Mod merger?

There are several reasons why merging mods can be a pain...

Manifests -- Sins uses several manifests to "tell" it what files to load at game start up...take for example the entity manifest, which tells the game all the entity files that need to be loaded...consider a very simple mod which changes one targetted ability to an AoE...it is very likely you will need to add a Buff file to make this happen, and consequently your mod will need a new entity manifest that includes the name of this new buff file...

Most mods make changes to the entity manifest, and thus when combining any two mods, you need to make a new entity manifest that lists all the files used by both mods...in theory, a computer program could do this...it could read the two entity manifests, and create a 3rd manifest that doesn't have multiple references to the same file...

Universal files -- Most mods make changes to the GalaxyScenarioDef and the Gameplay files...to combine any two mods, you would need to go through each of the modded versions of these files and synthesize the changes to a 3rd instance of the file...in theory, a program could do this barring no conflicting changes...but, most mods are likely to have conflicting changes or different naming schemes...

To give an example, say mod A doubles the tax rate on planets but mod B halves the tax rate...which value do you pick?  When combining two mods with conflicting changes in the Gameplay file, often a judgment call is needed and thus these files have to be done by hand, not by a program...

To give another example, suppose mod A uses a different naming scheme for planets than mod B...a computer program would simply copy each mods references to planets in the GalaxyScenarioDef because they technically have different names...in reality though they are the same entries, just with different naming schemes, and a person is going to have to go make the necessary changes by hand...

Balance -- More involved mods that change lots of things related to gameplay can't be easily combined simply because the balance would be totally wonky...suppose Mod A (in addition to its other changes) makes Star Bases more powerful in the late game by increasing the number of upgrades a Star Base can have....suppose Mod B (in addition to its other changes) also makes Star Bases more powerful, but does so by allowing each faction to build 2 in every gravity well...

Both Mods (in addition to their other changes) wanted to make SBs more powerful but not too powerful...by combining the changes, you now have a mod with uber powerful Star Bases and therefore distorted balance...it's not hard to conceive of far worse balance situations...

In short, combining mods ultimately is going to require a lot of judgment calls and changes that can't be done by a program...occasionally a basic program might come into great use, but it will likely be very specific to the two mods you are trying to combine and thus of little use to other people....it is true that a program can often be re-purposed to do a similar task, but usually the source code would be needed to make those changes and most modders are not familiar with all the various languages one might use (C++ and java are probably the two most common)...

Awhile back harpo made a manifest maker that did that for you i just want to expand on that

 https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/351965

i personally want to do the balancing parts and the adding abilities and things like that

Galaxy files dont need to be copied over they can be added after the fact

its one of those "I want to select the ships structures and abilities i wand and there textures and info copy it paste it and the editor makes the manifests and the like for me" so i can ommit prolem files like differing galaxy files and ailities that use special effects that wont work with another mod

Not talking about Galaxy files, but the GalaxyScenarioDef....most nearly every mod changes it...though, you may need to change the galaxy files as well depending on what changes were made to the GalaxyScenarioDef....

In principle you could have a program make all your manifests and brush files for you by reading the filenames in a folder directory and by reading certain lines in other files....depending on the nature of the string changes, you may even be able to use a program that adds all the string changes (again though you have a problem if you have conflicting changes)....

You will probably never see such a program made...a program that synthesizes two manifests is trivial compared to what you are asking for...

hmm

GalaxyScenarioDef file is a PAIN! Manifest file is nothing compared to this. We are still having issues from all the work we have done to it with Distant Stars.

Yeah, it's a finicky file; has a lot of content, like to crash for minor details, and makes merging mods a pain. But it's still my favorite file in the whole game. It got me started with modding, and you can make whole features out of using it right.

Indeed you can. The more powerful a tool is the more dangerous (read finicky for the GalSceDef file) it is.

This is not for the faint of heart and you would be doing it for your own pleasure as most mods wouldn't want you to release their content in a mixed universe.

You're looking at something I've spent alot of time doing through the last two years.  It started off as finding a way to finetune DS to work better within the engine limits (aside from TSOP) to rebalancing the existing races for better gameplay to being ballsy enough to add whole races to that base, and go through the process of rebalancing and defining them to be unique.  Ultimately, as long as you aren't republishing work without their blessing, you'll be fine, but you're more than likely on your own for the labor.  The experience paid off as I've built my own core since Rebellion was released, but it is reliving a nightmare readding whole factions to be compliant (with Rebellion and/or my core).  Regardless, it is labor of love born out of the behest of my LAN group.  It's a shame I haven't worked on it much for the last 2 months.  I've been splitting my time inbetween Torchlight 2's mod scene and playing recent releases.  I'm getting back to work, though.

Old post but still relivent

No im not relesing stuff at all this is all for me personally but has anyone had any fresh sucess with the concept? I think the problem with my orrigional attempt at getting this off the ground was lack of defining what i need. Not trying for full mod merging but im going through file by file choosing certain ships and structures id like to import into a mod not fiddle with planets or anything like that but i just need something that can transfer a specific ship and its related models and update the manifests