Error message: This directory is missing launcher profile. Please run the Minecraft launcher first.

 

To reproduce:

1. start Laucher 2.0.806
2. "Add new" in "Launcher options"
3. change "Game directory" to somewhere else than the default %appdata%/.minecraft
4. start the game once to populate the new directory
5. try to install forge-1.11.2-13.20.0.2228-installer.jar (or -win.exe) into the new directory.
6. get the error message shown above.

 

Additional info:

• Installing into %appdata%/.minecraft works w/o error. Game was installed before launcher 2.0 came out. Didn't try a fresh installation. Also didn't try to change Game directory in the old launcher.
• When copying all contents of this default folder to a directory somewhere else and changing the "Game Directory" in the launcher to this directory the Forge install will run. But Forge is not listed in the Version dropdown. Restarting the launcher doesn't help.
• Maybe I missunderstand the role of the "Game directory".

You are misunderstanding the role of game directory. The purpose of the game directory is to seperate out instances of the the(versions,saves,mods,etc.) Forge is required to be installed where Minecraft saves it's launcher profiles or the information and jar of that version in the base minecraft Directory so there is only one copy of each version at a time. Basically Forge gets installed to the base directory and then you can use the game directory to keep saves and mods seperate from other profiles

So, it is impossible to have a plain installation or (installations w/o Forge) and other installations with Forge?

I mean, the mods and versions always go to the main directory, and I have to hope that they don't interfere with each other. Maybe this is ensured due to how versions are stored. So installing into main directory and selecting a version in the Launcher options should be enough separation.

 

My confusion was based on how I started to use separate game directories. I copied the content of .minecraft to the new directories, and in this case I could install mods into the new directories. But the launcher couldn't find the installations.

 

For me the topic is done. Thanks for increasing my knowledge.