automationgame.com

when I switched to beta all my mods poofed away,

what can i do to retrieve them?

or revert to normal version, because my game seems to be stuck in open beta Mode

The open Beta is now official release, so it's not open Beta anymore, AFAIK

I also think it saves to a new location? But I haven't actually bothered to go retrieve them, so I haven't worked it out.

right but in steam when i want to switch to non beta, it doesnt let me

The Steam version was released to the public branch, yes.

Mods are now going into a different folder structure which makes modding much better supported and sound. The Steam Workshop already has many of the mods. If any of your favorite ones are missing then I suggest telling the mod-maker to get it onto Steam

I am unsure as to how to get the mods to work, I 'subscribed' to the mods I wanted in the steam workshop and they are not available for use in the game. Perhaps I am doing something wrong?

I am not very learned in the art of steam. I downloaded it for this game and one other and don't do anything with it other than use it to launch games.

Don't forget you need to restart the game for the mods to load, other than that it is: subscribe -> let steam download the mod -> start Automation -> you have the mod.