Mod installer & auto-update tool - would you use it?

[Hayhorse]

I would love to have a launcher to add mods to the game, and to unpack-age them without winrar..... You might be able to sneak some code from Slipstream mod manager for FTL as it has the stack settings worked out pretty well

[KingOfAwesomnia]

I would love to have a launcher to add mods to the game, and to unpack-age them without winrar

Unpacking won't be in this mod, because it's not my aim to support loading various kinds of archives into it (this would take a lot of work since every mod is packaged slightly differently). The main goal for this launcher is to offer a mod gallery which will let you download and install mods with a single click, eliminating the need to manually download files altogether.

[Hayhorse]

Unpacking won't be in this mod, because it's not my aim to support loading various kinds of archives into it (this would take a lot of work since every mod is packaged slightly differently). The main goal for this launcher is to offer a mod gallery which will let you download and install mods with a single click, eliminating the need to manually download files altogether.

So when it pulls the mod from the database it would already be in a form windows/Rimworld can read?

[KingOfAwesomnia]

So when it pulls the mod from the database it would already be in a form windows/Rimworld can read?

Exactly. The launcher will download the mods from the database, and install them into the RimWorld mods folder right away, ready to play

[Hayhorse]

Exactly. The launcher will download the mods from the database, and install them into the RimWorld mods folder right away, ready to play

Then when its finished I can uninstall winrar!

[KingOfAwesomnia]

Then when its finished I can uninstall winrar!

Sounds like a plan, haha

..I don't even have winrar, I use 7zip for everything

[Hayhorse]

Sounds like a plan, haha

..I don't even have winrar, I use 7zip for everything

It changes some file images to be a stack of books so it looks ugly.

[KingOfAwesomnia]

So I got some news: First release v0.1 alpha is out, and I called the program.. RW Launcher! (I know, very original)

Check it at http://rwlauncher.woubuc.be/

It's just the mod manager and the settings menu right now, not much fancy new stuff yet, but it should work. Be alert when you try it out though, chances are I've still overlooked some bugs, so let me know if anything doesn't seem to work the way it's supposed to.

Documentation on the extra launcher data is also available on the site, check the "documentation" link on the top of the page.

All thoughts and feedback are welcome, as always

PS: If you add RW Launcher support to your mod, do let me know.

[Evul]

How is it defined in the about.xml?

I won't put it in about.xml since the game throws notices / errors when I do. The extra data will go in /About/Launcher.xml and I'll tell you how that file will be structured as soon as I finish with the settings function.

Do you have a format exsample or is it still in WIP

[KingOfAwesomnia]

Do you have a format exsample or is it still in WIP

See my last post for everything about the 0.1a release
Here's the link to the documentation page: http://rwlauncher.woubuc.be/docs.html

[Evul]

*evul doing facepawn du to obvious miss*

[KingOfAwesomnia]

*evul doing facepawn du to obvious miss*

That's why I'm here to point you in the right direction

When you get a chance to try it out, let me know if it all works with the launcher, and if the documentation is correct?

[Ded1]

Sounds great.  My mods are all tiny (i mean 2kb tiny or so) so it sounds like an easy way to keep them organized for players.

[Shinzy]

Oooh a question! (Notice: I didn't read all the pages at all and only know of how this entire thing works from Iggybud so the following can be shrugged off as blabber from an ignorant bum!)

How would this work with releases that are not compatible with your current colony?
like the kinds that need a restart?

[KingOfAwesomnia]

How would this work with releases that are not compatible with your current colony?
like the kinds that need a restart?

Ingame requirements (like mods that require you to start a new colony or generate a new world) won't change, I cannot do anything about this as it depends on the mod. I will provide a way for mod makers to add a warning to their mod, that you get to see when you activate the mod.
Also you talk about "mods that need a restart" but RW Launcher runs separate from the game, so it will always first apply your mods and your mod settings, and only then will it actually launch the game.