Slipstream Mod Manager v1.9.1 (2018-01-07)

[FearTheBlaziken]

I tried "HighRes Backgrounds & Planets" just now without incident.

I tried to install the mod you tested, but didn't get the usual image that showed up on the main menu. (Regular FTL Main Menu instead of )

This means that SMM is also failing to overwrite images as well.

[Vhati]

This means that SMM is also failing to overwrite images as well.

Thanks! That was embarrassing.

There was a place I wrote a 1 instead of a 2, causing a null result, and quietly preventing anything from getting added to the resources.

And I see the "Stream closed" error now. Working on it...

[Vhati]

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Repeating the announcement as if buggy v1.7 never happened...


v1.8 has been released:

• Added support for FTL 1.6.1.
• Added a config option to launch FTL via Steam, if possible.
• Added alternate locations to locate FTL resources.
• Added 'modman_debug.bat' for troubleshooting on Windows.
• Added help menu items for deleting backups and Steam's 'Verify Game Cache'.
• Added a menu item to generate boilerplate for new mods.
• Added a 'copy link location' popup to forum links in mod descriptions.
• Added advanced <mod:removeAttributes> tag.
• Fixed 'access denied' error when dats are set to be read-only.
• Fixed Windows exe launchers not finding Java 9.
• Fixed unresolved symlinks when locating FTL resources.
• Fixed unpreserved leading/trailing space in 'misc.xml' values (JDOM 2.0.5 bug).

Reminder
Return FTL to an unmodded state before upgrading SMM.
And delete SMM's backups when upgrading FTL.



Notes about FTL 1.6.1

• Resources are repackaged in "{FTL dir}/ftl.dat", instead of "data.dat" and "resource.dat". I detailed all known possible locations for FTL, its executable, and its resources here. The container is a new format, but its contents are similar.
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• Event text has been consolidated into "data/text_*.xml" and referenced with an "id" attribute, pointing to names there.
  
  <text>blah</text> became <text id="event_EVENT_NAME_text" />
  
  It's common practice in software engineering to externalize hardcoded strings like that, so localization can swap them out for new languages. I haven't tested what happens when an event has both an "id" and hardcoded text. The new <mod:removeAttributes> tag will help remove "id" if necessary. You can externalize your own strings too, of course.
  
  Sidenote: The old advice to use rawappend/rawclobber to deal with "misc.xml" no longer applies. Slipstream will preserve leading/trailing spaces in tag values.
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• XML is wrapped in <FTL>...</FTL> root tags. If present, Slipstream will remove them, append, and put them back afterward. Advanced <mod:...> tags will be unaware of them. Mod files are not required to include these root tags, though they can. Slipstream will remove those as well. As for rawappend, in case there's a need for that, Slipstream still tries to be hands-off, but it will remove/append/re-add root tags even then.
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• FTL ultimately decodes text as UTF-8 now. Previously, translation modders were free to encode as they liked and Slipstream would convert to what FTL expected (then windows-1252) - which meant they were still restricted to only using characters that were valid in windows-1252. FTL's move to UTF-8 removes that limitation, though fonts with the right glyphs will still be needed to display the text. Slipstream will decide the appropriate encoding to use - based on whether it's patching "ftl.dat" vs "data.dat"+"resource.dat".

Modders should be careful to inform players what version of FTL they're targeting (potentially releasing variant mods for each). Some existing mods intended for FTL 1.5.13 *may* work with FTL 1.6.2. I've been focusing on the patch process itself rather than exploring how the XML structure has changed.

Now begins the phase where modders get to scrutinize the new resources. The mod manager may need feedback and further updates.
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[slowriderxcorps]

This seems to have done the trick and gotten everything back up to speed. However, one thing that has remained from 1.7, is that for some reason there is no music playing in Civilian sectors (all other sectors seem to be okay from testing thus far). I'm trying to see if this is something on my end, but it happened in 1.7 with a test mod that just had a test_misc.xml.append file, which has nothing to do with the music in the first place. If anyone else is having this issue, then that could help figure out where it's stemming from.

[MantisManMike]

...for some reason there is no music playing in Civilian sectors (all other sectors seem to be okay from testing thus far). ... If anyone else is having this issue, then that could help figure out where it's stemming from.

I have the same issue. Haven't tested every sector type, but Civilian sectors (including the starting sector) have no music when any mod is loaded.

[Vhati]

there is no music playing in Civilian sectors

Yep, I extracted dats before and after patching a trivial mod, then diffed the good vs bad folders.

SMM 1.8 has a subtle bug somewhere in handling the new "ftl.dat" that specifically corrupts "audio/music/bp_MUS_CivilBATTLE.ogg" when any files are added, probably in growing/repacking.


Edit: Wow. That one was a greater-than that should've been a less-than.
Was supposed to find the entry with the *lowest* offset within "ftl.dat" and copy it to the end - leaving a vacuum near the beginning to write stuff. Instead, the greater-than made it always find the *highest* entry (already at the end), nothing moved, no vacuum, and the stuff that was written clobbered the lowest entry.

[slowriderxcorps]

Curious bug, that one. Funnily enough I tried seeing what happened if I made a patchmod that just included the file in question, and that actually fixes the glitch. Will be handy at least until this bug gets squashed.

[Vhati]

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v1.9 has been released:

• Fixed corrupted civilian sector music in FTL 1.6.1+

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I tried seeing what happened if I made a patchmod [...] Will be handy at least until this bug gets squashed.

Heh. I'm in "Fix it quick before too many people notice!" mode.

[slowriderxcorps]

Haha, let's just hope that was the last thing broken because we're kind of running out of version numbers to go up to!

[KarlssoNN]

Hi, Perhaps it's just me but "Extended Pursuit Indicator x24 with numbers" is not working for me since upgrading to 1.7/1.8/1.9. Unfortunately I had the disappearing cursor bug and have been using the latest beta game version 1.6.2. Mentioned mod was working with older Slipstream version 1.6.

Mod list:
Better Planets and Backgrounds
CE Resource Pack
FTL Captain's Edition
CE BPaB Compatibility Patch
CE Additional Music Addon
EL Texture Pack
CE Endless Loot Addon standard CE
CE Non-EL Enemy Loadouts Addon
Extended Pursuit Indicator x24 with numbers
Random Flagship
Rand-[trel/orus/asio/wark/a Monster/prey]
Expanded Enemy Window 1.2

Thanks for your fine service!!! Havin't tried vanilla but this game modded is a blast!!!