theFightingSeabee Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 z-Bee 1.2 CMSF Mod Manager Uploaded to the Repository! It's been a while since I said I would release it, but I had very little spare time to work on it and also needed some beta testers to help me out. But here it is. The testers report that it works for them, so I've decided to let it loose. It's much improved over version 1.1. Here are the improvements: 1. There are now more details in the bottom box, that show your mod records. 2. You can sort by those details. Someone asked for color coding, but after looking into it, it's not possible. But you can sort by whether it's activated or not, among other things. Very useful! 3. There is now a panel of buttons that you can use to open: a. Your mod folder. b. Your z folder. c. Your scenarios folder. d. Your campaigns folder. e. Your saved games folder. f. Your mod tools folder (rezpack, rezexplode). 4. I created a utility that will import all of your records from version 1.0 or 1.1! 5. Slightly increased the size of the list boxes for easier viewing. The #2 box is still fairly small but you don't really need it to be that big. All you really have to do is click add all. It won't overwrite any of you records, but it will add what's not there. 6. Added link to the repository. 7. The mod types are now more detailed for easier searching and categorizing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Uploaded to www.cmmods.com and the Repository! Happy modding to you all! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saunders1953 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 What, nobody's tried it yet? , I say, hats off to Seabee for a great upgrade on a great mod utility! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Well, it's been a couple weeks now and either it's working perfectly for everyone or it's not working at all. I hope no news is good news. Have a great day! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handihoc Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 To be honest, while I love the concept, I found it a bit confusing to use. I am but a simple man with a very small brain that seems to be shrinking by the day. I tried to set it up as per the read me, but it didn't make any changes in-game. I've no doubt that it's my denseness, rather than the app, that's to blame, but a brief, v simple, clear and to the point Mod-Manager for Morons Manual would really make my day! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Handihoc, I feared this would be the case. I knew that having to use Access was not the best idea, but it's all I have at the moment to program with. It's not confusing at all, once you understand what it does. What it does: 1) It moves mods in and out of the z folder. 2) It makes records of those mods that you can add your own details to, so you know the difference between one army uniform and another. You can rate each mod and set images for each one. 3) You can mark any mod as "essential" so it will always be loaded. 4) You can make mod groups. Say you have a scenario for the 1991 gulf war. You would want to use the old desert uniforms and desert vehicle skins. This way, you don't have to go through all of the mods and pick and choose every time you want to play that scenario. How to use it: 1) In the first (area 1), you just tell the program where your folders are. 2) You "populate" the list (area 2). This is just a list of what's in you mods folder. 3) Add mods from that list to you records. 4) Once a mod is in your records (area 3), you can activate or deactivate it. All activating does is copy it to your z folder. Deactivating deletes it from z. If the mods aren't moving to your z folder, check that all of the paths to your z folder and mods folder are correct. If you need more detailed instructions, let me know and I'll write up a detailed 'how-to' for all of it. But I really think once you use it, you'll realize that it's quite simple and much easier than manually dealing with your mods. Hope that helps. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dietrich Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 FightingSeabee -- excellent improvements with v1.2! I especially like the more columns in the bottom list window and the ability to sort the bottom list by column/category. The various buttons for Z folder and such are nice too. Once I've used it some more, I'll get back to you with suggestions for v1.3. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Version 1.3 is slowly being cooked up! I'd like to release it some time soon after the Brits module shows up. If you have any suggestions for improvements or new features, now would be the time! So far... *Made room for a larger mod list box. *A few more folder shorcuts. *A new category or two to sort by. *LARGER screenshots/pictures in mod records. *Updated hyperlinks. *A few other small things. Coming soon... *Easier to understand interface: follow steps 1, 2, 3, etc. *Picture browser will remember the folder you specify. *More! What I would like to do... *Automatic record creating if mods are in "z-Bee" format. You would drop a folder in and BAM! you get the record created, description, screenshot, etc already there! *Saved game management with dates and times. *Whatever else the masses of cmsf players need! Let me know how I can improve it to work easier for you guys and I'll give it my best shot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 Version 1.3 is coming along quite nicely. It's looking better and more useful than ever! It should be ready soon after CMSF:BF is released! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted August 8, 2009 Author Share Posted August 8, 2009 OK, 1.3 is just about done... But I need a tester or two. Please PM me if you're interested in testing. All I need is for it to be put through it's paces to make sure there's not major bugs. Thanks! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 OK, my one tester tested it and likes it, but recommended that I have it tested on at least one more machine. Sooo... once again I call for one more tester to check it out. Once that's done, full speed ahead and I'll release it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Thanks to Birdstrike (got your name right ) and Pinetree for testing. They've managed to find a few bugs that I didn't catch, but I'm hammering away at the problems and I'm making great headway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Even more improvements are being made after this latest release. *Activate mods from the mod record screen. (Should have been there all along.) *z folder Audit button. Checks if the mod manager has the correct mods marked as Activated. *Added a "What's Loaded?" button to find potential conflicts. What I want to do: *Automate the mod finding process to eliminate the steps of filling the boxes, etc. *Import zipped mods straight into the mod manager. *Mod Conflict checker. *Other ways to organize the mods such as being able to pick USMC Uniforms, then picking what mod you want loaded, etc. *Continue simplifying interface, enriching features, automating, and improving. Since the 1.3 release, I've not heard a single comment. Good or Bad, please let me know. I'm always up for suggestions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dietrich Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Since the 1.3 release, I've not heard a single comment. Good or Bad, please let me know. I'm always up for suggestions. I like it! Its ease of installing/uninstalling mods makes CMSF that much more enjoyable. Judging by the planned additions you listed, FightingSeabee, v1.4 should be even better. Pretty much the only glitch I've experienced: When I click on the "Open Scenarios Folder" button, a message comes up saying "Set path to scenarios folder", but I can't find anywhere to put in the path to the scenarios folder. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 OK, good call. You can set the scenario path when you click the "SCENARIO MANAGER" button on the main screen. Once that is set, the folder button should work for you. You do the same thing with the campaigns. It would make more sense to put these in the "Set Up Paths" screen! Thanks though, I'm glad you like it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 From the Repository Comments area: Great for a single copy! My request reflects the fact that I have 4 copies installed (CM:SF, CM:SF USMC, CM:SF UK and Betas) I deally I'd like to keep my mods in one place and be able to use your application to not only select the mods I want but also the version I want to apply them to (rather than 8 copies - 4 plain, 4 moded)? No idea if its possible though. Perhaps I need four copies of z-Bee running, one setup for each CM:SF setup? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 That is definitely possible. I've never really thought of that because I use a single copy. I would have to make a selector that would switch paths. So you'd have to select which one you'd want to work with and the appropriate paths would be selected. But... to borrow a play out of the BFC playbook, there are other things I want to do before I would begin work on that. And I'm not sure how many people would actually use it, as I imagine that most people just use their one copy. The solution for you, until then, would be to make several copies of the database and then point all of the paths to each installation you have. The default install path is "C:\Program Files\zBee13\z-Bee 1.3 CMSF Mod Manager.accdr". Just make your copies of the accdr file and rename then according to what you want to use them for. Either way, I'm glad to hear someone is using it. I know a few people are, but I get almost no feedback good or bad. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Thanks, I'll give the "workaround" a go. Yep works fine. Just put a shortcut on the desktop for each of the database files and will adjust each as required before playing the relevant version. Thanks a lot!. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I'm using it and it's great - makes keeping track of mods far easier Good work mate 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Field Marshal Blücher Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I'm using it too. It's awesome. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 Good to know. I've put in a very significant chunk of time working on it. But it's been fun. The upcoming version will be even better and easier to use. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Great - happy to test (esp the import feature, now that I have 4 databases configured ). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 Wow gibsonm! I've only got two, the 1.3 released version and my dev version. Feel free to let me know of any other suggestions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Wow gibsonm! I've only got two, the 1.3 released version and my dev version. Feel free to let me know of any other suggestions. Ah sorry perhaps you misunderstood. I only have one copy of your great utility but I've setup four database files that run off it (refer earlier posts here). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFightingSeabee Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 I think we're on the same page, the database file is really the whole thing. So if you copy the accdr, you're copying the whole mod manager. Unless... you split the database, but I don't think that would work the way you want it to without significant programming. Either way, I'm glad you're able to use it for your purposes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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