[PROGRAM] X Plugin Manager : V1.87 : 2024-01-06

[kurush]

if it detects AP, then the files that should be in the TC directory gets installed into a fake patch in the AP install, the others get installed extracted.

Fake patch - is it a *.cat/*.dat pair? If so, I can't find it created anywhere. When I exit PM, it only creates a bunch of *.pck files under addon/types. It shows e:\steam\...\addon[X3: Albion Prelude V2.0] in the drop-down. It also starts AP when I click the button at the bottom saying [Run: X3: Albion Prelude V2.0]. I have total of 5 cat/dat pairs in addon - 2 that come with the game, 3 that I created myself with some of my changes, 4 & 5 for the ringless gate mod that I installed manually. Version displayed is V1.41. I manually created some effect objects but not ships and new objects did appear in addon/objects when I installed an additional ship.

[Cycrow]

if it detects AP, then the files that should be in the TC directory gets installed into a fake patch in the AP install, the others get installed extracted.

Fake patch - is it a *.cat/*.dat pair? If so, I can't find it created anywhere. When I exit PM, it only creates a bunch of *.pck files under addon/types. It shows e:\steam\...\addon[X3: Albion Prelude V2.0] in the drop-down. It also starts AP when I click the button at the bottom saying [Run: X3: Albion Prelude V2.0]. I have total of 5 cat/dat pairs in addon - 2 that come with the game, 3 that I created myself with some of my changes, 4 & 5 for the ringless gate mod that I installed manually. Version displayed is V1.41. I manually created some effect objects but not ships and new objects did appear in addon/objects when I installed an additional ship.

it should be the highest number cat/dat pair.
while the plugin manager is running, u'll find it in PluginManager/PlugMan_Fake.cat

which gets renamed when its closed

[DrBullwinkle]

Does this program take into account custom turrets (and make all the necessary entries into the components.txt and the dummies.txt files) when extracting XSP ships from existing mods?

yes it does, it extracts all entries in the files that it needs, based on whats been defined in TShips and the scene file

That would be so awesome!

Sadly, I have tried it on several ships from multiple mods, and all I get is: "There was a problem when trying to import the ship..." without any clue about what caused the problem.

So how is the feature intended to work? Any tips on troubleshooting?

[kurush]

it should be the highest number cat/dat pair.
while the plugin manager is running, u'll find it in PluginManager/PlugMan_Fake.cat

For me PlugMan_Fake.cat just stays under addon/PluginManager and no new fake patch is being generated. Also, when I tried to open it with X3 Editor 2 to check what's in it, I got "Invalid Data" message.
Otherwise, PM is doing a marvelous job of merging all those changes together.

[Cycrow]

Does this program take into account custom turrets (and make all the necessary entries into the components.txt and the dummies.txt files) when extracting XSP ships from existing mods?

yes it does, it extracts all entries in the files that it needs, based on whats been defined in TShips and the scene file

That would be so awesome!

Sadly, I have tried it on several ships from multiple mods, and all I get is: "There was a problem when trying to import the ship..." without any clue about what caused the problem.

So how is the feature intended to work? Any tips on troubleshooting?

the whole process should be pretty much automated. Just make sure all the files are inside the same mod. I do plan to add additional logging at some point which would help determine where any problems happen.

which mods are you trying to import from ?

the import works by grabing the TShips line (the one you select when you load the mod) then it extracts all the data from that and grabs the scene file from the mod (that should match the TShips entry). From there it reads the scene file to get all the models, componants, dummies etc. And just recurivly follows all the links in those files until it has all the files and entries that the ship needs

[Cycrow]

it should be the highest number cat/dat pair.
while the plugin manager is running, u'll find it in PluginManager/PlugMan_Fake.cat

For me PlugMan_Fake.cat just stays under addon/PluginManager and no new fake patch is being generated. Also, when I tried to open it with X3 Editor 2 to check what's in it, I got "Invalid Data" message.
Otherwise, PM is doing a marvelous job of merging all those changes together.

thats a problem with the mod generation which is the bug im currently fixing.
most likly its getting curropt, which the plugin manager is detecting and not putting into the game.

only way to fix it currently is to simply delete it and reinstall the ships again. but its likly to keep happening

but i would just a few days when ill hopefully have a fix for it

[DrBullwinkle]

the whole process should be pretty much automated.

Oh, it's automated... It just always fails. At least in the few tests I have tried.

Today I tried XRM and my own (working) mod... both for TC.

Yes, logging would help, please. I figure it is probably cockpit error, but without more information I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong.

[Cycrow]

does it at least show u the process window ?

there should be a window display each stage of what its doing so you can see how far it gets

how far does it actaully get.
you could try to describe the process of what you do so i can see how far your getting with it

[DrBullwinkle]

does it at least show u the process window ?

Yes, it shows the process window, although only briefly. Too fast to read how far it got.

Process is:
New / Import Ship From Mod
Select .cat with TShips
Select Ship
Click OK.

Result is:
Process Window flashes briefly
Windows MessageBox: Title = "Error Importing Ship"
Text = "There was a problem when trying to import the ship [path to .cat] (ship ID)"

[Cycrow]

if its failing straight away, the most likly cause is that it cant extract the scene file.

i will add additional information to the error message to make it clearer.

ill also try it with XRM and see if its a problem with the mod or not

[DrBullwinkle]

i will add additional information to the error message to make it clearer.

Great. If you also post the progress to a log, then people can post the logs when they have trouble.

[Cycrow]

1.42 Available

• Added spk converter to the Creator to open old spk files
• Fixed reading and writing of cat files
• Fixed installation of ships for AP
• Fixed creation of Text files, stripping out invalid characters
• Adjusted automatic filetype detection for loading in archive files, Fixed uninstall script detection
• Added addition to error messages for importing ships

[Vayde]

Not sure if this is an issue for Cycrow or Dr B but as you are both active here I'll ask.

JDK/Upgrade kits creates a new ware and a new station when installed, however when un-installing using the plugin manager the ware reverts to one of the ZA_BLANK types and the station in Getsu Fune remains

Is this a script un-install error or something to do with the plugin manager?

[DrBullwinkle]

The ware reverting is normal. If you have uninstalled the plugin, and deleted any Upgrade Kits that you had on hand, then you should not see the ware in the game.

The station remaining is... perhaps not intended. But it is easier if you just destroy it yourself. And by "easier" I mean "easier for me".

In any case, it has nothing to do with the Plugin Manager.

[Vayde]

Cycrow has very conveniently created a unused ware removal feature via his plugin configuration tool. It found the offending ZA_EMP_BLANK_CUSTOM7_7 ware and removed it for me

[Cycrow]

I think that I have figured out why the PM has trouble installing Lucike's scripts.

Lucike's zip files contain scripts.uninstall and scripts.delete folders. The PM correctly puts the contents of the scripts.delete folder in scripts.delete.

However, the contents of scripts.uninstall are copied into the scripts folder. The result is that the uninstall script is run instead of the setup script (because they both have the same name).

This should be fixed in 1.42

[Cycrow]

the whole process should be pretty much automated.

Oh, it's automated... It just always fails. At least in the few tests I have tried.

Today I tried XRM and my own (working) mod... both for TC.

Yes, logging would help, please. I figure it is probably cockpit error, but without more information I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong.

I've just tested XRM. The problem is that the types files and scene/mod files are in seperate cat files. So the plugin manager cant find the files it needs

[DrBullwinkle]

Yes, I can confirm that the scripts.uninstall folder appears to be working correctly. Thank you.

Regarding types and models in separate .cats, that is pretty common, isn't it? Like more common than not? I have scenes on the disk drive during debug, then move them to .cat when they are "done". Types is split between .cat and disk depending on the task.

In other words, I don't think it is reasonable to assume that types and scenes/models will all be in the same location.

I can understand why you did it that way... you have said before that you think of a mod as a single .cat/.dat pair. But that is not my experience, in general.

Is it feasible to extract from a VFS of the game folder? (At least as an option?) That should be more reliable, since it should include all of the files associated with the mod.

[Cycrow]

i was going to add an option to load in an additional mod if it failed.
but loading from VFS might be a better idea.

[Aegyen]

+1 for loading from the VFS.

That makes it easy and simple.