Stilgars Mod Combo

[Stilgar]

With 1.37 I decided to start a new profile.

Here is what I'm using today : V 1.38 Update 08.09.2020

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I hope this is the right place to post it otherwise please move it


Here is a little overview what the AI Traffic Mods from Jazzycat and Trafic Maniac will add :
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[Wolfseye]

Its fascinating. By now I have seen so many different ways where to put certain files, and though there seems to be a general order to things, everyone has their own mod order. Makes me wonder if there is any "real" order to Mods, or just a rough guideline or even suggestion.

Funny enough, did you ever notice that every mods wants to be over the other mods ? Makes you wonder which mods really gets above all others, because lets be fair, they all want that.

[Arayas]

There are many reasons some mod has to be in a position or not. FE, Southern Region has to be under Rusmap, using models from it and beeing connected by roads maded from RusMap to Southern Region. Soma maps using different versions of FLD prefabs (older or newer) are a problem too, Roex must be on top because we use a hybrid FLD pack containing both new and old materials deleted in newer versions. Placing MedMap above Roex will lead to "no textures" in many FLD materials. Turkey has to be under Roex because is using materials from it and so on. So there is a rule, not just random placement.

[Wolfseye]

Yes, with Maps I agree. But some mods arent really easy to categorize, and there are those that put these kinda mods into or below the Graphics mods category, seeing it as a kind of trash can for mods than arent so easily categorized otherwise.

And it doesnt really help, that every mod that actually comes with the minimum of information, usually wants to be on top. Everyone wants to be on top. Now you wanna use multiple of those, who says who can be on top and who gets lower, and where. You see, its not with all things so easy.

[The Old Fart]

@Wolfseye, other mods, just like map mods - as Arayas explained clearly - may have dependencies on files, or other issues, which cause conflicts depending on their load order. Some mods are even 'generous' and include elements which really don't belong there, for example: a modder might really like a certain type of F2 truck mirror he made and include it in his trailer mod. These types of hidden 'bonuses' can drive you crazy trying to figure out what's going on. This is particularly annoying when an apparent non-map mod includes something which actually modifies a map element.

Given that you never know what's in a mod unless you 'look under the hood', you won't know what's included and how it will play with other mods. Often the worst culprits are mods where the new elements use names which already exist in the base game or dlc - where the modder did not assign a''unique' name to those new elements. This will likely cause conflicts.

The bottom line is that modders don't all use the same 'logical conventions" in building their mods and it's become 'trial and error' to sort out a working mod order (assuming there are no errors in the mods).

More and more the game.log.txt file is your friend in figuring out what the heck is going on. I won't even run a new mod anymore without first 'looking under the hood' to see what it actually is modifying.

[Wolfseye]

Its for sure good, when you know what you're looking for. But for some, like me, whats in the game.log.txt is jibberish to me. Since I never had anyone explaining that to me (i am not good with manuals ^^), i really dont know what it all means. And even less if something is up, where its coming from. So I am afraid my method of adding some mods these days (and I am not even talking about the right order in MM but in general), is by compressing the Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder each time before I do. So that way, if some goes really wrong, I can just delete the whole folder and unpack the backuped folder in again, and its all like before. Might seem a primitive solution, but it works. Doesnt really help in finding out why something didnt work, but at least i have it each time back to where it still worked.

[The Old Fart]

Wolfseye, having a backup solution - whatever kind works for you - is a damn good idea. It's easy to mess things up.

[Wolfseye]

Yes, it is very easy to screw things up. And before I have to go through issues later to get rid of things that already somehow written itself or remains into the game, i rather spend the few minutes before and backup the whole folder. Crued, but effective.

[Stilgar]

I totally overlook that you posted here

I started playing ETS back in 2015/2016 where TSM was popular and most info's what should load at which position are from that time.

In the TSM, Promods and SCS foren there were many question what goes where and often you get the answer put there or there.

With this combo you have a relativly clean log - no crashes, no missing textures and all are up to date for 1.38

[Wolfseye]

My current Combo (if thats not ok, that I post this, please let me know and I remove it immediately ) is like the following.

Code: Select all

https://pastebin.com/C8RJGe1Q

Based on Wombat's latest Eurasia map combo, including other non-map mods that I added myself. Let me know what you think.