[1.2.2] LoadingScreenManager - v1.10 - Show your own images while KSP loads

[linuxgurugamer]

@paulprogart

Would it be ok if I added this to CKAN?  It's a great mod

Thanks

[paulprogart]

8 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

@paulprogart

Would it be ok if I added this to CKAN?  It's a great mod

Thanks for the offer, but LSM generally needs to be configured manually by the user via .cfg file before use, and CKAN won't help with that.  So I can't really see the point... seems like it'd just be a support headache.

 

[linuxgurugamer]

9 minutes ago, paulprogart said:

Thanks for the offer, but LSM generally needs to be configured manually by the user via .cfg file before use, and CKAN won't help with that.  So I can't really see the point... seems like it'd just be a support headache.

 

Ckan will both install it correctly, remove it correctly, and make it more available to people.  Also, I can see tip packs being available, and CKAN would jest automate it nicely.

Re. The configuration, would be nice to have a config screen so people wouldn't need to edit files.

Your mod, your choice.  

[paulprogart]

15 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Ckan will both install it correctly, remove it correctly, and make it more available to people.  Also, I can see tip packs being available, and CKAN would jest automate it nicely.

Re. The configuration, would be nice to have a config screen so people wouldn't need to edit files.

That's my point... with no config screen, LSM needs manual configuration, and CKAN can't do that.  There is no facility in LSM for tip or screen "packs" as you describe.  Everything has to be manually setup by the user.  Scripts to try to automate it would have to handle a lot of contingencies.

I did consider implementing a modular configuration that would allow such things, but it was going to take too much time and I had no idea if those features would even get used.

So yeah it would certainly make sense for a more sophsticated version of LSM, but for the current version I still don't see the point.  At this stage, LSM is more of a power-user mod, and from what I've seen most of CKAN's users don't fall into that category.

[linuxgurugamer]

1 hour ago, paulprogart said:

That's my point... with no config screen, LSM needs manual configuration, and CKAN can't do that.  There is no facility in LSM for tip or screen "packs" as you describe.  Everything has to be manually setup by the user.  Scripts to try to automate it would have to handle a lot of contingencies.

I did consider implementing a modular configuration that would allow such things, but it was going to take too much time and I had no idea if those features would even get used.

So yeah it would certainly make sense for a more sophsticated version of LSM, but for the current version I still don't see the point.  At this stage, LSM is more of a power-user mod, and from what I've seen most of CKAN's users don't fall into that category.

You should put in a config screen.  yes, it won't be there when you first load the game, but once loaded, you should be able to configure it without having to go to edit a file.

Right now, of course it is a power user mod.  But, my point is that it is more useful for a new user, someone who may not be used to editing files. 

What I'm suggesting is something along these lines:

Mod goes into it's own folder, GameData/LoadingScreenManager, dll lives in GameData

In the folder, you have the config in:   GameData/LoadingScreenManager/PluginData

You have a folder for files which contain tips:  GameData/LoadingScreenManager/Tips

You have a folder for images:  GameData/LoadingScreenManager/Images

You would need to write a fairly simple settings screen, this wouldn't work with the KSP Settings screen, but you only have a few items:

 

bool DebugLogging = GUILayout.Toggle(

bool DumpScreens = GUILayout.Toggle(

bool DumpTips = GUILayout.Toggle(

bool IncludeOriginalScreens = GUILayout.Toggle(

bool ForceSlideshoWithNoImageFiles = GUILayout.Toggle(

float Displaytime = GUILayout.Slider(

float FadInTime = GUILayout.Slider(

float TipTime = GUILayout.Slider(

bool IncludeOrigTips = GUILayout.Toggle(

For the tips file, get a list of the files in the Tips directory, and present a GUILayout.BeginScrollView with all of the files, allow the user to select either one or many

and for the images, maybe a toggle to say whether to use images from the Screenshots folder or the LoadingScreenManager/Images folder

 

This would greatly enhance the mod, IMHO.

If you like, I might have some time during the week to write this for you.  Would you be willing to include this?

 

On another note, something which I'm puzzled about is why you need seperate versions for 32 and 64 bit?

Edited February 27, 2017 by linuxgurugamer

[linuxgurugamer]

So this is something I whipped together in about 15 minutes:

the button is white because I don't have an image for it, but I hope you get the idea.  This is mostly a proof-of-concept, I still need to add the tipsfile and a way to specify folders for the images, but that's not too difficult.

Notice that the last item on the window is a new option "Never show again on toolbar", this is so once a user sets it up, they can not worry about it cluttering their toolbar again.

Edited February 27, 2017 by linuxgurugamer

[paulprogart]

@linuxgurugamer I don't get it... how did this get from adding to CKAN to pretty much redesigning and repurposing the entire mod?

Not that I don't appreciate the suggestions, but the goal of LSM was for users to show slides out of their screenshots or other folder, and it does that now.  Yeah a config screen would be nice to have but I go off of user feedback and there wasn't any interest shown in that when I had it in the original prerelease list.  Heck there was just barely enough interest for me to write the mod itself.

If more users ask for a screen later then I'll add one, or I might do it for practise if I ever want to get more into KSP UI stuff for something else.  (I'd never use Unity's legacy GUI though... can't stand it, and it's kinda deprecated anyhow.)

As for the self-contained folder thing, that's taking things in a completely different direction that I don't want to go in.

[linuxgurugamer]

ok.  I was doing this for my own use, figured I'd offer it up to you.

If you want it in the future, let me know, otherwise I'll just use my changes for myself.

[paulprogart]

9 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

ok.  I was doing this for my own use, figured I'd offer it up to you.

If you want it in the future, let me know, otherwise I'll just use my changes for myself.

Well if your GUI will work with the existing .cfg format then I'd certainly gladly add that in, as that would be of obvious benefit to users.  I just don't want to go redesigning things at this stage is all.

 

Also, I forgot to answer:

2 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

On another note, something which I'm puzzled about is why you need seperate versions for 32 and 64 bit?

I wasn't sure if there were situations where KSP_x64 required a pure 64-bit DLL (e.g. users with dozens of mods), and it's trivial to produce both versions.

[linuxgurugamer]

6 hours ago, paulprogart said:

Well if your GUI will work with the existing .cfg format then I'd certainly gladly add that in, as that would be of obvious benefit to users.  I just don't want to go redesigning things at this stage is all.

 

Also, I forgot to answer:

I wasn't sure if there were situations where KSP_x64 required a pure 64-bit DLL (e.g. users with dozens of mods), and it's trivial to produce both versions.

I'm not redesigning it at all.  So far, I haven't touched your code, simply added on.  My intention was to add, not rewrite/redesign.  The folders were a suggestion, to give people a standard place to add things. 

Ok, I'm busy with some othe rmods, but will get you something by the middle of the week.  I assume a PR on Github would work?

Re. the 32 vs 64 bit, there is no need for a different dll.  I have over 200 mods installed, all mods are built for any cpu, no problem.

I would suggest that you just build for the "Any cpu" version and make it simpler for you and everyone else.

 

[paulprogart]

10 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Ok, I'm busy with some othe rmods, but will get you something by the middle of the week.  I assume a PR on Github would work?

Thanks, no worries if you don't get to it.  If you do then yes PR will be fine.

 

10 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Re. the 32 vs 64 bit, there is no need for a different dll.  I have over 200 mods installed, all mods are built for any cpu, no problem.

I would suggest that you just build for the "Any cpu" version and make it simpler for you and everyone else.

OK thanks for that, I will just distribute one version next time.

[linuxgurugamer]

I'm making progress, actually using this to develop a library module for me to use elsewhere.

Would it be ok if I make a change to have the settings loaded in a class, rather than directly in the mainline?  This way I could have everything use the same loading code, rather than two different ways of loading data from the file.

 

[paulprogart]

2 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

I'm making progress, actually using this to develop a library module for me to use elsewhere.

Would it be ok if I make a change to have the settings loaded in a class, rather than directly in the mainline?  This way I could have everything use the same loading code, rather than two different ways of loading data from the file.

Yup that's fine, the main class was already too big anyhow.  Thanks.

[linuxgurugamer]

Ok.  I'll probably have something for you next week

[paulprogart]

New version v1.10 released!  LSM now features an in-game configuration UI courtesy of @linuxgurugamer!  So no more messing about with a .cfg file, unless you really want to.

Also note that I have tested LSM with the KSP 1.2.9 prerelease and it DOES NOT WORK.  I will update for KSP 1.3 once that is released.