ReadMe's?

[jack_crow]

This is a question for the modmakers out there. Before I start, given how hard it is to interpret "tone" on the net, let me say I don't mean any sort of disrespect it's just confusing to me.

 

I've been away from the modscene in general for a couple years now, been on consoles catching up on exclusives. One of the biggest changes I've noticed since returning is that almost nobody, here or elsewhere whatever game, seems to include readme files in mods anymore. Now I realize a lot of mods have something similar on their download page, but take here for instance, as the mod ages a lot of those get replaced with just changelogs leaving newcomers with nothing. What about later? I've got tons of mods for TES3 on my hard drive you probably can't anywhere these days. without the readmes inside I wouldn't even know what they do, and I've used them all before. Hell, even a lot of the ones I made I wouldn't.

 

Again, I don't mean any disrespect. I've done a lot of modding myself and I know how thankless and demanding it feels at times. I was just curious why this trend started. 

 

EDIT

I realize a lot of developers of any sort just don't documentation for a variety of reasons. Anyone who's had even a casual brush with Linux knows that all too well. I'm mean more like for the ones of you that have the stuff on the page why not just copy paste it into a text file and stick it in the archive? 

[27X]

It's pretty exclusive to scenes where money is an issue, especially in asian pay modding circles. Insertion documentation is kept on the pay site, just another passive-aggressive means of keeping content under monetary lock and key. Since paid modding is now all the rage, you can expect more minimum effort, maximum dollars per second approaches to become standard, and stuff like Beth.net aren't helping.

[RomeoZero]

I think the problem is in the download location and the difficulty of the mod.

Where mods are hosted it's always a description information of what it is and how to use it as a site rule. And when somebody download it, later  to spread on the web without original links,of course it will be without readme files. Cause the source already has the info. Some big overhauls or scripts have readme files though. 

[Dallas-Arbiter]

Or, it could just be that most people use a mod manager to install their mods, no need for a read me when a program does everything for you.

 

 

 

[jack_crow]

There's more to a readme than how to install the mod. A good readme tells you what it does, why it exists, how it does it, what its compatible with all kinds of stuff. Basically the kinds of things you spend hours digging past feature requests, politics, and other unrelated etc in a forum thread just to piece together. All in one handy place... Where your mod is.

 

CPU has an outstanding readme for Scent. Granted that's going above and beyond, but that's exactly the kind of thing you saw quite frequently with more complicated mods at one time.

 

I hadn't even considered the paywall thing. That's something that cropped up while I was away. 

[Mr. Otaku]

You can copy the mod description page and paste it in a text file before naming it "Readme". That way you can get a readme for any mod you download regardless of if the mod comes with a readme file (I mean if it does then you wouldn't need to copy it in the first place).

 

My best guess would be, as to why readme's are less and less these days is that... maybe they just don't bother? Maybe they forgot? Maybe not many people had an issue with this? I don't know, i'm not them i can only guess.

[KoolHndLuke]

A readme? Fuck, some mods don't even include a description on the home page! Granted that's usually because the author doesn't speak English- it's like "Here mod! Put in game and enjoy!". When I have trouble figuring something out and there is little or no description for the mod, I go digging through the comments since I know that if I am having a problem then somebody else did too. Usually some nice user posts a solution or answer for others and I try to make a point of thanking them for that (when nobody else does it seems).

[Guest]

This is a Skyrim trend which I wouldn't doubt has spread across to older Beth games by now. I made this argument years ago on Nexus (and perhaps here as well, I don't remember).

 

I raised the concern because there is also this trend of people removing their mods for no apparent reason and when you go back to install a mod you haven't used in a long time, you are left without any instructions or requirements. But when I made that argument, it seemed like it didn't matter. I guess they thought I was overreacting over something they would consider meaningless. It's like one of those things where if it doesn't happen to them they won't know how it really has an affect, but since it doesn't it doesn't matter.

 

This is just a spiral downwards in what modding used to be and what it has turned to over the years like free to now monetized behind closed doors mods using tactics like giving you a bland version of the mod until you financially support them for the full version. I find it to be shocking whenever I download a mod nowadays that contains a readme. I almost want to endorse them just for that alone.

[jack_crow]

Agreed. That's exactly the kind of situation I'm talking about. The "cloud" is an ephemeral joke. Ask anyone who was into NWN modding.

 

Though what I find so odd about the whole thing is the general shift in attitude (not just in computers bust all consumers) of becoming totally submissive. Sure they'll whine about little things like nerfs and whatnot, but tell them they've got to pay for something the competition offers for free (cough online gaming cough) or release a AAA game that doesn't even work and they just roll over. Hell they'll even defend the corporation, vehemently if someone brings it up. Telling you how grateful you should be to your corporate master. It's just bizarre. Anyway that's not really on topic, aside from perhaps being a contributing factor.

[Reginald_001]

Counter point: I write fully elaborate readme's, frequently asked questions posts (usually the second post of a mod, see my Ivy mod for details). Yet most people don't seem to read them, or show any interest: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/1611

 

The stats are clear:

16.044 Mod Downloads.

786 Views of the Help Documentation.

Count the number of questions posted in the support section that are already talked about in the help/readme sections..

 

The reality is that 95.2% (and that's a hard statistic) of all users that download mods do not read the help/readme sections.

 

I personally agree with the point though and would push it even further: A mod does not just need a readme though. Releasing a mod means dedicating at least 1 or 2 years of your time to support that mod. That's what 90% of modders forget. They just release for some likes and let the bug section grow to humongous proportions...

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, jack_crow said:

Agreed. That's exactly the kind of situation I'm talking about. The "cloud" is an ephemeral joke. Ask anyone who was into NWN modding.

 

Though what I find so odd about the whole thing is the general shift in attitude (not just in computers bust all consumers) of becoming totally submissive. Sure they'll whine about little things like nerfs and whatnot, but tell them they've got to pay for something the competition offers for free (cough online gaming cough) or release a AAA game that doesn't even work and they just roll over. Hell they'll even defend the corporation, vehemently if someone brings it up. Telling you how grateful you should be to your corporate master. It's just bizarre. Anyway that's not really on topic, aside from perhaps being a contributing factor.

 

For years now I've had to take web screenshots of mod descriptions and document them with the mod itself on my HDD for this sole purpose. I suggest do the same. Firefox has it's very own feature (for a while now) where you can take screenshots of web pages and save it to your PC or cloud. There's also a plugin addon called fireshot that will do the same, but provide more features like save it in pdf if you want.

[MadMansGun]

2 hours ago, Reginald_001 said:

The reality is that 95.2% (and that's a hard statistic) of all users that download mods do not read the help/readme sections.

this, i made a install guide but i keep having to quote 2 parts of it

Spoiler

5. make sure you have "Allow Creature Animation" checked in SexLab's MCM settings.

 

6. turn off "Match Creature Gender" in sexlab's MCM settings, if this setting is enabled some animations won't play.

 

7. did you forget to install the FNIS Creature Pack? install it and rerun the GenerateFNISforUsers.exe, then do steps 5 & 8
NOTE: if you do have the Creature Pack but some creatures are just playing idle animations during sex try clicking on "De-Install Creatures" in FNIS, after it's done running click on "Update FNIS Behavior"
(doing this will delete all the creature behavior files generated by FNIS and remake new ones...that is assuming you DO have the FNIS Creature Pack installed)

 

8. you may need to reload the animations, go to the Animation Loader's MCM and then:
8.1. click on the "Disable All" button.
8.2. click on "Rebuild Animation Registry", then Wait for the message to pop up*.
8.3. click on "Reload JSON".
8.4. click on "Enable All".
8.5. click on "Count Animations" and make sure nothing is over 500, turn off some animations if they are.
8.6. click on "Register Animations", then Wait for the message to pop up*.
*if you like you can press "~" on your keyboard to open the console so you can watch it Register everything, just make sure you close it before you try to click on anything.

 

Spoiler

 

Creature Framework Troubleshooting:

 

"Creature Framework API reference not found" error and/or the MCM for Creature Framework is missing:
you need to install the .bsa file from Sexlab Aroused to fix this problem.
http://www.loverslab.com/files/file/1421-sexlab-aroused-redux-10-august-2016/

 

Aroused mesh not getting applied during animations:
go to the Creature Framework MCM and click on "Re-register all mods", then unpause the game and Wait a Minute.
note: if you have SexLab Aroused fully installed you may need to lower the "Arousal threshold" setting in the Creature Framework MCM.

 

Creature Framework not registering mods or stuck in a registering loop:
try reinstalling JContainers.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49743/?

 

 

 

 

[jack_crow]

True enough. For every Linux dev that thinks a list of command line flags is documentation , There's going to be two users who didn't RTFM. It's balance in life I suppose.

 

BTW MadMansGun I was curious, why are the image files in your tutorial bmp files instead of png or some other compressed form? I was expecting an encyclopedia when I downloaded it. Remember thinking, wow this thing must be a pain to install. I was pleasantly suprised when this wasn't the case. I'm one those few who did read and appreciate it. 

 

@endgame4ddiction I usually just choose print from the menu in firefox and then check the box that says "simplify page" it cuts out all the side bars banners ads etc on most sites. Then just print to pdf through adobe. Afterwards i comb through the forum threads sometimes copy pasting choice bits into a text file kind of making my own faq.

[MadMansGun]

1 hour ago, jack_crow said:

why are the image files in your tutorial bmp files instead of png or some other compressed form?

because bmp files compresses a hell of a lot better than jpeg files in 7zip, the jpeg version ended up being 1.5x larger than the bmp version after compression.

[jack_crow]

Wow. that's.... disturbing.

I mean I get what your saying. I guess all the times I've bothered with compressing images they were already in a raw format now that I think about it. One trick I do know when compressing images is that you can exploit the compression algorithm.  Granted this doesn't apply here but for game development and stuff it can. If you make sure that the naming sequence of your images orders where the images will have the least changes in pixels from one to the next you'll see massive increase in compression ratios. For example multiple shots of the same surface at steadily increasing light levels etc. Useful for repetitive textures.

[MadMansGun]

31 minutes ago, jack_crow said:

Wow. that's.... disturbing.

the problem is that you can't really compress something that has already been compressed, and apparently jpeg compression sucks when compared to 7zip compression.

therefor bmp wins due to not having any compression pre-applied onto it.

[jack_crow]

Yeah all you can do is go for more optimized compressing. That's why the above trick works, it lessens the amount of work the compressor is doing. It's kind of like defragging the archive before you build it in a way.

[gregathit]

While a readme used to come inside a mod archive file, many times it is now in the OP of the mod page or on the download page. 

As to why it stopped being standard practice to put one with your download......well, too many folks just refused to read the damn things.  That more than likely had something to do with it.  The rest could just be that times change.

[merManc]

People not bothering to read them is indeed probably one of the main reasons some mod authors decide not to include them. And if new authors use established authors as an example of how to do things, the habit probably spreads.

 

I forget which mod it is, but one of the ones I use has a ReadMe called "Don't ReadMe," and begins with a playful sentence expressing astonishment that it's actually been opened, before explaining what the mod is and how it works. Another has a change log that states something like: "Added a ReadMe for people to not read."

[KoolHndLuke]

Maybe there's a way to attach a small script that checks if the user reads the readme? If they don't then the mod doesn't work or something? IDK. I'm just being stupid....ignore me as usual. 

 

In related news..... I just love when MA's say about their mod "It does a lot of shit and it's too much to list". So, there I am looking over the files and loading the esp in X-edit to see what the fuck it is doing. Conflicts? No, none that I'm aware of says they. X-edit says otherwise.

[ASlySpyDuo]

10 hours ago, MadMansGun said:

the problem is that you can't really compress something that has already been compressed, and apparently jpeg compression sucks when compared to 7zip compression.

therefor bmp wins due to not having any compression pre-applied onto it.

The real problem is that compressing as JPG always creates artifacts since it's lossy compression method. If you compress to PNG which is lossless, they would compress into archive just as well as bitmaps. PNG would create smaller filesize than JPG too if it's just screenshots of simple GUIs due to how it compresses data.

 

See:

 

Good rule of thumb is that JPG is better for complex images like photos and screenshots of 3D games while PNG is better for simple images like pixel art, 2D games, cartoons and screenshots of GUI. This is from compression viewpoint. Graphically PNG is always superior due to simple fact that it's lossless and JPG is not.

 

Artifacts are a problem when trying to compress further and the reason why the memes that have been resaved as JPG 5000 times look like garbage and have bigger filesize than the originals.

 

Compressing media into archives has never been a good way to reduce filesize in any case. Only format that somewhat achieved it was UHA but its caveat was that it took literal hours to decompress anything and was only used to distribute pirated game rips.

[MadMansGun]

11 hours ago, ASlySpyDuo said:

.

artifacts are not the problem (i use gimp with the slider set to 100), the problem is the 7zip file size after compression, the jpeg version ends up bigger than bmp.

i have not tried png yet so i don't know if it would compress any better.

[MadMansGun]

12 hours ago, ASlySpyDuo said:

.

bmp:

uncompressed = 207.0 MB

compressed =  25.7 MB

1/8 the original size.

 

png:

uncompressed = 42.3 MB

compressed = 40.4 MB

only 2mb less and 2x larger than bmp.

 

so yea...fuck png, i'm staying with bmp.

[ASlySpyDuo]

1 hour ago, MadMansGun said:

artifacts are not the problem (i use gimp with the slider set to 100), the problem is the 7zip file size after compression, the jpeg version ends up bigger than bmp.

i have not tried png yet so i don't know if it would compress any better.

Quality slider 100 is still lossy since JPEG is lossy format. No way around that. Lossless JPEG exists but it's different format and is rarely even used.

 

Since pictures speak more than words.

All of them are same image, a simple screenshot of MO2 UI.

 

Granted, you save a few kilobytes by using bitmaps if you compress them due to how archive compressors work.

 

Bitmaps have a lot of repetitive data, yet the more complex your screenshot is the better PNG compresses in comparison to bitmaps, with bitmaps always being on top due to compressing something already compressed via different method not being efficient. Say, you have a jar of jam you want it to go into smaller space. You can compress it further with industrial press or something, yes, but it would be more efficient to take it out of jar (decompress) and put it in more efficient jar, or in bigger jar with other jam in this case (archive compression).

 

Yes, I know, that analogy sucks.

 

 

And just for the sake of being through since I mentioned it, lossless JPEG:

(well what do you know, it's smaller than lossy JPEG)

[ASlySpyDuo]

20 minutes ago, MadMansGun said:

only 2mb less and 2x larger than bmp.

Interesting, I got a different result.

 

But like I said, bitmaps will always compress better with archive compression due to how they work.

And if someone doesn't have space to extract bitmaps but has space to extract compressed images, well, I got no funny remark here.