How to publish "Startup" Mod settings

[Stimpatch]

Hey there, ne win the Server hosting thing, and i have a question:

Recently i got access to a factorio headless server and started to play around with it, so some friends and myself can play together. Here is the situation:
Last Week i installed Deadlocks industrial Revolution (great mod btw) and restartet the server with a new map. We played for some time, no errors, all good. 2 days later i find out deadlock lets you select your own laser turret color. COOL, gotta do that. This setting is done in the "Startup" tab, so it needs a restart on my client. After the change this setting (to my knowlege) went into the config.dat (not sure abot the name, NOT the json file) next to my mods in my mods folder. So i pushed that file onto the server and restartet the server. Boom, works. NICE.
But. Next time a friend connected to the server, he was rejected with some error about mod mismatch. Later i got to him, made him do the same settings in his client about the laser color, all working again.

So my quastion is: Whats the correct way to update setting in the "Startup" tab for your headless server, so it does not break thins for other clients?

[eradicator]

But. Next time a friend connected to the server, he was rejected with some error about mod mismatch. Later i got to him, made him do the same settings in his client about the laser color, all working again.

That sounds like a bug in Industrial Revolution, you should report it. Normally the sever should just ask your friend if he wants to synchronize the settings with the server.

Technical explanation: When a mod uses a user-setting based conditional require() it's checksum changes and the game thinks that it's a "different" mod. Mods should therefore always require() all files and handle the conditions somewhere else.

[Deadlock989]

Ugh. This does sound like a silly mistake in IR. It makes sense that this would cause an issue.

Can you do me a favour and report it on the mod portal page? That's my best substitute for a bug tracker at the moment (yes, I'm aware of other options, no need to advise me). Never mind, done it for you.

I can think of one very immediate and easy fix: remove the option completely. Preserving the option so that it works in multiplayer will need more thought and work, I could do it with tints instead, but that would mean re-doing the beam graphics. Alternatively, load the game up with all 12 coloured beam definitions, increasing VRAM and memory use, and assign them dynamically at runtime instead of during the data stage, maybe, if that's possible.

[eradicator]

Alternatively, load the game up with all 12 coloured beam definitions, increasing VRAM and memory use, and assign them dynamically at runtime instead of during the data stage, maybe, if that's possible.

I don't have the first clue how IR is structured, but it sounds like you want somethnig like this:

Code: Select all

--file_with_all_the_beams
return {
	beam1 = {},
	beam2 = {},
	}

Code: Select all

local beams = require('file_with_all_the_beams')
turrent_prototype.beam = beams[settings.startup[option_name]]

I.e. there's no need to load all the beams, you just need to load the *files* that contain the beams.

[Deadlock989]

I don't have the first clue how IR is structured

I do, though. I'm on it.

[eradicator]

I don't have the first clue how IR is structured

I do, though. I'm on it.

Sorry for trying to help then.

[Stimpatch]

Normally the sever should just ask your friend if he wants to synchronize the settings with the server.

Ah, okay, thats what i expected to happen.

[Deadlock989]

Sorry for trying to help then.

Now, now. No need for that. This psychologist puts it better than I could. I know when and how to ask for help.

[eradicator]

Sorry for trying to help then.

Now, now. No need for that. This psychologist puts it better than I could. I know when and how to ask for help.

I think i'll bookmark that for later use. Maybe someone else'll find the code bit useful ;).

[Deadlock989]

In tests on Windows hosted games, I've not been able to reproduce this. However I don't currently have access to a Linux install so I can't test the headless server.

On two Windows machines, with identical versions of IR and any other mods installed, if laser beam colour start-up settings differ, then the client trying to join the game will be prompted to sync settings and restart the game. Click confirm, the game restarts, you're able to connect. This is correct and expected behaviour. My understanding is that if it works on a Windows host, it should work on a Linux headless host.

Is it at all possible that "some error about mod mismatch" was actually an error about mod mismatch?

The best place to report suspected bugs in IR is on the mod portal page, please follow the advice there about the information required to successfully diagnose issues.