion.any { fileVersion ->
+                            configVersion in fileVersion
+                        }
                     }
             }
             .maxBy { file -> file.fileDate }
@@ -52,7 +57,7 @@ class Modsman(
     }
 
     private fun readToBytes(jarPath: Path): ByteArray {
-        return Files.newInputStream(jarPath).use { it.readAllBytes() }
+        return Files.readAllBytes(jarPath)
     }
 
     private suspend fun fingerprint(jarPath: Path): Long {
@@ -191,8 +196,6 @@ class Modsman(
         }
     }
 
-    fun save() = modlist.save()
-
     override fun close() {
         modlist.close()
         downloadPool.shutdown()