History of the Mod Launcher and Mod Manager.

The Mod Manager hasn't always been such a complete program.

It's taken years of development and work to make a successful mod managing system, including this website.

The very first mod launching system started with batch files and the command ' BOS.exe -path (mod folder) ' it was a very easy and effective way to launch mods without the mess of mixing the mods and games files and folders, allowing users to have multiple mods installed without conflict or without the need of multiple copies of the vanilla game, though very few knew about BAT batch files and even fewer knew how to make them.

The idea for a mod launching program started with the goal of making my own mods easier to install and launch, I had several ideas and prototypes involving menu programs, HTML pages and Batch files but I wasn't satisfied with any of them, they worked but all of them weren't what I was trying to achieve. I wanted a game menu program that could launch mods like a Batch file but I lacked the knowledge to make such a program and I hardly knew where to begin. Some time later I became friends with a very talented programmer on Mod DB named NoahKlabo, we discussed the Menu/Mod Launcher project I was working on and he very generously offered to help me with it.

It wasn't long after we discussed in detail my idea for a menu program with the capability to launch mods, he quickly wiped up a simple Menu program and proto-mod launcher program, with some information I gave him about how the batch files launch mods. We both worked on it sharing bits of code and information till most of the known problems were solved. And the end result in all of our work was the programs below.

Launcher (Menu and Mod Launcher)

These are some of the very earliest screenshots of the working proto-menu / proto-Mod Launcher.

The project started out as a personal project, a way to launch my own mods but now had the potential to be a full-on Mod Launching program. I saw the opportunity to make a Mod Launcher for Fallout Tactics so I started polishing the program and preparing it for a demo release.

Launcher (Mod Launcher V2)

A screenshot of the Mod Launcher before the release. ( Notice I had procrastinated making a proper Launcher button till the release of the program and my backup, oddly doesn't have the proper button. The official release of this demo Mod Launcher did contain the correct button though. )

The Menu as seen above was completely scrapped out in the first release.

Mod Launcher V1.0

After the release of the demo Mod Launcher I started working on an official, more polished release of the Mod Launcher. This version was released not long after the demo.

Mod Launcher V2.0a

Never released skin for the Mod Launcher V2.0. Skin added extra buttons for editors and other functions. (Functions planned but never completed)

Mod Launcher V2.0b (Mod Launcher V2.0)

A while after playing with the V1.0 design I decided to go with a less compact and more visually appealing reskin/rework of the Mod Launcher. This skin was unfinished but released with the Mod Launcher V2.0.

Mod Launcher V2.1a

After the release of V2.0 I played with the Mod Launchers skin further for the release of V2.1. This skin was shown before the release of V2.1 but was never released.

Mod Launcher V2.1

After playing around with some of the GUI in my mod, Project Safehouse ( It was at the time called Last Vegas ) and the custom Mod Launcher that I planned on releasing with the mod I ended up creating this theme for the Mod Launcher, I liked it so much I used it in the next releases.

Mod Launcher V2.2 - V2.3

After the release of V2.1 there was little to add and a little to improve, other than a few miner bug fixes and a couple of mods added.

Mod Launcher V2.3.2

V2.3.2 is the very last release of the Mod Launcher. It was intended to be a final release containing a number of code fixes, HD game patches and support for just about every mod for Fallout Tactics.

The Mod Launcher was a very successful Mod Launching program but it lacked many features, it's flexibility to continue development was reaching it's limits and there were a few issues that couldn't be resolved do to the limitations of the programs engine.

NoahKlabo hadn't been developing the Mod Launcher since V1.0. He was impressed with the Mod Launcher and how far it had come. He started working on a new engine for the Mod Launcher called "Cradle" that is more flexible and more adaptable. The only downside to it was all of the work needed rewritten.

Mod Manager V1.0a

The very first version of the Mod Manager program was actually using the Mod Launcher engine, I started working on it shortly after hearing about this new Cradle engine.

I decided to retire the Mod Launcher and start a new Mod Manager project using the Cradle engine.

Mod Manager V1.0b

This is the very first Mod Manager using the Cradle engine. I had to completely remake everything to work in the new Cradle engine.

Mod Manager V1.0

V1.0 was a working demo released to see if there were any problems with the Cradle engine running on different operating systems. It was very limited to managing and launching Mods at this time.

Mod Manager V2.0

I released this version the day before my trip to Florida, where I was away from my computer and unable to test my uploaded files. When I got back from my trip I quickly realized I had uploaded the wrong files, I uploaded a slightly older version of the Mod Manager. I deleted them and decided not to re-release V2.0 as I didn't have time to repack the files for upload.

I slowly stopped developing the program do to life changes, there were a lot more important things I had to put my focus on. I did of course start working on this project again.

Mod Manager V2.1

V2.1 Was ready for release but the Mod Managers website held back the release as there was a lot of work needed to be done with it. I had so many ideas for it that I decided to hold back the release and press-on with development...

Mod Manager V3.0

This version is the first real release of the Mod Manager.

The Mod Manager had been completely redisigned since V2.1 ... hard to tell from just the front menu but every page was updated to maximize the convenience of all the buttons. All there was left to work on was the Mod Manager's website after the Manager had been finalized...

A long development break was taken but I eventually got back to the project and finalized the website (What you're seeing right now).

Mod Launcher and Mod Manager credits:

RobertHouse, NoahKlabo and of course...

The Fallout Modding Community!