Vortex installing mods for the GOG release of Skyrim AE splits location of config files

[Serpentstar]

When installing mods for Skyrim AE, GOG edition, Vortex is placing data in two different locations within %user%\Documents\My Games.
The GOG edition should have files placed in Skyrim Special Edition GOG, but they are being split and being placed in Skyrim Special Edition

Steps to reproduce the behavior:
Install the game. setup_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_special_edition_1.6.659.0.8_(64bit)(59094) and setup_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_anniversary_upgrade_1.6.659.0.8(64bit)_(59094)
Launch the initial SkyrimSELauncher.exe
Skyrim Special Edition GOG gets created.
Launch Vortex, set up GOG location and start loading mods.
In this case, SKSE, and SkyUI.
Everything should be being installed to a single folder under My Games, Skyrim Special Edition GOG

Platform (please complete the following information):
Windows 10

Additional context
This was identified because I cannot get the Mod Manager menu option to appear, which is necessary for many mods that have configuration capability.
Skyrim SE GOG edition.zip

Added screenshot of missing Mod Configuration menu option.

[Serpentstar]

The only way I am able to get the Mod Configuration menu to load is to sync the directories of
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Skyrim Special Edition
with
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Skyrim Special Edition GOG

and
C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition
with
C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition GOG

I had to merge the information from each Skyrim.ini into the other.

[MrGrymReaper]

I can confirm I'm also noticing something similar with the configuration files and their storage directory for the GOG release. This prevents the saved games from working correctly with Vortex as well as the game, as well as preventing the saving of log files and/or mcm features involving external configuration files for modifications.

I worked around this by before even starting the game's launcher or Vortex creating symbolic or hard links to the destination folder of the GOG release and the source path being the Steam release folder name. That way when I ran the launcher and Vortex there was no need to have to synchronise the directories as the path requests for one would redirect to another.

[TanninOne]

Could you please check if 1.7.0 fixes this?

[Serpentstar]

It did not.

Inside C:\Users\TempUser\AppData\Local\Skyrim Special Edition GOG, we have the loadorder.txt and plugins.txt

Plugins.txt doesn't have the SkyUI_SE.esp being added. It was necessary to run Loot.exe to pull in the added mod. The same doesn't appear in the loadorder.txt file at all.

Another thing I noticed is that it I don't believe it knows how to play with save game related mods. I tried adding a savegame 'mod' and the save file didn't go to where it was supposed to. Granted, I did this in a VM and can't run the actual game on it, but for install purposes, seeing updates to files and locations it works fine.

The good thing is that this version didn't create the old 'Skyrim Special Edition' folder, so that much is progress.

[vidlb]

Same problem here with latest 1.6.x. I found a tmp workaround :
We need to link both Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Special Edition GOG directories. But a simple windows "shortcut" won't fix the problem (a directory is re-created next to the .ink file).
As a daily Linux user, I was shocked to learn that this type of soft link requires the junction CLI tool which is not part of windows basic commands.

[bukiru]

mklink would help
this problem also actual for me

[TanninOne]

please track this issue on this ticket: #13413