ModMyFactory - mod manager and more

[Khaymenn]

Hey Artentus I just downloaded MMF and attempted to create a modpack. It seemed to have deleted all the mods I had installed but says I still have them all installed. I have yet to do any trouble shooting just kinda a heads up. I'm sure its some sort of user error if so please let me know what I did wrong so i can correct the issue.

[BlueTemplar]

[*]Mod version detection
ModMyFactory will detect to which version of Factorio a mod belongs, place it in the correct mod directory and group them by version in the overview.
[...]
[*]Disk location selection
Select where Factorio and mods are stored on your local hard drives - without editing any configuration files.
Available locations are AppData, the ModMyFactory installation directory and completely custom locations.

Meaning that all the mods get moved to version-dependent folders.

[Khaymenn]

Ok next stupid question. After selecting the mods I want to play with and create the modpack and press play none of the mods load. Am I doing something wrong?

[BlueTemplar]

It's been a while since I used it... have you RTFM ?

[Artentus]

The issue you're experiencing seems to be caused by ModMyFactory failing to link Factorios mod directory to its own.
Try deleting the Factorio mod directory and then start MMF as administrator.

You can also take a look here for help: https://github.com/Artentus/ModMyFactory/wiki

[Impatient]

Hey Artentus,

thank you for that great program. I am using it all the time now. As I frequently switch between my single player setup, unmoded multiplayer gaming and the blueprinting and design setup.

Now that 0.18 came out and almost all of the mods are not updated yet for 0.18 I was looking into MMF's version manager, which I did not need to touch yet.

And I don't really understand how it works and I could not get the questions answered by the wiki.

So up until now and still I am using steam to play Factorio. I used MMF's version manager to grab a backup of Steam's Factorio's 0.17.79 files by selecting "Add from folder" and labeled it accordingly. I also updated Steam's Factorio to 0.18 and I redundantly downloaded the 0.18 zip from wubes website. Now I have 3 items in the list of the version manager:
- Steam (0.18.0)
- Factorio 0.17.79 from Steam (0.17.79)
- Factorio 0.18 from zip (0.18.0)

But what do I do next? The wiki says somehting about making a backup copy of the steam files before using MMF to switch versions. So I guess it can be used to make steam use another version than installed by steam itself. But there the guidance system ends. I don't know how to make MMF copy the files over to steam. And as a side question: Are there any risks to break something?

Thanks!

[Artentus]

The Steam version is controlled by Steam alone, the only place to change its version is through Steam.
MMF starts it through Steam with command line "-applaunch 427520" and not directly.

I don't really know what you mean by "copy over the files" but all versions listed in the Manager share all savegames and mods automatically.
As such backups should be created before adding anything to the Manager. But since the later versions backups will be created automaatically as well, I just added it for people to be on the absolute safe side, since I'm not responsible for any data loss. In the eaarly days I did get a couple reports but I haven't seen any in a long time and I've added many precautions to avoid any.

[Impatient]

Ah, then this was a misassumption on my side. MMF can not be used to change the steam version. Ok. Thanks for clarifying. Check. By "copying over the files" I, in my assumption, meant, copying over the game files to steam/steamapps/common/factorio/ .

The next question would be then if MMF can be used to switch versions of the Wube install.

Maybe I am going to use the Wube install from now on then.

[Impatient]

... MMF starts it through Steam with command line "-applaunch 427520" and not directly.
...

I understand much clearer how the version manager works now. My confusion partly originated from not reading the manual in full. As I understand now, the version manager stores pointers to installations of Factorio. Eg the steam version or the wube install. I did not even notice the "Start game" button and the selection box until now. I only activated/deactivated modpacks and then started the game through the steam library.

What I did now is I installed Factorio 0.17.79 from the wub installer exe. Now I got 0.18 through steam and 0.17.79 through wube. Good. I deleted all versions from the version manager except "Steam (0.18.0)" and I added "Wube (0.17.79)" by selecting "Add from folder".

There a question arises to me, as I have noticed, that MMF creates a full copy of every version, except the steam version, in the MMF managed directories. Why does it create a full copy of "Wube (0.17.79)"?

[Artentus]

A safety measure. As I described previously, in the beginning I got some reports of people losing their saves or corrupting their installations. I switched over to copying everything to be on the safe side, and the original will remain completely untouched.

[Impatient]

Ok, great. You are taking the saftey seriously. I once lost my whole bp library by going back and forth between 0.16 and 0.17 multiple times through steam, so I appreciate the safty measures very much. I have seen that MMF creates the "Factorio-old" folder in AppData. Also I have seen all the saves be stored in the manged directory. Super great. The only thing I could wish for is that the bp-storage is also backed up at least one time (oh, actually it is, in "Factorio-old" ).

A thing I am currently "struggeling" with is that Factorio's mods folder is currently empty. Something (either MMF, the upgrade through steam from 0.17.79 to 0.18 or the side by side installation of 0.17.79) emptied it. IDK. But as MMF made backups of everything (great thing) I only need to copy the mods from the 0.17 managed directory over (great thing it also backed up the mod settings file) to be able to play my 0.17 megabase by using the wube installation.

The thing is, that I assumed that MMF would do this for me, once I selected a modpack, a Factorio version and hit "Start game". Should it do this? That way I could have modpacks for 0.17 and 0.18 and when selecting that modpack and F version, it would automatically copy the correct mods over to Factorio's mods folder. Isn't the reason for storing the mods sorted by Factorio version in the managed directories exactly this?

It isn't doing it. I am on Win10, I am using the portable version of MMF. Factorio's users directory is in "C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Factorio\" . What do I miss? Write access? Do I need to use the installed version of MMF?

I feel like a stupe

[Artentus]

The mod directory in %AppData%/Factorio/mods should be a symlink to MMFs managed mod directory.
If that is not the case MMF failed to overwrite it. Try deleting the directory manually and start MMF as administrator.

[Impatient]

I did that now, but to no success. I deleted those 3 links (they have this little arrow addition, but it still says they are file folders) and I started MMF as administrator. But it seems to have created the same links again. Selecting the 0.17 modpack, chosing the 0.17 version of F and hitting "Start game" still starts it without mods.

Here is a picture what Factorio's user folder looks like.

mmf - links.png (48.08 KiB) Viewed 5568 times

[Impatient]

Should I revert everything and start fresh with the install version of MMF?

To revert everything, I would do what? Delete the MMF portable folder, delete the 3 symlinks in F's user directory and then move over the folders from "Factorio old"? That is actually a feature I miss right now. The feature to release F's user directory from MMF's management. That would be cool.

[Artentus]

No those links are correct. If you navigate it you should be seeing all of your mods listed.

[Impatient]

When I follow these links I get to an empty folder that says it is %AppData%/Factorio/mods .

mmf - linked mod folder.png (6.96 KiB) Viewed 5556 times

[Impatient]

Ok, I reverted.

• I deleted the 3 symlinks from "%AppData%/Factorio/"
• and moved the backup folders from "Factorio - old" over.
• I delted the ModMyFactoryPortable.exe, so I can not start it accidentaly, to ensure MMFportable does not manage F's user directory anymore. But I kept its managed directories for now, so I don't lose anything I might have overlooked.
• I moved over all later created savegames from MMFportables manged directories.
• I deleted folder "%AppData%/Factorio - old"

I think with those steps I reverted everything back to an unmanaged state, but I also keep the savegames, that I created while under MMF management. I tested the wube install of 0.17.79 and it loaded with mods.

Then I tried the non-portable release of MMF.

• I downloaded ModMyFactory_1.11.0pre3.zip from https://github.com/Artentus/ModMyFactory/releases and unziped it into a folder.
• When I started it it crashed. I had a look at the crash log and restarted it as Admin. But it crashed again
  Crashlog on startup

  Code: Select all

  System.Windows.Markup.XamlParseException: Provide value on 'System.Windows.Markup.StaticExtension' threw an exception. ---> System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. ---> System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Users\zzzzzzzzz\AppData\Roaming\ModMyFactory\mods'.
     at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
     at System.IO.FileSystemEnumerableIterator`1.CommonInit()
     at System.IO.FileSystemEnumerableIterator`1..ctor(String path, String originalUserPath, String searchPattern, SearchOption searchOption, SearchResultHandler`1 resultHandler, Boolean checkHost)
     at System.IO.DirectoryInfo.EnumerateDirectories()
     at ModMyFactory.ModSettings.ModSettingsManager.LoadSettings()
     at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.Refresh()
     at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel..ctor()
     at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.MainViewModel.get_Instance()
     --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
     at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, Boolean constructor)
     at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.UnsafeInvokeInternal(Object obj, Object[] parameters, Object[] arguments)
     at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
     at System.Reflection.RuntimePropertyInfo.GetValue(Object obj, Object[] index)
     at System.Windows.Markup.StaticExtension.GetFieldOrPropertyValue(Type type, String name, Object& value)
     at System.Windows.Markup.StaticExtension.ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
     at MS.Internal.Xaml.Runtime.ClrObjectRuntime.CallProvideValue(MarkupExtension me, IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
     --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
     at System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.RewrapException(Exception e, IXamlLineInfo lineInfo, Uri baseUri)
     at System.Windows.Markup.WpfXamlLoader.Load(XamlReader xamlReader, IXamlObjectWriterFactory writerFactory, Boolean skipJournaledProperties, Object rootObject, XamlObjectWriterSettings settings, Uri baseUri)
     at System.Windows.Markup.WpfXamlLoader.LoadBaml(XamlReader xamlReader, Boolean skipJournaledProperties, Object rootObject, XamlAccessLevel accessLevel, Uri baseUri)
     at System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.LoadBaml(Stream stream, ParserContext parserContext, Object parent, Boolean closeStream)
     at System.Windows.Application.LoadBamlStreamWithSyncInfo(Stream stream, ParserContext pc)
     at System.Windows.Application.DoStartup()
     at System.Windows.Application.<.ctor>b__1_0(Object unused)
     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 created the folder "%AppData%/ModMyFactory/mods" manually. Then it started without crashing.
• I went straight to Edit -> Version Manager and selected "Select steam version". It started to copy files and crashed.
  Crashlog while copying steam version

  Code: Select all

  System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
     at ModMyFactory.ModSettings.Serialization.ModSettingsExportTemplate.AddMod(IHasModSettings mod)
     at ModMyFactory.ModSettings.ModSettingsManager.SaveBinarySettings(ModCollection mods)
     at ModMyFactory.ModCollection.InsertItem(Int32 index, Mod item)
     at ModMyFactory.Models.Mod.<Add>d__2.MoveNext()
  --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
     at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
     at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.VersionManagementViewModel.<PreserveMods>d__47.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.<PreserveContentsAsync>d__48.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.<MoveSteamVersionContents>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.<SelectSteamVersion>d__52.MoveNext()
  --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
     at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
     at ModMyFactory.ViewModels.VersionManagementViewModel.<SelectSteamVersion>d__52.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_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)
  

• I made a backup of "%AppData%/Factorio".
• I restarted as Admin again, then it ran fine.
• I added the wube install 0.17.79 from "C:\Program Files\Factorio\" to the version manager by selecting "Add from folder".

While doing this, I noticed, that the folders mods, saves, scenarios in that folder were actual proper shortcuts. Not like those link-folders in "%AppData%/Factorio/". And/But they were pointing to "%AppData%/Factorio/<respective folder/".

That so far is it. More to come as I stumble upon it.

[Artentus]

Oh you used the installer from factorio.com while also having Factorio installed in Steam? I would advise against that, they both use the same AppData files and that may interfer with things.
To do a clean install of MMF you have to delete 5AppData%\ModMyFactory. I also recommend using the latest stable version instead of the prerelease if you are having problems.

[Impatient]

Switching forward and backward between Factorio versions only works with the Wube install then? Say I want to switch between 0.17.79 and 0.18.x .

[Artentus]

No, use the manual installation. MMF can download and set those up directly as well.