POLL: Should we merge the (2) through (5) mods into a single mod?

[Recursive]

Hi everyone,

Exactly what the title states.

Should we merge:
(2) Community Balance Overhaul
(3) City-State Diplomacy for VP
(4) Civ IV Diplomatic Features for VP
(5) More Luxuries for VP

Together into a single mod? I am for this and so is @Gazebo, but we wanted to poll the community to see what everyone thinks.

To clarify, EUI/No-EUI Compatibility Files will still be present separately, as will the Promotion Icons/Tree mods. Also, the options to Disable Vassalage and Tech Trading will still be present.

The way I see it, the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros:
- Helpful in cleaning up the DLL and database, making modding and compatibility easier
- Makes it easier to do UI changes, such as integrate the changes from later versions of EUI (which I hope to do eventually), because there are fewer versions of the files to worry about
- Eliminates a good chunk of files
- Lower file size for the autoinstaller / lower folder size for the Github repository
- Fewer clicks when loading, less entries in the list of enabled mods prior to starting a game

Cons:
- Lose ability to play with Community Patch + CBO only (which is not currently fully supported to begin with, as there are likely unreported bugs)
- May create temporary compatibility issues with a few modmods

Please vote and share any thoughts you have!

 

[amateurgamer88]

In addition to the merge, will there be a reorganization of the files? Or will this merely be putting everything into a single mod with the original structure intact?

 

[Recursive]

In addition to the merge, will there be a reorganization of the files? Or will this merely be putting everything into a single mod with the original structure intact?

There will likely be some amount of reorganization as well; merging and consolidating files.

 

[ryanmusante]

Yes most definitely please.

 

[hokath]

I don't think I ever understood why CBO and CSD weren't one thing to begin with. I seem to remember it all went very wrong otherwise.

Fewer clicks.

 

[DizzKneeLand33]

Wow, not a single contrarian so far -- that's pretty amazing in this world these days.

 

[LarryAR]

Yes. All pros are good; I especially like the increased ability to upgrade EUI.

 

[looorg]

wont change my gaming options, so if its pros all round just do it.

 

[Glassmage]

I feel so bad to vote no but I'm afraid if the code reorganization happens it will break modmods.I already had to fix the codes after you guys got rid of the "CBP_xxx_" turned on or off options.

 

[pineappledan]

I look forward to the torrent of bugs

 

[ryanmusante]

~/.../My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5 >>> java -jar ModTools.jar -c /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My\ Documents/My\ Games/Sid\ Meier\'s\ Civilization\ 5/MODS/
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(7b) UI - Promotion Tree for VP/(7b) UI - Promotion Tree for VP.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(5) More Luxuries/(5) More Luxuries.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(4) Civ IV Diplomatic Features/(4) Civ IV Diplomatic Features.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(2) Community Balance Overhaul/(2) Community Balance Overhaul.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(3) CSD for VP/(3) CSD for VP.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(7a) Promotion Icons for VP/(7a) Promotion Icons for VP.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(6a) Vox Populi - Compatibility Files (EUI)/(6a) Vox Populi - Compatibility Files (EUI).modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(1) Community Patch/(1) Community Patch.modinfo (No such file or directory)

@Recursive
Can you also match the directory names to the .modinfo names so that ModTools stops complaining?

http://www.picknmixmods.com/utilities/modtools/util.html

 

[Recursive]

I feel so bad to vote no but I'm afraid if the code reorganization happens it will break modmods.I already had to fix the codes after you guys got rid of the "CBP_xxx_" turned on or off options.

Hmm, I didn't think many modmods actually used those options. They were a deprecated feature from when VP's balance changes were modular from each other long ago. You couldn't truly disable most of them because tons of changes in the DLL didn't use those defines, and it would be a hopeless task to sort them out at this point.

If there's any specific modmods that are causing trouble, what you have to do is delete all the "AND EXISTS"/"IF EXISTS" lines from database entries.

If the modmod is on CFC, I wouldn't mind uploading a fixed version of the modmod for everyone if the original author is unavailable.

I look forward to the torrent of bugs

We managed to get rid of all the modularity defines with only three bugs, which were promptly fixed, if I recall correctly. There will be a slight growing pain but I think the cleanup will be worth it for sure.

~/.../My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5 >>> java -jar ModTools.jar -c /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My\ Documents/My\ Games/Sid\ Meier\'s\ Civilization\ 5/MODS/
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(7b) UI - Promotion Tree for VP/(7b) UI - Promotion Tree for VP.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(5) More Luxuries/(5) More Luxuries.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(4) Civ IV Diplomatic Features/(4) Civ IV Diplomatic Features.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(2) Community Balance Overhaul/(2) Community Balance Overhaul.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(3) CSD for VP/(3) CSD for VP.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(7a) Promotion Icons for VP/(7a) Promotion Icons for VP.modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(6a) Vox Populi - Compatibility Files (EUI)/(6a) Vox Populi - Compatibility Files (EUI).modinfo (No such file or directory)
ERROR: /home/ryan/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/8930/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/(1) Community Patch/(1) Community Patch.modinfo (No such file or directory)

@Recursive
Can you also match the directory names to the .modinfo names so that ModTools stops complaining?

http://www.picknmixmods.com/utilities/modtools/util.html

To do that we'd need to either:
a) get rid of the version numbers from the modinfo files, or
b) add the version numbers to the mod folders

Both of which would increase the compilation time for new releases, but it should be significantly easier with fewer folders to worry about, so - sure.

 

[balparmak]

I feel so bad to vote no but I'm afraid if the code reorganization happens it will break modmods.I already had to fix the codes after you guys got rid of the "CBP_xxx_" turned on or off options.

Some modmods have cbo, csd and c4df as separate dependencies, so they'll indeed have issues. That said, fixing that is very easy, just requires removing the merged mods from the dependency list.

Some mistakes can happen if we consolidate files, like adding CSD buildings to CBO's Buildings.sql, as there would be hundreds of lines to merge. That's unlikely to happen if we just move the modmod folders to (2) and keep the folder structures separate.

 

[Recursive]

Some modmods have cbo, csd and c4df as separate dependencies, so they'll indeed have issues. That said, fixing that is very easy, just requires removing the merged mods from the dependency list.

Some mistakes can happen if we consolidate files, like adding CSD buildings to CBO's Buildings.sql, as there would be hundreds of lines to merge. That's unlikely to happen if we just move the modmod folders to (2) and keep the folder structures separate.

I think the merging/consolidation is worth a few bugs to fix, honestly.

I had forgotten that some modmods had separate dependencies, but I also don't mind fixing this for people if the original author is unavailable. Added it to the cons list.

 

[Teholb]

This reminds me of legacy enterprise software that is the bane of my existence, and so I can do nothing but support this. It is better to face wrinkles now than continue to build upon a deprecated base.

 

[arievillo]

such as integrate the changes from later versions of EUI

YES PLEASE

 

[Recursive]

65 to 2...

Well, due to the overwhelming community consensus in favor, it shall be done!

 

[Bruhmoment]

Let's see what happens - if it might cause problems for modmods, then it might just completely flip my opinion of this

 

[ryanmusante]

Let's see what happens - if it might cause problems for modmods, then it might just completely flip my opinion of this

We'll work through it, don't worry. Mostly just removing deprecated links of .modinfo files. It would probably be helpful if the final installer included a script to remove/replace these entries from all modmods in the MODS subdirectory:

<Dependencies>
   <Mod id="8411a7a8-dad3-4622-a18e-fcc18324c799" minversion="14" maxversion="999" title="(2) Community Balance Overhaul" />
   <Mod id="eead0050-1e3f-4178-a91f-26cf1881ac39" minversion="29" maxversion="999" title="(3) City-State Diplomacy for VP" />
   <Mod id="c7bf7064-d1b1-4708-9e93-7a1560868582" minversion="12" maxversion="999" title="(4) Civ IV Diplomatic Features for VP" />
   <Mod id="be2d13ee-d18d-410e-8f04-7cd19cd99a98" minversion="156" maxversion="999" title="(5) More Luxuries for VP" />
</Dependencies>

 

[InkAxis]

But now, I won't feel like an aircraft pilot switching seven safety switches to confirm I want to drop a bomb..

That grandiose feeling that I am enabling the mod of all mods, a mod so big it needs seven clicks to enable, will be gone..

People who install VP for the first time will think, "what? Only 4 buttons to click? This mod probably doesn't even do anything"...

Jk. Good riddance.