[Mod Manager Development] - Community Data Assistance

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Boring background stuff:

 

Over the last few weeks, I've been working on a project, provisionally (and slightly ostentatiously) monikered AVCMM (Avorion Community Mod Manager).  At its core, it is a cross-platform text-based interface for (theoretically) generalized mod management for both client end users and server providers.  Current development is targeting Python 3.5+ though porting and backwards compatibility (not to 2.x) would be an option per support and interest.  In concert with another developer, AVCMM will additionally be embedded as part of a larger (and slick) graphical framework to greatly enhance the custom Avorion experience (more detail available pending approval from the other developer).

 

The design is complete and the implementation is also nearing completion.  However, there is a need to concretely characterize how mods are currently modifying data lua files.  In order to properly provide the types of interfaces which mod developers might find useful, it is important to know where in each file changes are made.  While public mods are, as the name suggests, public, classifying each mod, into 'active and updated' versus 'legacy', and then further inspecting them demands more time than I can currently supply.

 

 

What I am seeking is for individuals familiar with currently functional and supported mods to respond with a list of changes a particular mod makes to existing lua files (any format acceptable although diff format is greatly appreciated).  The goal is to have, over the next two weeks, a final tabulation of all locations in each lua file where moddders have previously made changes.  If there appears to be enough public interest, I will additionally be releasing a package metadata format to help bundle mods in an AVCMM-compatible manner.  Ultimately, the aim is to hit the ground running with a meaningful base of mods already available to end users.