Mod Folder improvements

[bhaz 0]

Mod folders & addon installation

Current behaviour

Mod folders are loaded with the -mod=@MyAddon tag, and all files inside the @MyAddon/Addons folder are loaded. Everything else is ignored, and needs to be placed manually elsewhere.

Drawbacks & Inconvenience

Let's say you have ACE2, Unsung, Normandy, Undead etc/ and every other total conversion mod under the sun:

Not to mention having thousands of folders, everywhere, these mods have their own included (and community-made) missions, server keys and userconfig files - which all need to be manually placed in the corresponding folders. Even then, when mod @bacon isn't loaded, all its missions are still displayed on the selection screen regardless of dependency - and just throw out an error when selected. This would be fine if everyone followed Celery's naming convention (whose thread I can't actually find), but this isn't always the case.

Suggested behaviour

Allow the possibility for other subdirectories inside mod folders, or more specifically: Missions, MPMissions, userconfig and possibly Keys.

Any missions directly linked with and requiring the mod would be loaded only when the addon is activated, which would be a huge help for those with hundreds of mission files. Userconfigs could be included with the mod folder, which is mainly a minor inconvenience, but a small step to simplify the use of addons.

Feedback

Feel free to include your opinions and ideas - add to and take away, whether you think this is a good or bad idea, and any other rants your keyboard has to offer. :)

[CarlGustaffa 4]

+1 to this. Simply put it would be sweeeeet if I could prepare a mod folder which had absolutely everything needed, in an organized fashion. Not to mention how much better the Arma2 directory itself would look - get rid of all that mess.

[wolfbite 8]

I just put in an extra file in the mission folder for each set of missions e.g Gnat,MMA etc.... althought I gues it doesnt work with missions with a totaly random mix

[Gunter Severloh 4051]

I'm all for this, it would definatley allow for a mor organized setup for individual mods, everything self contained.

It would change the structure of a compilation mod like WarMod where there is 100+ addons/mods in one folder,

and the userconfig, data, and other folders in the main directory, I'm trying to think now if I this was implemented then

is it possible for 100+ addons/mods to work in a mod folder that contains all their own files?

From this point the game would have to be able to read not only the contents of the mod folder with its own files directly

related, but multiple mods. Maybe instead of mulitple -mod=@mod lines you could have one mod that can hold multiple mods in one folder,

like a group.

If you wanted a number of mods to work together you could narrow the target line down and make a group folder

where you can put all the mod folders into 1 folder for that group and then run it.

So you can have in your target line -mod=@group1 which has 10 mods, then add you ; and add another group this

way you can eliminate the 20 different mods from the shortcut, all minimized, then of course theres a mod launcher if you like that route.

But overall back to the original idea, how would the information be read by the game with all the files related to a

mod is self contained within its own mod folder?

When you download a mod now if this were implemented, Modders knowing this can setup their folder structure

so all you need to do is put the whole folder into the main Arma2 or whatever other game in the directory.

Or add it to a group folder.

[Zipper5 74]

This would be fine if everyone followed Celery's naming convention (whose thread I can't actually find)

He requested it un-sticky'd as no one follows it anymore. :rolleyes:

[bhaz 0]

He requested it un-sticky'd as no one follows it anymore. :rolleyes:

:( I always followed it to the letter, only problem being I've never released any of my missions.

... how would the information be read by the game with all the files related to a

mod is self contained within its own mod folder?

Exactly as it reads them now, I wasn't suggesting any different behavior in game - just a way to organize everything outside it.

Changes similar to this have been made in the past, back in ArmA1 they added the ability to put missions in my documents, underneath your profile's folder - whereas previously the game only looked in its own folder. It seems like a feature that would be relatively easy to include.

Edited October 22, 2010 by bhaz

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Same here, other than for a thousand single player test setups. It was a nice convention and helped identify the missions and addon use. The only reason to un-sticky it would be when everyone knew about how it was supposed to be done instead of vice versa :p

Maybe it's our own fault for not telling the new guys who make missions how everyone wants it to be? Ehh, can't even find the thread anymore...

Edited October 22, 2010 by CarlGustaffa

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

I have recently started using a temp solution, inspired by how CAA1 handles things. It keeps your ArmA 2 folder organized, but unfortunately if your using CO the lines are so long that you can only have 2 or 3 mods total enabled or the shortcut gets too long.

An example of my version is... "C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\C\Countries\United States\Addons"

We really do need an improved system.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Yeah, the too long target line puzzled me for a while. Can be solved though by creating a .cmd file which the shortcuts starts, where the .cmd file holds the actual startup line.