Suggestions for SC4Pac Improvements

[rob_mtl 434]

So I've been playing around with SC4Pac after a prolonged absence from the SC4 modding scene.

The ability to use json files and to have a less conflict-prone load order is a definite win for the community!

Also, the ability to have multiple profiles (especially for juggling NAM/CAM load orders) is a game changer.

I have a few constructive suggestions to make SC4Pac more intuitive for beginners and non power-users:

1. I don't love the "star"/"unstar" method of installing/uninstalling mods. In most apps, websites, interfaces, stars are used to indicate favorites, not install/uninstall. I would use a checkbox, radio buttons or other more standard UI elements instead.
2. While the folder-based organization is useful for ensuring proper load order, it doesn't solve the problem of long load orders and not remembering what you have installed. My first install with NAM/CAM only had over 300 entries. I'm not sure how you solve this, but it might be useful to allow users to rename (or nickname) or put custom tags on modpacks or individual plugins.
3. There should be an obvious way to clear the download cache, and more importantly to permanently delete the installed contents of a modpack or individual mod from within SC4Pac.
4. There should be a right-click contextual menu displaying options for dealing with an individual mod or modpack.
5. There should be a manual install procedure for individual mods downloaded manually. Let the user create their own metadata for mods they download manually within the software.
6. I'm not sure if this is possible, but SC4Pac should handle placing .ini files without a manual manipulation from the user.

In my years of creating Youtube modding tutorial content, I have noticed a few general things that cause confusion with new users. Anything that brings up a script or a terminal is liable to push people away. I would hide these in the UI under an "advanced view" toggle. Extensive requirements to navigate subfolders and move/copy/paste files is also a turn-off. Finally, manual edits to .ini and .cfg files will cause people to bail on the whole process. The bottom line is most people are mostly comfortable with a WYSIWYG GUI approach and are very apprehensive about anything else.

The Nexus Mod Managers and Mod Organizer 2, used for modding many other game are good references for UI design (they have pros and cons as well of course).

I'm not sure if some of these suggestions are already in the works, impossible or if they are already possible but I've misunderstood, so apologies for my own incompetence. I hope that they are constructive and helpful for the devs!

[Null 45 3,023]

1 hour ago, rob_mtl said:

but SC4Pac should handle placing .ini files without a manual manipulation from the user.

AFAIK that is an intentional design decision due to the ini files needing manual editing by the user, plus automatically overwriting the ini files when SC4Pac updates a DLL would wipe out the user's customization.

[rob_mtl 434]

9 hours ago, Null 45 said:

AFAIK that is an intentional design decision due to the ini files needing manual editing by the user, plus automatically overwriting the ini files when SC4Pac updates a DLL would wipe out the user's customization.

Ok that makes total sense. Mod Organizer 2 has a feature that allows the user to open or preview .ini files in a text editor directly in the app. In that manager, .ini files can be stored in a mod folder that overwrites the root directory only when activated. I'm not sure if it would be possible to have a sort of root folder overwrite in SC4Pac, which would leave the original files intact but apply .ini changes on a per profile basis.

[memo 1,439]

Thanks for the feedback. It's really helpful to hear from user experiences to identify where users struggle. To give some additional background information, let me try to explain why currently things are the way they are now.

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

I don't love the "star"/"unstar" method of installing/uninstalling mods. In most apps, websites, interfaces, stars are used to indicate favorites, not install/uninstall. I would use a checkbox, radio buttons or other more standard UI elements instead.

This was an intentional decision actually. In contrast to most mod managers, sc4pac comes with automatic dependency management like in a package manager, since unlike most games, SC4 plugins heavily rely on dependencies. The "star" in sc4pac doesn't just mean "install this package", but instead install the package explicitly. In contrast, the various dependencies of the package are installed automatically (i.e. implicitly), so you wouldn't typically star all the dependencies, especially not prop packs and the like. In that regard, the "star" still makes sense to me; if you go through your installed plugins, the stars are the ones you explicitly selected to install, while all the other installed plugins are just dependencies, most of which you've probably never opened individually. Perhaps, this star-vs-dependencies isn't intuitive enough in the UI yet, or we're too used to installing all the dependencies of a mod individually, we think we need to star them all, but it's really not necessary or intended.

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

While the folder-based organization is useful for ensuring proper load order, it doesn't solve the problem of long load orders and not remembering what you have installed. My first install with NAM/CAM only had over 300 entries. I'm not sure how you solve this, but it might be useful to allow users to rename (or nickname) or put custom tags on modpacks or individual plugins.

If you hide the dependencies on the "My Plugins" page, I think most Categories should be fairly modest. Some of the bigger categories like Residential and Commercial can get out of hand though. This can be remedied a little by installing some of the bigger "collections", such as mattb325:residential-houses-collection, madhatter106:midrise-office-pack-collection, aaron-graham:complete-collection. I agree though that more options to get a better overview of your installed plugins would be useful, but I don't currently have many ideas for this.

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

I'm not sure if this is possible, but SC4Pac should handle placing .ini files without a manual manipulation from the user.

Like Null 45 explained, this cannot be fully automated, as the .ini files may require manual editing. Not putting them into the root directory automatically also prevents scenarios where a user forgot to edit the .ini file, so DLLs can handle this safely by loading a safe default setting or showing an error, instead of being loaded with potentially misconfigured settings.

I understand the desire to be able to do all the things in the GUI, but the truth is that developing a GUI is rather complex and cumbersome. The goal with the GUI is to automate things that are otherwise hard to accomplish – less so for things that are already quick and easy, like moving a file or editing a file in an external text editor. Especially, if a feature is used by 5 mods only, it doesn't have the highest priority. These are complex mods – dumping them into the plugins folder without taking the time to read what they do isn't advisable.

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

There should be an obvious way to clear the download cache, and more importantly to permanently delete the installed contents of a modpack or individual mod from within SC4Pac.

To clear the cache, open the file browser and delete the contents of the cache folder. There's no button for it, as it's not something I'd recommend. You'd end up downloading the same files again and again. For example, whenever you install a plugin that requires a new dependency bundled with the BSC Common Dependencies pack, you'd redownload a 1.7 GB file. Whenever you change a NAM setting, you'd redownload an 800 MB file.

To uninstall everything that was installed from a Mod Set, import the .json file again. Then toggle the "Add All" button to unstar everything.

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

There should be a right-click contextual menu displaying options for dealing with an individual mod or modpack.

Right, but to do what exactly? I'm all for making frequently used actions easily accessible without many clicks. For example, I'm currently working on a 2-page layout which makes some things faster (see picture below).

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

There should be a manual install procedure for individual mods downloaded manually. Let the user create their own metadata for mods they download manually within the software.

There is a way to do it with sc4pac, but not in the GUI alone. This requires writing a .yaml file with the metadata. Here's a basic example to sort your desired plugins into collections:

group: memo
name: my-collection-01
version: "1"
subfolder: 150-mods
dependencies:
  - cyclone-boom:save-warning
  - fanta1990:automata-fix-pack-vol1
  - smp:yellow-pause-thingy-remover

---
# additional packages below
# ...

Then add it to your channels in the Dashboard, using this format:

file:///C:/Users/{user}/Desktop/my-collections.yaml

See the metadata documentation for more complex cases. Implementing it all in the GUI would be insanely complicated; it's unlikely to happen. There is @nos.17's interactive editor for sc4pac .yaml files though, which can assist in writing correct metadata. Anyway, by the time someone creates their own metadata (other than personal collections), it would make sense to submit it directly to one of the existing channels, so that everyone can use it.

On 2/12/2026 at 4:49 PM, rob_mtl said:

Anything that brings up a script or a terminal is liable to push people away. I would hide these in the UI under an "advanced view" toggle.

Fair.

[rob_mtl 434]

Hey @memo!

Thanks for the various detailed explanations! The design logic and intended use of SC4Pac is becoming more and more clear to me, and most of my above suggestions were mostly intended at pointing at what I suspect will be the biggest stumbling blocks for new users.

As I gain more understanding of the setup, I'll probably do an SC4pac tips and tricks video for my channel at some point.

[Lab Rat 12]

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