[0.15.32] mod settings orders mods seemingly random

[Optera]

Problem:

At glance the load order seems to be random. However checking with the logfile it seems they are ordered by their load order.
This makes finding a specific mod setting increasingly more difficult as more and more mods include a plethora of settings.

2017-08-02-19-07-04-8051049.jpg (86.5 KiB) Viewed 1875 times

current.log

Code: Select all

   0.305 Loading mod settings color-picker 0.4.3 (settings.lua)
   0.306 Loading mod settings rso-mod 3.3.11 (settings.lua)
   0.307 Loading mod settings Aircraft 1.3.7 (settings.lua)
   0.307 Loading mod settings AutoDeconstruct 0.1.9 (settings.lua)
   0.307 Loading mod settings bobinserters 0.15.1 (settings.lua)
   0.308 Loading mod settings creative-mode 0.3.9 (settings.lua)
   0.313 Loading mod settings DeepMine 0.1.3 (settings.lua)
   0.313 Loading mod settings folk-fill 0.2.1 (settings.lua)
   0.314 Loading mod settings LoaderRedux 1.1.1 (settings.lua)
   0.314 Loading mod settings More-Locomotives 0.5.2 (settings.lua)
   0.315 Loading mod settings Noxys_Trees 0.0.4 (settings.lua)
   0.315 Loading mod settings Noxys_Waterfill 0.0.5 (settings.lua)
   0.316 Loading mod settings Orbital Ion Cannon 1.5.2 (settings.lua)
   0.316 Loading mod settings smaller-fluid-wagon-and-barrel 0.0.4 (settings.lua)
   0.317 Loading mod settings WideChests 1.8.2 (settings.lua)
   0.317 Loading mod settings folk-shuttle 0.1.12 (settings.lua)
   0.318 Loading mod settings LogisticTrainNetwork 1.4.5 (settings.lua)
   0.319 Loading mod settings PickerExtended 2.8.1 (settings.lua)
   0.320 Loading mod settings Satellite Uplink Station 1.1.1 (settings.lua)
   0.326 Loading mod core 0.0.0 (data.lua)
   0.335 Loading mod base 0.15.32 (data.lua)
   0.460 Loading mod color-picker 0.4.3 (data.lua)
   0.493 Loading mod FARL 1.1.7 (data.lua)
   0.525 Loading mod rso-mod 3.3.11 (data.lua)
   0.558 Loading mod AdvancedGuns 0.2.0 (data.lua)
   0.590 Loading mod air-filtering 0.5.0 (data.lua)
   0.624 Loading mod Aircraft 1.3.7 (data.lua)
   0.664 Loading mod angelstank 0.2.0 (data.lua)
   0.700 Loading mod auto-research 3.5.0 (data.lua)
   0.730 Loading mod AutoTrash 2.0.3 (data.lua)
   0.764 Loading mod bobinserters 0.15.1 (data.lua)
   0.799 Loading mod CharcoalBurner 1.15.13 (data.lua)
   0.832 Loading mod CollectDroppedItemsHotkey 0.15.0 (data.lua)
   0.868 Loading mod creative-mode 0.3.9 (data.lua)
   0.916 Loading mod DeepMine 0.1.3 (data.lua)
   0.951 Loading mod Electric Furnaces 2.3.0 (data.lua)
   0.990 Loading mod EquipmentHotkeys_fixed 0.0.3 (data.lua)
   1.026 Loading mod Flow Control 3.0.2 (data.lua)
   1.065 Loading mod Honk 2.1.3 (data.lua)
   1.102 Loading mod Inventory Sensor 1.4.11 (data.lua)
   1.139 Loading mod Laser_Beam_Turrets 0.1.9 (data.lua)
   1.176 Loading mod LightedPolesPlus 1.0.4 (data.lua)
   1.214 Loading mod LoaderRedux 1.1.1 (data.lua)
   1.251 Loading mod longer-transport 0.0.3 (data.lua)
   1.292 Loading mod minimap-autohide 0.9.1 (data.lua)
   1.332 Loading mod More-Locomotives 0.5.2 (data.lua)
   1.372 Loading mod Noxys_Waterfill 0.0.5 (data.lua)
   1.415 Loading mod Orbital Ion Cannon 1.5.2 (data.lua)
   1.455 Loading mod pollution-detector 0.2.3 (data.lua)
   1.498 Loading mod RadarTracker 0.3.7 (data.lua)
   1.538 Loading mod Robo-Charge-1x1 0.15.0 (data.lua)
   1.583 Loading mod Robot_Battery_Research 0.1.0 (data.lua)
   1.622 Loading mod smaller-fluid-wagon-and-barrel 0.0.4 (data.lua)
   1.661 Loading mod StorageTank2 0.2.2 (data.lua)
   1.705 Loading mod VehicleGrid 0.1.1 (data.lua)
   1.745 Loading mod Warehousing 0.1.0 (data.lua)
   1.786 Loading mod water-fix 0.2.1 (data.lua)
   1.826 Loading mod WideChests 1.8.2 (data.lua)
   1.872 Loading mod wormmus-inf-tech 0.1.4 (data.lua)
   1.917 Loading mod folk-shuttle 0.1.12 (data.lua)
   1.960 Loading mod LogisticTrainNetwork 1.4.5 (data.lua)
   2.009 Loading mod PickerExtended 2.8.1 (data.lua)
   2.061 Loading mod Satellite Uplink Station 1.1.1 (data.lua)
   2.107 Loading mod base 0.15.32 (data-updates.lua)
   2.154 Loading mod FARL 1.1.7 (data-updates.lua)
   2.199 Loading mod rso-mod 3.3.11 (data-updates.lua)
   2.249 Loading mod Aircraft 1.3.7 (data-updates.lua)
   2.299 Loading mod bobinserters 0.15.1 (data-updates.lua)
   2.349 Loading mod CharcoalBurner 1.15.13 (data-updates.lua)
   2.394 Loading mod LightedPolesPlus 1.0.4 (data-updates.lua)

Expected:

Mods are ordered alphabetical

[Rseding91]

Thanks for the report. Mods are sorted by the dependency order and so are the settings. It keeps the sort order the same on all platforms and independent of language. It's also the order mods are loaded in, events are fired in, and so on.

[Optera]

You may categorize it as working as programmed, but it certainly is not working as players expect.

[Klonan]

You may categorize it as working as programmed, but it certainly is not working as players expect.

Not meeting a players expectation isn't a bug,
However I will add it to our 0.16 UX overview to discuss if its worth fixing

[Pi-C]

I'm sorry for reviving a thread as old as this one, but as it is regarded good practice to search the forum before shooting out a question that has already been asked, I'll just do it anyway.

Not meeting a players expectation isn't a bug,
However I will add it to our 0.16 UX overview to discuss if its worth fixing

Obviously, sorting mods alphabetically in the Settings menu has not been deemed worthy for 0.16 -- but now, we are getting close (judging by the increasing time between updates) to 0.17 getting stable and I feel it is time to bring this up again: Would you, please, consider to make the mods in the mod settings' menus appear in alphabetical order?

If you have more than a handful of mods installed, finding a particular mod in the list is tantamount to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. You start to look for one name, and the list looks like it is sorted, than you get to the end of the alphabet -- and when you think you're almost done, it starts all over again. Here's an extreme example, from my Mod Settings-->Startup list:

• Asphalt Roads
• Bio Industries
• […]
• Toxic Forest
• Warehousing Mod
• Alien Biomes
• Cargo Ships
• […]
• VortiK's Deep core mining
• Geothermal
• steinios unlasting oil

It's already quite a chore to check one list -- but there actually are three lists (Startup, Map, Per player) one has to search! Add to this that some mod names include articles (e.g. The Ruins Mod), some mods include the author's (e.g. Bob's X, Pyanodons [sic!] Y, Amator Phasma's Z) or series' (e.g. AAI, Space Exploration) names, that some names are descriptive (e.g. Realistic this or that) and some are puns (e.g. The Mod That Makes Anything And Everything Better), and you will easily see why it is important to present the list of configurable mods in some way that makes sense to users. Please do note that not everybody keeps track of the order mods have been loaded -- that's something happening under the hood and not really clear unless you check the log file!

Mods are sorted by the dependency order and so are the settings. It keeps the sort order the same on all platforms and independent of language.

From what I've read about modding, it's mainly about generating and updating tables of prototypes, entities, etc. Wouldn't the following be a feasible procedure?

1. On starting Factorio, generate an empty table.
2. Load mod. If its settings can be configured, add its name to the new table.
3. Proceed with step 2 until all mods are loaded.
4. IF (selected locale for game) != (default locale) THEN
   • For each mod in table do:
     • IF mod contains (locale selected for game) AND ([mod-name] is set THEN replace mod name in table with [mod-name].
5. Sort table by mod name.
6. Create mod settings GUI.
7. For each mod in table do:
   • Add mod with (localized) mod settings to GUI.

Most of this pseudo code seems to be implemented already: I just set the game's locale to German for the first time, and German names/options are used in the mod settings menu. I'm not sure how hard it would be to implement the rest, and how much it would delay the start-up time, but I'd be happy to wait a bit longer if it means that I can find a particular mod's settings more easily!

[eradicator]

I've said time and time again that the whole "one giant list" approach is flawed. The mod installation manager does it much better. A) It uses much more of my screen, and B) it has an alphabetic list of mod names on one side, and then the associated data on the other. Haven't gotten up hope that the settings menu will be improved with the ongoing GUI overhaul...