Factorio Forums

Just wanted to share (and/or brag about, you decide) a GUI framework I am currently working on. It started as a rewrite of the LTN Tracker GUI code and might turn into something more.


Right now it would be hard to use for anyone but me (zero documentation, somewhat counter-intuitive to use). Changing that would be a lot of work. Is there any interest in the modding community in stuff like that? Would anyone use such a framework, if it where reasonably well documented? Basically, I am trying to figure out if it is worth the effort to make this into a stand-alone library mod or if I just keep using it myself.

Edit: In case someone wants to see it in action: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/LTN_Tracker_beta

Compared to every other mod interface I've seen this looks impressive. Almost like vanilla.
I've been avoiding making any GUIs for my mods or making any type of mod that would require a GUI.
The question is, would it change if it was made simpler? I don't haven't looked into how it's done in the first place because I have more fun doing other types of mods so I'm not sure. But maybe?

I can't really speak for others but I kind of wish people used your library if it magically made it look like what you have there. But the regular API is also capable of that (obviously) and if people would still make barely functional and ugly GUIs with the library then it wouldn't make a difference. So that probably mostly depends on how well it's documented and how well your library interface is designed and how easy it is to use. So if you make a half-hearted effort then just don't do it at all. If you plan on doing amazing work then it's worth it.

Frankly, instead of a library, with dependencies and all the headache that would entail for you as maintainer and consumers I propose you make it well documented and open source under a permissive license. This way people can use parts of the code in their own projects, but they are still responsible for the maintenance and edge cases their specific mod might require.

Thanks for your feedback. Making it freely available instead of a library is indeed a good idea.