Home » SIRTECH CLASSICS » Jagged Alliance: Unfinished Business » Vanilla Modding » multiple mods
multiple mods[message #100716] Wed, 17 March 2004 01:51 Go to next message
FireMissiles is currently offline FireMissiles

 
Messages:31
Registered:February 2003
Location: UK
one of the things i've been thinking about is the ability to install multiple mods independant of each other, which is not possible with the current system. In UB the only real difference is in the maps because that is all that is in the campaigns folder (i believe correct me if i am wrong).

what we need to do is to put all the files for the mod, weapons, mercs, maps, speech etc etc etc in one place and get the program to load up the correct mod with the correct data.

I might be thinking ahead of myself at the moment but just wanted to bring this up now ehile i'm thinking about it (ie before i forget it again, darn brain).

F.

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Private 1st Class
Re: multiple mods[message #100717] Wed, 17 March 2004 11:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kaerar is currently offline Kaerar

 
Messages:2021
Registered:January 2003
Location: Australia :D
Make a frontend which loads before the JA2.exe This way you have different mods in self contained folders (albeit normal JA2 size and construction) and a selection of JA2 mods to choose from.

If you want to integrate it into the game go for it but lots of mods are incompatible because of the changes they have made to the exe.

I would have thought a stand alone frontend which loaded the correct exe from the correct ja2 install would be easier.

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Lieutenant

Re: multiple mods[message #100718] Wed, 17 March 2004 12:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
FireMissiles is currently offline FireMissiles

 
Messages:31
Registered:February 2003
Location: UK
don't we just want one exe and be able to put all these mods into it, instead of having a new exe for each mod, hey you might as well have a new install path and everything, we're trying to make it mod friendly, ie for people to just mod and not play about with the code and then be able to run whatever mod they feel like just by saying "that one please" and it have all the new guns, the new mercs, the new maps etc. but still being able to play another mod with it's data later without any unwanted data crossover.

as for the changes to the exe, if we can externalise all of the things that might be modded then we will only ever need the one.

F.

PS sorry for the bad grammar, lack of paragraphs no capital letters etc. i'm still in coding mode and my shift key tends to get ignored unless i'm using keywords, and there aren't any in this post.

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Private 1st Class
Re: multiple mods[message #100719] Thu, 25 March 2004 02:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mfx is currently offline mfx

 
Messages:5
Registered:March 2004
Location: Bavaria - Germany

Well, the reply might be a bit late but I already implemented this feature in my personal version. The mod is chosen via command line like /game mymod. Directories are DataMYMOD and SavedGamesMYMOD. If the requested data directory is not available, the game starts in normal mode.
At the moment it's nonsense, but if all data is stored outside the exe, it'll be perfect. The mod name is also stored in the savegame header, so additional checks can also be done.
Maybe this could be added to the ja2-board version.

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Private
Re: multiple mods[message #100720] Thu, 25 March 2004 05:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Rude Dog is currently offline Rude Dog

 
Messages:467
Registered:March 2001
Location: Chasing Pussy
How about an interface that lets you select which MOD you want to play and then the proper exe will run once the selection is made?

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Master Sergeant
Re: multiple mods[message #100721] Thu, 25 March 2004 06:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Folkewulf is currently offline Folkewulf

 
Messages:56
Registered:August 2003
Don't know if this will help. There is a program like that for Fallout 2. Fallout mod enabler. It's at the Duck and Cover website.

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Corporal
Re: multiple mods[message #100722] Thu, 25 March 2004 06:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Digicrab is currently offline Digicrab

 
Messages:253
Registered:December 2003

Gunsmith, send me the files; I'd like to take a look at them.

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Master Sergeant
Re: multiple mods[message #100723] Thu, 25 March 2004 06:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
KIA is currently offline KIA

 
Messages:92
Registered:November 2002
Location: Virginia (USA)
Isn't there a mod selection tool in UB? I'm pretty sure there is. Take a look at that and see if it can be incorporated into JA2 code.

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Corporal 1st Class
Re: multiple mods[message #100724] Thu, 25 March 2004 23:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kaerar is currently offline Kaerar

 
Messages:2021
Registered:January 2003
Location: Australia :D
Quote:
Originally posted by Rude Dog:
How about an interface that lets you select which MOD you want to play and then the proper exe will run once the selection is made?
Thats exactly what I was suggesting! Good thing is if all the tables etc are externalised then only a single exe will be needed. But a frontend similar to Max Payne would be useful as you can specify Mod X to run which is in the Mod X folders. If you want normal there is a normal selection etc. Just look at the way Max Payne handles it, or for another suggestion look at Ghost Recons mod selection scheme. Its not very user friendly but it is integrated into the game.

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Lieutenant

Re: multiple mods[message #100725] Thu, 25 March 2004 23:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mfx is currently offline mfx

 
Messages:5
Registered:March 2004
Location: Bavaria - Germany

Digicrab: send me your email address via pm or mail.
Btw. is it still possible to join the ja2 source code team?
Hmm.. I better ask this in the C programmers' thread Wink

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Private
Re: multiple mods[message #100726] Sun, 18 April 2004 03:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Lanfear is currently offline Lanfear

 
Messages:46
Registered:April 2004
Location: The Netherlands

IANACPY(I Am Not A C Programmer Yet), but perhaps a nice solution would be to be able to launch the game using a mod with special parameters for the ja2.exe, for example ja2.exe -mod /Mods/Modname, something like that. 1 exe is the way to go though...but it might be very difficult to externalize all the data in such a way that .exe hacking will be made completely unnecessary.

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Corporal
Re: multiple mods[message #100727] Sun, 18 April 2004 22:11 Go to previous message
Kurt is currently offline Kurt

 
Messages:420
Registered:March 2004
Why? Since external files override the existing ones, you can use several mods, chained, with ascending priority concerning redundant data:
If I load two meapon mods, the first containing weapons from 1 to 100, and the second only weapons from 1 to 10, the result would be that in the game, the first ten weapons of weaponmod1 would be replaced by those of weaponmod2.
Of course if I load weaponmod2 first, it will get completely overwritten by weaponmod1.

Make a nice litle GUI, with a list of all available mods (inside your "mods" directory), and the player will just have to drag & drop them into a window, to form the mixture he'd like to play.

A nice feature would be if that GUI tell the player what exactly is changed in each mod (maps, mercs, NPCs, weapons, graphics, dialogues, and so on): Just make the editor create a small list inside the modfile's header. The game launcher would quickly parse them on startup, while checking available mods.

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Master Sergeant
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