Testing/Debugging Plugins or Part Models Efficiently

[Garoad]

How do people do this without wasting a ton of time? Do we really have to build the plugin or 3d model, install it into the right folders as usual, start the game (takes forever!), go test, or is there a faster way to do our development cycles?

Can the game somehow re-load plugins or parts while it's running in windowed mode?

[Frement]

As far as I know parts are loaded when you enter assembly building. ScenarioModules are loaded when you enter the scene they are working in. To test this theory, write a modification to part, go to space center and then back to assembly building and see if the changes are there.

[Garoad]

That would be good. I suppose it could be doing that by checking for changes each time. What I do notice is that when the game's first starting, a lot of the stuff it mentions seems to be part names.

[Garoad]

Doesn't seem to be the case that anything is re-loaded upon re-entering the assembly building. Even something simple like changing the name of a part didn't get picked up. So there's no way to speed up testing then? Just start the game, waste 1 minute for everything to reload, and test?

[hoojiwana]

Pretty much. I use a special testing version of the game that has almost every part deleted. There's a few things related to what I'm testing, but it still loads pretty fast.

Hopefully the incoming changes to the game database slated for 0.20 means parts can be edited and then reloaded while still in the game.

[Garoad]

Hmm, I'm guessing you don't have a Steam version of the game? Don't know of a way to do a second install for a test version like that.

[hoojiwana]

Ah, no I don't, for exactly this reason.

Well, the game database changes are even more worthwhile to look forward to then.

[Garoad]

Meh. Steam sucks (often enough). Time to go look for a post to learn about these "database changes" and hope the ETA is May 2013.

[hoojiwana]

It's briefly mentioned in C7's recent dev blog, though he doesn't go into much detail.

[Garoad]

Cool, Thanks

[daveftw]

Hmm, I'm guessing you don't have a Steam version of the game? Don't know of a way to do a second install for a test version like that.

I've been working around it by creating 2x KSP folders, then using a junction point to point at the one I want to use.

So, create two (or more) folders like so:

blah\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program.Dev

blah\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program.MainGame

Then use mklink to create a junction point named "Kerbal Space Program" and point it at the appropriate folder:

blah\steamapps\common> mklink /j "Kerbal Space Program" "Kerbal Space Program.<xyz>"

If you're on Linux/Mac, you want a symbolic link: ln -s "Kerbal Space Program.<xyz>" "Kerbal Space Program"