Starbound Mod Manager [Deleted]

Darn. I knew it wouldn't be that simple. Been getting sidetracked by my family a lot these past couple days, what with Christmas coming up soon and haven't had as much time as I'd like to go bug hunting. You have given me the most helpful info so far, though, and once I get some time to sit down and run it on a VM, I should be one step closer to tracking this one down.

 

After experimenting with several mods (Builderdevice, vanitystation, craftable merchant spawners) I found that the manager doesn't actually fix compatibility issues by merging files like it says it does. Since builderdevice is acting weird anyway even with manual install I'm not too concerned abotu that but if I manual install the other two, they work except for incompatibility. I was hoping the mod manager would fix that for me, but it doesn't seem too interested in merging the two player files.

 

mods that modify preexisting /assets/ files no longer work with this version.

 

I'm getting the same "Exception while running Application" error.
Here's what I did:

1) Installed Starbound Mod Manager to F:\StarboundApps\

2) Tried to install several mods. But no matter which mods I selected, as soon as I selected them Starbound Mod Manager returned to the previous blank window... It never shows me ANY information about any mod! For this reason, I had suspected that it was not installing any mods, so I continued trying to install others. But when I inspected F:\StarboundApps\ I found several mod files inside the "mods" folder.

3) I closed down Starbound Mod Manager. But when I tried to start it again, it now gives an "Exception while running Application" error and terminates.

Here is my Errorlog: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=04100560881377778579

BTW: I suspect the reason why you are not getting these errors is because you have your game and/or Starbound Mod Manager setup and installed differently. Perhaps because mine/ours are in a different location? My Steam is installed on the root directory of Drive F:, which is a separate partition from my C:\Windows. Or maybe there is something about the use of spaces...?

PS: My config file:

[paths]
systemtype: "Windows"
gamefolder: "F:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Starbound"
modsfolder: "F:\StarboundApps\mods"
backupfolder: "F:\StarboundApps\backups"
filemanifest: "F:\StarboundApps\assets.manifest"

modChooserFile: "L:\GAMES\Starbound\Other"
[windowsettings]
width: "950"
height: "550"

[mods]
Albatros Floran Version.zip: "false"
ExpandedTutorials.zip: "false"
funcactoo.zip: "false"
garpberry.zip: "false"
Hide My Armor.zip: "false"
JetTech.zip: "false"

 

That may not be an issue after this update, depending on if it even lets me use non-updated mods. I'll investigate.

Hmm, that's what I was afraid of.

Edit: They do work, but any changes in the original game's files need to be added to the mods' files.

The file ID for the error log is incorrect, but other than that, this is a very useful post, thanks! As for the directory thing, I, too, have my mod manager and games on other hard drives.

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I was hoping the update would have been released yesterday, as today is my brother's birthday. I shall be working to get an update out ASAP between birthday preparations and celebrations.

 

KrazyTheFox updated Starbound Mod Manager with a new update entry:

Angry Koala Support

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

I believe I have discovered the primary cause for my earlier issues with using your Starbound Mod Manager.

It seems like the mere existence of a "mod.json" file in any of the mods I attempted to install (including two mods I am testing or currently working on) was enough to prevent Starbound Mod Manager from displaying any information about the mod. It would not work at all as long as those files existed.

After deleting these and double and triple-checking my .modinfo files - and installing the new Angry Koala version - it seems to work fine.

I will admit that I'm new to modding Starbound and I was testing my own code for bugs. However, that doesn't explain why all those other mods from other authors did not show up, either.

The reason I added a mod.json file to my mods was to - hopefully - support Dragory's Starloader. His thread explains to developers how to write them for his mod manager. Does this mean we can't do both? Just either or?

Perhaps you mod manager developers could cooperate? I see no less than three different mod info files, each with their own format:

.modinfo
mod.json
mod.info

Seriously? And there are, what, six different mod managers?

From what I can tell, many if not most mods still do not support even one mod manager. Are we expected to support all six, with the possibility of each having their own idiosyncrasies?

How about sticking to just one standard?

 

With the holidays and unwanted mandatory socializing, I haven't been able to really do much to this mod manager. This includes fixing bugs like the one you just described.

I'll be rewriting a lot of the code for how mods are handled that should fix done of this.

As for all the different types of mod info files, I would urge other mod manager coders to support only the .modinfo file, as that's officially supported by the game. There isn't a reason to use the others anymore.

That said, their presence shouldn't be preventing the mod manager from working and I'll take a look at making them play nicer together.

 

I'll have a large update for the mod manager in a day or two. It'll have faster start times, some bug fixes, drag and drop mod adding, progress bars (probably), dependency verification, ability to hide mods from the list, mod list refreshing, better handling of outdated mods, bug fixes, as well as any other features I might think to add.

 

I'm having an issue with the mod manager, even with compatible mods, I try to add one, and it says there's something wrong with the .modinfo file, and the mod disappears from the mods folder. What's going on? Also, what mods do appear in the list are listed as needing an update, when supposedly they should work for the latest version of starbound

 

1. Can you send me one of the mods that's giving you the .modinfo problems?
2. The only way to (reliably) get the version from Starbound is to use the log file it generates when you run the game. I haven't been able to test using that log file after an update yet, so it may be tricking the mod manager into thinking your Starbound isn't up to date. I'll see if I can find a workaround for that, but in the meantime, open up your Starbound folder and delete the "starbound.log" file, then launch your game. After that, the mod manager should have the correct version info.

 

The mod is TSTech, and you can find it easily on Nexus Mods. And deleting the .log file helped (I think)

 

I'll load up the latest version of TSTech tomorrow afternoon when I'm back to working on the update.

 

I have an issue with the trying to run the mod manager install. This is what happened I extracted the .zip given from the download to a custom directory starbound/Modmanager/ then ran the .zip inside. I clicked windows and it came up with the select your game folder, of which I selected my /common/starbound/ it accepted it, but instead of running it gave this error, "Exception when running application". Did I do something wrong?

 

I'm pretty certain now that this problem arises when you try to run it from within C:\Program Files on Windows (I'm assuming you're using Windows—am I correct?). The application would need special permission to write files to that directory, which is necessary for the mod manager to do what it does. Try putting it in your documents folder or in a folder in your desktop and running it from there and see if that helps.

In the upcoming version of the mod manager, there will be a check for write permissions and it'll let you know if it can't do what it wants to.

Let me know if that works or not, and if that doesn't help, then I'll keep digging for a solution.

--

As for the next version, I'm pushing the release back another day or two. Since I'm having to do some extra UI work for the progress bars and such, I'm taking the opportunity to redesign the interface. It'll keep the functionality right up front, but it'll look nicer and have more options.

 

Yes that did work, and yes i do run windows. Thank you.

 

For anyone interested, here's the current progress on the redesign (version 2.0). None of this is coded yet.

Here we have the main mod screen of the mod manager. The top bar will be have tabs leading to the screen below, a settings page, and an "about" page.



Right now the mods listed are designed in "expanded" view. This lists the authors of your mods and potentially other information.
You'll be able to "colllapse" this list to view more mods at once (not yet designed). I'll be looking at adding settings for font sizes and such after the initial release.

To change the load order, you just drag and drop the mods higher or lower.

The background images used will be taken from a path in the .modinfo file. If one isn't provided, the blue (currently) shown in the "Nuclear Cape" mod will be used.

Clicking the arrow beside each mod will further expand it to show more information:



The trash can deletes the mod, the link directs you to the mod's url, and the magnifying glass removes the blur effect and text so you can see the preview image when you hover your mouse over it:



New features for the current version of the mod manager are still on their way. I'm alternating designing the new version and adding to the old version.

This is still very much a work in progress. However, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. If you like the design, I'd like to hear that too so I know I'm going in the right direction.

Oh, and I'll also be attempting a logo for this. Or something. That may end up just being text.

Another edit: While this design comes with a bunch of color, I'm paying attention to making it colorblind friendly. Colors should be able to be differentiated by anyone when I'm done.

 

why does the jar file want me to have a JDK?

 

It sure looks modern and spiffy!

One suggestion: It should be extremely easy to differentiate between mods that are installed and mods that are not.

The old system made it easy by having it in shades of gray, with no color present.
Your new system has a gray bar on top, with a grayish-blue body for the message.

I suggest that you make it easier with the new system by having a very dark gray body for the message. There should not be even a hint of color, not even a grayish shade.

 

I keep having problems whenever I try loading up mods.
I understand this application tends to work really well and it is likely mistakes on my side...
Anyways... I load up the Zip file and it keeps mentioning it cannot find the assets folder for the Zip files...
Then after that error pops up for several of the Zips (not all of them) a error pops up with a big red circle with a white X in it that closes SMM(StarboundModManager).
I haven't altered the Zip files that I downloaded as mods in any form. I understand that not all modders support SMM with their mods.
If you can give me a few tips on what problems I'm facing and how to fix them with detail I'd be highly appreciative.
I noticed that these two things were mentioned in some form somewhere in this long massive discussion thread. Maybe it could be mentioned again?