How I wish modders would place their Readme files inside the mod folder.
Wise_Grimwald
Member Posts: 3,868
in BG:EE Mods
I don't know if others are as annoyed about this as I am, but it really annoys me that so often I have to manually put the readme files inside the mod folder to prevent them being overwritten by other readme files written for other mods.
IMO this is either sheer laziness or a complete lack of understanding of modding procedures.
Do modders actually believe that theirs is the only mod that will be installed?
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Only have the exe file and the tp2 file outside the folder for the mod.
(Or a bat file if that is how you have written the mod.)
If you can make the mod work with the tp2 inside the mod folder, so much the better.
Rant over.
This post is just written to urge modders to put their brains into gear, not to upset anybody.
IMO this is either sheer laziness or a complete lack of understanding of modding procedures.
Do modders actually believe that theirs is the only mod that will be installed?
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Only have the exe file and the tp2 file outside the folder for the mod.
(Or a bat file if that is how you have written the mod.)
If you can make the mod work with the tp2 inside the mod folder, so much the better.
Rant over.
This post is just written to urge modders to put their brains into gear, not to upset anybody.
1
Comments
Before you accuse modders of needing "to put their brains into gear", think that maybe there is a reason for the README to be in the main project folder.
PS I DID say that the purpose of the post was to find a solution, NOT to upset anybody.
Perhaps an interim measure would be to put a copy of the readme inside the mod folder as that readme would not be overwritten. Some mods actually do that, often in a different format. Kudos to them.
Another solution (In my opinion a worse one) would be to give the readme a mod specific name, but I have a feeling that Github would not be happy with that solution.
I have come up with these solutions just on the spur of the moment, so am sure that even better solutions are there if the time is taken to think about it.
I suspect that nobody has actually thought about it, otherwise a solution would already have been found.
If this post actually causes an answer to be found, it will have done its job even if it has annoyed one or two.
PS On a slightly different but similar topic the same thing happens with the gitignore file. Does it matter if that file is overwritten?
This is one of the problems about the web, tone of voice is missing and so misunderstandings can, and often do occur that would never happen in face to face communication. Emoticons help a bit, but clearly not enough.
I was hoping that this might actually start a discussion, and hopefully come up with a solution on how mods can be improved in this respect, rather than cause people to get defensive.
As a relatively small group, we are unlikely to be able to get Github to change, even though that would be the best solution. We therefore need to find alternatives. I have made one suggestion, but I am sure that modders will be able to make better ones.
OT:
I wasn't even aware this problem exists, but maybe I work with only a small selection of mods in total. And then there is mods who do both: BG1NPC Project, for example, has a readme in the highest level but this one only states some info about the project for GitHub users.
Maybe a better approach than ranting in general (or, worse, start listing mods here) is to actually contacting modders who's mod's readme is on the .exe level in the mod package.
I find installing mods stressful due to having to get installation order correct etc. so I should probably have waited a little before posting so that my exasperation didn't show through.
This does seem to be a recent phenomena as in the past the readmes were almost invariably put inside the mod folder. It is probably Github that has caused the change.
(In the past my frustration was caused by the readmes being hidden inside another folder and I didn't know which as there was no consistency between the different modders. Waiting until you start installing to read the readme is not best practice).
Talking of consistency, whilst most modders start their exe files with setup- which is good, not all do. When doing an installation like mine, it is extremely helpful if the naming is consistent as the relevant files are all grouped together as below which makes the relevant files easier to find.
As can be seen, there are a few which aren't. It is not a major problem, but it is one which needn't exist at all.
However, BWS usually links to the Github archive directly which will also contain files that are not needed by the mod itself (such as .gitignore, .gitattributes, or the project readme).
However, BWS usually links to the Github archive directly which will also contain files that are not needed by the mod itself (such as .gitignore, .gitattributes, or the project readme).
That is helpful, it means that if I tell 7zip to override the files .gitignore, .gitattributes or the project readme, I won't lose anything important. This is the reason that I started the thread.
subtledoctor said:Setting aside the question of insult - which seems unintended, just a result of less-than-perfect phrasing - the OP does have a point here... to some extent.
The issue for me, as someone whose mods are hosted on Github, is that the Readme.md file is ONLY for Github. I didn't even know it was being downloaded by users!
But that doesn't matter. That file can be thrown away, or overwritten, or whatever. (I'm not sure my computer knows what to do with an .md extension anyway.) My real readme is inside my mod folder, with an .html extension. The two files are identical, but as far as I'm concerned the proper readme is inside the mod folder. For modders using Github, this seems to be a fine solution.
For modders hosting elsewhere, like G3 or SHD, then I agree, keeping the reader inside the mod folder results in less file clutter. It can be accessed from Weidu by running the mod installer, so there's no need to put it somewhere prominent in the user's filesystem.
EDIT - I also agree that some kind of standard would be nice for .tp2 and .exe names (i.e. use "setup-" or don't. I also think modders should tuck away their .tp2 files inside the mod folders. And that G3/SHS/PPG should stop using annoying .exe wrappers around their Weidu mods. But what are you going to do? Some of the authors of these mods haven't been around in over a decade. What a player can do is only use mods that conform to modern best practices. But then you will miss out on some stuff. If you want to get the benefit of some mods that don't conform, then you just have to deal with it.
I couldn't agree more. The .exe wrappers used by G3/SHS/PPG have become even more annoying now that we have to use modmerge. First we have to run those wrappers to access the mod and exe files, then run modmerge and then run the installation exe of the mod.
Having to unwrap the mod before you can read the readme is also a slight annoyance. Yes, the readme is usually there on the website, but I would prefer to have them all there on my computer in an easily accessable place where I can open and close them at will.
IMO subtledoctor's mods are an excellent example of how mods should be written, and I would recommend all modders to look at how he packages mods and follow suit.
Where you say "I also agree that some kind of standard would be nice for .tp2 and .exe names (i.e. use "setup-" or don't." I would most definitely say "DO". it enables sorting all the relevant exe files together at the flick of a button. If somebody is installing a small number of mods, it doesn't matter, but if you are installing a large number it matters a lot.
PS An md file can be opened with notepad.
What annoys me most is that every modder uses a different compression tool. So far I've found tar files (.tar), compressed tar files (.tgz), zipped files (.zip), self-extracting zip files (.exe), files in rar format (.rar), and lately 7z files. Why don't everyone uses simply zip compression? Every desktop system can unzip zipped files without third-party software.
Every modder should not only provide a readme but also include his license. Maybe this causes problems, because he most probably used weidu, and weidu is licensed under the GNU public license V2. The GNU GPL has a strong copyleft requirement. When distributing derived works, the source code of the work must be made available under the same license. There are multiple variants of the GNU GPL, each with different requirements.
If the modder uses other peoples work (art, voice, translations, etc.) they should not only give credit but also check that they are allowed to use it.
Actually the WeiDU readme explicitely states you are allowed to distribute an unmodified copy of weidu executable file in a mod:
I'm afraid the same can't be said for the mods. Unfortunately there is no such a thing as a generally accepted IE games modder license.
@Wise_Grimwald After a rocky start I think you really got some ideas flowing.
Hehheh, my grandfather had a saying in the building supply business " Sometimes it takes a 2x4
Having said that, my wife has told me that she has learned to listen when I get angry, as she discovers all the things that are bugging me. (I'm normally the type who keeps the peace by saying nothing.)