Re: The Patch!
Talenn's problem (integrating modified items into patched data files such as Components.txt) led me to think about this matter (since I plan on creating modified or completely new data files).
As I see it, there are three ways to mod (restricted to Components for simplicity of this discussion; of course other things can be mod-ed): (1) create new components, (2) modify existing components, (3) delete unwanted components.
(1) is fairly simple: just add in your new items to the updated file. The only real complication is placing your items where you want them to appear relative to other items, since the file order seems reflected in the build/display order in the game. A possible solution would be naming the component which the new one would appear before or after.
To make (2) easier, the SE program could be modified to only allow one Version of a named component. So, when it reads in Component.txt, it compares each entry to all that have come before. If it encounters the same name ("Depleted Uranium Cannon I" for example), it replaces the previously read data with the new data (this is pretty easy to do - currently it just adds a new entry with the same name, but with the new stats.)
(3) can currently (and clumsily) be done by externally searching for what you don't want allow, and deleting those items. This could be automated by having a "Delete" entry that looks for the specified name among the earlier-read Component.txt entries and "forgets" the ones specified.
If this were done, mod-ers could just add their mod (add/modify/delete) items to the end of the updated data files, and these items would supersede the data from the Last patch. These "change" files could be updated for newer Versions of the data files with relatively minor changes.
Anyway, these are just my thoughts on possible solutions for what they're worth.
Wendell
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