Starfield

As a rule mod managers are the way to mod. I prefer mod organizer 2 over vortex, but mo2 isn't compatible.with every game. Mo2 should have starfield compatibility if it doesn't already.

I just find mo2 easier to use and navigate.

I prefer mod managers.

People are so bad at packing up mod zips. Weird or wrong folder names. No guide for installation, or wrong guides. Expecting the user to know where files are going. Weird archive formats. Assuming users have dependent mods or tools or script extenders, and know how to use it.

With a mod manager the mod either works or it dont. It forces mod makers to organize mod files correctly and uniformly.

I haven't used it for Starfield, but in my experience Vortex is far too complex and overengineered compared to their old Nexus Mod Manager

for the mods that are out its just easy to install myself. I really dont like the mod managers and prefer to handle it myself. Although it does get unruly with bigger mods and dependancies

I use Vortex just because so many large mods have the options more simply configurable through it than having to go and open a file and edit it manually. I'm comfortable installing mods by hand, but at the same time Fallout 4 is fucked up beyond belief with it's built in mod management, so using Vortex is a must just to get the mods to load properly.

I preferred an older manager though. It was even more straight forward. I don't think it was Nexus's own, but maybe... It's been so damn long.

If you want experience installing mods manually Starfield is about as easy as it gets and is a good way to learn. Create a starfieldcustom.ini file and drop mods into your My Games/Starfield folder. Most mod pages include the exact instructions.

Using Vortex. Works decent with the Starfield plugin. Make sure to launch from Vortex as well so it will deploy the mods if they are not already.

Vortex works great. In general, you'll want to use some kind of mod manager and in the Skyrim realm, the main alternative to Vortex is Mod Organizer 2. I have heard that there are some exceptionally fiddly setups for which Mod Organizer is the better choice, but Vortex is a very good one. Much better than the old Nexus Mod Manager.

Installing them yourself is basically irreversible, and things can get complicated if you don't have a mod manager keeping track of stuff.

I've only used Vortex for NMS. I used MO2 for Skyrim and FO4. I don't trust Vortex based on several bad experiences with it failing to install mods properly. It's not reliable for certain use cases.

But regardless, enough of the most popular mods require manual installs that I would avoid it. I will be more favorable toward Vortex when mod tools systematize things.

I'm using Vortex until MO2 officially supports the game. Works fine.

It's a bit weird for Starfield because for some people, mods need to go into Documents/My Games/Starfield/ and for others into the regular Starfield folder, which I haven't gotten Vortex to do yet. It works for some, but you also need a custom .ini file in the Documents folder which has a line to enable mods.