is it me or X4 modding community is dying?

[OneOfMany]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

[Shuulo]

i dont believe its dying, there was a wave of mods when 3.0 released and its just calmed down a bit.
Modders still work on their projects, minor ones were released, major ones are just in development, so there is a gap.

idk X3 had a LOT more scripts for things like mining... there's very little going on here.

I remember a bunch of scripts just for dealing with your inter-empire style logistics.

Right now I have been looking for a script to replace the station manager stuff (So that I can manually set ore vs silicon etc), but there's nothing

to be honest, i play with heavy modded game, but neither of it changes mining, managers, or trading (except 1-star autotraders). And I never felt handicapped for this, vanilla features are quite good IMO already. And yeah, in X3 i used a ton of mods for this, so from my perspective these parts do not need so heavy modding as in X3, most mods focus on larger things and it takes more time

[Revolution Rising]

I had a much more finely tuned ability to deal with mining in X3.

For instance, I want to be able to dedicate a miner for a station just for ore. I want to do that MYSELF, usually I'd override the station manager with a script... I can find no such script. RandomMine won't do it...

X3 not only did I have a script to do it - I had several scripts by different authors that did this simple thing.

[Buzz2005]

I had a much more finely tuned ability to deal with mining in X3.

For instance, I want to be able to dedicate a miner for a station just for ore. I want to do that MYSELF, usually I'd override the station manager with a script... I can find no such script. RandomMine won't do it...

X3 not only did I have a script to do it - I had several scripts by different authors that did this simple thing.

install this:

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/289

this lets you choose the wares you want station traders to trade and station miners to mine without manager overwriting them

p.s. you need G workaround

[Revolution Rising]

I had a much more finely tuned ability to deal with mining in X3.

For instance, I want to be able to dedicate a miner for a station just for ore. I want to do that MYSELF, usually I'd override the station manager with a script... I can find no such script. RandomMine won't do it...

X3 not only did I have a script to do it - I had several scripts by different authors that did this simple thing.

install this:

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/289

this lets you choose the wares you want station traders to trade and station miners to mine without manager overwriting them

p.s. you need G workaround

Very nice, I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

[Revolution Rising]

I had a much more finely tuned ability to deal with mining in X3.

For instance, I want to be able to dedicate a miner for a station just for ore. I want to do that MYSELF, usually I'd override the station manager with a script... I can find no such script. RandomMine won't do it...

X3 not only did I have a script to do it - I had several scripts by different authors that did this simple thing.

install this:

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/289

this lets you choose the wares you want station traders to trade and station miners to mine without manager overwriting them

p.s. you need G workaround

Exactly what I was after - thanks!

[Malakie]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

Why? If you are going to make a mod that becomes popular, keeping it up to date in a reasonable manner seems prudent. When I do make mods, missions, etc for games, I always try to keep them up to date especially after major game updates are released for a game I made a mod for.

If a person does not have time to keep things up to date reasonably, then don't make the mod.

While real life happens, I am not talking about those situations.. I am talking about those that create a huge mod that thousands not only use but that actually become so ingrained into the game that removing it breaks your save games and campaigns utterly.

I have had many a game (not just the X series) where I have selected what appeared to be a great mod, installed it, got deep into a campaign for suddenly the author to stop supporting it or even delete it outright from being available.... breaking all that work players did. XCOM 2 mods are a big issue on this one for example..

The point is, if I were to have to stop supporting a mod, I would at least see if anyone else was interested in taking it over to support it for all those using it.

[BlackRain]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

Why? If you are going to make a mod that becomes popular, keeping it up to date in a reasonable manner seems prudent. When I do make mods, missions, etc for games, I always try to keep them up to date especially after major game updates are released for a game I made a mod for.

If a person does not have time to keep things up to date reasonably, then don't make the mod.

While real life happens, I am not talking about those situations.. I am talking about those that create a huge mod that thousands not only use but that actually become so ingrained into the game that removing it breaks your save games and campaigns utterly.

I have had many a game (not just the X series) where I have selected what appeared to be a great mod, installed it, got deep into a campaign for suddenly the author to stop supporting it or even delete it outright from being available.... breaking all that work players did. XCOM 2 mods are a big issue on this one for example..

The point is, if I were to have to stop supporting a mod, I would at least see if anyone else was interested in taking it over to support it for all those using it.

I disagree. Modders don't owe anyone anything. Your own philosophy about modding for your own creations is fine. If you feel that way, then by all means go ahead and carry out your principles. Modders make things for fun or as a hobby or for a variety of reasons and if they no longer wish to work on something, that is their choice. They have no obligation to finish anything, update anything, etc. Also, they do not need to give permission for someone else to use their work or continue it if they don't wish to. Saying they should feel guilty or some sort of obligation is absolute nonsense and saying that they shouldn't make something just because they eventually stop working on it is also ridiculous. When you decide to use a mod, you are choosing to take the risks that go with it and you have only yourself to blame if something gets messed up.

[Axeface]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

Why? If you are going to make a mod that becomes popular, keeping it up to date in a reasonable manner seems prudent. When I do make mods, missions, etc for games, I always try to keep them up to date especially after major game updates are released for a game I made a mod for.

If a person does not have time to keep things up to date reasonably, then don't make the mod.

While real life happens, I am not talking about those situations.. I am talking about those that create a huge mod that thousands not only use but that actually become so ingrained into the game that removing it breaks your save games and campaigns utterly.

I have had many a game (not just the X series) where I have selected what appeared to be a great mod, installed it, got deep into a campaign for suddenly the author to stop supporting it or even delete it outright from being available.... breaking all that work players did. XCOM 2 mods are a big issue on this one for example..

The point is, if I were to have to stop supporting a mod, I would at least see if anyone else was interested in taking it over to support it for all those using it.

That point of view is so incredibly strange.

[killerog]

Yeah that's just odd.

Back when x3 was out I was in college doing 3 days a week so I had plenty of time in between that going out to mod. The fact that I then could no longer support mods that much once I started uni, means that for the 3/4 years before I shouldn't of made a single mod??

About this game, to me it's the lack of easy to use tools for creating new models, to a decent quality so they do not look out of place in the game that's so far kept me to the edges. With me now working 5 days a week, doing up a house and generally being some sort of an adult, who's now somehow in his 30s I would still love to do some 3D stuff for this game, just getting stuff into it has to be easy, just like it was for X3 in the end, simply due to time constraints.

[Malakie]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

Why? If you are going to make a mod that becomes popular, keeping it up to date in a reasonable manner seems prudent. When I do make mods, missions, etc for games, I always try to keep them up to date especially after major game updates are released for a game I made a mod for.

If a person does not have time to keep things up to date reasonably, then don't make the mod.

While real life happens, I am not talking about those situations.. I am talking about those that create a huge mod that thousands not only use but that actually become so ingrained into the game that removing it breaks your save games and campaigns utterly.

I have had many a game (not just the X series) where I have selected what appeared to be a great mod, installed it, got deep into a campaign for suddenly the author to stop supporting it or even delete it outright from being available.... breaking all that work players did. XCOM 2 mods are a big issue on this one for example..

The point is, if I were to have to stop supporting a mod, I would at least see if anyone else was interested in taking it over to support it for all those using it.

I disagree. Modders don't owe anyone anything. Your own philosophy about modding for your own creations is fine. If you feel that way, then by all means go ahead and carry out your principles. Modders make things for fun or as a hobby or for a variety of reasons and if they no longer wish to work on something, that is their choice. They have no obligation to finish anything, update anything, etc. Also, they do not need to give permission for someone else to use their work or continue it if they don't wish to. Saying they should feel guilty or some sort of obligation is absolute nonsense and saying that they shouldn't make something just because they eventually stop working on it is also ridiculous. When you decide to use a mod, you are choosing to take the risks that go with it and you have only yourself to blame if something gets messed up.

I never said they did.. I said it is irritating that so many modders start something they never finish and leave players hanging. But I guess that's the way life is now.

[Revolution Rising]

I had a much more finely tuned ability to deal with mining in X3.

For instance, I want to be able to dedicate a miner for a station just for ore. I want to do that MYSELF, usually I'd override the station manager with a script... I can find no such script. RandomMine won't do it...

X3 not only did I have a script to do it - I had several scripts by different authors that did this simple thing.

install this:

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/289

this lets you choose the wares you want station traders to trade and station miners to mine without manager overwriting them

p.s. you need G workaround

Just on the topic of not updating mods, this wasn't actually updated and now just removes all the mineral designations you give it

[Buzz2005]

it works, just assign wares again, when you add wares first time it removes all but doing it again works, if you just remove stuff from the list that automatically gets added when you assign there is no problems

[BigGreenThugs]

TLDR: Love the game. I would create mods if I knew how. Ideas listed below.

I'm a huge fan of this game. I play with mods. It started with quality of life mods like MassMoveMarines (https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/170)
then moved into some others. I play with a lot of the mods by iforgotmysocks (https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations ... user+files)
My main issue is I can't mod. I have very little experience with scripting/coding and looking at the XML files are a bit daunting. I have successfully edited other mods but the mod authors did the heavy lifting. I have actually looked at the tutorials and started to some reading into but It just confused me more. I feel like I'm missing a key piece of information that may make all the rest of the info click.
I have Ideas that I would love to see implemented but lack the skill.
Here is an example. iforgotmysocks has a mod called Recycle Ships and Stations (https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/72). I love this mod. It allows play where you do not have to befriend any faction (to a point.) One of the main things it does is turning existing ships back into ship parts and includes a station module to do so. This gave me an idea: what if this recycle module could be used to process the "Junk fields" that exist in certain areas like the one in Silent Witness XII. I believe that to make this work that you would first have to create a new mineable resource. Then make the "junk fields" mineable. Probably via a new class of mining ship or "Salvager". Maybe with a new set of weapons and storage (including station modules) that are salvage specific. Can this be done? I believe so. Can I do it? No.

I think the Behemoth could work better as a fighter delivery platform than a "Destroyer". It has 4 Small docks and could unload 40 small ships rather quickly. Maybe it could repair the fighters it carries like a carrier does. Also more medium turrets. Also I'm sure this can be done just not by me.

I'd like a context menu option on the map screen to order one of my ships to claim an abandoned one.
I'd like a medium size mining ship with a small dock.
I'd like small size turrets (back of the Balaur on the top between the vertical fins seems made for this)
I'd like a ship that was made specifically for boarding. Maybe the Cobra was made for this
I'd like to have a trader assigned to a resupply ship that would trade for the resupply ship automatically.
I'd like a point defense system that can actually shoot down missiles. Or an ECM suite that can disrupt them. (not a missile/torpedo fan)
I think NPC ships should bail sometimes when they are fighting each other
I'd LOVE to able to rotate station modules on more than one axis.

I guess if I could mod, I have ideas that I'd like to see implemented.

[StopBanningMe7_III]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

Why? If you are going to make a mod that becomes popular, keeping it up to date in a reasonable manner seems prudent. When I do make mods, missions, etc for games, I always try to keep them up to date especially after major game updates are released for a game I made a mod for.

If a person does not have time to keep things up to date reasonably, then don't make the mod.

While real life happens, I am not talking about those situations.. I am talking about those that create a huge mod that thousands not only use but that actually become so ingrained into the game that removing it breaks your save games and campaigns utterly.

I have had many a game (not just the X series) where I have selected what appeared to be a great mod, installed it, got deep into a campaign for suddenly the author to stop supporting it or even delete it outright from being available.... breaking all that work players did. XCOM 2 mods are a big issue on this one for example..

The point is, if I were to have to stop supporting a mod, I would at least see if anyone else was interested in taking it over to support it for all those using it.

No offence, sir, but this post is so asinine that I interpreted it as a troll post at first. You've since implied otherwise. Astonishing.

I owe you nothing. If I make a mod in my spare time that turns out well, I might share it with the community. I might do my best to respond to criticism or bugs. I might even maintain it. Or I might not. If it breaks your game, I'm sorry, but tough. I have every right to say "stop crying and fix it yourself". I have every right to ignore you. Your sense of entitlement is mind boggling.

[Malakie]

Modders should feel no guilt nor shame for failing to update their mods, and those trying to imply that should be the ones to hang their heads in shame.

Why? If you are going to make a mod that becomes popular, keeping it up to date in a reasonable manner seems prudent. When I do make mods, missions, etc for games, I always try to keep them up to date especially after major game updates are released for a game I made a mod for.

If a person does not have time to keep things up to date reasonably, then don't make the mod.

While real life happens, I am not talking about those situations.. I am talking about those that create a huge mod that thousands not only use but that actually become so ingrained into the game that removing it breaks your save games and campaigns utterly.

I have had many a game (not just the X series) where I have selected what appeared to be a great mod, installed it, got deep into a campaign for suddenly the author to stop supporting it or even delete it outright from being available.... breaking all that work players did. XCOM 2 mods are a big issue on this one for example..

The point is, if I were to have to stop supporting a mod, I would at least see if anyone else was interested in taking it over to support it for all those using it.

No offence, sir, but this post is so asinine that I interpreted it as a troll post at first. You've since implied otherwise. Astonishing.

I owe you nothing. If I make a mod in my spare time that turns out well, I might share it with the community. I might do my best to respond to criticism or bugs. I might even maintain it. Or I might not. If it breaks your game, I'm sorry, but tough. I have every right to say "stop crying and fix it yourself". I have every right to ignore you. Your sense of entitlement is mind boggling.

The bigger issue for me is not that a bug shows up... rather those modders that suddenly remove or delete their mod outright.. For example, I have played games where I used mods, had month long campaigns going using that mod, when suddenly the modder decides they don't want to support it anymore and they actually delete it entirely from workshop or nexus... which literally in some cases, breaks the game because it ALSO deletes the mod on your system without permission.. That's more the issue I hate... I have also bitched at steam about it because workshop is notorious for that.. Steam should not be altering files and deleting files without my permission. But conversely, modders should not just arbitrarily delete a mod without letting us know so we can alter or change things up to make sure it does not destroy months of game play and work.

[Privata]

I dont think its dying
I think its a mix of two things

One is that X4 has by default a lot of features that traditionally got modded into older games. (Such as the true economy, dynamic sector ownership and wars)

While also having a different structure regarding modding leading to a new learning curve that might put some off if the mod is not deemed essential to make

Important to remember that X2 all the way to the final X3 title all used iterative code and tools, so skills were very transferable

I have a mod or two ready to upload, maybe I should hurry up on that

[Infector]

The big difference is that you don't have a ingame ui that allows you to write and debug scripts on-the-fly and no testing environment to instantly test smaller changes on scripts. The script editor also checked scripts for logic errors when you saved them.

It's the comfort options that allowed people that can't code properly to write simpler stuff themselves and get the confidence to start larger projects.

E.g. you start an editor mode where the faction logic and all ai scripts are stopped, but it spawned everything that is going to get spawned on gamestart. That existed in x2 and x3 and allowed to check if gate connections are working and your factories were placed correctly. Something similar to Minecraft's creative mode would def. allow people without any knowledge about programming to do their first steps in modding their universe and creating their own mods. Let them hit numpad enter and create a new sector in an empty hexagon.

[Accuracy]

XML might be easier to implement and generally more expressive, but I just can't get past the disgusting verbosity of it all. It looks awful and writing it is the worst kind of chore. The model that's used doesn't allow basic concepts like subroutines so code duplication is rampant. I just hate, hate, hate it all.

I might be the only one though. I wrote a translator a while back to convert the XML code to something I find more readable and exactly nobody cared.

I have been writing mods in various games and seeing the XML and how the logic syntax is defined in this game - It almost made me cry.
Who in his right mind would use XML for scripting in the first place? Hasn't egosot heard of LUA or any other embedded scripting language?

[Infector]

I think that many people that just want to create beautiful systems with custom backgrounds, need a WYSIWYG way to quickly check on their work that doesn't involve relaunching the game a couple of times.