Using WeiDU GROUPs to organize your mod

[CamDawg]

The GROUP flag came about in discussing component management with an abnormally large number of independent components, e.g. BG2 Tweaks, and was added as a feature in WeiDU v192. Previously WeiDU lacked a satisfactory way to organize such a modâ€"the closest feature would be the top level ASK_EVERY_COMPONENT, which only allows for a single all-or-none approach.

 

The solution is a new component flag, GROUP, with the following syntax (and example):

 

GROUP string

 

BEGIN ~100% Learn Spells~
GROUP ~Convenience Tweaks~
// component code

BEGIN ~Identify All Items~
GROUP ~Convenience Tweaks~
// component code

BEGIN ~Give Edwin his BG2 Stats~
GROUP ~NPC Tweaks~
// component code

BEGIN ~ Give Jaheira her BG2 Stats~
GROUP ~NPC Tweaks~
// component code

 

Upon installing the mod, the player is now presented with meta-options on each group at a high level:

 

Would you like to display the category [Convenience Tweaks]? [Y]es/[N]o
Would you like to display the category [NPC Tweaks]? [Y]es/[N]o

 

Selecting [N]o on any group suppresses those options from being displayed, leading to a simpler and more controlled installer experience for the player. In the provided example, selecting [N]o to Convenience Tweaks and [Y]es to NPC Tweaks would result in WeiDU starting installation by asking to install the Give Edwin his BG2 Stats component.

 

GROUP operates independently of SUBCOMPONENT, meaning you can use both to organize the mod as needed. A few other items of note:

• A component can belong to multiple GROUPs; a component is not offered for install if and only if none of its member groups are selected
  
• You could, in theory, have two components in the same SUBCOMPONENT grouping but different GROUPs. Don't do this.
  
• If some components of a mod are in a GROUP, but others are not, the non-GROUPed components will always be presented.
  
• Using a GROUP anywhere in your mod will act as an implied ASK_EVERY_COMPONENT tp2 flag.
  

Edited November 19, 2011 by cmorgan