Mod(s) Sorting Function

[SpaceSmith]

So I have been thinking about this for a while.. First I would like to state that the parts menu has come a LONG way since the beginning of the game. Subassemblies, sorting by function, name, use, and even an actual search function makes it a million times easier.

 

But sometimes, mod creators tend to do weird things with their naming conventions. They will make them from a million separate manufacturers, or not tag them right, or so on and so forth. I wonder if it is possible to get a 'group' option (like manufacturer, function, etc) that sorts mods by their hierarchical name in the folder structure. Or whatever the name of the mod is. So whatever the folder is that contains "<mod>/game data/<mod name again, possibly more than one>/<parts>" the very top with the mod name is something that we can sort by to see the pieces of the mod in its entirety. I would absolutely love this and it would make looking for mod parts that much easier!

[Hupf]

Another useful scenario, depending on the implementation, would be a way to check/list which mods a vessel uses (e.g. when trying to compete in Challenges).

[Snark]

Not a bad idea! 

Here's an even simpler idea that wouldn't require any new UI at all:

We now have "keyword search" for parts.  The keywords that a part responds to are determined by what the author chose to specify for that part.  Well, why not make it so that every part implicitly includes a keyword which is the name of its top-level folder inside GameData?  (e.g. all stock parts would receive the keyword "Squad", since that's the folder they live in-- even though each part doesn't say "Squad" in its .cfg file.)

That would give you an easy way to see all the parts from a particular mod, regardless of what the mod author may have thought to add.

 

Another feature that would be nice:  "config-only custom parts tabs"

It's possible for mods to add additional (custom) tabs to the parts menu in the vehicle editor.  Some mod authors use that to great effect-- for example, look at RoverDude's UKS/MKS mod, it has tons of parts, and he makes a custom tab available for them, IIRC.

However, I believe that you have to write code to make that happen.  Which can be a barrier to entry for parts-pack authors.  It would be great if the game had a way that mod authors of parts packs could add custom tabs for their parts, without requiring plug-in code.

In more detail:

Broadly speaking, KSP mods tend to fit into two categories:  plugins (which add new code to the game to make it behave differently, e.g. MechJeb) and parts packs (which add new parts/models with new config, but don't add new code; e.g. SpaceY).  It's not a strict either-or, of course-- plenty of mods do both (for example, UKS/MKS, which has lots of code for new gameplay, but also adds a lot of new parts).

Adding a new part to the game requires no code whatsoever, unless the part does something new and has custom PartModules in it.  For example, look at NecroBones' SpaceY:  an awesome mod, tons of great parts, but not a single line of code in it anywhere.  Which means it can't make any custom tabs.  Suppose NecroBones wanted to have a "SpaceY" tab to group all the parts-- he'd have to add a plug-in code module, which for various good reasons a mod author may prefer not to do.

If the game could provide a way to add custom tabs via config only... that would make it a lot easier for parts authors to do what they want, or for people to rejigger the display using ModuleManager only.

 

[SpaceSmith]

10 hours ago, Snark said:

Not a bad idea! 

Here's an even simpler idea that wouldn't require any new UI at all:

We now have "keyword search" for parts.  The keywords that a part responds to are determined by what the author chose to specify for that part.  Well, why not make it so that every part implicitly includes a keyword which is the name of its top-level folder inside GameData?  (e.g. all stock parts would receive the keyword "Squad", since that's the folder they live in-- even though each part doesn't say "Squad" in its .cfg file.)

That would give you an easy way to see all the parts from a particular mod, regardless of what the mod author may have thought to add.

 

Another feature that would be nice:  "config-only custom parts tabs"

It's possible for mods to add additional (custom) tabs to the parts menu in the vehicle editor.  Some mod authors use that to great effect-- for example, look at RoverDude's UKS/MKS mod, it has tons of parts, and he makes a custom tab available for them, IIRC.

However, I believe that you have to write code to make that happen.  Which can be a barrier to entry for parts-pack authors.  It would be great if the game had a way that mod authors of parts packs could add custom tabs for their parts, without requiring plug-in code.

In more detail:

Broadly speaking, KSP mods tend to fit into two categories:  plugins (which add new code to the game to make it behave differently, e.g. MechJeb) and parts packs (which add new parts/models with new config, but don't add new code; e.g. SpaceY).  It's not a strict either-or, of course-- plenty of mods do both (for example, UKS/MKS, which has lots of code for new gameplay, but also adds a lot of new parts).

Adding a new part to the game requires no code whatsoever, unless the part does something new and has custom PartModules in it.  For example, look at NecroBones' SpaceY:  an awesome mod, tons of great parts, but not a single line of code in it anywhere.  Which means it can't make any custom tabs.  Suppose NecroBones wanted to have a "SpaceY" tab to group all the parts-- he'd have to add a plug-in code module, which for various good reasons a mod author may prefer not to do.

If the game could provide a way to add custom tabs via config only... that would make it a lot easier for parts authors to do what they want, or for people to rejigger the display using ModuleManager only.

 

Hmm...I think both ideas work perfectly. For addressing the barrier of entry to modders, what about if Squad were to add a framework that detected top level folder name and auto created a tab putting all of those parts into their?  Or, on top of all of the filter tabs, add one called "mods" which breaks them down into sub tabs by top level folder name. But I agree, the keyword search would be the simplest.