[REL] JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME) v2.4 now available!

[melnibonian]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Before JSCones came, saw and won (veni, vedi, vincit) we all dreamed about such a tool, but nobody had the expertise and vision to realize it. TBH life has never been the same after JSGME: It has spreaded to all games and everywhere, and it has becomed the #1 tool to have whenever you are doing whatever with games. If there was a Hollywood Oscar for the "genius mod of the decade", Jaesen would have won it any day

My feelings exactly

JSGME is by far the best support program out there for all mods and games. I don't even know how on earth I was using mods before I discovered this gem.

Thanks Jaesen

[schlechter pfennig]

Not sure if this is at all possible. Is there a way that, at the end of every patrol, a copy of the map could be saved along with the patrol records, showing the 'ship sunk' markers where the ships you sunk appear?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by schlechter pfennig

Not sure if this is at all possible. Is there a way that, at the end of every patrol, a copy of the map could be saved along with the patrol records, showing the 'ship sunk' markers where the ships you sunk appear?

You want to ask that in the SH3 Commander thread. This one is for the mod enabler.

[irish1958]

I have windows7, 64 bit. I have had, on two occasions, the popup asking for permission appear behind the JSGME interface where I couldn't access it. I was unable to minimize the JSGME interface to reach it to grant permission, and had to resort to the taskbar to reach it.
A small problem but a nuisance.

[JScones]

Originally Posted by irish1958

I have windows7, 64 bit. I have had, on two occasions, the popup asking for permission appear behind the JSGME interface where I couldn't access it. I was unable to minimize the JSGME interface to reach it to grant permission, and had to resort to the taskbar to reach it.
A small problem but a nuisance.

What "popup" are you referring to? I assume not the UAC popup because a) the UAC is meant to stop programs from running before they run, thus JSGME will not load until after you press the "Yes" button at the UAC permission popup and b) the UAC popup locks the rest of the screen, meaning that you can not click anywhere else other than the associated Yes or No button.

Are you referring to a different screen?

[JScones]

OK, I'm looking at the next release.

The main feature will be the ability to build/create new mods based on the "Compare game files to snapshot" task.

In other words, assuming you've generated a snapshot of your game files (when you first install JSGME - see the User Guide for more information), if you make changes to game files (install mods or edit directly) and run the "Compare game files to snapshot" task you will be asked if you want to create one mod based on the differences found. Prolly mainly a feature for modders or those wanting to consolidate many mods into small mod packages.

I'm also looking at:
- auto-disabling subsequent mods when trying to disable a "greyed out" mod. Sounds easy, but requires a logic rewrite due to the recursive nature.
- ability to remove for folders as well. The folder version of the -remove parameter.

And two features not likely to progress:
- check to see if the game is already running, and give a warning if you're trying to enable a mod. How would JSGME know? The user would have to tell JSGME the name of the game exe file, but even that will not always be a good indicator given that some main exe files spawn other processes that exist long after the main exe has exited. So, unless the user knew this, it wouldn't always work properly, and I'd cop the flack over it.

- launch game from within JSGME. As above. The user would need to set the main game file name. This one is doable, but is it useful? Or worth the effort of me adding it? It would work through a task that you select, "Run game", where the first time you use it you're prompted for the file to run, with JSGME saving it for future uses. Let me know if you'd use this feature...

These may not all make the next release, but they should make a release over the next 12 or so months.

I will, however, not be implementing:
- junction points, hard linking or symbolic linking. Too many limitations with this approach. Sure, hardlinking means no physical file moves or copies, but:

a) it limits use to NTFS systems only. Surely this is over 90% of users, but it's not 100%. So it's no go for me.
b) JSGME must be installed on the same physical drive as the game. This wouldn't be an issue before v2.3, but with the ability to install JSGME anywhere and point it anywhere, this creates another limitation that I don't want.
c) I've seen so much user confusion over Win7/Vista's similar "File virtualization" feature (VirtualStore folder, anyone?), that it would be a nightmare to explain and support.
d) it's really only noticable with mods over 500mb in size.

So I've chosen maximum flexibility and ease of use over saving a few seconds and megabytes here and there.

- compressed backups. Why? Again, the few megabytes saved would come at the detriment of speed, with JSGME having to unzip everything whenever a mod is enabled/disabled and rezip it all again when finished. This could be consolidated into a once-only unzip at JSGME loadup and rezip at exit, but who wants to wait while hundreds of megabytes are unzipped and zipped everytime they run JSGME? Nup. I've already streamlined JSGME by recording some changes in text files instead of creating file backup copies...This change has seen a substantial reduction in backup folder size (up to 50%, depending on the mod).

As always, requests welcome. Remember, this is your tool to make your life easier.

[LGN1]

Originally Posted by JScones

....
- ability to remove for folders as well. The folder version of the -remove parameter.
....

Hi JScones,

That's a great feature! Thanks for your efforts!

Best, LGN1

[irish1958]

Originally Posted by JScones

What "popup" are you referring to? I assume not the UAC popup because a) the UAC is meant to stop programs from running before they run, thus JSGME will not load until after you press the "Yes" button at the UAC permission popup and b) the UAC popup locks the rest of the screen, meaning that you can not click anywhere else other than the associated Yes or No button.

Are you referring to a different screen?

When I click on the icon for JSGME, in the SHx folder (I have placed the program in the separate SHx folders, not a central location.) the permission box opens behind the SHx open window, not in front of it so it is unreachable unless I access it through the taskbar by clicking on it and bring it to the front.
I am sorry I didn't make myself clear in my statement. As you point out, JSGME does not open until I click "Yes."
I suspect that if I place the icons in a central location, I would have the same problem unless I place all the icons on my desktop. The reason I have installed all my icons in the game folder, is that when I am testing, I do not open the game via SH3CMDR but by the SHx.exe file. When I play SH3, I always open the game via CMDR.

"- launch game from within JSGME. As above. The user would need to set the main game file name. This one is doable, but is it useful? Or worth the effort of me adding it? It would work through a task that you select, "Run game", where the first time you use it you're prompted for the file to run, with JSGME saving it for future uses. Let me know if you'd use this feature..."

Not useful for SH3CMDR users. I would like to have the option to open SHx or CMDR. Similarly, when I open SH4 or SH5 to play the game (not test), I open these games via the song randomizer, not by the SHx.exe file.
In other games or in the future with the SHx games, new pre-programs may be added that one would want to open first. As an example Nicolas has a couple of programs that one must activate before launching the game exe program. I am sure other mods might be added in the future that require pre-launch.
As an aside, I can open all three in sequence with AlacrityPC. I haven't done this yet with the new JSGME, so I don't know the effect the permission popup will have.

[schlechter pfennig]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

You want to ask that in the SH3 Commander thread. This one is for the mod enabler.

::sighs:: A perfect example of why going to sleep instead of posting 'just one last message' is a very good idea.

[JScones]

Originally Posted by irish1958

When I click on the icon for JSGME, in the SHx folder (I have placed the program in the separate SHx folders, not a central location.) the permission box opens behind the SHx open window, not in front of it so it is unreachable unless I access it through the taskbar by clicking on it and bring it to the front.
I am sorry I didn't make myself clear in my statement. As you point out, JSGME does not open until I click "Yes."

Odd behaviour. Whenever I click on an exe file that invokes UAC my screen goes black and a confirmation box appears and I cannot click anywhere else; certainly can't click on the taskbar. As this is Windows UAC behaviour, there's nothing I can do about it (ie, JSGME isn't even running when you get the permission box).

Originally Posted by irish1958

"- launch game from within JSGME. As above. The user would need to set the main game file name. This one is doable, but is it useful? Or worth the effort of me adding it? It would work through a task that you select, "Run game", where the first time you use it you're prompted for the file to run, with JSGME saving it for future uses. Let me know if you'd use this feature..."

Not useful for SH3CMDR users. I would like to have the option to open SHx or CMDR. Similarly, when I open SH4 or SH5 to play the game (not test), I open these games via the song randomizer, not by the SHx.exe file.
In other games or in the future with the SHx games, new pre-programs may be added that one would want to open first. As an example Nicolas has a couple of programs that one must activate before launching the game exe program. I am sure other mods might be added in the future that require pre-launch.

Good points. Add to that command line switches that may also be required/optional and it becomes messy fast. I'll drop those two features now.

Originally Posted by irish1958

As an aside, I can open all three in sequence with AlacrityPC. I haven't done this yet with the new JSGME, so I don't know the effect the permission popup will have.

Perhaps, if I decide to update SH3Cmdr, I could extend the existing functionality of running SH3Weather.exe (if it exists) before SH3.exe to running any user-defined exe file? Means you could enter a string of files and SH3Cmdr will happily run them in order before finally executing SH3Cmdr. But I digress...

[irish1958]

JScones: "Perhaps, if I decide to update SH3Cmdr, I could extend the existing functionality of running SH3Weather.exe (if it exists) before SH3.exe to running any user-defined exe file? Means you could enter a string of files and SH3Cmdr will happily run them in order before finally executing SH3Cmdr. But I digress..."

And it would be especially useful for SH4CMDR and SH5CMDR!

[JScones]

Just a reminder that now is the perfect time for both modders and general users to let me know of:
- anything that annoys you about JSGME that you'd like changed
- features that you may have seen elsewhere that you'd like added
- any other feedback, features or functionality that you think would make JSGME better for you

Pls make sure you've read the User Guide first though, just in case...

JSGME is what it is primarily because of your feedback.

[Kongo Otto]

Already Downloaded. Thanks a lot.

[JScones]

OK, no suggestions makes things MUCH easier for me.

Anyway, what's coming next so far:

- Added: drag & drop from other processes (ie Windows Explorer, Desktop) now enabled under Microsoft Vista/Windows 7
- Added: now detects changes to MODS folder contents and refreshes screen automatically
- Changed: display font now defaults to user's desktop (icon) font
- Changed: improved handling of -remove directive
- Changed: improved handling of mod-added folders
- Changed: numerous (minor) interface modifications
- Changed: further optimised for use with Microsoft Vista/Windows 7

[Hitman]

2.5 is out and stickied at the top of this forum, so I'm closing and unsticking this old version thread.

Thanks again JS