Mod versions - include "version" file

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ZAAo
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Mod versions - include "version" file

by ZAAo » Post

Could mod devs possibly start to include a "version" file with each mod, so it is possible to quickly see if a user has the latest version (and which version we have)? Most mods that I have downloaded have absolutely no indication of the version... then I feel compelled to go and download ALL my mods again, just in case one or more of them are in fact outdated and the cause of some issues I'm possibly experiencing.

I think it would take only a few seconds for a mod developer to create/update the version file, but would be infinitely useful to almost everyone.

Any comments/thoughts on this?

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rubenwardy
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Re: Mod versions - include "version" file

by rubenwardy » Post

If you're using ContentDB within the main menu to install mods, it will automatically track versions and prompt you to update things

If you're not using the CDB dialog, you should instead use Git

Including version files doesn't really make sense for modders to do - it's inconvenient, and tags perform much better. ContentDB could include a more human readable version number when downloading from that though
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ZAAo
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Re: Mod versions - include "version" file

by ZAAo » Post

rubenwardy wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:01
If you're using ContentDB within the main menu to install mods, it will automatically track versions and prompt you to update things

If you're not using the CDB dialog, you should instead use Git

Including version files doesn't really make sense for modders to do - it's inconvenient, and tags perform much better. ContentDB could include a more human readable version number when downloading from that though
Thanks. I don't see why it is so inconvenient for modders to take a few seconds to create/update a file with the current version of the mod, but OK. I do use the in-game content downloader for installing mods, but have also played around with some mods downloaded from these forums and ran into problems with conflicts. One problem in particular was caused by base_modpack, which seemed to contain outdated versions of mods, which I had also installed directly from CDB. Base Modpack however showed that it is updated (no "update" option next to it in CDB)??? When I looked inside the folder of base_modpack in my Minetest mods folder, I saw for example that the farming redo mod by TenPlus1 which is in there, is outdated, because TenPlus1 includes a changelog with version numbers in his/her mods! The latest version in this changelog was not matching the latest version (much newer) in the standalone farming redo mod which I also installed from CDB. So I was very grateful to TenPlus1 for taking the (very little) time to add a changelog and version numbers, which helped me to discover the conflict. Then I removed the base_modpack and decided to rather not use modPACKS anymore, but only individual mods.

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Linuxdirk
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Re: Mod versions - include "version" file

by Linuxdirk » Post

So it's more like how you maintain your local set of mods and not so much an actual issue with how modders handle their versions.

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