@SHADOWLORD789 sorry, due to a bug in a browser extension I accidentally deleted your comment lol. I've filed a bug for it here: https://github.com/IsThereAnyDeal/AugmentedSteam/issues/2156

@SHADOWLORD789 "Also thank you for explaining that I must remove the balance.xml and rename the balance_out.xml" But.. you don't have to do those things? This is just a dropdown mod, as stated in the description and shown in the screenshot. The included utility is how the workaround is baked into the mod files, but it's not really intended to be run because it will cause conflicts with other players and also conflict with other mods / bug fixes etc. As per the mod description, this "exists just to allow people to easily see the effect of the bug themselves in EE".

@SteahmChip Hah, you think it's nuts that I went to this much effort. I think it's nuts that nobody else did and other people barely notice it. Different perspectives 😅

When it's in the game's normal location for the balance.xml file, it should load as-expected without any special steps unless another mod is overriding it (for example if you select a dropdown mod that includes a balance.xml file that would override it). From a mod's data folder it would be similar, where unless something else with a higher load priority overrides it, it should "just work". If you ever need to double-check you can temporarily add some obscene change like giving one unit +999% damage against something else to verify that your file is the one loaded (just remember to remove it if you do!).

@MHLoppy well THAT's interesting, Ill keep an eye out.
Im amazed by how much goes work wnet into even FINDING this bug as from what i have gleaned, most players do not even notice.

Now just to be sure the balance.xml file is operational, does it load automatically in the game if it is in the game "data" folder or a mod's "data" folder?

@SteahmChip No, not those ones lol, Those are (as you might expect) explicitly ignored by the utility for good reason (bison and fish will never be in combat!).

There are other units that have problems like e.g., mismatched names, missing minor damage modifiers, etc. Again it's been so long since I worked on this part of the game that I don't remember many of the specifics, but I remember for example that the Iroquois scout UUs and American infantry UUs (one or more - I don't remember) have naming problems.

As I said, I don't think it's worth worrying about unless you're going in there and modifying any individual units already -- in which case when you are, you can test / check whatever units you're changing to ensure that the result is as-expected, and investigate further if it isn't.

@MHLoppy THANKS for alerting me to that.
I HAD to investigate...
Maybe THESE units are what you mean:

Unit ignore list from source code "main.rs file"
(looks like fauna unkillable scenery/resource units) from github link site v1.2.1
(open in text editor, ie Notepad ++,
NOTE that they appear in the unitrules.xml WITHOUT the underbar "_" ie Wild Bird, Flock Bird, etc.):

const UNIT_IGNORE_LIST: [&str; 12] = [
"Wild_Bird",
"Flock_Bird",
"Gull_Bird",
"Farm_Pig",
"Farm_Chicken",
"Herd_Horse",
"Herd_Sheep",
"Herd_Bison",
"Herd_Bear",
"Herd_Fish",
"Herd_Whales",
"Herd_Peacock",
];

Should not be a concern unless a modder renamed them in the unitrules.xml

@SteahmChip There'll be a small minority of units that would need to be special-cased (I don't remember what these are or why they need to be special-cased off the top of my head). I'm not saying this because I think you should bother doing it (I doubt it's worth the effort for most people), just so that you're aware that the automated workaround will only do the vast majority of the work; you shouldn't treat the resulting file as "perfect". The GitHub link in case you ever need it: https://github.com/mjn33/ron-objmask-workaround/

Im going to use this on any mod downloaded that has new units added as the ones Ive checked so far do not have a balance file.

So easy, like eating pancakes

1. Subscribe to Community Balance/Bugfix Patch (CBP)
2. Locate 2287791153 where CBP is at
3. Copy out "ron-objmask-workaround.exe" and "balance.xml" and place it in target mod's data folder( back up anything to be overwritten).
4. Right click ron-objmask-workaround.exe >properties> insure unblocked
5. Doubleclick or otherwise open "ron-objmask-workaround.exe"
6. Select the balance.xml for input
7.It will prompt for output file name, balance-out.xml is default.
8. Exit ron-objmask-workaround.exe
9. In the mod data folder, remove /rename balance.xml
10. In the mod data folder, rename balance-out.xml to balance.xml
11, The workaround for the bug with object masks is now APPLIED to the mod.
12. PLAY GAME

>>you can just run the exe and it will prompt you for an input file and output file.<<

YES it works as advertised!

@SteahmChip by the time I used the utility (which is not mine) it already had basic GUI(ish) support; I think I've never used it via pure CLI. The readme (saying to use via CLI) is from when the utility was originally created and I guess it's slightly outdated now because the 1.1.0 release added file dialogs: you can just run the exe and it will prompt you for an input file and output file.

I was curious about this workaround but the directions seem rather unclear as it seems to be more to it than what the instructions imply.

I ran it from a command line as instructed using a mod that had added new units to see how this works.

The directions state
"This will output the fixed balance file to standard output, where it can be redirected to a file."

Not sure what that means.
How does it output and what is "standard output"?

What does it mean to "be redirected to file?"

Anyway, I investigated and
--no changes are being made to the existing balance file
--nor is there another copy of the balance file being made.

Is this supposed to be happening?
(continues)

(continued)

In the command window the changes are there meaning the new units have their names present.

I copied and pasted that content from the command window into an .xml file
and it partially formatted
but not matching that of the original balance.xml file ( header<ROOT><TABLE> were MISSING
but the footer, </TABLE></ROOT> were present)

These could be added manually to match original balance.xml file formatting.

At the top unbracketed, uncommented out, was names, flags, and lines for the units that had been replaced in the unitrules.xml file

Im guessing from this a user is supposed to compose their own balance.xml file from the copy / paste output in the command window or am I missing steps?
thanks!

Finally now I can social distance in RON