JSGME in StrikeFighters2

[+SupGen 79]

As you might know, I recently uploaded a mod called Land Targets in SF2, which I set up to be used with JSGME. The reason was for ease of switching the mod in and out, as it is designed for Single Missions; you might wish to fly a Land Strike in one mission and fly a Naval Strike in the next. I'm aware that many of us feel that a "mod manager" like JSGME is unnecessary in the StrikeFighters series; I recall some serious objections when Homefries uploaded his A-6 and EA-6B Superpacks last year, I felt the ease of switching outweighed those objections in this case. As you can see from the attached screenshot I use JSGME for a lot of things, especially in NA (because of the difference in framerate hits between Gerwins' Iceland and the stock terrain I can run more "intensive" enviornmental mods with Gerwins'). However (ah, that word), I was thinking (more scary stuff) and what I was thinkin' was this: If you have JSGME in each of your SF2 "mods" folders, and in the MODS folder it creates you place a folder called Aircraft, and in that folder is a folder named for each player-flyable stock aircraft you've created along with the relevant Aircraft.ini, the situation you would have is this: No more renaming .ini files; no more renaming entire mod folders so a patch or DLC purchase doesn't screw everything up. This can be done for anything that might be overwritten; all you'd have to do would be to disable the item in question before patching or installing a new DLC, and re-enable it after; because it resides in a non-SF folder called MODS, it doesn't get touched. That's a one-click fix after you've patched (or DLC'd). It's also no longer necessary to back up folders by renaming when you install a new mod, JSGME has done it for you; the first time you run it to create the MODS folder, click Tasks>"Generate a snapshot of game files" and it will return the entire mod folder to that state when all mods are disabled. These are not the only things that can be done, you can find and import mods through the JSGME interface no matter where they are on your drive(s), and many other things as well. Of course these are just my thoughts, and no one has to agree with me, but any comments would be appreciated.

[Icarus999 70]

can you run multiple campaigns (using different terrains) off of one core install... using the mod enabler?

[+SupGen 79]

Whoa! Excellent question...I have no effing clue. Simultaneously? As in, play part of one Campaign, quit temporarily, switch terrains, play part of a different one, quit, switch again, and go back to the first? I think you probably could but you'd have to try it out; I've never tried it. Good, out of the box thinking, though, I think JSGME has a lot of potential in SF2 if it's looked at properly. Thanks for the question, Icarus, it's exactly what I was hoping for; people looking at it as more than a mod manager/enabler and asking "What can I do with this?".

[Icarus999 70]

seriously this would be the thing to do with campaign mods if it works.... if you had other titles you could just drop the necessary cat files into the respective terrain mod folders an run everything off of a single instal- SF2na/ desert storm/ NATO fighters/OTC.

[+SupGen 79]

I dunno, something the size of NF5 would take a while to load...you might look likw this by the time it got done .

[+SupGen 79]

  Well, I hate to sound like a broken record, but...here's an update on things you can do with JSGME in StrikeFighters. Now, my situation may be a little different than most as my install is on a drive other than C:, my F: drive. However, what I'm about to explain may justify putting your install someplace other than the default (SavedGames for Vista and Windows7, My Documents for XP) folder just so you can take advantage of it. I put the JSGME .exe in my SavedGames folder, ran it and let it generate it's Mod folder. In the Mod folder, I placed a folder (mod) called Patch/Update. In that folder I placed a duplicate folder for each mod folder in the SavedGames folder; the only contents of these being a copy of the Options .ini for each mod. The key to the whole thing is that, while the Options .ini in each mod folder points to my F: drive (where the real mod folders are), the Options .ini in the duplicate folders point to the C: drive. What this means is that, when the mod is enabled, all the Options .inis point to C:, when I run an .exe the default mod folders are created there. For a new install, I just copy over the entire folder to my F: drive and just leave a (same named) folder in C: with the Options .ini pointing to F:. The only downside is I have to copy over DLCs manually, but it's not much of a downside. Two clicks to set up for a patch or DLC; I just went back to July2012 from May2013 and the thing that took the longest (because I had to delete all the old .exes), was running the installers and copying and renaming the mod specific exes. No renaming mod folders, aircraft main .inis, none of the usual bu####it you normally go through. I realize this sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Give it a try, you'll never fear patching again.

[usafphantom2 19]

Where did you download this from?

[+ravenclaw_007 7,633]

Where did you download this from?

 

 

i found it here http://www.gamefront.com/files/21074067/JSGME_exe

[usafphantom2 19]

Thanks! Ravenclaw.007.