SUM OG Utilities - Overview Post
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:17 am
SUM Overgrowth Utilities - Overview Post
Hello Overgrowth modding community!
This post has been created to discuss the SUM OG Utilities that are being developed by Anton, Psi, Aaron and I (Johannes)
If you want to download the SUMLauncher component of this project, please
GO HERE!
What is SUM OG Utilities?
SUM OG Utilities stands for 'Settings, Updates, and Mods Overgrowth Utilities'. It is a planned 4-part project designed to be an integral tool for downloading and managing community made content, as well as the go-to place for modders that want to make their mods easily accessible to everyone.
It is based in part on Anton's Main Menu Mod.
While the majority of the project is still a work in progress, we have released part 1, the SUMLauncher.
The rest of the components will be explained in detail here as they progress, but this topic will mostly be a resource for modders.
Part 1: SUMLauncher
The SUMLauncher is a Java program (with both Windows and Mac wrappers) that acts as a launcher, config editor, and alpha updater for Overgrowth.
The program will serve additional purposes once parts 2, 3 and 4 of the project are ready for release.
Part 2: In-Game Mod Manager
We are working on an in-game mod manager that will be integrated in the game’s Main Menu. It will let you not only manage your installed mods, but also browse for mods that have been uploaded on the server (see part 3).
It will be based in-part on this mockup, but will be much more polished:
(Originally from this old topic)
We are still waiting on some javascript functions that David has agreed to add to the engine, which will allow us to asynchronously communicate with the SUMLauncher. In short, when a user chooses to install a mod through the Mod Manager, it will be the SUMlauncher that does the heavy lifting.
Once it's ready, the Mod Manager will be automatically installed by the SUMLauncher when you first run it.
Part 3: Mod Database
We are working on the back-end Database that the other parts of this project will be relying on. It will host all of the mods and their respective metadata such as reviews, comments and screenshots, and will also handle users and user groups (for cooperative projects). The other Parts will access it with PHP Post queries.
Users will be able to upload mods to this database via the website (see step 4).
Part 4: Mod Website
The upload, commenting and rating functionalities will be done through a website. You can find an early mockup of the site here:
We hope to be able to access the Wolfire forums to authenticate users, removing the necessity for additional registration.
What now?
As mentioned above, we are still waiting on some crucial in-game features to be able to fully create part 2 of the mod, but we do have lots of stuff to work on in the mean-time.
We really want the experience of adding mods to be painless and intuitive for any user, regardless of their level of computer expertise. Making sure that everything will work well requires lots of time on planning out the exact systems involved.
We will be adding more information to this topic as we are ready to release it.
If you have any other comments or feedback please leave a comment in the topic below.
Thanks!
~The SUM OG Utilities Team