Latest patch, mods & current game

[Nitram Draw]

JB,
I had the same confusion over the order and compatibility of different mods.
I decided to use the TDM mod as the base mod because they did not add anything to the game that was not already in there. The TDM Mod pack affects a lot of areas in the standard races and gives a few new races. In the readme file they explain exactly what areas they tweaked on the races.
Other mods, God Emperors racemod and Sun Devils angermod come to mind, change specialized areas of the AI. If they change an area that is unmodified by an insatlled patch then the order you install them is not important. When both mods change the same file you have to make a choice.
The ones that you really need to pay attention to are mods that add new techs, weapons, etc. You may overwrite a file that is needed to make them work if you add mods in the wrong order.
Read the readme files carefully and try them out. Most of them are great.

[God Emperor]

Jon,
My research mod essentially changes the order in which the AI researches certain techs (in order to ensure that follow on techs are researched immediately) and also fixes some ommissions. As a result, the file does not impact upon any other data files and is safe to use with any other "tweak" mods (as opposed to those mods that introduce new technology areas).

My DesignCreation mod however includes the TechAreas data file, as it requires point defence to be available at game start. Again, it is compatible with any "tweak" mods that do not have changed TechAreas or DesignCreation files.

I have reviewed the mod pack Research, DesignCreation and TechAreas files and have concluded that my files can be used to overwrite them as they are "later Versions" which go beyond mod pack.

Similarly, I believe this to be the case for Sundevils mod which tweaks the Anger and Politics files, and which again does not impact on any other files that may have been tweaked.

Sundevil, Pathfinder, Mephisto, can you comment any further?

[Mephisto]

Mmm, I can add a "compatibility file" to the TDM_MOD that list all other MODs that can be added. In this case it would be required to sent me these MODs to my email but don't forget a Version number for your Mod!

[ June 27, 2002, 09:36: Message edited by: [K126]Mephisto ]

[javaslinger]

Would it be possible to 'elect' a supreme Mod chairman that could compile all 'approved' mods into one file to allay any fears of overwriting and ensure compatibility between mods.

So that instead of getting the Modpack, God emporers mod, Sun Devils mod, the tech tree mod, the research mod, and the (take a quick breath), the sound mod, we could just get one comprehensive mod???

I realize that all modders would have to approve of their mods being included and perhaps mildly altered to ensure no overwriting.

this however seems to be the best way to do this in my mind. And I feel like it would appear that there is enough friendly brotherhood between modders that this might not be a problem.

Thoughts?

Ken

[Daynarr]

Well, at the moment the God Emperors mod conflicts with the Xi'Chung research files. Also, in the near future I will be working on 5 more default races and that will cause even more conflicts.

[Dubious]

What's really needed is a "difference engine": a tool which would take a modder's files (which would only have their mods and nothing else; i.e. only their "differences") and MERGE them with the existing files in the ModPack directory or if there is no existing file by copying the original and then merging.

A more sophisticated Version would compare the ModPack directory files with the original files first, and if the merging mods would replace something which was not in the original, prompt for which to use: the old mod or the new one.

It might be necessary to establish a format for modder difference files to be able to "designate" a component which is to be replaced or removed or simply added, but that should be fairly simple with keywords such as "REPLACE title" or "ADD title AFTER title" or "DELETE title". (I haven't gotten into modding as yet, so I don't know all the ramifications.) But with the work going on to make the modding process easier, this should be fairly easy to implement.

-Dubious-

------------------
"All sources are dubious until their reliabilty has been repeatedly proven. Even then their information should be independently verified." - The unwritten "spooks handbook"

[This message has been edited by Dubious (edited 08 March 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Dubious (edited 08 March 2001).]

[God Emperor]

Daynarr, I will delete my XiChung files to ensure compatibility, if you believe that your XiChung_Research file has fixed the Tech follow-on problems....Any thoughts on the four tech item queue problem?

Javaslinger,
I agree with your idea and ask whether the mod-pack crew would be happy to take on the role you were suggesting...

Alternatively, maybe Malfador could do this, particularly for the "tweaking" mods.


[This message has been edited by God Emperor (edited 08 March 2001).]

[raynor]

I'm pretty new to modding. But aren't many mods incompatible with each other since they change different settings to customize the game according to the preferences of a particular person? Isn't that why you have to pick a mod that is the closest match to what you want out of the game?

I have looked at a few of the data files and have a couple of questions. Would it be fair to say that any mod that modifies files in these directories would be generally incompatible with the TDM Mod? Indeed, wouldn't two mods that modify anything in these directories be incompatible with each other probably?

1. se4\data
2. se4\ai
3. se4\pictures\races directories specific to each mod

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by raynor (edited 08 March 2001).]

[Daynarr]

Any mod that changes Se4\Data (although I strongly recommend changing that data in a different manner, like SE4\Mymod\Data, so that original data remains intact) should be compatible with ModPack.
The modes dealing with SE4\Pictures\races will, most likely, be incompatible.
Se4\AI has some changes in it (like Default_AI_Planet_Types.txt) but should be pretty safe to mod otherwise (at least for now).
The complete list of files moded can be found in the readme files that come with the pack (they are in the Se4\ModPack folder).

[This message has been edited by Daynarr (edited 08 March 2001).]

[Mephisto]

I already volunteered to check other MODs for compatibility but that is not as easy as it sounds. First of all, what is compatible? Just not overwriting the ModPack files? Or should the ModPack races use these altered files? What about people who don't want to install the sound patch?

Nevertheless, Modders, sent me your files and I will make a "compatibility list".