What is the standard, modern way to create a mod in Build 257

DarkOmen · October 2013

Hello, everyone!

I see many resources that describe methods of hooking up LUA mods in NS2, but what is the proper, modern method of creating a mod that includes code changes as of build 257? Everything seems to date back to build 147 or some such and hasn't been updated since.

Can someone link me to the definitive build 257 starting point? I'm sorry for making this thread, but nothing seems particularly intuitive to me.

Thanks a lot!

McGlaspie · October 2013

This is something that really needs, clear, and concise explanations. Not too mention the Whys and Why-Nots.

I recommend taking a look at:
http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/128106/how-to-make-a-mod-for-natural-selection-2#latest

This will at least get you pointed in the right direction. Yes, this does it the "Old Way", but in practice it's not the "Wrong Way" to go about it. Frankly, there is no wrong way. It's just a matter of picking the trade-offs you're comfortable with.

In some ways, the "modern" (if you can call it that) way is to use Sewlek's mod framework approach, see this workshop item:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=137123467

SamusDroid · October 2013

There is no "build 257 starting point". You use the code as reference and use Sewlek's framework.
Simply overriding files by adding stuff to default code and put that in your mod works too. Some things you have to do that in where you can't hook into functions, like most GUI files.

DarkOmen · October 2013

Thanks for the insight! Alright, so I've gone along with copying all of ns2/lua into mymod/lua and I'll just modify everything from there. Now, consistency checking is preventing me from running a local server, so I've modified ConsistencyConfig.json so that it ignores *.* and checks nothing. Success!

So hackish, though.

SamusDroid · October 2013

No no no. You don't copy ns2/lua into your mod. If you do need to override a file, you copy only that file, in the correct file structure. So if you want to modify GUIMainMenu.Lua, you copy it into your mods lua/menu/ directory that you create. You also don't want a game_setup.xml if you are doing that. Proper method is to use hooks like Sewlek does. Copying all of ns2/lua will break your mod every update, and will override other things by accident. Individual files are less likely to break.

GhoulofGSG9 · October 2013

Before you do so, what exactly do you want to do?

Because instead of overriding files you should use hooks and the entry system. game_setup.xml should only be used for new gamemodes changing the game in a huge way (like the faded, mvm, combat, xenoswarm)

Overriding game files is not the optimal way to go and should only be used if there is no other way to do it.

DarkOmen · October 2013

I'd call it a game mode: I want to try to "improve" the commander UI and behaviour. Ideally, it would register as a new game mode like Xenoswarm or Sewlek's Test Mod.

Thanks for stopping me/walking me through this, btw.

Vitdom · October 2013

You can easily create hook-based add-ons and in a lot of cases use the ReplaceClassFunction features.

Just put some code in a myCode.entry to link to a .lua file and put it in the lua/entry/ and lua/ folder respectively. It should load automatically.

http://wiki.unknownworlds.com/ns2/Modding_Framework

Example program:
./lua/entry/HPK.entry

modEntry = [[Server: lua/HPK.lua, Priority: 5]]

./lua/HPK.lua

local function HPK_initPingCheck(client)
	HPK_maxPing = Server.GetConfigSetting("max_ping")
	if HPK_maxPing and HPK_maxPing ~= 0 and not client:GetIsVirtual() then
		local startTime = Shared.GetTime() + 30
		table.insert(HPK_queue, {client:GetId(), 0, startTime, startTime})
	end
end
Event.Hook("ClientConnect", HPK_initPingCheck)

local function HPK_setMaxPing(client, limit)
	if limit then
		HPK_maxPing = tonumber(limit)
		Server.SetConfigSetting("max_ping", HPK_maxPing)
		ServerAdminPrint(client, "sv_maxping " .. limit)
	else
		ServerAdminPrint(client, "sv_maxping " .. HPK_maxPing)
	end
end
CreateServerAdminCommand("Console_sv_maxping", HPK_setMaxPing, "<limit>")

local function HPK_checkPings()
-- Some code...
end
Event.Hook("UpdateServer", HPK_checkPings)

DarkOmen · October 2013

I did not know about that wiki page, and never quite understood the "guts" of Class_Reload(). Nor did I know about Event.Hook(), so thank you Vitdom!

What is the standard, modern way to create a mod in Build 257

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