RELEASED Starloader - mod manager/loader for Starbound

How are you planning on merging thnings like player.config? Maybe in the mod.json there could be a section for things like recipes to be added, and the mod developer would have to put all of the recipes like they would in the original player.config file, and the mod manager could merge it?

 

I was planning to load all of the .config files (which are in JSON) and then recursively merge them in order. As in, use the first one (the one in /assets) as the base, and then extend it with the rest.

 

That sounds legit. Just out of curiosity, which file comparison library are you using?

 

I wasn't actually planning on using a file comparison library for that. Because I'm using JS, parsing and stringifying JSON is included in the standard library, so I load the JSON files to JS objects and then extend them in order.

 

Does the Starloader or Mods folder have to be placed in any particular location/folder name?
I've put the loader in a subfolder within the starbound directory called Starloader-release-win
And the mods folder called MyMods in the starbound folder.

Non of the mods appear to be working, even when creating new characters. I've tested also with your adminpick example.

The app appears to be doing everything it should, i've checked the MyMods folder and a json is in there along with the mod folder and all the assets. I'm just wondering if my first question is the reason why.

 

Can you paste your bootstrap.config from Starbound/win32?

 

The loader works with my admin pick mod. but it doesn't work with any other mod

 

{"assetSources":["../MyMods/pacn-adminpickaxe","../assets"],"storageDirectory":".."}

 

That's exactly what I have and I works for me.

If you want to install mods without modlaoder (which I think is easier) then just extract my mod to your Starbound folder.

 

At the moment you still have to add the player.config modifications to the original player.config file (or change the .../assets to load before the mod with the modified player.config). Once I push the update with player.config merging, that won't be necessary anymore.

 

Would adding a modified player.config file to the mod and repacking it also work then?

Edit: I'm going to give it a go now anyway and re-edit this post with result

Edit 2: Nope, no effect. I'm missing something...gonna root around.

 

Isn't the whole point of a mod loader to have player.config merging? At least it is for me.

 

It is. That's why he said in the next update he will hopefully of added that.

 

I got it working; I understand now what you mean by the player.config merging. It should be highlighted that the issue would only affect recipes. World gen stuff shouldn't get affected by this.

Edit: and starter items

 

Can you make it so we don't have to have a json file with our mods ?

EDIT: Still doesn't merge the player.config. It doesn't even overwrite the original one.

 

I don't think that feature is in yet. The instructions detail that you should add the lines manually for now.

Ive finalised the folder structure for my mods and uploaded to nexusmods. Just incase other modders adopt this structure.

Code:

/[modname].zip
  /mod.json
  /assets
    /player.config
    /mods
      /[modname]
        /items
        /recipes

 

Yeah, I haven't released the update yet. Still at work atm.

 

I just want to say at this point, that the approach to your loader is amazing and the work so far is worthy of recognition.

Your approach to mod load 'order', I've seen before in elder scrolls is certainly the way forward in regards to modding in games (all games, and for the future).

I personally will be using your mod loader for my development.

 

Updated (v1.1.0)!

Changelog

• Merging of any config files, such as player.config. When upgrading, please click "Refresh" in the "Mods" tab to add the default files (player.config and quests/quests.config) to the merged files. The files are merged automatically in the background. The files that you want to merge can be configured in the Options tab.
• You can now install mods without a mod.json file in them.
• Lots of bug fixes and structural changes to the code.

Download links can be found in the first post of this thread. The Mac version is temporarily unavailable due to some problems with the previous version that I haven't been able to solve yet due to not having a Mac to test with.

EDIT: Whoops, there appears to be a quite nasty bug there. Fixing in a sec.
EDIT2: Alright, fixed. The updated download links for the fixed version 1.1.1 are available in the first post of this thread.

 

There's a problem with the new update.

Something's wrong with the merging. The game doesn't load when the "_merged folder" is added to the bootstrap.config file.

I've shared a zip of the contents of my "_merged" folder.

I know the issue is with this folder because I removed the _merged folder from the bootstrap, and changed the load order so that the mod's player.config would overwrite the default player.config.

When I did that, it suddenly worked. The mod is the Craftable Instruments mod, though I modified that mod myself so the only added entry to the player.config is; { "item" : "instrumenttable" },