Standardization

[ICERAY2000]

It would be helpful if there was more standardization in the MOD presentation files; for instance:

* all 'readme.txt' files should NOT be named that, as they overwrite each other upon decompression.

*How about the MOD name always be part of the file name?

*How about agreeing where the MOD files decompress to; it still seems to be hit-or-miss; files end up in \data\data, etc.

*Since FOSE and FOMM (sorry for initials) are so standard, why not a standard packaging utility?

*Your ideas here?

Just trying to make the modding experience less error prone and time consuming so we can all play the game more!

Thanks.

[ArdoMel03]

It would be helpful if there was more standardization in the MOD presentation files; for instance:

* all 'readme.txt' files should NOT be named that, as they overwrite each other upon decompression.

*How about the MOD name always be part of the file name?

*How about agreeing where the MOD files decompress to; it still seems to be hit-or-miss; files end up in \data\data, etc.

*Since FOSE and FOMM (sorry for initials) are so standard, why not a standard packaging utility?

*Your ideas here?

Just trying to make the modding experience less error prone and time consuming so we can all play the game more!

Thanks.

 

 

I 100% agree, but the problem with this is FMOD's from what i understand are a pain to make, its a lot easier to upload a few esm files with some textures than it is to make it all compiled into an FMOD(as far as i know, i am far from ANY kind of expert on it) so moders get the mods out faster by simply uploading the esm/esp files rather than waiting and taking god knows how long figuring out how to fmod it.

 

I personally one day would like to see all mods uploaded into eather esm/esp format with a .bsa file(instead of all textures and meshes cluttering my folders) and or, Fmod formats, that said how ever i do not expect this, but still appreciate the hard work(or quick work for some people's cases) of the modders giving me all the awesome content to make me kill my Fallout 3/New Vegas so i have to reinstall every now and then :)

[WuphonsReach]

FOMOD files were dead easy to make.

 

Edit the XML file, name your ESP file, name your readme as "Readme - filename.txt", then stuff it into a ZIP file. The version of FOMM that I used had no problems reading such a beast (but I wasn't doing anything advanced like optional components or texture/sound installs). I had a batch file that would update my FOMOD-like ZIP files whenever I'd run the .cmd file.

 

zip -u RandomizedSkillbooks.zip fomod\*.xml

cd Src
zip -u ..\RandomizedSkillbooks.zip *
cd ..

pause

 

(Look for the Info-ZIP utility on Google. The "Src" folder is just where I keep the ESP and ReadMe files in my version control directory.)

[Quetzlsacatanango]

As I said in another thread, if you don't like how I do things, no one's making you use it.

Why are you extracting the readme? Not necessary. And if it overwrites, so what. You have it in the archive, and on the dl page.

You can name the file whatever you want when you download it. If you're too lazy to, why should I not be?

You open the archive, drop the esp + folders into your data folder. If the modder included the data folder, you open it before you do step 1.

Sounds like *you* want to play the game more while modmakers spend their time trying to make it so you don't have to do anything.

[JimboUK]

If the top file is "data" then drop it in the games root folder, if the top file is "meshes" ect then drop it in "Data" folder, it's not that hard to figure out.

[Luckmann]

readme.txt have been standard since.. what..? 1988?

 

Also, I can (maybe) understand the use of FOMOD and such in very complicated mods. But to tell the truth, provided that the author have provided regular pathing structures in his .rar, I honestly don't see the need.

 

1) Take directory.

2) Drop into \data\ or \Fallout New Vegas\, depending.

3) Profit.

 

There's not even a '???'.

[gameoverman]

I never extract anything into a common folder. Anything extracted gets extracted into a temporary holding folder. That way nothing overwrites anything and I can easily see what's included in the download. So how someone goes about naming things is a non issue to me.

 

As far as standardizing mod unpacking, well people put their game installs in whatever folder they choose, the mod maker can't count on all game installs being the same. This is another reason why it's better to unpack stuff to a folder of your choice. You can copy it from there to where you think it goes for your specific game installation and don't have to worry if the mod maker got the path right or not.

 

I think it's more important for mod users to do their homework and learn how to install and run various kinds of mods. I think it's better to do that then become dependent on others making it a no brainer. I know that as a mod user, I'm just glad people are making something cool, I don't mind doing the grunt work of getting it to work in my game. As a (former) mod maker, I know I never went about creating anything with the priority "I better make this really easy for the players". I'm always happy to answer questions afterwards, but the creation part was about what worked best for me.

[WuphonsReach]

(shrugs) It's not that hard to name your ReadMe file "ReadMe - yourmodname.txt", which ensures that it's a one-click install with FOMM (or whatever the equivalent is in New Vegas). I'm at a loss why you would not want to take the extra 5 seconds to prevent conflicts from other mods.

 

You'll also get a lot fewer support requests if your mod can be easily installed by the major mod managers. In FO3, that meant packaging things in the ZIP file in a sensible manner that matched what FOMM was looking for. If it was truly complex, then you'd create the FOMOD directory and the XML file.

[ICERAY2000]

readme.txt have been standard since.. what..? 1988?

 

Also, I can (maybe) understand the use of FOMOD and such in very complicated mods. But to tell the truth, provided that the author have provided regular pathing structures in his .rar, I honestly don't see the need.

 

1) Take directory.

2) Drop into \data\ or \Fallout New Vegas\, depending.

3) Profit.

 

There's not even a '???'.

While you are correct that readme.txt files have been around for decades, the difference here is that the readme's that you refer to were not dumped into a shared folder, but were set into their own unique folder along with the programs to which they referred; here we have ALL the readme's going into the same \Data folder, and overwriting the previous one. In this case, where a common folder is shared for many MODs, it's just common sense to give them a unique name. Someone else suggested that it's no problem since they are in the ZIP and online, but that is just the essence of the problem; if they had a properly formatted name, you wouldn't need to open a ZIP or fire up your browser, you could just click and read it. Lazy? No, respectful; perhaps that's a lost concept these days, but compare the single effort it takes to just give the readme a unique name when creating it, compared to all the efforts needed by every player to locate, open and read the file; fix it once, use it always; easy concept.

As for the drag n drop you refer to, you identify the very problem that frustrates so many users: "provided that the author have provided <<regular pathing structures>> in his .rar," This is hardly the case. I have many times gotten bad results from just trusting the ZIP/RAR skills of a modder, and I get \Data\Fallout3\data\modname\texture, etc. Having played Oblivion for years I am completely gunshy of all MOD pathing structures, and dump every one into a temp folder first to prevent them from trashing my file structure. Having a well-named readme is part of that as well. You know as well as anyone that the pathing structure is not immediately evident in the program's display in default mode. I say don't trust it, extract it elsewhere first.

[ICERAY2000]

Sounds like *you* want to play the game more while modmakers spend their time trying to make it so you don't have to do anything.

 

You can't be serious - for the minuscule time it would take to uniquely name a readme file you are trying to claim that is just too much work for the modder to handle? Versus the thousands of users that have to do it for them? How hard is it for the mod creator to type "readme-mod1234.txt" Really. Finally I would say that one of the primary goals of a modder is in fact "spending their time so that the user doesn't have to do anything but play it and enjoy it." That's why they write the MODs. For us. To enjoy. So we don't have to. I personally couldn't write a MOD if my life depended on it, so I use theirs, and I try to help by providing feedback, and expressing my appreciation for what they do, and enjoying the hell out of the great ones.