[0.24] - Magic Smoke Industries DevHelper v0.6

[sirkut]

Kragrathea's PlanetFactory plugin is a pretty cool little plugin but what really stood out for me was the auto saved game loading mechanism. Upon seeing that I just realized how much time I have spent doing the following:

1. Wait for game to load
   
2. Click "Start Game"
   
3. Click "Resume Saved"
   
4. Selected a saved game from the list and clicking "Continue"
   

So with his permission I have stripped out all the planet generating code and added a new useful feature for developers and modelers. The ability to not just load a saved game but also go straight to either the VAB or SPH!

How to use it. Install it as usual in the GameData directory. Run KSP and you will have some options. While KSP is loading all the parts/plugins, pick what you want to happen then let the plugin do the heavy lifting when KSP is done loading.

If you have both toggles off, you will be prompted with which saved game you wish to load.

I suggest running this with at least 1 saved game started otherwise it will not work correctly. If auto load savedgame is not enabled the resume game menu will show up with nothing present. If auto load savedgame is enabled it will take you to the start menu.

0.2 Update (delete the whole directory and reinstall since I moved to an XML config file):

1. Repaired the finding of saved games. Thanks Mihara!

2. Scrapped the config file and went to an xml file.

3. Added Tracking Station and Space Center as loading options.

0.3 Update

1. Renamed a few things in the code & removed debug statements from the compiled dll.

0.5 Update

Toolbar support added. Why? Now there is a GameDatabase reload button. Perfect for those who modify values within a config file and instead of having to go to the space center, press Alt+F12, Game Database and clicking the Reload button. You can do this while in the VAB/SPH! After clicking it you will need to click list to refresh the parts.

0.6 Update

Bugfix.

Curse Download: http://kerbal.curseforge.com/ksp-mods/221289-magic-smoke-industries-devhelper-v0-4/files/latest

Mediafire Download: http://www./download/glt5c3mx3pu5n3k/DevHelper0.6.zip

Source: https://github.com/sirkut/DevHelper

License: All rights reserved.

Edited October 10, 2014 by sirkut

[SFJackBauer]

Are you a mind reader? I was wondering how could be useful having something like this and BAM!

[sirkut]

Are you a mind reader? I was wondering how could be useful having something like this and BAM!

Not really but as soon as I saw what Kragrathea did I knew this was worth sharing. If there's demand for it I can also have it load other scenes like the tracking center. That reminds me, don't run this with PlanetFactory until I can resolve that.

[Camacha]

Kragrathea's PlanetFactory plugin is a pretty cool little plugin but what really stood out for me was the auto saved game loading mechanism.

To be honest, I have viewed this as flawed for quite a while now. In terms of user interface, KSP is pretty lacking. There are a lot of inconsistencies (like the back/exit buttons moving around all the time) and unnecessary clicks. From a user point of perspective, a lot can be improved.

I have always viewed the menus as built by a technician, not a designer - and by that I do not necessarily mean the graphics.

[sirkut]

To be honest, I have viewed this as flawed for quite a while now. In terms of user interface, KSP is pretty lacking. There are a lot of inconsistencies (like the back/exit buttons moving around all the time) and unnecessary clicks. From a user point of perspective, a lot can be improved.

I have always viewed the menus as built by a technician, not a designer - and by that I do not necessarily mean the graphics.

True although I'm not sure KSP is to be blamed but rather unity. It's god awful writing UIs for it.

[Kragrathea]

Thanks Sirkut! Anyone who has to load the game more than once a day MUST have this addon. It has saved me many many hours of clicking through menus. And this version is ever better with the new scene load feature. Nice!

[Camacha]

True although I'm not sure KSP is to be blamed but rather unity. It's god awful writing UIs for it.

That could well be true, but even just with the current UI elements remixed an a lot better experience could be achieved. In reality, it is not suprising it is far from perfect, as UI design is actually quite an art (comparable to ergonomic design in real life). I believe it is actually distinct line of work, with companies spending a lot of time and money on attemps to get it right.

[SFJackBauer]

This is already very useful, but I wonder if a shortcut to the Reload Database could be done? Like a button in VAB that exits VAB, reloads the db and enters VAB again.

And thanks Kragrathea for letting sirkut publish it!

[Camacha]

I am getting only the Auto Load Savegame toggle option and nothing else. That redirects me to the overview of the space centre of my first save upon loading when toggled and to a list of saves when not toggled. I do not think that is supposed to happen, in that there should be more options?

[cy-one]

Wheeeee, thank you \o/ Gonna try that one out.

Edit:

I am getting only the Auto Load Savegame toggle option and nothing else. That redirects me to the overview of the space centre of my first save upon loading when toggled and to a list of saves when not toggled. I do not think that is supposed to happen, in that there should be more options?

I get the same, even after restarting (thought it would have something to do with the mod needing to initialize once before).

Other mods in that install:

- EditorExtensions

- HyperEdit

- SelectRoot

- Mechjeb

Edited December 7, 2013 by cy-one

[sirkut]

Ill need a log file to see what is failing. I have a suspicion but I need to see one to confirm.

[Camacha]

I am getting only the Auto Load Savegame toggle option and nothing else. That redirects me to the overview of the space centre of my first save upon loading when toggled and to a list of saves when not toggled. I do not think that is supposed to happen, in that there should be more options?

I just wanted to confirm that (I believe) the mod is working as it should now. The only difference I can see is that the system is rebooted now as I shut it down yesterday and started it up today, instead of just KSP being restarted a couple of times, what I did yesterday.

I knew my lazy bum ass should have tried that. Sorry for the trouble.

Edited December 7, 2013 by Camacha

[sirkut]

The only way that I have seen that scenario is if you started on a fresh install since there are no saved games yet or the plugin was installed in the wrong directory. Currently I has to be in the exact structure that is in the zip until I fix it.

[Mihara]

Here's a bug report: In case of multiple installations on the same computer, saves from the wrong one can get listed on startup.

[Camacha]

The only way that I have seen that scenario is if you started on a fresh install since there are no saved games yet

It is a previously used version of KSP with three saves and an old Windows installation.

or the plugin was installed in the wrong directory. Currently I has to be in the exact structure that is in the zip until I fix it.

Even though I use a mod manager, I manually confirmed that the files in the GameData folder are exactly the same as in the .zip file.

[sirkut]

Ok. Let's see some logfiles so I can fix it.

[sirkut]

Here's a bug report: In case of multiple installations on the same computer, saves from the wrong one can get listed on startup.

No kidding? How is that even possible? Steam?

[Mihara]

No kidding? How is that even possible? Steam?

Steam. It lists the saves from the version that is installed in Steam's default directory, while it is installed into my separate testing copy. (Steam isn't even running -- Steam's DRM has been excised since about 0.19)

[sirkut]

Steam. It lists the saves from the version that is installed in Steam's default directory, while it is installed into my separate testing copy. (Steam isn't even running -- Steam's DRM has been excised since about 0.19)

That's certainly interesting. I'm going to take a look at the code and see what I can do. Being that I have DSL I don't want to have to use steam for my version so I download direct from the website. That portion was directly borrowed from Kragrathea so I will have to take a look at it.

[Camacha]

Ok. Let's see some logfiles so I can fix it.

Which log do you want? The KSP.log has been overwritten with the data from KSP and the mod working like it should, so I doubt that one would be much help.

Edit: I think we might be in luck. KSP crashed and now the mod is doing the thing it did before. I will save the log.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Camacha

[sirkut]

Awesome sauce.(not really since it crash) but send it to me via PM or whatever so I can take a look. Thanks Camacha!

[cy-one]

sirkut, which log would you need?

And just for information, my KSP isn't the Steam-version.

[sirkut]

It's not the log in the main folder but the other one.

[Mihara]

That's certainly interesting. I'm going to take a look at the code and see what I can do.

Fixed.

In DevHelper.cs, replace

        private void FindSaves()
        {
            print("FindSaves");
            var dirs=Directory.GetDirectories("saves\\");

with

        private void FindSaves()
        {
            print("FindSaves");
			var dirs=Directory.GetDirectories(KSPUtil.ApplicationRootPath+"saves\\");

EDIT: Oh, and in the future, never rely on the program being launched with the current directory being the directory it is installed into, in Windows that's a recipe for disaster.

EDIT-EDIT: While we're at it, could we also have Tracking Station on the list of scenes available after start beyond VAB and SPH?

Edited December 8, 2013 by Mihara

[sirkut]

Great thanks Mihara. I've been busy and haven't looked at the path issue that Krag did. I will fix it and add the tracking station to the plugin.