Switcher Mods: how many do we really need?

[Wolf Baginski]

I can think of three mods which provide part/texture/fuel switching functions, plus the new stock support. They overlap a lot.

Would is be possible to make a mod that, maybe with module manager patching, could give a single interface for this?

I'm prompted by that Toolbar API mod that simplifies things a bit for mod writers.

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/161857-141-toolbar-continued-common-api-for-draggableresizable-buttons-toolbar/&

But it might be worth going a little bit further and doing at least some of the switching in the mod. On the other hand, just translating all the texture-switching to the stock function could make things easier.

Is this possible?

Would it be worth doing?

[Nils277]

I agree that the multitude of switching mods can be frustrating/confusing. The reason that there are so many mods to switch something (mesh, texture, resources) is that the mods author had something in mind that was not possible with one of the other switching mods. E.g. activating particle effects when a resource is dumped or triggering other mechanics for other parts of the same mod, or to add a mechanic for fuel to evaporate over time and so on. Combining all of these seems to be a quite complicated task.

The stock switching module seems to be quite capable and flexible. It however does not support fuel switching which would have to be added by a mod. The problem can be pretty much explained with this:

Source: https://xkcd.com/927/

For existing mods it would be difficult to swich to a completely new switching method wihout breaking old saves and stay consistent with them.
Additionally especially for resources when you e.g. have MKS you have a LOT of resources to switch between i somehow doubt that so many possibilies would work well with the current way the switching is done for the parts. 

Edit: It also seems that the stock switching module is only available in the editor. So it would indeed have to be modded to also allow switching in flight. I somehow doubt this would work very well, especially when nodes are moved.

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Nils277

[CobaltWolf]

The new stock switcher is horrendeously coded. For my use cases, B9PartSwitch does everything I need and then some, while being easier to set up than others; not to mention the dev is very responsive - not to say that any other switcher authors aren't, mind you!

[i_like_kerbals]

what exactly is a switcher mod?

 

and you can never have too many mods boi

[Daishi]

4 hours ago, i_like_kerbals said:

what exactly is a switcher mod?

A specialized add-on that allows part creators to bundle multiple variants of the same part into one. So you can switch between different visuals\functionality without having to clutter up the parts list

[Gargamel]

9 hours ago, i_like_kerbals said:

and you can never have too many mods boi

Yes, you can.  Especially when you have a few that do the almost identical thing, cluttering up the GUI with redundant interfaces, which is the point of the OP.