DOOM for CS mods approaches ... again!

[novapaddy]

Yes, great news that we are to have a new DLC due soon I hope?

But remember the last DLC, and the previous DLC? What happened back then?

LOTS of mods stopped working and we were left high and dry for days if not weeks on some of the most popular mods.

Remember?

I asked CO previously, why don't they organise the Steam Workshop properly as it would be a benefit to all the CS players. I even offered to do the work myself. Their answer was that this was the job of Paradox. They are the publisher.

Yes I can see that a lot of the features of the upcoming DLC are already working mods in CS. So it looks like they are incorporating the best mods into CS? Good, I hope the modders get rewarded for their creativity and skills.

BUT, about the upcoming disaster for the other mods. I mean if Paradox are now making millions, surely they can afford someone to organise the CS Steam Workshop?

Or do we just have to suffer AGAIN?

 

[vukica]

What exactly do you think can be done? Big mods have early access, and that's it. It's up to every modder to update their mods, if they want and when they want.

And if they don't want, well tough.

 

[TinyWiking]

You need to understand that there are tens of thousands of mods and they are not created nor maintained by us. We give users the tools the need to create the assets but it's up to them to make sure it's up to date and maintained. We cannot do this as we simply don't have the manpower to check that each and every mod works with each update.

The bottom line is that mods are created by the community for the community and we are not able to take responsibility for their compatibility following updates, it's something each creator needs to do.

 

[novapaddy]

What exactly do you think can be done? Big mods have early access, and that's it. It's up to every modder to update their mods, if they want and when they want.

And if they don't want, well tough.

You need to understand that there are tens of thousands of mods and they are not created nor maintained by us. We give users the tools the need to create the assets but it's up to them to make sure it's up to date and maintained. We cannot do this as we simply don't have the manpower to check that each and every mod works with each update.

The bottom line is that mods are created by the community for the community and we are not able to take responsibility for their compatibility following updates, it's something each creator needs to do.

A fully understandable point of view. Thanks for your reply.

I dunno, I just think CS must be nearly 2 years old soon? The base game is only good enough to play with the addition of mods and assets from the Workshop. I know this as I have 1000+ hours playtime with CS. It is the constant addition of "new things" which keeps me playing it. I'm sure this is the same for others?

Is the Steam Workshop some indefinite quantity that can be just constantly filled up? Does it have a limit? Are we approaching this limit?

Certainly CS is not going away. I'm sure I and you will be still playing it in years to come. Surely it is timely to just stop and have someone consider what can be done, if anything, to mitigate, or anticipate potential troubles ahead?

I'm only asking. Cheers.

 

[vukica]

Well top mods do have beta access, and those mods are updated within the hour.

Having older versions of the game available on steam would help, if you also had an efficient way of backupingup the mods for that version.

 

[slornie]

What exactly do you think can be done? Big mods have early access, and that's it. It's up to every modder to update their mods, if they want and when they want.

I've not really delved into the workshop/mods so this might already be a thing, but if not: version control.

When someone creates/publishes a mod or asset let/require them to specify which version of the game it is designed to work with (similar to the ability to specify required mods). When a new game update rolls around mods could be automatically disabled (user setting) based on the version mismatch until and unless they have been updated by the owner and/or are manually re-enabled by the player.

 

[vukica]

I've not really delved into the workshop/mods so this might already be a thing, but if not: version control.

When someone creates/publishes a mod or asset let/require them to specify which version of the game it is designed to work with (similar to the ability to specify required mods). When a new game update rolls around mods could be automatically disabled (user setting) based on the version mismatch until and unless they have been updated by the owner and/or are manually re-enabled by the player.

Unfortunately, that is not a thing. Best one can do is publish different versions of the same mod. Or mark it as "Obsolete"

 

[Fred T]

BUT, about the upcoming disaster for the other mods. I mean if Paradox are now making millions, surely they can afford someone to organise the CS Steam Workshop?

I experience this as my biggest "issue" with CS today. The absolute non existing ways of sorting mods and assets. Both mine (that I subscribe to), and the ones in the Workshop. (I'm subscribing to over 100 pages of assets and mods and it's a hopeless job to try to get any kind of overview of them as it is now).

Another thing is the lack of linking "needs and relations" between assets, props and mods. For instance I would like to be able to see in which asset(s) a certain tree is used a s o. Just so you can sort things out and unsubscribe to props that's not in use at the moment. Etc etc.

Otherwise I'm very much looking forward to MT.

I hope the modders get rewarded for their creativity and skills.

Hear, hear!

 

[jcitron]

I experience this as my biggest "issue" with CS today. The absolute non existing ways of sorting mods and assets. Both mine (that I subscribe to), and the ones in the Workshop. (I'm subscribing to over 100 pages of assets and mods and it's a hopeless job to try to get any kind of overview of them as it is now).

Another thing is the lack of linking "needs and relations" between assets, props and mods. For instance I would like to be able to see in which asset(s) a certain tree is used a s o. Just so you can sort things out and unsubscribe to props that's not in use at the moment. Etc etc.

Otherwise I'm very much looking forward to MT.

Hear, hear!

This is one of the issues I've had with the content manager from day one. Without knowing what dependencies and dependents are on each mod or asset, we end up with broken cities if something is removed, and worse if something is updated automatically and end up with a totally broken game.

In another program I use, there is an extensive content management system which can sort the local data and allow us to search out dependencies with each and every asset. There's also a fallback versioning system as well. An updated asset can easily be reverted to a previous version should an update break the content, and updating is done manually so we can control that rather than starting up the program and finding our content is now broken because an updated asset has been installed all without saying which asset was updated. There are also queries available for faulty or missing dependencies, and faulty assets in general so assets can be tracked down, replaced, and even repaired if possible.

Maybe I'm spoiled, but I find the CM implementation in Cities to be a bit limited as though I'm walking with one hand behind my back all the time as I try to carry a heavy load.