Fractal Softworks Forum

Starsector => Mods => Topic started by: Wispborne on March 29, 2022, 11:28:38 PM

Title: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on March 29, 2022, 11:28:38 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/buD1kJG.png)

BETA
A full-featured mod manager and toolkit.

For Windows 10+ only. Unix users, see if AtlanticAccent's MOSS (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=21995.msg332186#msg332186) will work for you.

Download the beta (https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL/releases/download/smol-0.12.0/SMOL-beta12.exe)

To use the in-app web browser*
1. Download the JCEF exe from https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL/releases/download/smol-0.12.0/jcef-v1.0.18.exe.
2. Run the exe and choose the libs folder in your SMOL folder to extract it to.
3. Launch or relaunch SMOL.

(https://i.imgur.com/2EqOf9f.png)

Source Code (https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL/tree/dev)
(https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/wispborne/SMOL_Dist/total?color=blue&logo=github) (https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL/tree/dev)


* The self-updater uses git, and libcef.dll is > 50mb so it requires LFS, which is a giant pain, and so CEF is a standalone download instead.




Screenshots
Album: https://imgur.com/a/XL8FIVG
Spoiler
Home screen
Theme: Starfarer (default)
(https://i.imgur.com/2EqOf9f.png)

Mod Browser
Theme: One Dark
(https://i.imgur.com/bYdRzEA.png)

Mod Profiles
Theme: Tidal
(https://i.imgur.com/tf5zA9T.png)

Settings
Theme: Sigma
(https://i.imgur.com/SidzfTh.png)

Quick open
(https://i.imgur.com/p8jOjy2.png)

Please help I can't stop making themes
(https://i.imgur.com/61lASxj.png)
[close]

Features
- Mod Browser to view and install mods from the Forums and Discord's #mod_updates without leaving SMOL.
- Quickly switch between mod versions.
- Mod Profiles allow swapping between different groups of mods/versions easily.
  - Make a new profile for a new save, or keep a barebones profile for mod development.
- Easily assign more (or less) RAM to the game.
- Auto-install JRE 8 for better performance and switch JREs with a click.
- VRAM impact estimates for each mod.
- Version checker support.
  - Supports Direct Download, for mods that have added it.
  - Displays Changelogs, for mods that support it via the .version file.
- Drag'n'drop or file browser mod installation.
  - Detects and fixes incorrect mod folder nesting.
- Warns and provides fixes for missing mod dependencies.
  - eg. if LazyLib is disabled, a button is shown to enable it. If it is not found, a button appears to search for it online.
- Works alongside manual mod management; you are not locked into using SMOL.
- Delete Tips and see which mod added which tip.
- Built-in and easily configurable themes.
- Self-update downloads only what's needed.


Known Issues
There will be bugs: If you find one that isn't listed here, let me know!
- Doesn't start at all.
    Fix: move it out of your Starsector folder or put it in another folder.
    Fix: Run it as Admin.
- Browser is on top of everything and doesn't immediately disappear when switching tabs.
    I don't have a way to fix this. JetBrains is aware of the issue: https://github.com/JetBrains/compose-jb/issues/1087
- The window just shows a white screen.
    Your computer doesn't support DirectX 12. Follow the instructions here, BUT instead of typing "SOFTWARE", type "OPENGL" (opengl is much faster):
Spoiler
(https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1147807/156564808-7b917b60-f305-4c9b-8c7a-b3bc7250f839.png)
[close]

FAQ
Why is it so huge? 400 MB?!
Two main reasons.

- First, because the embedded browser, JCEF, is 219 MB on its own. You can delete this (remove the jcef folder from libs) and SMOL will work, but you won't be able to use the Mod Browser.
- Second, because the UI framework, Compose for Desktop (by JetBrains), is about 100 MB on its own.

Add in other dependencies (7zip to extract mods, json/xml parsing, Kotlin's standard libs, etc) and it ends up being...not very smol. The actual code I wrote is less than 3 MB.

SMOL or MOSS?
MOSS is much smaller and a bit less buggy, but doesn't have quite as many features (multiple mod versions, mod profiles).
Give them a shot and see what works best for you - maybe it's a combination of both.

Why make a second mod manager?
Ackchyually, this is the third - Vortex works as well.
- I wanted to learn JetBrains's new Compose framework, since I am an Android developer in my boring life.
- MOSS hadn't gotten an update in a while when I started, so I thought it was abandonware. Whoops.
- I wanted to try my hand at an user-friendly, clean, and intuitive UI, as UI design is somewhat of a passion.
    I'm pretty happy with the result on that front, but it's also clear that a career change to UI/UX design would not end well for me.
- I wanted to add a bunch of utility features that weren't in MOSS, such as integrating my VRAM checker, JRE switching/downloading, etc.
- I didn't want to learn Rust, which MOSS is coded in, nor share a codebase or vision with someone I didn't know.
    Hey, part of the draw of modding is that you can meet desires that aren't being filled by your real job, like creative freedom.
- The fragmentation of mods between various boards on this forum, the Unofficial Discord server and NexusMods has bugged me for a while and I thought I could help to address that.
    This is still in progress, but bringing together mods on the forum and Discord is a start that I'm pleased with.

Where's the data for the Mod Browser come from?
Nobody has asked this but I want to talk about it anyway.
Periodically (currently twice a day), a program I wrote scrapes the forum (with permission) and uses a Discord bot to collect all of the mods it can find. It's running on a Raspberry Pi. It then does its best to merge all of that data together so that mods in, say, the Index, Modding forum, and Discord are all combined to one mod and don't show up as three separate ones. This part isn't perfect, as the matching is done based on the mod name and author.

Then, it puts that into a json file on GitHub. When SMOL runs, it downloads that file and displays the contents on the Mod Browser page. This is why new mods won't show up in SMOL's Mod Browser immediately; it isn't searching live, as that would cause far more strain on the forums than necessary.

Can I use that big list of mods?
Another question nobody has asked yet, but yes. You can view it here: https://starmodder.pages.dev/mods/home/. New users are sometimes confused by how many different places there are to get mods - it's a very different system than Steam Workshop.

For Mod Authors: How to support SMOL (spoiler: no changes needed)
Spoiler
SMOL uses the existing files, primarily mod_info.json and Version Checker. As long as you support VC properly, SMOL will show updates.
That said, there is an unofficial, entirely optional, addition to VC that both SMOL and MOSS support, and that is "directDownloadURL", Direct Download URL.
Adding
Code
"directDownloadURL": "https://path/to/mod.zip" 
will give the user in SMOL and MOSS to download an update file directly without ever leaving the application. The user is heavily warned that the update may be save-breaking and they should read the changelog, but you know they won't.

If your mod is posted in the USC Discord and you do not want it included, reply to your mod post with the spiderweb emoji to opt out of being added to the Mod Browser.
[close]

Bugs? Suggestions? Questions? Want me to talk about why you should be coding in Kotlin instead of Java until you can't take it any more? Ping me on Discord (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11488.0) @Wisp#0302, or just leave a comment in this thread.

Changelog
https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL_Dist/releases (https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL_Dist/releases)


Credits, listed chronologically by involvement
- Fractal Softworks for making Starsector and for permission to scrape the forum periodically.
- MesoTroniK for consulting and brainstorming the whole way through.
- Soren/Harmful Mechanic for feedback.
- rubi/RustyCabbage for feedback, QA, and morale/moral support.
- AtlanticAccent for open-sourcing his Mod Manager, allowing me to peek under the hood (I copied almost nothing, I swear!) and being a great competitor :)
- ruddygreat for feedback and QA.
- Tartiflette for the idea to disable mods by renaming the mod_info.json file, the SMOL icon, and other feedback.
- The rest of the USC moderator team for feedback.

Someone asked if I had a tip jar so now I do: https://ko-fi.com/wispborne

(https://img.shields.io/badge/license-GPL-blue) (https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL_Dist/blob/main/LICENSE)
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on March 29, 2022, 11:29:35 PM
<reserved>
(i've always wanted to do this)
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: tomatopaste on March 30, 2022, 07:26:07 AM
d*rn
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: RustyCabbage on March 30, 2022, 02:00:31 PM
help i literally don't use that alias outside of spotify

congrats on the forum release :D
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on March 30, 2022, 02:06:40 PM
help i literally don't use that alias outside of spotify

congrats on the forum release :D

Whoops, fixed. Thank you!
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Vundaex on March 31, 2022, 05:28:43 AM
Boy, this looks absolutely fantastic.
I haven't tried it yet, and I'm not sure from the screenshots, but is it possible to delete mods directly from the Manager? Or open the mod folder from there?
Keep it up!
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on March 31, 2022, 07:23:25 AM
Boy, this looks absolutely fantastic.
I haven't tried it yet, and I'm not sure from the screenshots, but is it possible to delete mods directly from the Manager? Or open the mod folder from there?
Keep it up!

Both, yes.
You can right-click a mod to open a menu that allows you to open its mod folder or to delete the mod (choosing from between different versions if you have multiple installed).
There's also a shortcut in the main menu to open the game's /mods folder.

edit: pictures
(https://i.imgur.com/kiot87a.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/lo15gzc.png)
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Vundaex on April 03, 2022, 12:10:53 PM
Well, great work! I wish this was part of the base game! :)
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on May 25, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Fixed
  - Fixed Mod Browser dialogs appearing in center of screen where they get cut off.
  - Fixed version comparison for mods like Carter's Free Traders with 0.35 and 0.4 in modinfo but 0.3.5 and 0.4.0 in VC (thanks to Kosm).
  - Fixed version comparison for mods that use json object for version.
  - Fixes Mod Browser tags being wrong.
  - Fixed enabling/disabling a mod resetting your search.
  - Fix mods with invalid VC files not installing (now the VC file will be ignored).
  - Fixed version wrapping (and small perf improvement).

Added
  - Opt out of Discord scraping by reacting with a spiderweb emoji (the forum doesn't let me post the emoji lol).
  - Added debug and download buttons for scraped mods.
  - Added a button to repair (restart) embedded browser.
  - Display vanilla vram use.
  - Added janky auto-complete for categories, (JetBrains please make a real one).
  - Dialog prompt to replace mod folder if the mod+version already exists.

Changed
  - Version Checker last lookup is now per-mod.
  - Remove margin on top of mod group header.
  - Check for app update after updater update is installed.
  - Remove direct launch option from SMOL entirely. It's too unreliable.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Jang on July 18, 2022, 01:40:56 PM
Hello, I've been using SMOL for a few weeks now and it's been great! I do run into a small issue sometimes, where upon launch SMOL seems to get hung up on checking for mod updates. I'm able to make the update check succeed by navigating to the Mod Browser tab, so it doesn't really affect functionality for me. Here's all the console text from one of these incidents: https://pastebin.com/CmHjxz08 . I don't do anything except launch SMOL and, at the very end, navigate to the Mod Browser which stops the console spam.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on July 18, 2022, 02:29:49 PM
Hello, I've been using SMOL for a few weeks now and it's been great! I do run into a small issue sometimes, where upon launch SMOL seems to get hung up on checking for mod updates. I'm able to make the update check succeed by navigating to the Mod Browser tab, so it doesn't really affect functionality for me. Here's all the console text from one of these incidents: https://pastebin.com/CmHjxz08 . I don't do anything except launch SMOL and, at the very end, navigate to the Mod Browser which stops the console spam.

Glad to hear it (mostly) works.

The update check being weird is something I've noticed as well, but you can kind of mess around with it and it'll work, as you've found out. Scrolling up and down and hitting the Refresh button (top-left) also seems to help.

Right now, I'm focused on an update to Persean Chronicles and SMOL development is on pause, but I plan to come back to it once that update is out. It'll be a while, though...
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Cherubael on August 21, 2022, 05:57:30 PM
Quick things I found somewhat annoying while first exploring the MM that I hope get improved:
~JRE8 link broke
~Overlay windows are opaque and block a lot of views (maybe a windows native mouse-hover might be better for some elements? also a clickable (?) icon for the mod browser would be better than pushing the whole description when hovering over it?)
~web browser can break
What I love about this mod:
~its very easy to view updates and install them esp. ones that have compatibility with the mod manager
~easily install mods from .zip and .rar files so I dont have to constantly search for the old mods in my folder
~its real easy to modify how much RAM Starsector has access to
~lots of different options for colors and a nice font

hopefully the UI elements get ironed out, but this has already become something I can't mod starsector without
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Klokinator on August 26, 2022, 03:39:20 AM
Just want to say, this is a cool tool, but the tooltips are suuuper annoying because they always appear right on top of whatever I'm mouse-hovering. Maybe you can have them offset a little, or even a way to disable them? They don't seem to be strictly necessary a lot of the time.

Here's a video example I recorded:

https://puu.sh/Ji8cz/fea1d5dc09.mp4

If you approach tool-tipabble items from their left, you can click them. If you approach from the right, the tooltip always blocks your clicks.

Hope this helps!
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on August 26, 2022, 08:17:42 AM
I hear the feedback on the tooltips and really wish there was a way to have them move to follow the cursor, but this UI framework is too complex for me :)

I'll see about simply moving them further away from the cursor, and if there's a way to make them not block clicking.

> JRE8 link broke
Weird, I'll take a look.

> web browser can break
Yeah, unfortunately it's incredibly unreliable. Not sure how much I can do about that.
This is not as convenient, since it doesn't auto-install the mod, but it's more reliable: https://starmodder.pages.dev/mods/home/.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Janster on August 27, 2022, 01:28:45 PM
Doesnt seem to work anymore, or is broken. Nothing happens on start of app.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on August 27, 2022, 02:35:04 PM
Doesnt seem to work anymore, or is broken. Nothing happens on start of app.

Please read the Known Issues section and report back if they don't solve it.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on September 01, 2022, 05:31:49 PM
I'm pleased to say that Beta 10 is up.

- Improved tooltips
  - They now appear further from the cursor and will disappear when you touch them.
  - In short, they should no longer block your cursor.

SMOL will prompt you to update when it's launched. I'm far too lazy to update the download link (it's an annoying amount of work to package it up properly).
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Klokinator on September 03, 2022, 07:10:08 AM
THANK YOU for fixing those tooltips. Wow, what a difference one little UI change can make hahaha
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: RVG_Seven on September 27, 2022, 10:57:26 AM
Hello first time i download the mod but it doesn't work, i tried the know issues of using admin or moving the folder but it still doesn't work, i open it and i see windows console for a fraction of a second and i can't read what it's saying before it closes
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on September 27, 2022, 09:16:45 PM
Hello first time i download the mod but it doesn't work, i tried the know issues of using admin or moving the folder but it still doesn't work, i open it and i see windows console for a fraction of a second and i can't read what it's saying before it closes

There might be a logfile called SMOL.log that'll help.

Also
- Make sure you're on Win10 or 11
- actually that's all I can think of, will have to see if the log says something
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Mr_8000 on September 28, 2022, 08:08:13 AM
Is there any particular reason this utility requires w10? Seems kinda odd for a mod organizer's requirements to supersede those of the game it's modding. Especially considering that starsector can run on literal potatoes from decades prior.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on September 28, 2022, 08:11:30 AM
Is there any particular reason this utility requires w10? Seems kinda odd for a mod organizer's requirements to supersede those of the game it's modding. Especially considering that starsector can run on literal potatoes from decades prior.

It's written using Kotlin Compose, which requires Win10.
https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/compose-desktop/
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: AtlanticAccent on September 28, 2022, 09:30:20 AM
Is there any particular reason this utility requires w10? Seems kinda odd for a mod organizer's requirements to supersede those of the game it's modding. Especially considering that starsector can run on literal potatoes from decades prior.

Just to plug MOSS (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=21995.0), which should ideally work as far back as Windows 7... at the cost of looking significantly worse than SMOL.

Love you Wisp
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: RVG_Seven on September 29, 2022, 08:11:05 PM
Hello first time i download the mod but it doesn't work, i tried the know issues of using admin or moving the folder but it still doesn't work, i open it and i see windows console for a fraction of a second and i can't read what it's saying before it closes

There might be a logfile called SMOL.log that'll help.

Also
- Make sure you're on Win10 or 11
- actually that's all I can think of, will have to see if the log says something

Ah i'm using windows 8.1 that might be the main issue, thanks for checking still
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: dslinspace on November 09, 2022, 11:23:47 AM
The tool looks good and its work, which is the most important right.

Here is my 2c

When downloading mods there is no downloading bar or anything that show that the mod is actually downloading.

I noticed some mods are missing the source of the file, for example: Take No Prisoners, which I manually downloading from discord before using the tool.

I couldnt download Java8 through the tool,  you need to add mirrors.

Quote
E/JreManager.downloadJre8/ Failed to download JRE 8 from https://drive.google.com/uc?id=155Lk0ml9AUGp5NwtTZGpdu7e7Ehdyeth&export=download.
io.ktor.client.features.HttpRequestTimeoutException: Request timeout has expired  (https://drive.google.com/uc?id=155Lk0ml9AUGp5NwtTZGpdu7e7Ehdyeth&export=download, request_timeout=45000 ms)

Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: MrNage on November 27, 2022, 11:07:32 PM
Couldn't start. Not even a .log file would show, had to use Prompt.

Code
Starting a Gradle Daemon, 1 incompatible Daemon could not be reused, use --status for details

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Unable to start the daemon process.
This problem might be caused by incorrect configuration of the daemon.
For example, an unrecognized jvm option is used.
Please refer to the User Manual chapter on the daemon at https://docs.gradle.org/7.2/userguide/gradle_daemon.html
Process command line: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17.0.1\bin\java.exe -XX:MaxPermSize=350m -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=225m -XX:+UseCompressedOops --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.nio.charset=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.net=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.util.concurrent.atomic=ALL-UNNAMED -Xms2560m -Xmx4096m -Dfile.encoding=windows-1252 -Duser.country=US -Duser.language=en -Duser.variant -cp C:\Users\ekaj1\.gradle\wrapper\dists\gradle-7.2-bin\2dnblmf4td7x66yl1d74lt32g\gradle-7.2\lib\gradle-launcher-7.2.jar org.gradle.launcher.daemon.bootstrap.GradleDaemon 7.2
Please read the following process output to find out more:
-----------------------
Unrecognized VM option 'MaxPermSize=350m'
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: AtlanticAccent on November 28, 2022, 07:30:17 AM
Couldn't start. Not even a .log file would show, had to use Prompt.

Code
Starting a Gradle Daemon, 1 incompatible Daemon could not be reused, use --status for details

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Unable to start the daemon process.
This problem might be caused by incorrect configuration of the daemon.
For example, an unrecognized jvm option is used.
Please refer to the User Manual chapter on the daemon at https://docs.gradle.org/7.2/userguide/gradle_daemon.html
Process command line: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17.0.1\bin\java.exe -XX:MaxPermSize=350m -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=225m -XX:+UseCompressedOops --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.nio.charset=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.net=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.util.concurrent.atomic=ALL-UNNAMED -Xms2560m -Xmx4096m -Dfile.encoding=windows-1252 -Duser.country=US -Duser.language=en -Duser.variant -cp C:\Users\ekaj1\.gradle\wrapper\dists\gradle-7.2-bin\2dnblmf4td7x66yl1d74lt32g\gradle-7.2\lib\gradle-launcher-7.2.jar org.gradle.launcher.daemon.bootstrap.GradleDaemon 7.2
Please read the following process output to find out more:
-----------------------
Unrecognized VM option 'MaxPermSize=350m'
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.

That kind of looks like you've downloaded the source code and are trying to compile the project. You want to download the pre-built binaries from the Releases section on GitHub
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: ryujinblade on January 16, 2023, 03:38:53 PM
Hey Wisp! hey the downloader said it had an update, and when i went to install the newer version of smol via the updater, it just says fails to update in the console, not sure if im doing something wrong, i run it as admin and normal launch and still same issue. love your Mod Oraganizer! cant live without it!
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on January 20, 2023, 04:15:31 PM
Hey Wisp! hey the downloader said it had an update, and when i went to install the newer version of smol via the updater, it just says fails to update in the console, not sure if im doing something wrong, i run it as admin and normal launch and still same issue. love your Mod Oraganizer! cant live without it!

Sorry, just saw this. There seems to be some updater issue, although I can't tell if it's affecting everybody or is just kind of random.

Before I launch into a self-gratifying rant about how Java's lack of good self-update solutions is my least favorite part of this project and a major reason why I haven't been working on it much, lemme talk through the workaround.

When SMOL downloads an update, it creates a file called update-smol.zip in the SMOL folder.
Open that zip up and there'll be a folder called files, then a bunch of folders based on where you put SMOL.

Click through to the end of those folders until you find SMOL.exe and a few other files.
Now, just move/extract those into your SMOL folder and overwrite anything that was already there (make sure to close SMOL first or it won't let you).

That's it, it should be updated now.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Histidine on January 22, 2023, 04:50:14 AM
Reeee the mod profile system is annoying me (for my use case of quickly running someone else's save)

- The profile system can't find mods that are of a different version from the one used at the start of the save
- It refuses to enable the said mods it can't find when I try to enable the profile
- There's no option to export an enabled_mods.json file so I can override its refusal to enable these mods
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Wispborne on January 22, 2023, 08:52:24 AM
> The profile system can't find mods that are of a different version from the one used at the start of the save

Unfortunately, as I recall, that's all the game keeps in the save file. descriptor.json is never updated with new mod versions after you start your save.

> It refuses to enable the said mods it can't find when I try to enable the profile

You mean you want it to enable a newer version of the missing mod version if possible?

> There's no option to export an enabled_mods.json file so I can override its refusal to enable these mods

Shouldn't need to be if the program works correctly.
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: Histidine on January 22, 2023, 04:56:57 PM
Ah I see.

Yeah, attempting to enable a newer version of the mod sounds like all that's needed (enabling any that don't exist period will probably result in weird behavior for SMOL, and do nothing once the game actually launches).
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: IGdood on February 28, 2023, 08:24:38 AM
SMOl isn't able to calculate VRAM for me, though I am using 200+ mods so I'm not sure if that's the reason why
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: TungstenLION on May 13, 2023, 10:40:15 PM
oh god... finally...
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: aerosolninja on May 14, 2023, 01:12:24 AM
Thanks so much for this!  With the UI change I can't seem to figure out how to change the mod browser sortings?  Such as sorting by last update?
Title: Re: SMOL (Starsector Mod Organizer & Launcher): The worst-named mod manager/utility
Post by: tantananan on May 14, 2023, 09:44:30 PM
Just got back to SS and this made it much less painful to organize mods. Thanks so much! cheers!
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: bing_crosby on June 26, 2023, 12:44:33 PM
Also wanted to add in my thanks and appreciation for making this mod manager, it's making my yearly return to Starsector much easier than in the past. I love coming back to the forum and seeing all these great names from the community still around and contributing so much here <3
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Six__Nix on July 01, 2023, 10:41:28 AM
Thank You SOOOOOOO much for this!! 

I especially LOVE the profile manager.  Being able to load different saves without having to check which mods it used and configure it manually is an incredibly AWESOME feature!!

It also really helps that it puts the saves for that profile at the top when loading.

Literally minutes before I found the feature in your app I was wishing for it.  Then bam, there it was!!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on July 02, 2023, 03:11:21 PM
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! Knowing that SMOL is helping is the reason I keep coming back to work on it :)

Slightly relatedly, I have pretty much stopped doing versioned updates with changelogs.
So, rather than a new post with "Beta 15" and the list of changes and a download link, I'm simply making updates when I feel like it and not posting the changes or new number or adding a download link.

The best way to see a changelog is by looking here, although it contains things that may not be released yet: https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL/commits/dev.
And here are the updates I've released, although my notes for what's in those updates are patchy: https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL_Dist/commits/unstable.

The way to get the most updated version is simply to download the version on the main page, and it'll prompt you to update when you launch it.

All in all, this reduces the amount of time I spend doing boring clerical work (something which I continue to do for MagicLib and Persean Chronicles, because it's much more important for mods).
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on August 15, 2023, 11:16:39 AM
This was actually added last month, but new feature!

Tip Deleter (and browser)

See which mod a tip came from, then remove it permanently!

Once you delete a tip through SMOL, it will delete it from any future versions of that mod (as long as you run SMOL after adding that update, of course).

There's currently no "stop deleting tip", so you'll have to go into `SMOL-data/SMOL_AppConfig.json` and remove it by hand. Sorry, I might add a way to do that via UI at some point.

Find it in the new Toolbox icon at the top!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1116026472310767786/1130346597591556136/image.png)
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Dezgard on August 16, 2023, 01:47:59 AM
java.nio.file.AccessDeniedException:

Keep getting this trying to update.

run as admin normal and via admin cmd and also tried powershell from location aswell not sure how to get passed it?

Fixed it, removed the read only in all the file properties not sure why the whole folder was set to that hehe.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: bigblock on October 29, 2023, 05:00:05 PM
10/10 post, same problem, same fix. Thanks!

java.nio.file.AccessDeniedException:

Keep getting this trying to update.

run as admin normal and via admin cmd and also tried powershell from location aswell not sure how to get passed it?

Fixed it, removed the read only in all the file properties not sure why the whole folder was set to that hehe.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on November 04, 2023, 10:37:51 AM
Thank you thank you to Dezgard and bigblock for finding and confirming a fix for the updating!

Using that, I've implemented a fix in SMOL for self-update and it's available on the Test channel (Settings -> Channels -> Test, then Check For Update).

There are still a couple of work-in-progress features that I'm not ready to release yet that are in that Test channel, so I'm not going to push this to the regular Unstable branch yet (pro-tip, if you simply leave things in alpha forever, you can get away with anything. credit to Chris Roberts.). If you do switch to the Test channel, I highly recommend leaving the following two features disabled for now.

---

WIP Features

- Mod auto-backup. Toggle on/off. Whenever you install a new mod (or you can do it manually), SMOL will make a compressed copy of it in a folder you specify, giving you a backup folder with every mod/version you've ever used.

- Single-version mode. Toggle on/off. Deletes old versions of mods when you install a new version.

You can see how these two features will synergize :) If you want to keep your mod folder clean but like to keep backups just in case, enable both. Or, if storage space is limited, just turn on single-version mode.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on November 09, 2023, 11:15:43 AM
Beta 16

Updates on launch. Follow prompts.

- **Fixed self-updater**, hopefully.
- Revamped **toolbar **and displayed current profile under Profiles.
- **VRAM** estimation now **reads your GraphicsLib** settings, if any. Previously assumed you had maxed GraphicsLib settings, even if it wasn't enabled.
- Fixed a mod getting **copied to its own mod folder** when you tried to install the same version again and canceled the confirmation dialog.
- Fixed possible crash when hoving over mod profiles.
- Fixed possible crash if a tip.json had a null tips array.
- Added setting to choose your SMOL **renderer**.
- Maybe added a **deadlock**. Not sure. Might've fixed it. Let me know if it softlocks.
- Many various little text improvements, e.g. making the "not yet scanned" text more obvious but subtle.


Note: The WIP features mentioned previously are not in here yet (they are but disabled in the config). I wanted to get the self-update fix out, along with the other more minor things, and the WIP stuff needs more work. I am focused on other projects currently (NaNoWriMo, MagicLib) and will circle back to SMOL after getting through those.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Psaldorn on November 10, 2023, 03:40:03 PM
Hey, sorry I've just started using SMOL and after I install mods and enable them and click Launch it seems to disable a bunch of them - am I being dumb?  :-\

Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Nick9 on November 10, 2023, 09:27:16 PM
See which mod a tip came from, then remove it permanently!

Incredibly based.

Some mods are clearly abusing this feature.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on November 10, 2023, 10:22:09 PM
Hey, sorry I've just started using SMOL and after I install mods and enable them and click Launch it seems to disable a bunch of them - am I being dumb?  :-\

Launch doesn't do anything but open the Starsector folder.

But...I've noticed my mods getting disabled before, but never in a way where I could figure out why, and it was always mods that I was developing, so I kind of chalked it up to "I must have done something". They were also symlinked into the mods folder, which is maybe just a coincidence.

In conclusion, maybe? Maybe not? Let me know if it keeps happening, and especially if you can find any sort of pattern.

See which mod a tip came from, then remove it permanently!

Incredibly based.

Some mods are clearly abusing this feature.

I really don't like joke tips :) muh immersion
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Kris_xK on November 23, 2023, 06:23:07 PM
When a mod isnt using the highest downloaded version, could we have an option to make it a bit more obvious than the "!"? I different colour would be ideal, but anything to make it more obvious would be great.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Boop on December 31, 2023, 03:17:51 AM
Where can I download JCEF? The instructions are not super clear. I don't see any JCEF on the github releases page
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on January 01, 2024, 11:58:44 AM
When a mod isnt using the highest downloaded version, could we have an option to make it a bit more obvious than the "!"? I different colour would be ideal, but anything to make it more obvious would be great.
I was thinking that could be slightly annoying, as sometimes you do that intentionally.

But it does highlight the version you're using:
(https://i.imgur.com/eJOayNn.png)

Where can I download JCEF? The instructions are not super clear. I don't see any JCEF on the github releases page

Here: https://github.com/wispborne/SMOL/releases/download/smol-0.12.0/jcef-v1.0.18.exe

I've updated the main forum page to have that link. JCEF generally doesn't need to be updated when SMOL is updated.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: RASTIL on January 05, 2024, 11:36:06 AM
The version on first page is outdated, i was quite confused when i coudl not find the "new features". Thanks to you i can now quickly delete certain things made by mentally ill communists. Great stuff.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Cjoy1 on January 10, 2024, 04:11:24 AM
!!!SOLVED!!!
Hello, I got an issue I have no idea how to deal with. SMOL just refuses to open! I used it before on the same maching and the smae os install about half a year ago, but since then I had to reinstall starsector and SMOL. Lauching the program does nothing, no signs of life, not in a task manager not in a system. Windows defender isnt blocking it, lauching with admin privileges does nothing, too. Is there a way to know what's causing the issue?

Turns out i'm a dumbass, mod manager doesnt work if the folder it's installed into is inside the starsector folder.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Celepito on February 07, 2024, 08:23:45 PM
If you wouldnt mind a smol ( ;D ) suggestion:

If it were possible to change the Game Version of a mod from the manager directly, that would alleviate some tedium caused by a non-mod-breaking update such as .97. Going through every mod_info.json is annoying.

(I know Notepad++ has a find and replace function, but for some reason it didnt register in ~50 mods for me, which I had to do manually.)
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Pokpaul on February 12, 2024, 07:53:08 AM
This is great.

One thing it really helped me with is JRE 8, which I thought I had installed having followed instructions from the forum.

SMOL informed me I haz SMOL brain as I had two Java 7s under Game Settings, and no 8.

One click and SMOL fixed it for me.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Blacknsilver on February 16, 2024, 08:52:31 AM
Big kudos to the creators of this mod. It has saved me incredible amounts of headache and frustration.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Penny Royal on February 16, 2024, 09:14:43 AM
+rep
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: templeofshadow on February 16, 2024, 06:27:19 PM
I found this through the mod index and have been using it for a couple days to deal with mod updates to 0.97, and so far, it's been working pretty well for me.

A few gripes:
- Mods that have updated to new game versions while maintaining their mod version numbers seem to mess up the multi-mod-version functionality, forcing you to manually replace one mod folder with the other [e.g. Musashi Manufactorium has 1.4.3c (0.96a) and 1.4.3c (0.97a)]. I think SMOL is supposed to replace the files, but it didn't do that on my end for whatever reason. This happened for the aforementioned Musashi Manufactorium and iirc AOTD - Vaults of Knowledge. IDK how this might be fixed, but it was annoying the hell out of me before I noticed that both mod files had the same version number :/.
- There isn't a visual indicator in the GUI to tell me that the app is doing anything in particular -- download/installation progress bars, VRAM scan progress bars, etc. I saw someone else wanting this in the replies, but I didn't see any responses (I might've just been blind though).
- The mod browser has been a bit finicky, but that seems to be just how it is with this project. I personally prefer browsing the forum manually, so this hasn't been an issue for me, but hey, it still happened.

All of my other issues have been on the mod side.

All in all, despite the quirks, SMOL has worked beautifully as a mod manager during my admittedly limited experience. Keep up the good work.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on February 17, 2024, 12:12:33 AM
Thank you, all.

SMOL is in a tough place, development-wise. I've poured hundreds of hours into it and it does most of what I want it to do, which is quite a lot.

But.

I keep coming back to the same issues, over and over again. It's not fast, it takes forever to launch, it's big (150+ MB), and it uses a ton of RAM.
That's not what I want from a mod manager, especially the "forever to launch" part. I want to quickly install/update/change mods and then get in-game.

My priority right now ostensibly is finishing the next update of Persean Chronicles (while killing MagicLib bounty board bugs). After that, though, I kind of embarked on a "don't call it SMOL 2" tool that'll eventually have every (?) tool I've written rolled into one program that launches instantly, is fully cross-platform, small (hah), and hopefully not a RAM hog.

In the short and medium term, this means SMOL is, uh, "finished" because that sounds nicer than "not being updated". You can follow progress if you like, but there's almost nothing to see at this point: https://github.com/wispborne/TriOS.

It's worth mentioning that I may end up realizing that rewriting SMOL is biting off more than I can chew. We'll see. Oh, the things we could build with a time machine :)
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Zisko on February 22, 2024, 01:10:05 PM
I updated my Geforce gpu driver today, since then I cant start SMOL anymore. I get an error "Failed to launch JVM". Any idea what could be the problem? Something Java relatet?
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Wispborne on February 23, 2024, 04:03:12 PM
I updated my Geforce gpu driver today, since then I cant start SMOL anymore. I get an error "Failed to launch JVM". Any idea what could be the problem? Something Java relatet?

I'm on GeForce driver v551.61, released 2 days ago. SMOL is working fine for me. Try rebooting?
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Zisko on February 25, 2024, 02:07:13 PM
I updated my Geforce gpu driver today, since then I cant start SMOL anymore. I get an error "Failed to launch JVM". Any idea what could be the problem? Something Java relatet?

I'm on GeForce driver v551.61, released 2 days ago. SMOL is working fine for me. Try rebooting?

I have the same version. Maybe its not related, but it didnt work right after updating it. Sure I did restart. I reinstall SMOL tomorrow and see if it works again.
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Groundwalker on March 11, 2024, 03:57:17 PM
Just wanted to say thank you for a really nice mod manager! Really makes it a breeze to manage things. Been using it for a while, and the new feature of automatically handling jre8 made it a lot easier to recommend the game to some friends who struggle with anything even slightly technical (yes, I know).

It's been a good program for quite a while, but at this point it really is just stellar. :)
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Iwe Eri on March 11, 2024, 11:37:15 PM
Hi sorry, but i get this message when i try to open SMOL, what does it mean?
Title: Re: SMOL: The big mod manager & utility
Post by: Templar_X on March 19, 2024, 09:09:18 PM
I've been using SMOL with my current playthrough and it has been immensely helpful. Thank you so much for making it, it is really appreciated.
Cheers