DESIGN: How should mods be loaded/used?

[Maquiladora]

Perhaps this was the idea already, but I think the load scenario option should be used only for saved game scenarios, since it seems quite limited, and the userprofile.txt "rulesets=" option can be used for any mods without saved games.

Right now (AFAIK) all the ruleset option needs is a way to use it in-game. Perhaps a "Load Mod" button on the main screen at the bottom, and it searches for all valid ctp2_data-like folders and gives you a list to choose from. Then the game restarts with the new mod loaded.

Also using a ruleset folder you can change everything in the game, including fonts and changes to the main menus. Those things can't be modified with a scenario at the moment.

[Ekmek]

i'd go with load mod. it works for civ4

[EPW]

Nah, expand the scenario option so it can load everything. Of course, you couldn't have a unique main-screen, but its not exactly critical.

[Maquiladora]

What if you want to load a scenario for a mod though? Like Hex's Lord of the Rings scenario he made for Cradle.

[EPW]

You just make a sub-folder without the save game in it.

[temporaryuser]

a separate .exe which uses the cmd prompt to install the changes of the mod you chose and runs the game. When you quit, it un-installs everything back. It was like that with a mod for civ3 called Ancient Mediterranean If I'm not mistaken. It worked pretty well.

Should be easy to do, I think, easier than expanding scenario possibilities.
But then again I don't know sh*t about modding

[Martin Gühmann]

a separate .exe which uses the cmd prompt to install the changes of the mod you chose and runs the game. When you quit, it un-installs everything back. It was like that with a mod for civ3 called Ancient Mediterranean If I'm not mistaken. It worked pretty well.

Should be easy to do, I think, easier than expanding scenario possibilities.
But then again I don't know sh*t about modding

We already have that, and only one of them, but two. One is called ModSwapper and the other one is called ModManager.

But those two aren't very comfortable, since they are external programs, more comfortable would it be to have an internal mod manager, one that also cares on scenario incompatibilities.

In fact, we will use the scenario approach, the ModSwapper approach maybe with putting it inside the executable and the rule set approach, since everything is there.

-Martin