PC 20.4 new mod folder location

[RevenantWit]

The only reason I could see for doing this is if the game is coming to the xbox gamepass (and/or windows store). It would definitely be needed for mods and modding to work easier if that was the case. Otherwise I don't see the point, everything else from Epic to Steam Workshop would have worked fine the way it is.

 

[KhaineGB]

Everything is now saved in appdata. Logs, generated worlds, saves. If anything, these changes make it WAY easier to find stuff.

No it doesn't. Most users don't know %AppData% exists, because it's a hidden folder.

"easier" would be Documents, like you guys used to do.

Source:  Me doing tech support for Behaviour Interactive and having to tell users to go to %AppData%\Local to find their INI files to fully reset the game settings to fix bugs.

Second source: Any overhaul maker on this forum who has to explain to users to go to to %AppData%\LocalLow\The Fun Pimps\7 Days to Die to find their log files.

You CANNOT sell %AppData% as easier. Sorry. You just can't. Documents I would 100% back on that basis.

%AppData%?

No. Absolutely not.

 

[Evil_Geoff]

Well you don't have date to know that more drunk people made car crash with dead injuries that sober ones.

There is a wealth of data on traffic accidents and sobriety or intoxication of the drivers.  Compiled annually.  By country.  In the US, by State.  Correlated, analyzed, reviewed data.
 Just one source of information - the insurance companies that have to pay out claims based on traffic fatalities. 
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-alcohol-impaired-driving

That has nothing to do with 7DtD and I'm not going to buy in to your attempts to redirect from the contention that you have no actual data sources to back up your opinion.

 

[SylenThunder]

Maybe this is somehow connected with adding workshop in future

That was my initial thought, but the grand majority of Steam games that use the workshop will find the mod folders in \Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\

Again you have the really big issue that Khaine brought up with running multiple versions of the client.  I don't want to have Darkness Falls, Ravenhurst, or other mods all mingling together in one loadout. And moving large amounts of data around between playing separate versions is not a reasonable ask either.

 

[meganoth]

Note the changelog says "<UserDataFolder>" which happens to point to %appdata% on windows now, but such a default could be changed.

And concerning the main problem: For servers a solution already exists, with the serverconfig.xml having a line to change that path to anything one wants. Maybe there needs to be a clientconfig.xml as well. (or serverconfig.xml has to be parsed even on clients)

 

[Gamida]

No it doesn't. Most users don't know %AppData% exists, because it's a hidden folder.

"easier" would be Documents, like you guys used to do.

Source:  Me doing tech support for Behaviour Interactive and having to tell users to go to %AppData%\Local to find their INI files to fully reset the game settings to fix bugs.

Second source: Any overhaul maker on this forum who has to explain to users to go to to %AppData%\LocalLow\The Fun Pimps\7 Days to Die to find their log files.

You CANNOT sell %AppData% as easier. Sorry. You just can't. Documents I would 100% back on that basis.

%AppData%?

No. Absolutely not.

I need some clarification on this idea. I was wondering if they used Documents would it still work like it does now where I can have my five 7 Days copies on my drive all with different mods that will work by just clicking the shortcut link I make on my desktop or will it just make it easier to swap out mods because the documents folder will be easier for most people to find?

 

[Data]

if i want to play vanilla with my modlets on one of my dedis, then i can,

if i want to play DF on my other dedicated then i can,

i was thinking of downloading war of the walkers....but wait

now i cant do ALL of these i can only do 1 now???

who cares about crossplatform, consoles wont be able to use mod files any way and will never be able to keep up with the pc version, so whats the point in this!!?!?

"if its not broken dont try to fix it"

by doing it this way, TFP will start to kill off a lot of big mod makers, they wont be able to do what they have been able to do so far, its hard enough working out ways for mods to work together, thats why players have more than one version of 7days in different locations

this is NOT productive, changeing something that works

 

[KhaineGB]

I need some clarification on this idea. I was wondering if they used Documents would it still work like it does now where I can have my five 7 Days copies on my drive all with different mods that will work by just clicking the shortcut link I make on my desktop or will it just make it easier to swap out mods because the documents folder will be easier for most people to find?

The suggestion to use "Documents" would mean you could, in theory, still only run 1 mod, or vanilla.

Running from the /Mods folder within the game would be a LOT better as it'd allow you to do what you're currently doing.

But I made that suggestion as I had concerns TFP wouldn't listen to me if I said "Just get rid of it" whereas they might if I said "This location is bad because of X reason. Maybe try Y instead?"

 

[Sellsents]

I put it simple. I don´t understand the change and I don´t like it.

I am no modder, I am just a regular player. I want stuff to be simple so I can do it easily. Download mod. Check. Open gamefolder over steam. Check. Put mods in modfolder check. Start the game and play. Check. I have a seperate SSD for windows so if I have to set up my system again I can do it without having everything installed there.

I still remember the pain I always had with minecraft. And then telling the boyfriend, who has no patience at all to swip around stuff on his computer, where to put it all so we can finally play together. I do not want this for this game and I do not see the reason for it. It worked. It was simple. So why changing it?

 

[Matt115]

That was my initial thought, but the grand majority of Steam games that use the workshop will find the mod folders in \Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\

Again you have the really big issue that Khaine brought up with running multiple versions of the client.  I don't want to have Darkness Falls, Ravenhurst, or other mods all mingling together in one loadout. And moving large amounts of data around between playing separate versions is not a reasonable ask either.

Nah , i'm just tired.  Well there rly good addon for l4d2 but after one small update it doesn't work good ( it create "shadow" zombies instead proper texture) so... i removed addons. Better to expect change on worst that be dissapointed right? So... just use to it - my SW BF2 (2005) don't work anymore because gamespy is dead. What i can do about that? nothing just use to it xd

There is a wealth of data on traffic accidents and sobriety or intoxication of the drivers.  Compiled annually.  By country.  In the US, by State.  Correlated, analyzed, reviewed data.
 Just one source of information - the insurance companies that have to pay out claims based on traffic fatalities. 
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-alcohol-impaired-driving

That has nothing to do with 7DtD and I'm not going to buy in to your attempts to redirect from the contention that you have no actual data sources to back up your opinion.

Well you know almost  data is false? because you don't have 100% sure if someone say true about that - if someone is stealing probably he will not comfirmed that right? 

Btw i wrote your date - 13 mln bought copies  With over 13 million copies sold, 7 Days to Die has defined the survival genre, with unrivaled crafting and world-building content.  you can find this quote in google , +- 20 K players per month ( you can find this in google - just write how many people play in 7dtd) +- 0,15% owners play in 7dtd per month - we don't know how many people mod their games - because nobody done research about that  so even less that 0,15% owners of 7dtd  mod their game and not everyone of them have few copies  

 

[SylenThunder]

Note the changelog says "<UserDataFolder>" which happens to point to %appdata% on windows now, but such a default could be changed.

And concerning the main problem: For servers a solution already exists, with the serverconfig.xml having a line to change that path to anything one wants. Maybe there needs to be a clientconfig.xml as well. (or serverconfig.xml has to be parsed even on clients)

You can already do this for the non-dedi client. Just set the values in the serverconfig.xml and then start the client with the argument -configfile=serverconfig.xml.

I have not tested if this will change the location for the Mods folder though.

 

[FuriousRamsay]

I’m surprised that nobody pointed out the fact the some overhauls have files outside of the mods folder such as undead legacy and/or overwrite some game files such as the trader prefab xml.

This will become very difficult to manage given users will need to know how to set up what used to be a single zip into two locations, more than doubling the confusion they already face when having to install mods.

Not being able to create multiple game folders in this case will mean having to keep track of which files were overwritten, make backups, and wouldn’t help with the intent of having no files be changed inside the game folder anyway.

 

[canadianbluebeer]

1)  why not just use   <username>\Documents\my games     ?  Isn't that why it's there, instead of using hidden folders.

2)  even with using the appdata, could still have copies of various versions, just more difficult now.  Have rename the mods folder there as well as the actual game folder.

 Right now, I just tack on a descriptor to the game folder, then copy over the vanilla one.  Would have to do this to the mods as well (even if was in the my games, but that's at least easier to find)

3) How will this affect us Linux users?  Is the mods folder staying where it is, or is it going to be somewhere else.

4) options in the configfile sound good.  (how many will just put it right back where it is now though) 

 

[meganoth]

1)  why not just use   <username>\Documents\my games     ?  Isn't that why it's there, instead of using hidden folders.

Does anyone know what Microsoft suggests as account-specific game data locations? I'm asssuming that TFP's intention is at least partially to conform to guidelines so it plays well under a lot of circumstances.

Making the location depend on account would surely be a way to make the change noob-friendlier.

2)  even with using the appdata, could still have copies of various versions, just more difficult now.  Have rename the mods folder there as well as the actual game folder.

 Right now, I just tack on a descriptor to the game folder, then copy over the vanilla one.  Would have to do this to the mods as well (even if was in the my games, but that's at least easier to find)

3) How will this affect us Linux users?  Is the mods folder staying where it is, or is it going to be somewhere else.

I would assume (and hope) it will use <UserDataFolder> as well (meaning essentially <homedir>/.local/share/7DaysToDie/ (and don't let the "share" confuse you, it is local to an account).

So this already means division by account is happening in Linux and you can just make a new account for each modded game.

What I definitely wouldn't like is if different platforms had totally different ways of handling it.

4) options in the configfile sound good.  (how many will just put it right back where it is now though) 

Who cares? TFP surely won't either. If someone shoots himself in the foot this way (if there is some shoot-into-foot possibility in the future) or finds true happiness it is his own responsibility or luck

 

[Mythicus]

Why do Devs feel the need to save data to Windows Registry and C Drive locations???
The whole reason I put games on a separate physical drive to the OS is to improve performance and increase Drive life.
Regardless of WHY TFP have decided to save data to the C Drive...it's a BAD idea on several level.
Give PC Users the choice (either during Install or in the Game Menu) of where to store their data and Settings.

Alienating long time Fans is not a good move...just saying.

On a side note, the DOS folder redirect command MKLINK may get more use... ie. Mklink /J C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie D:\7_DtD_Data

 

[zztong]

Just a thought towards a compromise.

Environment Variables, such as %APPDATA%, are supported by all OS's that I know of. During installation, 7D2D could define a %7D2DDATA% environment variable. They could point it to %APPDATA%/7d2d if they wanted. Then, players could change the %7D2DDATA% environment variable to point it to alternative locations.

Players cannot change %APPDATA% without affecting other applications. Also %APPDATA% (specifically) isn't common to other OS's.

The nice thing about using an environment variable is various scripts/apps like Installers can find out where to put files.

Another possibility is that the game will use %7D2DDATA% if it is defined, or %APPDATA% otherwise. This way, people can override %APPDATA% without modifying %APPDATA%.

 

[Gamida]

The suggestion to use "Documents" would mean you could, in theory, still only run 1 mod, or vanilla.

Running from the /Mods folder within the game would be a LOT better as it'd allow you to do what you're currently doing.

But I made that suggestion as I had concerns TFP wouldn't listen to me if I said "Just get rid of it" whereas they might if I said "This location is bad because of X reason. Maybe try Y instead?"

Thanks

The part about still only being able to run the one mod is what I was concerned about. Like you I would like it to stay like it is. I could manage if they did change it but having to swap out mods each time. That would put a crimp in my gameplay for sure.

 

[KhaineGB]

Just a thought towards a compromise.

Environment Variables, such as %APPDATA%, are supported by all OS's that I know of. During installation, 7D2D could define a %7D2DDATA% environment variable. They could point it to %APPDATA%/7d2d if they wanted. Then, players could change the %7D2DDATA% environment variable to point it to alternative locations.

Players cannot change %APPDATA% without affecting other applications. Also %APPDATA% (specifically) isn't common to other OS's.

The nice thing about using an environment variable is various scripts/apps like Installers can find out where to put files.

Another possibility is that the game will use %7D2DDATA% if it is defined, or %APPDATA% otherwise. This way, people can override %APPDATA% without modifying %APPDATA%.

There's also a command in unity to just pull the games data path, which is what TFP are doing.

Which is why the only reason I think the change is even being CONSIDERED is for XBox on PC store access (Not console, that's different) since you can't access the game folder as windows locks it down HARD.

IMO, the best solution is to just allow the game to load from both areas.

 

[Gamida]

Is it possible I wonder they could just add an option to choose either the default (what they want to change it too) or Mods folder (in the game folder like it is now) when you start a game so. Like you said best solution is to load from both areas if they are really going to add this. Guess game could check if Mods folder and if none then use the one they set up

 

[theFlu]

If that <UserDataFolder> separation works, it does have one upside; it isolates the saves for each mod from one another, right? One won't accidentally run the wrong mods on a save, as the saves are not there.

Of course, the downside of "everybody script, now!" feels a little more significant.