Minor ModManager revision

[J Bytheway]

I've made a small revision to ModManager (in fact, only the readme has changed, no changes to functionality). The main reason for this post is so that I can attach the new version and thus put it in the directory, but of course comments are welcome.

[Note: this version is obsolete, next version available just a few posts down - here]

[Fromafar]

Some things I noticed, but forgot to report for some time:[list=1][*]The setting "log operations to modman.log" seems to be ignored. Ticked or not, modman.log is always updated. [*]The program works correctly when it is placed and run in my Ctp2 directory, but gives a "Run-time error '380': Invalid property value" error when being placed and run in another (copy of the Ctp2, e.g. Ctp2.AOM) directory.[/list=1]

[Ekmek]

J bytheway,

Any chance that modmanager could be incorporated into the game itself. A select Mod button that would load the mod or something?

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by E
Any chance that modmanager could be incorporated into the game itself. A select Mod button that would load the mod or something?

Effectively, it already has been, by Fromafar. However, none of the existing mods support the new system, with the exception (I presume) of AOM (it was for AOM that Fromafar made his changes). However, I think that the mod must be passed on the command line - the problem with an in-game button is that really CTP2 needs to know which mod it's using before it loads anything (including the user interface).

So, the burden is now on the mod developers. It may well be possible to automate conversion of mods, but I don't see any urgent reason to - I think ModManager works quite well.

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Fromafar
Some things I noticed, but forgot to report for some time:[list=1][*]The setting "log operations to modman.log" seems to be ignored. Ticked or not, modman.log is always updated. [*]The program works correctly when it is placed and run in my Ctp2 directory, but gives a "Run-time error '380': Invalid property value" error when being placed and run in another (copy of the Ctp2, e.g. Ctp2.AOM) directory.[/list=1]

Thanks - I think I know the cause of the latter problem, and I'll investigate the former.

[J Bytheway]

OK, I think I've fixed both issues Fromafar raised - please tell me if they are still present. New version attached. Unfortunately I can't submit it to the directory yet, because my last submission is still unapproved.

Changes are:

- Fixed the same bug for NumPlayers as was fixed for MaxPlayers in v1.0.2
- Removed some logging that was being done even when logging was deactivated

[Note: This version is now obsolete too. The next version is attached to this post]

[Ekmek]

Originally posted by J Bytheway


Effectively, it already has been, by Fromafar. However, none of the existing mods support the new system, with the exception (I presume) of AOM (it was for AOM that Fromafar made his changes). However, I think that the mod must be passed on the command line - the problem with an in-game button is that really CTP2 needs to know which mod it's using before it loads anything (including the user interface).

So, the burden is now on the mod developers. It may well be possible to automate conversion of mods, but I don't see any urgent reason to - I think ModManager works quite well.

When did Fromafar do this? Is it described somewhere? That should definitly go in the manual. What needs to be done to get CTC and Cradle compatible?

[Fromafar]

More or less in revision 334. Not much of a description, though.

When you have this revision and run the game once, userprofile.txt will have been expanded with a new 'RuleSets' line. On this line, you may add a list of directories that are searched before the regular ..\..\ctp2_data directory when looking for files.

Example: when testing AOM with the playtest version, I have something like

RuleSets=..\..\Mods\AOM;..\..\Ctp2_orig_data

to look in the AOM data first, next in the original Activision data, and finally (probably never with this setup) in the modified playtest data.

[Fromafar]

Originally posted by J Bytheway
OK, I think I've fixed both issues Fromafar raised - please tell me if they are still present.

The logging switch is working now. The other problem is still present. Symptoms, using XP professional SP2:

Starting with a bare setup (only unzipped modman.exe).
No modman.ini, no modman.log, no mods subdirectory.

Upon execution, a first popup appears: ModManager found no mods, and asks me whether it should search for ModSwapper mods. In the explorer window, I can see that an empty mods subdirectory has been created. No other files yet.

Pressing No leads to the reported "Run-time error '380': Invalid property value" error. A modman.ini and modman.log are created, mods stays empty.
Pressing Yes leads to the same error. Modman.ini and modman.log are created, 4 files are created in the mods directory.

The contents of modman.log are

ModManager log
2005-05-05
13:54:12

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Fromafar
The logging switch is working now. The other problem is still present.

Thanks for the careful bug report . Here's another attempt at a fix. Changes this time:

- Fixed possible crashes caused by NumPlayers or MaxPlayers being too small
- Added more languages to dropdown list
- Added some more logging

If this still crashes, then could you again post modman.log (which should be slightly more informative now) and also supply your userprofile.txt. Thanks.

[Edit: uploaded new attachment with correct version number on the executable]

[Fromafar]

Problem solved. It now works in any directory .

[nitpick]The modman.exe file version is still 1.0.0.3, so you may want to rename the zip file before putting it in the Apolyton directory.[/nitpick]

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Fromafar
[nitpick]The modman.exe file version is still 1.0.0.3, so you may want to rename the zip file before putting it in the Apolyton directory.[/nitpick]

Ah! Thanks for noticing that . I can't help but feel there should be some easy way to automatically correlate all three places where I put the version number, because I have trouble remembering to update them all... Perhaps I can get the status bar to extract the version number from the executable...

[Ekmek]

Originally posted by Fromafar
More or less in revision 334. Not much of a description, though.

When you have this revision and run the game once, userprofile.txt will have been expanded with a new 'RuleSets' line. On this line, you may add a list of directories that are searched before the regular ..\..\ctp2_data directory when looking for files.

Example: when testing AOM with the playtest version, I have something like

RuleSets=..\..\Mods\AOM;..\..\Ctp2_orig_data

to look in the AOM data first, next in the original Activision data, and finally (probably never with this setup) in the modified playtest data.

Fromafar this sounds great but I have two questions:

1) With this feature does it work with saved games? Say I download a Cradle or CTC mof (like from the Succession game) and I have CTC as a scenario folder wil I be able to lad this save game now without having to install the mod in my main directory (I'm assuming yes but not sure if you tested it)

2) You said something that modders have to make the mod compatible with this feature. What needs to be done? I'm willing to help make some mod patches.

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by E
2) You said something that modders have to make the mod compatible with this feature. What needs to be done? I'm willing to help make some mod patches.

I think that what is needed is something like this:

The files of the mod need to be put in their own directory tree, seperate from ctp2_data, and at least some will need to be renamed so that the game can find them (at least *_gamefile.txt, *_Great_Library.txt and *_newsprite.txt need their prefixes removed).

[J Bytheway]

OK, I've replaced the attachment above with one where the executable reports v1.0.0.4, as it should (but with no other alterations, so it's probably not worth downloading again), and I've submitted an amendment to the link in the directory.