Automatically / optionally update mods and exit

[kpjoshi]

TL;DR

Make mod updates more convenient by updating them before the game exits.

What ?

• On the mod explorer: add a button next to the confirm button that installs/updates/enables/disables mods and exits the game instead of restarting it.
• When the user exits from the game to the main menu, automatically check if mod updates are available. If that is the case and the user tries to exit the game, prompt the user if they'd like to update mods first.

Why ?

Similar to OS updates, this will make the mods update after the user is done with their play session, so that the updated mods will be ready before the user starts the next session.

[Illiander42]

Automatic updates are a bad thing.

Always know what updates you are applying, and why.

[kpjoshi]

Automatic updates are a bad thing.

Always know what updates you are applying, and why.

I suppose the second point is more risky, the game could instead ask the users if they'd like to see the mod update menu to update mods before exiting.

[Illiander42]

What's wrong with the current system, where you have to open up the mod menu and press a button to update mods and then you can either close or restart?

What possible benefit does this give?

Especially for people playing long-form modpacks like Seablock or Space Exploration, where updating the mods will break their game. Why make people click "no, please don't break my game that I've spent the last 300 hours playing" every time they close Factorio?

[kpjoshi]

What's wrong with the current system, where you have to open up the mod menu and press a button to update mods and then you can either close or restart?

My pet peeve is that there is only one option after you update mods: restart. There is no quit option. I prefer to check for mod updates before I close the game, and I have to sit through the restart in order to quit it afterwards.

[Illiander42]

What's wrong with the current system, where you have to open up the mod menu and press a button to update mods and then you can either close or restart?

My pet peeve is that there is only one option after you update mods: restart. There is no quit option. I prefer to check for mod updates before I close the game, and I have to sit through the restart in order to quit it afterwards.

So what you want is a utility that updates mods without hogging your screen?

Do we have one of those in the headless server stuff?

Though I do have to point out that this is the wrong timing if you always want to play with mods updated. Since if mods update between play sessions then you will be out of date.

[Koub]

So what you want is a utility that updates mods without hogging your screen?

That's not what I understand. What I understand is : Give us the choice to update mods upon quitting the game, so that it's possible to update mods without having to start the game twice. Something like "update mods and quit", the way our OSes give us the option to "update and shut down", instead of forcing the update on startup, with a mandatory reboot at startup.

[Illiander42]

So what you want is a utility that updates mods without hogging your screen?

That's not what I understand. What I understand is : Give us the choice to update mods upon quitting the game, so that it's possible to update mods without having to start the game twice. Something like "update mods and quit", the way our OSes give us the option to "update and shut down", instead of forcing the update on startup, with a mandatory reboot at startup.

See, you're just confirming to me that "mandatory updates are bad" right now.

Also, needing to reboot for updates to take effect should be the exception for Operating Systems. (They are for my OS, what garbage are you using that it can't do most updates live?)

[protocol_1903]

Rebooting is a natural part of the process of loading software. You can't load a mod without reloading the game, otherwise you would have to reload the mod and everything else with some psuedo gui open, which defeats the purpose. I often have to restart my game for such changes, and I find it a non-issue. I think a more useful option would be to change/disable all mods before booting up the game if you are going to switch mods, but that would be a different conversation.

[robot256]

Thankfully, the ability to open the mod manager before ever starting the game is being added to 2.0

https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-391

[Yodo]

You can only open the mod manager before the game if there is an error as far as I am aware.

I do hope they add an option to "update mods and quit" in addition to "update and restart".