[REL] JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME) v2.6.0 now available!

[JScones]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by skwasjer

With many free apps I'm like, **** it, it's so ****ty I'll just build it myself.

Hehe, I'm exactly the same. And in a way, that's how JSGME started. I found the mod manager that came with Panzer Elite to be inadequate, so I decided to build my own that could be used not just for PE, but for Flying Corps Gold and EAW; two other games that I was heavily playing at the time.

In fact, my JSGME test environment still consists of FCG mods from 12 years ago!

[JScones]

Originally Posted by Highbury

For me the drag-and-drop feature, as well as the auto refresh of the mods list are pure gold.

It's part of a deliberate attempt to more tightly integrate JSGME with the Windows Shell to make it all a bit more seamless for the user (after all, JSGME deals with files and folders). Just have to make sure I don't go too far and alienate XP users or slow down performance (for a short while I tested using Shell file operations to copy/move the files around and was amazed at the performance hit. Operations that would ordinarily take 1 second to complete were taking 45...suffice to say I reverted back to my raw core calls and ditched the Shell calls, hence why you don't get warnings when files can't be copied (because they are open or whatever)).

Originally Posted by Venatore

Never forget the old games

Wow, I think it was that exact ad that prompted me to buy one around the same time.

[tonschk]

Thank you JScones, great work!

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Today I installed this mod:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=174841
Now I tried to uninstall it to unlock an earlier mod on the list, but I can't. It gave me some error messages I've never seen before:



I clicked "Yes", and continued unsintalling, but soon I got another error message:



Now it seems I can't uninstall this mod, as it's locked with no way to unlock it. I tried installing the mod that generated the first error message, in hope that after uninstalling it the locked mod would unlock, but it didn't work.


The mod that causes troubles was made by modders from Russia. My theory is the errors are caused by some encoding issues - maybe there were some Cyrillic characters left in the mod folders' names or something like that.

Please help. And thank you.

EDIT: Vista Home 64 bit PL.


EDIT2:
My suspicion was correct - a Cyrillic character left by author in folder name caused the issue (the character looks exactly the same as Latin x, but has a different UTF-8 code number). I checked it by putting the folder name into my browser window. After I pressed Enter, the original name:
IO_Fix_MaskMap_for_TDW_4.3.0_1920х1080
was changed by my browser to
IO_Fix_MaskMap_for_TDW_4.3.0_1920%D1%851080

After I changed the original х to Latin x, and pasted
IO_Fix_MaskMap_for_TDW_4.3.0_1920x1080
into my browser window, the browser interpreted it as
IO_Fix_MaskMap_for_TDW_4.3.0_1920x1080

[JScones]

Correct - see http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=173248 for my warning on this very issue.

Modders need to remember to stick to the first 128 characters if they want to ensure full compatibility with all potential users...and more importantly the game itself. As the above link shows, using extended characters with SH3, for example, will in certain circumstances break it, regardless of whether JSGME is used or not.

In your case it might just be the mod folder name with an extended character, which will only break JSGME (because the mod folder itself isn't copied to the game), but if one of the mod files has a similar problem, it could potentially CTD your game, because your game may not be able to "see" the file with the extended character.

I'm in the process of making JSGME fully UTF-8 compliant; at the moment the interface is, but the config files are not. That's an easy fix, however, it still won't compensate for file names that deviate from the standards.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Thank you for prompt and informative response.

Ended up reinstalling SH5.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

TDW, author of IRAI mod (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=171973), nests modlets in his mod folder, so that after installation of main mod the modlets are added to JSGME repository and can be installed. This crashes JSGME "Load mod profile" option though.

The idea however is a very good one. If it didn't "crash" JSGME it would be very useful for both modders and end users to ensure internal dependencies between parts of one mod are not broken. IRAI is a good example - one can't install a modlet, that needs the main mod to be activated, unless main mod is activated. Uninstallation of main mod hides modlets. Charm. This could be even nested deeper.


For this to fully work JSGME would have to "remember" that a mod is a child/parent of another mod, which doesn't seem to be a hard requirement in my non-programmer eyes. JSGME would also have to recognize MODS folder inside a parent, treat all its sub-folders as child-mods, and install them into user's MODS folder also when user's MODS is named in other way.

Why this would be useful:
- more secure inner-mod dependancies,
- more consistent way of providing documentation (it would be enough to have one documentation folder in the parent mod folder, modlets documentation folders would be optional),
- much more user friendly (especially in case of mega-mods).



Ideas of even further development:
A mod I'm making right now comes in 5 "flavours" - user picks ONE flavour only, as two or more won't work together. These flavours are just sub-folders of the main folder after unzipping. This has currently a few cons:
- users can't just copy whole the unzipped folder to JSGME - it won't work. They need to manually pick one "flavour" (sub-folder) and copy it to JSGME.
- I have to either put documentation into each sub-folder, which is producing redundant kilobytes, or put just one documentation into the main folder, thus stripping the "flavours" of the useful JSGME right-click context menu fast access to documentation.
- there is no mechanism preventing users from installing more than 1 flavour in the same time.

What's more, the mod will have options - they can be applied to some flavours, and can't be applied to other flavours. This is again a dependancy issue. These options also come as sub-folders, just like flavours. What may go wrong:
- users can install option on top of wrong flavours,
- users can install options without installing any flavour,
- options are not documented unless with redundant files.

This would work smooth if I could put a config.jsgme file into every sub-folder, which would say:

requires "other_subfolder_name_A"
requires "other_subfolder_name_B"

These would trigger visibility of these mods (subfolders) in left JSGME window, after installing whole the mod as it comes out from a ZIP file. Initially only those subfolders would be visible that don't have any "requires" record. This also would save space on documentation.


Can you imagine that? No more:

Your mod doesn't work for me!

Because instead of installing it like
A
B
C
D
you should install it like
C
D
A
B

AvM

[Adriano19701980]

Originally Posted by JScones

JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME) v2.6 is now available from http://jonesoft.jaennahre.com or via JSGME's Update feature.

Changes:
- Fixed: now correctly disables mods that have [ as the first character in the mod name
- Added: new enhanced game file compare feature
- Changed: snapshot/compare feature now based on MD5 sums, not date stamps

A minor update, but one that includes a number of improvements and enhancements.

If you use the snapshot/compare feature, then you will need to take a new snapshot after you install this updated version.

I RECOMMEND THAT ALL JSGME USERS UPDATE TO THIS LATEST VERSION! There are no benefits running an earlier version of JSGME.

IMPORTANT!
If you intend installing over any previous version of JSGME, you MUST disable all enabled mods first. Not doing so will corrupt JSGME and hence your game. Once you've disabled all mods, you can install the new version over the top of the old version and resume using as normal.

INSTALLATION
JSGME can be installed one of two ways:

==1. CENTRAL INSTALLATION==


You can install the JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME) to a central location and point it to each of your games through creating shortcuts. To do this:

1. install JSGME to a central location (for example, “C:\Games\Generic Mod Enabler”). Keep the “Create a desktop icon” option selected in the installer
2. once installed, DO NOT RUN! Copy and paste the newly created JSGME desktop shortcut as many times as you have games and change the “Start in” folder of each shortcut to point to each game’s base folder. To change the “Start in” folder, right-click the shortcut, select “Properties” and then the “Shortcut” tab.
3. rename each shortcut to something meaningful, such as “JSGME - GameName1”, “JSGME - GameName2”, “JSGME - GameName3” and so on. To rename a shortcut, simply right-click the shortcut and select “Rename”

Using JSGME with subsequently installed games is simply a matter of copying, pasting and editing an existing shortcut (steps 2 and 3 above). And whenever JSGME is updated, you only need to install it once.

==2. SEPARATE INSTALLATION==
If you prefer, you can install separate copies of JSGME into each of your games. To do this, simply install JSGME to the base folder of the game that you would like to mod. The base folder usually contains the game’s main executable file and usually has a name unique to the game. If in doubt, consult the game’s online community. If you keep the “Create a desktop icon” option selected, the installer will add a uniquely named shortcut to your desktop.

Language Packs
If you use a language pack, please download the updated version from http://jonesoft.jaennahre.com. Note that some packs have not yet been updated with new translations - new versions will be uploaded as soon as possible.

As always, please feel free to announce in other game forums...

AND REMEMBER - THE ONLINE USER GUIDE IS YOUR FRIEND!

What the ****! I try to get the JSGME fron the link you point above but appears a blond bautiful lady and buttons about credit cards, cells, phones.... what is this? please, be serious and make it easy for normal people, please!!!!!

[gap]

Originally Posted by Adriano19701980

What the ****! I try to get the JSGME fron the link you point above but appears a blond bautiful lady and buttons about credit cards, cells, phones.... what is this? please, be serious and make it easy for normal people, please!!!!!

Seems that Jonesoft's official webpage is off. And seems also that most normal people don't know how to use google

Get Generic Mod Enabler 2.6.0 from here. I checked the link, and it should work. And please, the next time try to show some more initiative before questioning the seriousness of people who wanted only to help, though having their private lives

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by gap

Get Generic Mod Enabler 2.6.0 from here.

Or you can get it right here at Subsim Downloads.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=3559

But Gap is right, Adriano. You're complaining about a post made almost two years ago. Also, swearing on the forum is a bad thing, even fake swearing with asterisks.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/faq...._item_language

[Xen]

nice thank you

[AxemanPGCA]

wow you guys thanks alot! you say that i need this to install mods and when i go to download this thing lo an behold i need to pay money to get acces to A BONUS MOD? really wtf so because i cant and dont want to donate money i cant download the JSGME to install mods for SH5?

[THEBERBSTER]

I think JSGME is a free download on the net but you may have to set up an account so you can get it.

From rules and regulations.
You're a new member and you've never posted. New members with 0 posts may be limited to 3 downloads a day. Solution: make a post somewhere in the forum, such an introductory post in the Comments to SUBSIM section. After an hour or less the forum will automatically enable downloads.

[aanker]

Originally Posted by AxemanPGCA

wow you guys thanks alot! you say that i need this to install mods and when i go to download this thing lo an behold i need to ****ing pay money to get acces to A ****ING BONUS MOD? really wtf so because i cant and dont want to donate money i cant download the JSGME to install mods for SH5?

A solution I use sometimes that may apply here is to backup my \Data folder.

Then, with a 'megamod' or any mod I just overwrite the \Data folder with the Mod's \Data folder.

In SH4 I have a RFB, TMO 2.5, and a 'clean' un-modded install.

If there ever is a problem (never been one yet) I'll just delete the \Data folder and copy the 'clean' backup folder in its place.

I don't have SH5, I have SH4, however I think the folder structure is similar.

Good luck

[seanjo]

Has anyone got JSGME working on windows 10?

Great little app by the way, it works perfectly on my windows 7 installation.