The TS4 General Mods Section will be for all mods that were made using light XML amendments. Basic tuning mods, such as No Autonomous mods, can be found in this section. Given the light amendments needed in making these mods, they will usually be the first ones updated if required after patching.
2 - Reporting Mod Issues
If the time comes you experience errors in your game using any of my mods, please make sure to be specific in your report on the mod thread. Writing nothing more than "it no longer works," or "I did a mod elimination process and once your mod was out my game worked again," is not very helpful. These types of reports tell me nothing, especially if I am not experiencing any errors with the mod in question. As such, I will likely not respond to undetailed reports while knowing the mod is fine and doing as it should in my own game. Take it as read I would be telling you no more than it's a mod conflict. And please, if your game is not patched up to date, don't even bother reporting issues. There's nothing I can do for you if you're behind on patches for whatever reason.
An example: No Auto Play Computer Game Mod
You report - It's no longer working.
I think - In what way? Sims are playing games regardless? They won't use the computer at all? They reset trying to use computer? Game crashes if they try to use computer? Game won't load at all?!
All the while, it's still working fine in my game.
End result - I will not be responding to the report, other than qualifying it as PEBCAC. (Problem Exists Between Computer And Chair.)
3 - Things that do not need to be edited after a patch
Right then, how to distinguish genuine patch changes that need to be amended in mods, from some other ineffectual changes that the patching process or Sims 4 Studios implements into XMLs, for those helpful, would-be mod detectives who spot differences month to month and wish to report them.
While scrolling down an XML, if you spot a line of language text, in green-coloured letters, next to a long digit instance number, it is Sims 4 Studio that puts that helpful line of green text there, not Maxis. It's there only to help modders identify those long instance numbers more easily via their native language. It has absolutely no bearing or effect in game whatsoever. If I don't bother to change this on some older mods, if this new line of green text suddenly appears on an XML where it was not there before, I'd prefer folks not to tell me my mod needs updating. Technically it does not, and I will not be updating for this particular type of implementation if it's the only change on an XML. Chances are, in time, Maxis will genuinely change the code on these XMLs and I will then update it, so the mod's XMLs will eventually contain the additional line of green S4S text. All things in due time - as the old saying goes.
Also every now and then some command lines get a switcheroo treatment during a patch, which WinMerge also highlights as being different when comparing the new XMLs from those of the previous patch. The patching process may have changed a command line on the XML from something like -
<"t=hot" "n=cold"> to <"n=cold" "t=hot">
and again this has absolutely no change to the game whatsoever and I usually do not alter my mods to reflect such minimal, unimportant switcheroo text if it's the only change on an XML. Please don't tell me about these ineffectual changes either. Thanks, folks.
1 - What Type of Mods?
The TS4 General Mods Section will be for all mods that were made using light XML amendments. Basic tuning mods, such as No Autonomous mods, can be found in this section. Given the light amendments needed in making these mods, they will usually be the first ones updated if required after patching.
2 - Reporting Mod Issues
If the time comes you experience errors in your game using any of my mods, please make sure to be specific in your report on the mod thread. Writing nothing more than "it no longer works," or "I did a mod elimination process and once your mod was out my game worked again," is not very helpful. These types of reports tell me nothing, especially if I am not experiencing any errors with the mod in question. As such, I will likely not respond to undetailed reports while knowing the mod is fine and doing as it should in my own game. Take it as read I would be telling you no more than it's a mod conflict. And please, if your game is not patched up to date, don't even bother reporting issues. There's nothing I can do for you if you're behind on patches for whatever reason.
An example: No Auto Play Computer Game Mod
You report - It's no longer working.
I think - In what way? Sims are playing games regardless? They won't use the computer at all? They reset trying to use computer? Game crashes if they try to use computer? Game won't load at all?!
All the while, it's still working fine in my game.
End result - I will not be responding to the report, other than qualifying it as PEBCAC. (Problem Exists Between Computer And Chair.)
3 - Things that do not need to be edited after a patch
Right then, how to distinguish genuine patch changes that need to be amended in mods, from some other ineffectual changes that the patching process or Sims 4 Studios implements into XMLs, for those helpful, would-be mod detectives who spot differences month to month and wish to report them.
While scrolling down an XML, if you spot a line of language text, in green-coloured letters, next to a long digit instance number, it is Sims 4 Studio that puts that helpful line of green text there, not Maxis. It's there only to help modders identify those long instance numbers more easily via their native language. It has absolutely no bearing or effect in game whatsoever. If I don't bother to change this on some older mods, if this new line of green text suddenly appears on an XML where it was not there before, I'd prefer folks not to tell me my mod needs updating. Technically it does not, and I will not be updating for this particular type of implementation if it's the only change on an XML. Chances are, in time, Maxis will genuinely change the code on these XMLs and I will then update it, so the mod's XMLs will eventually contain the additional line of green S4S text. All things in due time - as the old saying goes.
Also every now and then some command lines get a switcheroo treatment during a patch, which WinMerge also highlights as being different when comparing the new XMLs from those of the previous patch. The patching process may have changed a command line on the XML from something like -
<"t=hot" "n=cold"> to <"n=cold" "t=hot">
and again this has absolutely no change to the game whatsoever and I usually do not alter my mods to reflect such minimal, unimportant switcheroo text if it's the only change on an XML. Please don't tell me about these ineffectual changes either. Thanks, folks.