Adding user configurable file to MW5 mods

[cryostriker]

*edit* sorry for the link instead of a picture but teh nexus forum is being a pain at letting me add image links for some reason. so just jump to that for the blueprint

This guide will focus on the basics of how to add and load a simple key->value pair config file to your mod so that users can pick values that can influence behaviour in your mod blueprints. This will give users the power to use your mod to customise their experience to their liking and avoid the whole modname_XYZ and modname_no-ABC as optional files with pre-baked versions of mods for different flavours. This will save you publishing time and ensure the end user gets exactly what they want out of your mod.

1. First things first is where will this file go? There is a utility function that handles fetching the path to the config directory called [Victory Paths Config Dir]. According to the tooltip, this will return the path InstallDir/GameName/Saved/Config although in the editor it actually seems to return MechWarrior5Editor/MWMercs/Config as you can see in the watched value below. I'm currently unsure where this will load on the live game the two possibles seem to be MW5Mercs/MW5Mercs/Config and MW5Mercs/MW5Mercs/Saved/Config. I'll update this guide when I'm sure. For now we'll use the editor folder. at MechWarrior5Editor/MWMercs/Config.



2.Create a text file in the directory (I used MissionDataOverrides.config).

3. Add the nodes from the following blueprint

https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/images/2

4. That's it! Just make sure your config lines match the names in the switch exactly and you can put any properties you like.

I'll update this with a breakdown of how it works tomorrow for a bit more detail, but honestly it's pretty self explanatory.

Edited January 22, 2020 by cryostriker