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rF2 has the exact same problem: with every update mods are being destroyed. And now Factorio. Such a shame that mods have to be updated with current versions. Most mod makers dont even think about Factorio anymore. Now i understand why people still run 0.16 version of the game. The only remedy is play vanilla but mods make the game so much more rich

Do you have a suggestion for a cure that doesn't make things worse ?

It doesn't usually take too long for most mods to be updated. Some get left behind (which are then sometimes taken up by other people), but it's not any worse than with other games.

I can totally understand your frustration. Being a mod author it can be tedious to have to fix up old code "yet again", but i think that's more of a software problem in general. You can't improve a software without changing it. And if you change it then the addons also have to change. To be fair factorio's "breaking" changes are often tiny things, like renaming of a handful of prototypes - easy to fix *if* anybody is around to do the fixing. But ofc "death by a thousand cuts" is still death. Just like your car doesn't run without maintenance neither does software.

TL;DR: What you're indirectly demanding is to stop all development on the main game so mods can be eternally stable. I doubt that is what you or anybody else actually wants ;).

There's also the stable branch, which is rarely updated. You also have a choice not to update to the latest experimental version.

When I consider the question, I come up with a simple solution and a complex solution.

The simple solution is to set up an updater/launcher/configuration program which maintains multiple versions of Factorio (and which would load and run whichever version is requested by the mods/modpack).

The complex solution would involve maintaining multiple modding interfaces (possibly also running them in parallel). And it would also involve ensuring that the game can load and use the game data / prototypes from previous [supported] versions without applying migrations beyond the mod-expected version and without modifying anything that would break any mod running behind a shim.

I wonder if it will ever be possible to create a mod updater AI that reads the patch notes or something and makes changes to the mods accordingly.

I searched for some post that might be helpful. I haven’t tested that with 1.1. , so don’t make me responsible if not working and you haven’t made a backup from your mods:

viewtopic.php?p=474528#p474528
And the follow ups (for Windows) describe how to “automatically” change the version number.
Of course the script won’t work without changes.

Again: that is a hack. Don’t use it, if you don’t understand what it does. Either you bring a mod to work like so or not.

PS: And It has many reasons, why it makes sense to have such hard cuts.

What an interesting topic While I can certainly empathize with the original poster's sentiments, progress is the name of the game and the way life itself works. That which changes lives and that which lives survives.

Change is like a natural selection process where those things that are active and have enough maintenance (as the skillful eradicator pointed out) will endure while those things that do not have the required maintenance will not endure.

That is not to say that archeology isn't a fun field As eradicator said if someone who -can- do the maintenance and fixing discovers an archived or ancient mod ... what is stopping them from bringing it up to date again? Lots of work, of course.

I myself am working on a small mod for the old .16 version of the game. It is a comparatively small and simple thing (and probably rather inexpertly done ) that I started because I was curious about modding but if I ever want to play that on the newer versions of the game I will have no choice but to undergo the enormous time and effort needing process of going through everything, every line of code, every reference, every file and so on. And make sure that everything works.

This is particularly difficult when things such as animations change (looking at you, beacon oh and hello electric mining drill ) or sounds are removed, changed or entire entries for sounds are not even in the base game anymore. But Factorio is one thing: modder friendly, so .. there is a really good chance that whatever changes come, there is a way to revert them, change the changes or build something new entirely! Who knows!

Part of the beauty of factorio is what people make of it. You could spend a life-time browsing, viewing and enjoying various mods people make and some of the most prominent and active modders (like the incredible Bobingabout) have been at this for who knows -how- long.

I am practically -certain- that if you really need help because you are stuck, you can approach anyone of the community you would feel like approaching. And if you asked nicely and respectfully, I cannot see anyone turning you away or sending you off discourtously. Thats just not how this community operates.

The way this community works is you get what you give. Output equals input. Very factory-like

Anyways, I hope this lifts your spirits some and maybe encourages you to either keep at it and develop your mod or maybe try to find a partner to collaborate with.

I love mods more than most. The potential they open is incredible. And just because something has issues, even many and seemingly insurmountable issues, never necessarily means it doesn't have very significant value.

That said - mods are not the silver bullet they sometimes seem. There are many problems:

1. Raw code - lack of access to and ability to change it means you will far too frequently need to make sub par compromises compared with what a dev team can do with access to core code, resulting in features that can rarely be perfectly polished.
2. Stability - when apis change, mods become out of date and maintenance a hassle. Mod makers have little control over this
3. Money - bugs are inevitable and bug hunting is tedious. Without $$, there is less accountability and incentive here.
4. Community - mods bifurcate communities and make it hard to share experiences.

Another issue, platform absorption, is an issue that some people see as a compliment and the ultimate goal, others see as territorial. There are fuzzy legal issues around this as well that I'm not fully aware of.

Again, I love mods!

johnfrost wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:29 am rF2 has the exact same problem: with every update mods are being destroyed. And now Factorio. Such a shame that mods have to be updated with current versions. Most mod makers dont even think about Factorio anymore. Now i understand why people still run 0.16 version of the game.

Keep in mind that you can download .zip versions of the game. So you can create a separate folder for each version you want to run, and have as many versions on your system as you like. You don't have to play either the latest experimental or the old version that has the mod you like; you can have a folder for each.

You can even keep separate folders for the same version but with different sets of mods enabled if you don't like having to restart to sync mods with a saved game.

That is not needed. Factorio can handle unlimited numbers of application-directories.
See https://wiki.factorio.com/Application_directory