OpenTTD Modpacks

[penguin2233]

I think a mod pack function in OPenTTD will be very useful. It allows people to group newGRFs in a better view instead of having a mess everywhere. I'm not talking about patch packs here, instead a pack that OpenTTD interprets and then there's already a preset which is all newGRFs in a newGRF pack. Another way to do this is to have newGRFs in a folder and that folder is now a preset. Example, a folder with a.grf and b.grf in a folder called presetA will be a preset in OpenTTD automatically. This also helps the people with 1GB of newGRFS manage their collection.

[Pilot]

Another way to do this is to have newGRFs in a folder and that folder is now a preset. Example, a folder with a.grf and b.grf in a folder called presetA will be a preset in OpenTTD automatically.

Saving presets is already possible (or at least was on 1.6.0)

presets.png (15.48 KiB) Viewed 6784 times

[penguin2233]

Another way to do this is to have newGRFs in a folder and that folder is now a preset. Example, a folder with a.grf and b.grf in a folder called presetA will be a preset in OpenTTD automatically.

Saving presets is already possible (or at least was on 1.6.0)
presets.png

But you would have to manually set the preset, with my idea, you can have a folder named G and all files in folder G are in preset G.

[Kalen]

Making presets in-game is really not difficult and you already have the freedom to place NewGRF files in sub-folders, so you can keep all the files used by a preset (well, any that aren't shared with another preset, at least) in the same root folder if you want to separate them like that.

It's also important to manually create your presets if only because then you'll be encouraged to check out and configure parameters for NewGRF that have them, which is a step that IMO ought not to be skipped.

In addition, unless I'm remembering it wrong, I believe NewGRF can be set to hide older versions from the NewGRF list, so if you happened to have a newer and an older version of the same NewGRF in different preset folders, only one of them would be shown in that case, which wouldn't help in your scenario.

[Pilot]

Another way to do this is to have newGRFs in a folder and that folder is now a preset. Example, a folder with a.grf and b.grf in a folder called presetA will be a preset in OpenTTD automatically.

Saving presets is already possible (or at least was on 1.6.0)
presets.png

But you would have to manually set the preset, with my idea, you can have a folder named G and all files in folder G are in preset G.

In that case you'd still have to manually move all the GRF files you want into that folder, and one GRF can't be in two folders at once, where as with the in-built system, you can have the same GRF in 2/3 separate presets (which, for someone like me, who uses the same Station GRFs in multiple styles of game, is rather useful).

[Alberth]

I think you need a file that lists the used grfs, with their parameter settings. Such files should be exchangeable between users in some way, and probably also contain meta information like a name, description, and author.

[Pyoro]

Well, you should be able to c&p the presets from the OpenTTD cfg and technically share them, right? I guess it could be a bit more convenient with separately generated files, but doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

[andythenorth]

I don't get it, you want to save disk space because you have 1Gb of grfs?

But you want to duplicate some of those grfs to different folders on your filesystem? So then you use even more disk space?

Forgive me if I'm being thick. I just don't understand

[Alberth]

Well, you should be able to c&p the presets from the OpenTTD cfg and technically share them, right? I guess it could be a bit more convenient with separately generated files, but doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

Technically it makes no difference, practically however, it could make a world of difference.

People are an order of magnitude more used to copying and sharing files than they are in copy/pasting pieces of openttd.cfg files. If you expand it to the point where you can click and download such files, like you can with newgrfs now, the difference becomes quite significant, I think.

[penguin2233]

I don't get it, you want to save disk space because you have 1Gb of grfs?

But you want to duplicate some of those grfs to different folders on your filesystem? So then you use even more disk space?

Forgive me if I'm being thick. I just don't understand

Ah... Yes. Forgive me, I didn't know about the down side to this. But a system for newGRF packs would be nice. Having a .Zip that you can easily import into OpenTTD from backups is an easy way to manage and sort your newGRFs.

[kamnet]

I think being able to export configs to a separate file and sharing them sounds reasonable.

If a user installs a config and is missing files, the game will prompt them to download them from online content. If the files involved are not available from bananas, then whoever is distributing the file will have to be responsible for distributing and supporting the NewGRFs (assuming, of course, they have permission to do so).

[Kalen]

People are an order of magnitude more used to copying and sharing files than they are in copy/pasting pieces of openttd.cfg files. If you expand it to the point where you can click and download such files, like you can with newgrfs now, the difference becomes quite significant, I think.

If the preset section of the cfg file were moved to its own separate cfg file perhaps that could be accomplished? Or some other method to the same end.

[Alberth]

You still have all presets in one file, so I cannot just give you my "firs steeltown" preset. Making a separate file for each preset works better for that, imho.

[andythenorth]

'Presets' directory, one file per preset?

[Amak]

One dilemma I find is that there doesn't seem to be an easy way to share/export saved nwgrf list presets. Aside from say hosting a server/sharing a scenario, there isn't a way to do it from within the list menu I know about (bananas for grft presets would be cool).

Also, sharing settings of newgrf would be great too.

I do like how newgrf at the very least keep the settings I appoint them regardless of if they are active or not. However, settings of gamescripts don't save. This makes it very annoying when you're trying to figure out what one you want to use and previous settings you had.