ModMyFactory - mod manager and more

[webbatron]

That is not possible. I haave plans to improve my export format to include mods so they don't have to be downloaded from the mod portal when importing, but that will still require ModMyFactory to install.

Sadly it is not as simple as throwing all the mod files into a single folder and then calling it done, doing that would create conflicts that could only be resolved manually by a programmer.

thanks, that helps a lot

[Artentus]

• Added "New Modpack" entry to modpack list context menu.
• Dragging and dropping mods into the modpack list at a free space will now create a new modpack containing all the dropped mods.

I have also made some changes to the mod update process. The goal was to streamline the process by using the same code that is used when loading or refreshing mods, to make sure the two work exactly the same. I hope you guys won't even notice the change, but if you see anything strange happening with your mod list or modpacks after updating mods please tell me.

[BlueTemplar]

For some reason it now uses the appdata factorio directory when locating mods. Im not entirely sure how the manager functions but despite launching different versions, it simply only ever looks in the root factorio folder for mod files.

What you are describing sounds like somehow the folder junctions got messed up.

What directory exactly are we speaking of when you say it reads from the Factorio AppData directory? Are you talking about AppData\Roaming\Factorio or some other location?

Also, what kind of versions of Factorio are you using? Standalone versions installed with ModMyFactory or the Steam Version?

I have the same issue.
Yeah, that directory.
Website 0.16 version.

Also I couldn't even move my Factorio folder using the Version Manager, as ModMyFactory crashed with this error :
(Running ModMyFactory with administrative privileges didn't help.)

Code: Select all

System.IO.IOException: L'accès au chemin d'accès 'C:\_JEUX_\Factorio' est refusé.
   at System.IO.DirectoryInfo.MoveTo(String destDirName)
   at ModMyFactory.Helpers.DirectoryInfoExtensions.<>c__DisplayClass2_0.<MoveToAsync>b__0()
   at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.Helpers.DirectoryInfoExtensions.<MoveToAsync>d__2.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.VersionManagementViewModel.<MoveFactorioInstallationAsync>d__49.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.VersionManagementViewModel.<AddLocalVersion>d__51.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.VersionManagementViewModel.<<-ctor>b__39_3>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)

Copying worked.

Also, moving mods/saves with Location Settings after changing them didn't work (but without a crash).

I even tried changing the mod folder to Factorio's default one (which you do not recommend), but sadly, it doesn't work either : Factorio doesn't detect the mods if they are in a 0.16 subfolder, and ModMyFactory doesn't detect them if they aren't - even if set to Global...

Thankfully, it's still useful for quickly creating mod-list.json s and modpacks, so I can have a different one for each of my games!

[Artentus]

The error you are getting is due to a lack of write permissions. ModMyFactory requires write permissions in the Factorio root folder as well as all the paths you specify in the settings, otherwise it won't be able to create the necessary links. Reset everything and then try to run as administrator.

[BlueTemplar]

Didn't change anything, as I said.
(Which is weird, might Windows 10 have some additional security measures?)

Do you think that it might cause our main issue?

[BlueTemplar]

Also, after downloading a mod, ModMyFactory crashes with the following error :

Code: Select all

System.InvalidOperationException: The server sent an invalid mod file.
   at ModMyFactory.Web.ModWebsite.<DownloadReleaseAsync>d__7.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.OnlineModsViewModel.<DownloadSelectedModRelease>d__87.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.OnlineModsViewModel.<DownloadSelectedModRelease>d__87.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.OnlineModsViewModel.<<-ctor>b__85_0>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)

(I've logged in using my account name, not e-mail.)

[Artentus]

I have had multiple reports of this error. It happens if you use an outdated version of MMF. The current stable build is completely non-functional, you have to use the latest pre-release as stated in the first post. If you are still on 1.5.11 chances are all your problems are because of that.

[BlueTemplar]

Well, indeed, that's what I use... I got it from your GitHub, where it says :
https://github.com/Artentus/ModMyFactory#download

You can find the latest release of ModMyFactory here.

("here" Linking to the "latest" 1.5.11 version : )
https://github.com/Artentus/ModMyFactor ... ses/latest :
https://github.com/Artentus/ModMyFactor ... g/v.1.5.11

I'd suggest fixing that link, as well as the one in "Getting Started".

Also maybe making the message about the latest stable being broken more prominent in the first post?

[Panderine]

I've the following error when importing a modpack or downloading a mod:

Code: Select all

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at ModMyFactory.GlobalCredentials.LogIn(Window owner, String& loginToken)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.<DownloadModsAsync>d__204.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.<ImportModpackFile>d__205.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.<ImportModpacksInner>d__206.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.<ImportModpacks>d__207.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.<<-ctor>b__189_4>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)

[Artentus]

Looks like you are on 1.5.11, update to 1.5.12

[Panderine]

Looks like you are on 1.5.11, update to 1.5.12

I'm using ModMyFactory_1.5.12pre4.zip

edit: nevermind. There was an issue with my license. I was unable to install them from ingame as well.

[Artentus]

Glad you could work it out.

[Artentus]

Ok, so great news everyone, I will most likely release the 1.5.12 stable tomorrow.
Thanks to the awesome Factorio devs my pending request to add back mod api functionality that was previously lost in the February update has been answered, so I can finally restore complete functionality like back in version 1.5.11.
Look out for more updates tomorrow.

[Artentus]

Version 1.5.12 is now stable, you can find the download in the first post or on my GitHub as usual.
Please note that due to an API change from GitHubs side the automatic update check in older versions of MMF will not find this update.

[foodfactorio]

hi, i havent tried modmyfactory yet, but here is some feedback i posted a while ago about mod management:
i posted it to the thread page here: viewtopic.php?f=80&t=27805#p336544

but also available directly below:

Mod management idea

[quote="foodfactorio"]Hi, i had an idea about this, and it seemed this was the best page to post it.
(please feel free to move it if needed though)

From a player's perspective, i think it would be nice to be able to do something like this, at least for the stand-alone version:
(sorry if this post is a bit long, but i tried to mention real-user scenarios from my perspective as an actual player)


1) to Launch the game as normal. (even with lots of savegames already, or mods inside the mod folder)
2) to click on New Game, and be presented with a new screen, possibly as follows:

"New Game - choose your Mods for this New Game"
(The User-Interface would also include a checkbox to "unselect all mods", and a checkbox to "select all mods", but would also have a checkbox, and have a default setting of pre-selecting "all mods that are already currently enabled")

This way, we can use any combination of these checkboxes, to select, or unselect the bulk of the mods, and then refine the selection (by manually enabling or disabling any other mods for this new game)

3) The usual configurations screens/tabs appear as normal, such as resource amounts, richness of ore, biters, and any other applicable mod settings.

4a) the game prompts the user to enter a filename for the save... ideally a unique name
+
4b) then the game starts to load all of the necessary mods and relevent data, (even if a small message appears saying that factorio needs to do a soft quit and restart of the game)...
+
4c) physically-speaking, maybe the game can copy the mod folders (or zip files) into a 2nd copy, which is specific for that particular savegame (but maybe there is a smarter way to handle that in terms of programming, so i cant really suggest the code myself)

4d) then the game starts fresh, with all the selected mods and configs, and we can play it as normal.

5) the player can still press escape to bring up the in-game menu, to manually create another save whenever they like, as well as the usual auto-saves)

(note: maybe if the game detects that non-standard characters are being used, or a very long path name could cause a conflict, then it could give the physical file a filename identifier, as well as creating a tiny .txt file of the same fileid, and this .txt file would simply have the full savegame name inside it with a line of text, to help players identify what it is)

Extras: Sharing an existing save. (even for solo team work)
6) if a player wanted to share their current save game with someone else, to show them their base or something, then the new player ideally would simply put a copy of the savegame into their save folder, and factorio would download all of the specific mods and versions that the savegame was using, and create a new physical folder structure for that particular savegame, (assuming step 4c is used above), and using the same savegame name (taken from the savegame) or could simply pop-up a window asking for a name, (like in step 4a), of even to detect any conflicting savename, and display what name the savegame already has and allowing a change to the name)

6b) if the friend, is playing the savegame, and wanted to continue with the game, to help their friend with something, or just to expand the base, the friend could simply save any progress as normal (similar to step 5 above.)

6c) the friend would then be able to carry out step 6 again, if they wanted to pass the latest save of their game, back to the original player (and so on)


Extras: Adding a new mod(s) to an existing save:
7) if i wanted to add a new mod to my existing game (assuming the mod was compatible etc), i think it would be quite intuitive to have an extra button, on 2 screens.

7a) when i launch Factorio, and click on LOAD from the main menu, i could select my latest savegame (for example from step 5, or even from step 6c), and there would also be a button saying something like this: "Add Mods to Savegame".
The button would have a rollover text, or a small description, to help the player understand exactly what will happen..

for example:
"Click here to add an extra mod (or mods) to this particular savegame that you have selected. A backup will be made, in case of any compatibility issues, so that you can roll back to the current save, by selecting the "rollback" checkbox."

7b) an optional checkbox could also be added to the MODS screen, (for example when we load up Factorio, i could click on the MODS button, from the main menu, and also see a button saying "add mods to a Savegame". This is just because some players may go to the MODS screen, since it is MODS that they want to add, but clicking here will also take them to the LOAD a SAVE screen, similar to 7a) so that the code is just in one area.

(also, there could me a small message here as well, letting players know that they need to download mods via the usual method first, before adding)
+
there could be a dialog box that pops up from the operating system, asking the user to select a mod that they happened to download manually, but it will probably be better to have them just use the ingame portal)


Extra Features:
The game could also do a quick check, to see how much estimated space is required on the Hard Drive, before creating any new games, or before downloading any mods that a savegame needs, or before adding any mods to an existing copy of a savegame, just to let the user know, and to warn if they are low on space.

sorry again for the long post, but these were my logical steps that i would feel are really intuitive, at least for me to use [/quote]

[Artentus]

Thanks for that.

Now obviously I cannot modify the game itself, however the functionality you are talking about is indeed provided by MMF.
In the core MMF allows you to select or deselect all of your mods in any combination you want, and then launch the game with your selected configuration. It also allows you to group up mod in modpacks for easy bulk activation and it has functionality to automatically activate certain configrations for you with shortcuts, so that once you are done configuring starting the game with multiple different configurations is just as straight forward as starting it normally.
Now currently mod settings are still stored globally. Eventually I am planning to implement per-modpack mod configuration. I have no official roadmap or anything as this is a hobby project, but this functionality will most likely be part of 1.7 just based on my current progress.

As to sharing savegames with mod configurations, MMF can provide similar functionality although not quite as you are describing it. It does allow you to share modpacks you have created. If someone else then loads the exported modpack file on their MMF the mods can all be downloaded automatically. The savegame however still has to be shared separately.
I am actually working on improving this system a lot in the 1.6 release, you can expect some big overhauls that should make sharing modpacks a lot more intuitive, with many more options as well. Expect 1.6 to release soon-ish (tm), although I can't make any promises regarding release dates.

[foodfactorio]

ok thanks for the info, i added mmf to the list of new (mods) to try after current playthrough - (the list seems to be growing lol)

[Artentus]

Version 1.6 is now available for testing.
I have completely reworked the modpack sharing from the ground up. Exporting modpacks now allows for a plethora of new options regarding mod versions, as well as support to export the mod files directly (in case you don't want the person you are sharing with having to download from the portal). This all comes with a new file format, so while MMF 1.6 can still load old exported modpacks, older versions of MMF will not be able to import files that have been exported in 1.6. Please also note that if you want to share mod files you need approval to do so by either the mod author or the mods license.

The reason why I decided to publish this a a pre-release is that the new system simply allows for so many different combinations I cannot possibly test them all in my free time on my own. That's why I'm hoping some of you guys are willing to help me out and give the new functionality a try.
Be assured that trying this out will at worst not properly load modpacks when importing, your savegames and Factorio installations are not in danger (at least not any more than on 1.5.12 ).

[Artentus]

As per request I added an option to directly load into a game from a MMF-created link. I also added the option to specify custom arguments in case anyone needs them.

[Anson]

I recently had problems starting factorio with a specific mod, but when using steam directly it loaded fine.
thus i finally got to looking at the problem again today and probably found the cause which might involve a bug of factorio itself.
the following happened when using your old version 1.5.12pre4 (I'll update to 1.5.12 and test again later)
edit: now also tested with MMF 1.5.12 release version, and the problem is exactly the same (as expected since it seems to be a bug in factorio)

the mod which caused this problem is Dirty Barrels.
when i started factorio from MMF, i got this strange error:
- Failed to load mods: __dirtybarrels__/data.lua:1: ...Factory/Factorio/0.16.51/data/core/lualib/dataloader.lua:16: attempt to index local 'e' (a number value)
data.lua of Dirty Barrels has only one line:
- require("prototypes.recipe.clean-barrels")
the critical lines in factorios dataloader.lua are:
- 15: for _, e in ipairs(otherdata) do
- 16: if not e.type or not e.name then

after a lot of experimenting i found a very temporary fix:
rename the mod directoy that is setup by MMF from 0.16.51 to v0.16.51
and everything works fine again when starting factorio directly from the factorio/0.16.51/bin/x64 directory

i don't know the details, but it looks as if factorio (like some other programs) silently expects specific restrictions on filenames and directorynames, especially that they start with a letter and not with a digit. in addition it might have been a bit confusing to some checks (if there are any) when the directoy is accessible as mods but really is a hardlink to another path.

maybe you could name all those factorio subdirectories (for factorio itself, for mods, saves, etc) from x.xx.xx to vx.xx.xx (with a letter "v" prefixed to the number) to not hit this bug(?) in factorio?

and sine it seems to me as if it is a bg in factorio, maybe a bg report should be filed to them too. would you do that since you probably can describe the exact problem and circumstances better ?



besides the above crash, i have two other problems with factorio and its settings which you (at least partially) have mentioned above yourself:
the mod settings are global, and also the keyboard settings seem to be global. probably as a result of this, i sometimes lose mod settings or keyboard settings when disabling and re-enabling (or even deleting and reinstalling) mods. this means a lot of work when usng lots of mods which have lots of conflicting hotkeys which need to be checked and adjusted again after changig anything in the mod configuration.
although such a task would not be easy, it would be nice if your management could keep track of those settings and "patch together" some settings or hotkey configuration files, to restore the state as it was last time when using those mods.