How does mods work with the Tech Tree in Career mode?

[H0FF1]

Hey Guys,

 

I just installed a ton of mods today (i will make a list with the mods if anyone want). But im wondering how the tech tree will be filled with the inofficial modded parts. i know mods like Community Tech Tree and others but is it guaranteed that EVERY modded part is Correct implemented in the tech tree? sometimes i think the parts that are not implemented in the tech tree are just not available in the career mode. 

 

Can anyone give me an answer about that? 

 

And sorry for possible english mistakes. its not my main language

[Gargamel]

The mod makers usually try to balance their parts so they fall into appropriate nodes on the tech tree.  Most do, some don't, but for the most part the parts are balanced as to the mod makers intent.  If the part is very over powered, then it really doesn't matter where it falls, it's still going to be overpowered.   But for the most part, most mod parts are usually balanced for the type of part they are trying to make, and placed somewhat correctly in the tech tree.   

There are mods that alter the tech tree, or completely make a new one, but you have to be pretty intent on using one of these, I'd imagine it's difficult to install one accidentally (but still possible). 

I'm not aware if it's still possible for modded parts to still fall outside the tech tree, either never being available in career, or immediately available.  I know back in the alpha/beta days, this was common, but I haven't seen much occurrence of this in a while. 

[Ten Key]

Moved thread to the Add-on Discussions area of the forum.

[Streetwind]

14 hours ago, H0FF1 said:

i know mods like Community Tech Tree and others but is it guaranteed that EVERY modded part is Correct implemented in the tech tree?

Nope, it is never guaranteed.

There are, in general, two approaches to sorting mods into custom tech trees.

Approach one is where the creator of the custom tech tree fills it with modded parts themselves. If a mod is supported, the tech tree mod itself ships definitions of where the parts are to show up, overriding those present in the parts mod. If a mod is not supported, its parts are very likely to no appear at all, because these custom tech trees usually delete the stock nodes outright (it makes it easier for the author to control what parts end up where). The advantage to this approach is a very consistent and logical distribution of parts even across mods, and the guarantee that every tech node actually has a purpose. The downside is that all mod support is handled by one single person, and that person may only have so much time (or may not be interested in supporting the mod you want).

Approach two is the one taken by Community Tech Tree. This custom tree only ships the empty nodes, period. It does not add any modded parts support at all. In addition, it keeps the stock nodes intact. Under this approach, it is the authors of the part mods that choose to support CTT. They will ship a config that, if it detects CTT installed, distributes parts in a different manner than if it was not present. Meanwhile, part mods that do not support CTT simply end up landing in the unchanged stock nodes. The upside is extremely broad compatibility; there is literally no part mod in existance that is not compatible with CTT, and it "supports" (rather, is supported by) more mods than any other custom tree. Any author of a new parts mod can come in and effortlessly integrate themselves, or even make a case for new nodes to be added to CTT. The downside is that different mod authors may have different ideas of balance and progression, and so it is not always guaranteed that the collection of parts found in any given tech node makes perfect sense. And if non-supporting mods are in the mix, you might get very powerful parts in the "early" stock nodes. Additionally, some nodes are pretty specialized, and only few mods will use them; the vast majority of CTT installations will probably have some nodes that are empty.

EDIT: Regardless of the chosen approach, though, you can always redistribute parts yourself via fairly simple MM patches.

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Streetwind

[CobaltWolf]

With all of that said, @H0FF1 parts basically require a line for what tech node they require in order to show up. Some mod authors might leave it as whatever tech node was in the config they based the new one off of (modders usually copy a part cfg for a part close to the one they're making instead of building them from scratch) so they might not be placed very well for progression.