World Factory & Mod Manager

[hardcore]

So I’m reading Developer Diary and don’t quite see the point of World Factory & Mod Manager features.

World Factory is basically just an option to have multiple “save” folders, something people can do manually right now. Only, why would anyone want to play more than one character in the same time?

Mod Manager is similarly just an option to use multiple JSON files, also something people can do manually right now. Did we really need to hire a programmer for such simple and unnecessary features?

[youtoo]

is this lazycat?

[i2amroy]

is this lazycat?

I’m getting that kind of vibe too.

[GlyphGryph]

Current evidence points to “no”. If you do think it’s him, commenting about it is still the wrong response - just send a report.

[hardcore]

The question here is what’s the point or importance of World Factory & Mod Manager. Who wants that, why? Can’t they simply copy and/or rename their JSON files and “save” folders manually? Are there even any mods to be used with Mod Manager at all?

[GlyphGryph]

When it is completed, both Classic Zombie mode and DinoCataclysm will become “official mods” and use the new mod functionality while shipping with the core game. It will also be easy to download mods online, and there are plans to set up a central repository to aid in this. Players will be able to have multiple characters existing in multiple worlds simultaneously, with a minimum amount of effort, and there will be options so they can tweak and customize each individual world in several ways to achieve more variety in their play experience.

The ability to turn the world into a giant megacity, for example, has been oft-requested, and is now possible.

Beyond the Classic mode and DinoCataclysm mods, there are not currently any others likely to be included with the game - but the groundwork is there, which should encourage people to build more.

[youtoo]

hardcore: Sorry for typecasting you.

The impression I am getting is … this project has had over 100 people work on it part time. So the code probably isn’t too uniform and its getting difficult to enhance. The hirhttp://smf.cataclysmdda.com/Themes/princetheme/images/bbc/glow.gifed developer is doing the refactoring of the code to make it easier for people to enhance. This requires a complete re-write of the underlying framework. Its not really practical to do this part time, unless you will stop all other development.

So the goals seem to be:

1. Add Jsons to make it easier for people to add content. Don’t need to be a coder
2. Add a mod manager so you can pick and choose your mods. This way we don’t have to have votes on which mods to include since no one will like everything
3. World Factory: I am curious about this one myself. People may want to share worlds. I have a hunch there is other stuff based on this. Would be curious what the guys have to say about this. I think its ‘plumbing code changes so we can do other cool stuff’.

He is doing the lame stuff the other guys don’t want to do.

[hardcore]

[quote=“youtoo, post:7, topic:2984”]hardcore: Sorry for typecasting you.

Don’t be too haste to apologize, I still think that guy is actually me.[/quote]

I’m pretty sure I’m not you.

[GalenEvil]

Deleted the LazyCat…

[i2amroy]

hardcore: Sorry for typecasting you.

Agreed, I apologize as well.

As for the cool things about mod manager/world factory:

1. Mod manager allows easy selection of mods for those who aren’t used to editing JSON files.
2. World Factory allows easy switching between worlds, potentially with each world having it’s own mods attached.

The cool thing about this is it removes the need for people to switch out JSONs/save files, and yes, it does require quite a bit of work since both things require a fair bit of work to integrate properly with the mainstream. Also keep in mind that this is not the only reason GalenEvil was hired, but rather one of many (such as z-levels, which is what I’m really looking forwards too).

[hardcore]

When it is completed, both Classic Zombie mode and DinoCataclysm will become "official mods" and use the new mod functionality while shipping with the core game. It will also be easy to download mods online, and there are plans to set up a central repository to aid in this.

So some guy will add five new types of weapons, the other guy will add or modify ten types of monsters, and perhaps such modified JSON files will pop up every several months or so where about 2% of people will care about it. They could download those files and put them in the game folder in about 20 seconds, they don’t really need Mod Manager for that.

Players will be able to have multiple characters existing in multiple worlds simultaneously, with a minimum amount of effort, and there will be options so they can tweak and customize each individual world in several ways to achieve more variety in their play experience.

Did you ever hear anyone wants to play in multiple worlds “simultaneously”? They could manage their different game “save” folders as easy as is save scumming, they don’t really need World Builder for that.

The ability to turn the world into a giant megacity, for example, has been oft-requested, and is now possible.

That feature exist without either World Factory or Mod Manager, it doesn’t justify or require them.

[kevin.granade]

hardcore, what is the point of all of this arguing? This was decided pre-Kickstarter and outlined then as one of the Kickstarter goals, it’s quite late now to be questioning it.

As it’s being implemented as part of the Kickstarter, we’re obligated to deliver it in a way we are not by any other kind of feature. No matter what you think about it, and even if you did convince us it’s a bad idea for some nebulous “you can already do this by shuffling around files” reason, we still have an obligation to deliver on it, so arguing about it is completely pointless.

[hardcore]

Just because you have already climbed on to a roof doesn’t mean you really need to jump now.

You can throw World Factory out of the window, no one needs that, so use that time to start working on z-levels. And for Mod Manager all you have to do is make some menu that would load certain variables from JSON files and represent them to user as a list of options, thus making it easy for people not only to pick their mods from within the game, but also edit them or create new. That’s what I expected Mod Manager is going to be about and I think other people expect that too.

[kevin.granade]

What part of “contractual obligation” do you not understand?

[youtoo]

its not like there taking a year to work on this… its been what a month since the development started?

if you want z-levels, download the source from github. wouldn’t surprise me if the z-levels will be dependent on the world factory.

the people who spent cash and paid for the kickstarter did so based on the things that were outlined. changing after taking cash will make it much harder to get another kickstarter. you need to show reliability.

world factor is a greater idea for the less tech savvy people and its the kind of feature that will expand the community. it probably also is one of the many ‘code cleanups’ that will make the game easier to enhance in the future. devs correct me if im wrong.

i dont get the point to this guys complaints. the game is free…

[hardcore]

What part of "contractual obligation" do you not understand?

The part where there is no any contract. Do you understand people have no idea what to expect? If there is was a contract with precisely outlined features there wouldn’t be a problem and I wouldn’t need to be asking my question in the first place.

[Rivet]

Kickstarters always include a contract.

But it’s always easier to complain than to act isn’t it? Or so most people seem to think.

The game is, was, and always will be free and open source and thus, complaints are rendered moot when you can freely download the game and edit it to your heart’s content.

Then again a bit of whining can be a good thing in an odd way; if not for whining and some of our more entitled-acting forum trolls, I likely wouldn’t have ended up working on the game - I started doing so in order to be able to point out that it’s as easy to fix the problems as it is to complain about them. Then I started really having fun with it and kept on adding stuff, but that’s beside the point.

[Protester]

[quote=“youtoo, post:15, topic:2984”]its not like there taking a year to work on this… its been what a month since the development started?

if you want z-levels, download the source from github. wouldn’t surprise me if the z-levels will be dependent on the world factory.

the people who spent cash and paid for the kickstarter did so based on the things that were outlined. changing after taking cash will make it much harder to get another kickstarter. you need to show reliability.

world factor is a greater idea for the less tech savvy people and its the kind of feature that will expand the community. it probably also is one of the many ‘code cleanups’ that will make the game easier to enhance in the future. devs correct me if im wrong.

i dont get the point to this guys complaints. the game is free…[/quote]

EVERYTHING I WANT IN THIS GAME IS NOT IN THIS GAME, FIX IT NOW!!!

ah people are getting really impatient these days, that or children are getting on the internet more. Both?

[youtoo]

the game is open source and free. there is a z level thread in the mod forum. go there. then ask how they are planning on implementing z levels.

download the source code. start working on z levels. upload your code to github. then work with developers to get it incorporated.

we will all thank you later. if not, then sit patiently and wait.