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RavenLure

How I wish it was

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I love unlimited but the mods are a pita..... why can there not be something to make it easier...like having things pre-installed.. like the different client mods.. when we  want or need we can go and check the box of a mod we like and it will unlock that mod....then upon relogging the mod will be activated...or does that make too much sense??

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This is something Keenan said back in 2017, I have no idea whether  it still reflects current plans:

 

>>As for Steam Workshop - yes it's a wishlist item. We do have someone working on a mod API when they are available, but it is not a high priority item at this time.

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I think it should be bumped up on the list now..I mods seem to be my Kryptonite..for me and it takes me alot of time to get them in right..and I hate tiptoing through programming.. I loose a lot of game play time with them and some sanity.

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what is the problem to upload a mod as server admin?

Edited by Eject

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On 1/14/2019 at 6:37 AM, Eject said:

what is the problem to upload a mod as server admin?

LOL real life just got a bit real and I moved and now I am back. I just think there should be a better way to do mods. It is a pita. I can load them but just want something easier and less downloading then putting them in the correct file folder.. I drop down menu  and you can check which  mods you want or uncheck them if you change your mind. it would be a lot easier.

 

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On 1/7/2019 at 10:21 PM, Brash_Endeavors said:

This is something Keenan said back in 2017, I have no idea whether  it still reflects current plans:

 

>>As for Steam Workshop - yes it's a wishlist item. We do have someone working on a mod API when they are available, but it is not a high priority item at this time.

May poke him...

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I agree with some of this.

 

I'm an experienced programmer in C, C++, and PHP mostly... but finding it excessively difficult to get into the Java realm, and particularly Wurm modding. Too many aspects just get significantly complicated, or simply don't work in practise. What could help significantly is an experienced modder (ago/bdew?) set up a clean base mod project that "just works ™" out of the box with the community favourite IDE (Intellij IDEA?), and publish it on Github for other modders to start with. This could provide us with a clean and consistent foundation to work from, and may attract more of us into modding.

 

That being said though from a player or server OP point of view I don't find installing mods very difficult at all. Sure it could be easier for players that are less tech savvy though compared to Minecraft for example we're in a significantly better position, which is literally hours of hell with every update. Even when WU updates come out 99% of the mods that exist still work perfectly, and those needing an update are picked up relatively quickly be that by the original author or an experienced modder. (This community has done very well so far with regards to modding, with particular people deserving a huge amount of credit.)

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On 5/26/2019 at 9:59 AM, Adambean said:

I don't find installing mods very difficult at all.

As a complete non-coder, I ran into several difficulties installing mods because 

- I didn't understand that client mods go someplace totally different than server mods

- I didn't understand that some mods for server have almost identical names to some for client

- Some mods zip files contain a mods folder, so must be unzipped into the root directory, while others do not and must be unzipped into the mods folder.  This can lead to the problem of having a mods folder within the mods folder -- very hard for newbies to know to look for that

- Some mods don't generate a config file until after the first time you start the modded game

- Some mods don't come with a properties or config file at all, and we need to scramble to find someone with a copy they're willing to share

 

None of these is problematic for me anymore, but each of them had me pulling my hair out at one time or another, before I figured out how to deal with them.  

?

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Hi Batta, sorry I forgot your response there.

 

You're right that mods aren't as simple to install as say Steam Workshop items, which are pretty much 1-click jobs. It does require some mediocre computing skills to immediately understand what is what. For example to me it was obvious that client mods go on my computer and server mods go on my server, but without a written instruction, guide, or explanation of some kind I appreciate that some people may assume that client mods still go on the server and are distributed to players when they connect to their server.

 

Mods sometimes (or not) containing a "mods" folder is just inconsistency among the mod authors. This is why a common shared base project could help, as it could push mod developers into using a common agreed standard. (Of course not everyone likes this and has a "my way or no way" attitude but the majority wouldn't change a working base given to them.)

 

The same goes for configs. Personally I think that mod authors should provide a configuration file with their work and not leave it until the first run for then to be produced. This just requires pointless extra restarts for the server ops.

 

I would also advocate that the default configuration be provided as a ".default" or ".properties.dist" file instead of ".properties" for the benefit of server ops, leaving us with the expectation that we are to copy ".default" to ".properties" to start using the mod and configure it. It would also mean that a) if we've temporarily disabled a mod by renaming ".properties" to ".disabled" then downloading a mod update won't re-enable it implicitly, and b) there is a copy of the default settings we can refer to and compare with, which is particularly useful in a diff program to compare any new/changed default configurations with our own.

 

I've never come across a mod that doesn't either provide a properties file AND not generate one on its first run. That just seems like an oversight from the mod author, whom should be contacted to rectify their distribution package.

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Suggestion: 

 

To get  more activity to this, maybe rename the thread like "Need Steam Mod Workshop" or something. There are so many threads and keyword searches help ppl find related comments/thoughts

 

Also, try posting on the official discord about this to stir real time conversation about it 

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3 hours ago, Adambean said:

I've never come across a mod that doesn't either provide a properties file AND not generate one on its first run. That just seems like an oversight from the mod author, whom should be contacted to rectify their distribution package.

Scriptrunner and serverpacks currently come without properties/config files, and they don't generate new ones when you start the server.  We are sharing around existing copies for those who did a fresh install and no longer have theirs.

EDIT:  I suppose I should post that on the server modlauncher page.  Off to do that now.

Edited by Batta

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steam workshop idea is interesting, it would probably work for client side mods but since most people host a server not on their personal pc then it probably won't help with server mods. If people use a dedicated server box they could log on to steam on it and use workshop that way, if they use a host that is a shared machine with web interface then workshop may not help unless the hosts put in ability to use it as well.

Either way the wurm devs would need to add it to the workshop so it would be their decision to make.

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Workshop applies equally to clients and servers.

  • From a player's perspective they would use it to choose their own mods such as live map, sort mod, etc.
  • For a server op's perspective they would use it not only for mods they want running on their server, but also mods they want (or do not want) clients to be running.

I doubt the 2nd part of the servers point would be almost out of the question unless WU were to split into a separate launcher and client binaries, as once the client is running and in the server browser it's too late to load in (or take out) any mods the server demands. Most other games doing this don't have this problem as there isn't any binary modification/patching required.

 

This of course would very likely require Ago's modding frameworks (or a similar official implementation) to be part of WU as standard.

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I have not had a problem with client mods, but I have not managed to make server mods work.

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