RimWorld

RimWorld

Moloy Traits
moloy559  [developer] 1 Mar, 2020 @ 8:12am
PSA: The current state of modding in Rimworld.
General PSA:
TL;DR at the bottom.

For those unaware, the modding community is currently going through some growing pains when it comes to the new update to v1.1 and, more critically, the "Harmony" library the most mods depend on to interact with Rimword's base code in a non-destructive way. Basically every day the good folks on the Rimworld discord are discussing how we want to handle these new changes.

Since my mod is relatively small, I can afford to easily and rapidly make adjustments based on the newest recommended solution agreed upon by the discord community, a luxury not granted to those with mods much larger than mine. If some of the newly updated mods that should be compatible with each other are throwing exceptions, its probably due to this situation.

This is most likely why a lot of modders are calling it quits. However, there are a lot of modders with large projects that are simply waiting for a concrete solution to be agreed upon, before updating. (this new Harmony dependency solution looks promising). While most of you are being patient and understanding, some have been a bit more vehement and inconsiderate when it comes to your requests on mod updates/fixes.

While bug reports and crash reports are helpful, please do not spam the creators of mods (especially LARGE mods) with files on errors with no explanation of how or when they occurred, please do not presume most modders have the time to read through your crash report and figure out the problem entirely on their own. This next part is important: ITS OKAY TO DO THIS TO ME (to a degree). As I said, my mod is small, and I can make changes quickly. Nobody is asking you to sit still and watch your game brick, but please do the following steps before submitting a report to a large mod:

  1. Determine the mod you believe to be causing the problem.

    The crash report doesn't always tell the full story. An error occurring somewhere higher up the chain of your mod list can cause other mods to fail when it’s their turn to load. Please do your best to confirm what’s causing the error (try removing the error causing mod and reloading).

  2. Gather as much information you believe to be relevant as possible.

    When did the error occur?
    Was it when the mod list loaded? or after you loaded your save?
    What did the console say?
    If possible, a screenshot of the console can be a lot more readable then a GitHub link to a massive hugslib report. (although both are appreciated).


  3. Check to see if someone has reported the same problem.

    This can save everyone a lot of time. A simple @___ “I’m getting that too” is sufficient.

  4. Write you report as concisely as possible.

    - Point form.
    - Relevant information only.
    - Don’t skip the details.
    - If the above two points seem contradictory, its because they are. Bug fixing can be complicated.

  5. Understand the modder might not have time to get to your report regardless.

    This one really sucks, I know. But especially right now, modders are dealing with a lot. Some have called it quits because the workload is just that high ATM. It will get calmer with time, absolutely, hell this post might be late to the party. Remember that modders mostly just want you to play their stuff, so they aren’t happy about it either.

If this all feels like too much, that’s fair, but consider playing a more stable version right now. Like v1.0 or v1.1 vanilla. Downloading local copies of the mods you are using can be a good way to ensure you aren’t going to get suddenly burnt by the changing mod environment.

TL;DR: The modding community is working hard to bring you (most) of your favorite mods. Please be respectful of the time and work being put into by the modding community, they are nothing but lovely people. Consider playing a stable version of the game or at least be prepared to write “better” bug/crash reports in these trying times.

Also thanks to everyone still playing my mod. I appreciate the support.

EDIT: In the time it took me to write this we are already getting some unfortunate reports about the new proposed solution to use Harmony as a dependancy, Its being looked into, refer back to the paragraph above the TL;DR.
Last edited by moloy559; 1 Mar, 2020 @ 8:19am