Status updates for private mod pack owners

[Watchful11]

And that's why I don't like giving myself deadlines. The good news is I got my computer back with a brand new hard drive. But then I spent the rest of the day getting it set back up.

I will try to get the 1.5 pack updates up within the next few hours.

I'm still working on 1.6 packs. I'm hopeful of getting it to the point where you can submit exactly the same thing as before, instmods, minecraft folder with mods and config folders. MultiMC and the FTB launcher work a bit different in regards to jar mods like forge, so I'm trying to come up with a compromise that I can automatically turn into something the FTB launcher can use.

For now I'll make this statement. You can go ahead and submit 1.6 modpacks with the current format. I'm hopeful I can get them up over the next few days. However, if things don't work the way I'm hoping, you might have to resubmit.

I am also working on drastically updating the info file format to make everything a bunch easier for everyone.

 

[Watchful11]

Ok, I've made a decision that should help speed things up. I will not currently allow any jar mods in 3rd party packs. Included in this, you will not submit forge, I will add in forge version 9.11.1.953. As you can see on the forge downloads page, 953 is the current recommended build for 1.6.4 and has been for quite some time. There are a few reasons packs would use jar mods other than forge, or need a different forge version, if you really feel this is you, message me and we can discuss it.

Doing this will let me cut out all the confusion with regards to the path modifying stuff you do now to add jar mods. Consequently, the format of submissions will change. You will now only submit the appropriate contents from your minecraft folder, in addition to the regular info file and images(if applicable). Current submissions are fine, it's easy enough for me to pull out the minecraft folder.

I am working on rewriting the guidelines to reflect this. I don't think I will have any packs up tonight, but I am hopeful of getting most of them done tomorrow.

 

[Watchful11]

As I kind of expected, I have received a large number of new 1.6 pack submissions. I've decided to just wait till after my last final Thursday morning to start processing them all.

Also, ever since last spring I have been expecting the "new" launcher to come out and change the way private packs work. There still isn't a good eta for that so I've decided to go ahead and make a bunch of the changes I've been thinking about to streamline the whole private pack process. I don't think they will be done before Thursday, so I'll just muddle along like normal until next week(hopefully next week).

No details yet as I have no idea how it will actually turn out, but it should make things easier for both me and the pack authors.

 

[Watchful11]

I am working on the updates and new packs, slow going and there are a lot to get through.

 

[Watchful11]

I am now done with all the new and updated 3rd party modpacks. They are all uploading now. I'll be sending out confirmations hopefully within the hour.

 

[Watchful11]

Forge updated, which broke my simplifying assumption that people would only ever use 953. I'm working on readding dynamic jar mod capability to my process. For now, if you need anything other than 953, submit the universal(not installer) version of the one you need and mention it in your message.

I know I keep saying this, but I am still working on updating the guidelines.

 

[Watchful11]

Quick notice, iChun/pig have opened up the portalgun and gravitygun permissions for public packs. If you are only distributing your pack through the FTB launcher, you can now use them.

 

[Watchful11]

Pack updates will be up sometime soon, hopefully tonight, likely tomorrow. In the meantime I'll write up a short preview of the new submission process I am working on.


I am writing a java program that will automatically scan a modpack, detect all the mods it has, search through a big list of permissions and tell you which mods do not have permission for your type of pack(private vs public). You will then go get those permissions, and just those, and submit them along with the pack to me. I will use an expanded version of the same code, along with your submitted permissions, to generate the complete permissions file.

Contrary to what it may seem sometimes, the large majority of mods do give out distribution permission. So most modpacks will require exactly no work to get permissions for. You just submit it and the permissions file will be included whenever anyone downloads the pack.

This kind of thing always takes longer than I think it will, but I am optimistic at having it done in the next week or so. My mostly hard deadline is when classes start back up January 21st.


On that note, I am rewriting the permissions spreadsheet and could use some help. I hope for it to eventually be a comprehensive list with several hundred mods. But I need it to look professional, with cropped images, and links to everything about a mod one would need to verify it's permissions. So I'm asking for volunteers to help me build it all. PM me if you want to help and I'll get back to you when I have a format to submit permissions with.

Thanks for all your support. It's been a lot of effort to keep up with all these modpacks, but I've enjoyed every minute of it.

 

[Watchful11]

All new packs and pack updates are up. Fixing a few problems, but if you otherwise haven't heard from me, I probably missed your message.

I'm officially moving the default forge to 965. I don't think this will cause any problems, but let me know if it does. This will be applied to all updates from this point forward.

Getting closer on the permissions tool. I almost have it properly detecting mods. If anyone is good with java, I will be putting it up on github sometime soon if you want to help with that part. I'll post a link here.

I have 4 people who have expressed interest in helping with the spreadsheet. I would love to get a few more. I will likely get details about that out on Saturday, maybe Friday.

 

[Watchful11]

Well, scratch that. The older version of Railcraft requires 953. For now I'll leave that as the default and people will need to specify if they want 965. And please say so each update, I don't currently have a good way to track who is using which one.

 

[Watchful11]

Brand new thread about mod permissions
http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/mod-permissions.38187/

More updates coming soon.

 

[Watchful11]

Getting closer step by step. First preview of the gui. There will be more to it later on

Good mods will be ones with open permissions, bad mods will be ones that don't yet. Unknown will be mods the checker can't identify.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending me permissions for the spreadsheet. I'm working on getting the up.

 

[Watchful11]

Got a bit sidetracked with the whole Curse announcement. Remaining packs should be up tomorrow.

For anyone asking, this will greatly affect the whole private pack system, 6 months or more from now. I'll continue to operate as if it doesn't exist until such time as we switch over. Nothing to worry about for now.

 

[Watchful11]

For anyone interested in the permissions revamp
http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/mod-permissions.38187/#post-527631

 

[Watchful11]

@bearbear12345 and I are working together on the permissions tool. Apologies to everyone who I told I would recheck their packs, I'll get to it as soon as possible. The tool takes priority for the simple reason that it will take checking modpacks from a 20 minute process to a 1 minute process.

If anyone is interested, the repo is here
https://github.com/Watchful1/PermissionsChecker

 

[Watchful11]

Apologies for the delay in getting the packs up this week. They should be up by tonight, which is the end of the Thursday/Friday upload period.

PSA: I am considering the sortfix mod, made by lexmanos, that fixes load order of mods a submod of forge. As such you don't even need to list it.

 

[Watchful11]

Slight format change. Please always specify the forge version you want in your update or submission. I had hoped to get the new process done before this became a problem, but that isn't the case.

 

[Watchful11]

Work is slowly progressing on the permission tool, but not as fast as I would like. I will do a temporary rewrite of the guidelines to properly address 1.6 packs and do a full rewrite with the tool later, hopefully still within 2 or 3 weeks.

For anyone who is wondering, I can't get 1.7 packs to work properly yet, so I will not be accepting them.

 

[Watchful11]

Getting closer

 

[Watchful11]

My schedule this semester has ended up with classes all day Thursday. The upload period is still officially Thursday and Friday, but I can almost guarantee uploads will only happen on Friday for the next few months.