Basic question about mods (not in Workshop) management

I have a very basic question about installing mods with the new UI, mods that are not in the Workshop.
Which is the better way to do it, I mean installing and maybe removing in the future ?

I think the right way it is to copy the mod in the "Packages" folder, than in-game go to "content", selecting the new mod from the list and than click on "install", is it correct ?
Or it would be better using the ModMgr ? in "Bin32" or in "Bin64" ?

Last question about removing a mod: which is the better way ?
For mods in the Workshop simply "unsubscribe", but does it remove physically the mod files from the disk ?
For mods not in the workshop, manually installed, should I disinstall them from in-game "content" selecting the mod and clicking on "disinstall" or is there a better way ?

Thank You for your help

 

i prefer the ModMgr. For me it is faster and more comfortable.

 

Answering in order:

1. The in-game Content manager will hopefully work most of the time, and might be the more convenient for a an item or two. For larger numbers ModMgr is probably faster. Also if the UI has an issues and won't let you Uninstall or anything else, ModMgr is the way to get it done.

For running ModMgr, see this post (it's the second post in the thread): https://forum.studio-397.com/index....d-questions-for-reference.68318/#post-1052256

(note you need to set the shortcut up correctly, or it won't work properly)

2. When you subscribe to a workshop mod, steam downloads the component (.rfcmp file) to the steam\steamapps\workshop folder. Then when you run the game the files within that component are installed into the game.

If you unsubscribe, steam removes the component from the workshop folder, and then the game will uninstall the item as well. So you don't need to do anything manually.

If you want to be able to keep the item yourself, you can copy its .rfcmp file from under that workshop folder and later put it in Packages and install it manually. This way you can have the option of using older versions, or even keep an item that has subsequently been removed from the workshop.

3. Uninstalling a car/track, as above: you can do it inside the game (it won't remove the file from Packages unless you click Delete), or do a whole bunch at once using ModMgr (and when the game won't do it for whatever reason; it's also good for troubleshooting why you can't uninstall something, like it's being used by an installed event/mod).

 

A great thank you for your answer.

So does it mean that for each mod from workshop I will have it twice on my hd, one in workshop and one in-game.

I see now that I do have a 100 gb for rfactor2-folder and the same in the workshop (content 365960); well I do have a very large hd so it is not a problem, but maybe is it possible to remove the mod from the workshop-content but to maintain it in-game (where the mod has already been installed) so saving around 100 gb in my hd ?

 

2 options for that I think:

1. Copy the package (.rfcmp) file to somewhere as a backup, unsubscribe (can't do that with DLC though), then use the package in the Packages folder to install into rF2. Then remove the file in Packages. You still have it in your backup, but only once on your disk. Any updates for that content you'll need to redo the process.
   
2. Use mklink to move the workshop folder to another (bigger, slower, cheaper) drive. Just don't forget you've done it and then get very confused when that drive dies and rF2 won't update things properly (been there, done that...)