[Beery]

The problem, from my standpoint, is that if I simply adopt Jungman's file I'll have no idea what's going in and what would be getting removed that was in my version of the file (if anything). If people were to complain about a change or a feature that went missing (as they naturally do), or if a bug was to result - as it has before (and in that same file if I'm not mistaken), I'd have no idea of what went on. In other words we'd have the exact same situation we're in now in regard to the AI_sensors.dat file - with people asking me to incorporate an addition (or a fix), but with me not being able to implement it unless I do some heavy duty investigation into what values are already changed in the file (a file into which I didn't have any direct input). The possibility exists (at least in my mind) that no one has a clear idea of what changes are already in various versions of the AI_sensors.dat file. I just don't have the same ability to spend time researching differences in files that I had three months ago. This situation makes the potential for bugs a real danger.

I have a big concern before I adopt a change to a file that has been somewhat modified in the past, and this is that I really feel that I need to know what values get changed in the file. If I don't know the info, I don't know the potential for incompatibilities or bugs, and I can't defend the mod. When someone complains about a new feature I absolutely hate saying "that's Jungman's mod, or that's Ops, or that's the IC mod, or that's the ASW mod), it's as much a mystery to me as it is to you." - it seems like passing the buck, and it's something that I've had to say more frequently recently. It makes me feel like I'm stabbing modders in the back when I send people to complain to them about RUb.

The problem with the AI_sensors.dat file in particular is that it has been altered twice before by two different people, and Jungman tends to keep the changes he makes close to his chest (as is his prerogative). That's fine if his mod has no potential conflicts, and it's fine when the mod is a stand-alone mod, but when I'm putting together a large scale mod with hundreds of interlocking components, I can't just say 'send over the file, I'll bung it in'. Without intimate knowledge of the file, that's a recipe for disaster.

If someone can point me to the value that needs changing, I'll gladly make the change and credit Jungman for it. But I'm very afraid to adopt a completely new file for one tiny change when I already have a file that works fairly well. When it's this particular file, I'm doubly cautious, since (if I recall correctly) it's the same file that caused a crash and for which I had to issue a patch for RUb 1.43.

I dunno. Maybe I'm being overly cautious.