Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:20 am Post subject:
Advanced GUI
I want you to know that I am currently working on improvements on the GUI for the user.
If you have wishes what could be added or comments on stuff feel free to post.
At the moment it covers:
-Setting the GUI to use the RA3 or Tiberium Wars SDK with looking up the registry or manually input a SDK Folder (if you for example copied it for some reason like I did when I was forced to reinstall Windows a year ago)
-Setting a custom output folder for your mod. Users who don't want to get their My Documents folder going huge will like this.
-Split up build process into several sections (Apt, Art, Audio, Data, Maps and Language) to improve the time needed to compile if you only changed some little part.
-Added the ability to set the Mod version.
-Saves the custom SDK and mod folder, last built language, last used game and mod version to a text file to reload it at the next time you start the GUI.
Changes the directory structure for easy version management (like Tiberium Wars):
Modname
--Core
----Version
------Apt.big
------Art.big
------Audio.big
------Data.big
------Maps.big
------Misc.big
------Terrain.big
--Language
----Version
------Language.big
----Modname_Version.Skudef
Huh, nice to see. So that one now already supports TW too? Awesome.
Some suggestions:
Add a "Beginner Mode" that hides some of the advanced features. Especially the Mod Core options will probably not make much sense to a beginner.
Split the settings tab into multiple tabs, it already seems a bit too much at first glance. For example, creating _M and _L as well as copying the str and creating the SkuDef will most likely never be toggled off by most people so it might be better to put them in a second settings tab. [Miscellaneous Tab]
Not sure if the settings are already attributed to a specific mod, but it'd be nice to be able to save/load (and perhaps share) a full configuration for every mod individually.
Might be a good idea to have an option to toggle the fragmented compiling on/off; some people might prefer to release their mod in a form as simple as possible.[Fragmented Compiling Tab]
Allow to change the order of fragmented compiling to speed up testing the Art and Audio.[Fragmented Compiling Tab]
Add the Option to use several str files which are then merged into mod.str automatically. I found this to be very helpful for TCs for TW.[Miscellaneous Tab]
Some people liked redefining the ART:, DATA: and AUDIO: tags for includes in TW, how about adding an option for this as well?[Miscellaneous Tab]
Likewise, it'd be nice to be able to change the paths for shaders, inis, videos etc.[Miscellaneous Tab]
Some suggestions:
[list]
[*]Add a "Beginner Mode" that hides some of the advanced features. Especially the Mod Core options will probably not make much sense to a beginner.
That doesn't work. I would have to create another GUI mod for this.
Golan wrote:
[*]Split the settings tab into multiple tabs, it already seems a bit too much at first glance. For example, creating _M and _L as well as copying the str and creating the SkuDef will most likely never be toggled off by most people so it might be better to put them in a second settings tab. [Miscellaneous Tab]
That also doesn't work.
Golan wrote:
[*]Might be a good idea to have an option to toggle the fragmented compiling on/off; some people might prefer to release their mod in a form as simple as possible.[Fragmented Compiling Tab]
That also doesn't work. I would have to create another GUI mod for this.
Modding the GUI is very restricted...
For the other things: possible but I am not 100% sure if I implement them.
Also I would like to say that for now I will first finish the compatibility to Tiberium Wars and will leave out Red Alert 3 completely. At the moment there is no way to make patch streams (seems broken as it should be used in the default one but it doesn't work) so it would render most stuff in it useless. QUICK_EDIT
First version for CnC3 is out:
http://thundermods.net/index.php?page=downloads&action=view&id=76
As its for CnC3 it contains all needed files. Run the executable and click on Documentation for how to use it. If questions occur that are not covered there please feel free to ask QUICK_EDIT
it seems a too late replay
does this tool work with ra3 sdk v3 or not
and if my mod AptUI contains fe_shared_mainmenulib folder will it compile the TGA edited or jusd ignore it to the original as the official sdk do? _________________ QUICK_EDIT
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