Project Infinity - Questions & Clarifications

[Jumbletuff]

Hey all,

New to forum, but I've been playing these games since they came out when I was a wee chitlin. Due to sizeable breaks, most of my modding experience has largely been pre-EE. Many of the posts here in the past few months (and some playful badgering from my partner) have inspired me to do a, likely, absurdly large EET install using Project Infinity (PI). My only real exposure to EE modding is early on when mods were sparse and a near-miss with the EET Install Tool. As such, I have some questions on PI:

 

1. When using PI, we can set an install/sort order but we have to select the mods in the left-hand panel manually and there's no way of automating that portion with PI, correct?

ANSWER: Incorrect, at least partially. While you may need to do it manually once, you can use the logs generated on the bottom-right to customize your install order properly and that does not require checking off what mods to install each time.

 

2. If #1 is true, when refreshing the PI mod folder via the blue "cycle" button, or when opening and closing PI, some mods I've selected get de-selected. Is this standard behavior?

ANSWER: This is occurring due to the mod metadata. Specifically if the mod includes Labels, allowing the "Saving Components" feature to be enabled. Some mods don't support this.

 

3. I attempted to standardize where I get my mods as much as possible; prioritizing github zip files first, but going with other options if github isn't available or the mod author prefers alternatives. If #2 isn't expected behavior is it related to how I've downloaded my mods, a PI setting or a quirk on my machine?

ANSWER: While this may be the case, it appears to just be dependent on mod author's prerogative (which I understand; I appreciate the content and consider convenience tweaks a bonus).

 

4. PI's Dynamic Install order feature appears to conflict with some general suggestions on installation orders I've come across (no hard evidence at the moment, just an impression). I'm assuming that, unless I'm using a nefarious mod, or a mod altered via questionable means (which I have not), I should trust PI (especially since I cannot install without following it anyway lol). Is this correct?

ANSWER: No significant consensus on this is "trust the metadata" which I agree with. Though I am running into some weirdness with my installation of Will to Power and Faiths and Powers, but I'll address that in a separate post.

 

I generally try to put in a good effort when doing projects like this, so I've read (1) CamDawg's New Player's Guide to Modding, (2) ALIEN's Beamdog post on PI, (3) ALIEN's various PI readmes on creating your own install order, Sorting Order feature, Excel sort orders, weidu logs, PI's Dynamic Install Order, et. al, (4) numerous install order resources and guides including morpheus562's Install Order repo, morpheus562's helpful YouTube video, subtledoctor's current(?) EET playthrough, et. al, (5) numerous forum posts across here, Beamdog, Sorcerer.net, SHS, etc. However, I've very probably missed something, probably obvious, so any productive input on this is welcome.

Posting on G3 because, good lord, it's by far the cleanest, most user-friendly forum from a features/options/formatting perspective for this sort of thing (no hate to the other forums, I love you for different reasons). In general I'm hoping to consolidate the most up to date info I can get on this whole process. I'm aware of the undertaking of a massive megamod installations as well as how variable the process is, but the task is enjoyable for me, so it's not a chore. 

UPDATE 1: WtP/FnP fix mentioned by subtledoctor below and being discussed here.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Jumbletuff
EDIT 1: Updated question 2 w/ clarifying info | EDIT 2: Questions answered; topic resolved.

[Christian]

By far no expert in modding I just happened to go through the same struggles while setting my game up with Project infinity.

In my understanding some of PIs features rely heavily on the mods having appropriate metadata. For example @4 (install order of mods) PI is checking your install against specific files in the mods you are installing, which the mod authors deliberately put there. Not all mod authors support this feature and some mods simply are too old. For popular mods without this support this meta info may be pulled from an outside repository but this is guesswork on my part. Long story short, the install order rules checked by PI were derived by people with considerately more insight into modding and the mods in question than myself. And in my book this beats general guidelines which might conflict with this.

For automating installs I use the feature of export and import install order. Sadly when importing an install order the checks on the left side don't get set (correctly). My very unintelligent solution to this is editing the import file manually once I do only small adjustments on an already large setup. If you add a mod for example you check its components in PI, press set Install order and then copy the strings out of the window and paste them directly into your CSV file using a text editor.

One annoying part of PI for me is that I have not found a way yet to make it run through with the installation when a component returns an error. Some mod components do this on very minor things and PI then pauses the installation and you have to manually unpause it for PI to continue the installation. Since those errors are logged separately by PI I would much prefer PI continuing the installation and give me a warning afterwards to look at the logs. If I want to observe problems in the meantime I can still check the log folder for error logs and abort the installation manually.

[Jumbletuff]

Thanks for the reply Christian.

50 minutes ago, Christian said:

My very unintelligent solution to this is editing the import file manually once I do only small adjustments on an already large setup. If you add a mod for example you check its components in PI, press set Install order and then copy the strings out of the window and paste them directly into your CSV file using a text editor.

I would probably be doing the same thing if it weren't for issue #2. Whenever I update/change mods a good portion of my mods get de-selected on the left panel. So I end up having to check them multiple times if I do any changes. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by Jumbletuff
grammar

[Jumbletuff]

1 hour ago, Christian said:

One annoying part of PI for me is that I have not found a way yet to make it run through with the installation when a component returns an error. Some mod components do this on very minor things and PI then pauses the installation and you have to manually unpause it for PI to continue the installation. Since those errors are logged separately by PI I would much prefer PI continuing the installation and give me a warning afterwards to look at the logs. If I want to observe problems in the meantime I can still check the log folder for error logs and abort the installation manually.

On this note, there appears to be a way to disable this feature by disabling Experimental Features in the ini (read here). Essentially you change the following settings to "false":

ExpDisablePauseOnWarning = true
ExpDisablePauseOnError = true

Hope this helps.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Jumbletuff

[Christian]

40 minutes ago, Jumbletuff said:

Thanks for the reply Christian.

I would probably be doing the same thing if it weren't for issue #2. Whenever I update/change mods a good portion of my mods get de-selected on the left panel. So I end up having to check them multiple times if I do any changes. 

This is a misunderstanding I think. I edit the exported installation order manually. If I want to remove a component I delete the line in the export file. When I add mod I select only that one in PI, press Set Install Order and then copy paste it into the export file. When I actually want to run the install I only import the install order and press install. When pressing Start-Install it is irrelevant which mods are checked on the left. All that matters is the Install-Order file in the right window below the button Start-Installation.

edit: So regarding 1), no you don´t have to check them again, when importing a Sort Order!

20 minutes ago, Jumbletuff said:

On this note, there appears to be a way to disable this feature by disabling Experimental Features in the ini (read here). Essentially you change the following settings to "false":

ExpDisablePauseOnWarning = true
ExpDisablePauseOnError = true

Hope this helps.

Thanks a million! I will report back if they are working once I get to use it.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Christian

[Jumbletuff]

1 minute ago, Christian said:

This is a misunderstanding I think. I edit the exported installation order manually. If I want to remove a component I delete the line in the export file. When I add mod I select only that one in PI, press Set Install Order and then copy paste it into the export file. When I actually want to run the install I only import the install order and press install. When pressing Start-Install it is irrelevant which mods are checked on the left. All that matters is the Install-Order file in the right window below the button Start-Installation.

I think you might be right. When I specified "adding a mod" earlier I meant when I added it to the Extracted Mod folder then clicked the refresh button. When I do that (alongside rebooting PI) a good portion of my mods get de-selected from the Install Order list on the left-side panel. However I think you answered my question/problem here: 

11 minutes ago, Christian said:

When pressing Start-Install it is irrelevant which mods are checked on the left. All that matters is the Install-Order file in the right window below the button Start-Installation.

Related side-question: I've attached a sample install order file that I've used before where I essentially just copy-paste the output from PI into a CSV. Is that what you do, do you follow the instructions here, or do you use a separate format style altogether? 

Thanks again for helping! I think you've solved part of my problem.

1.Pre.EET_SortingOrder.csv

[Jumbletuff]

Pretty sure I've figured it out. It seems that if a mod lacks the appropriate label it's missing the necessary metadata required for saving components. Sources are here & here.

This is less relevant once I confirm the Install-Order file is all I need, but it is odd the sheer amount of mods in the list that don't have the right metadata. EET, EEex & EEUITweaks are some to name a few. They seem big/popular enough that I feel it'd be important, so I'll look and see if I downloaded them "wrong" somehow here in a bit. 

Will also follow up if I find any issues with the Install-Order file.

 

[Christian]

My installations aren´t that complex. Sorting Order is afaik only needed when you need to pull mod installations apart. The mods I use can be fully installed in one go and then the next mod.

[Endarire]

For PI, I recommend making an install order (with the text in the bottom right window) then copying that and pasting it into a Google Doc, Word doc, or similar to preserve it.

Certain PI functionality like saving which components are checked and the AFTER/BEFORE order enforcement is on a per-case basis.

[Jumbletuff]

Thanks for the responses Endarire, Christian. You both are right. Doing it via the install log via the bottom-right is the easiest way to do this. I had no issues installing on BGEE (small list), and shortly I'll be doing the big EET install. 

Seems like I didn't really need to post to figure some of this out, but it helps to get extra eyes. Probably going to update my main post here in a bit with the results of what I've found. 

 

[Christian]

33 minutes ago, Jumbletuff said:

Thanks for the responses Endarire, Christian. You both are right. Doing it via the install log via the bottom-right is the easiest way to do this. I had no issues installing on BGEE (small list), and shortly I'll be doing the big EET install. 

Seems like I didn't really need to post to figure some of this out, but it helps to get extra eyes. Probably going to update my main post here in a bit with the results of what I've found. 

 

Asking is alright. It is really not that obvious, when starting with the tool. I also noticed that scanning the mod folder is very wonky and yields different results on different occasions. A reinstall via imported file will only work if the current mod scan found all the mods and components you listed in the import file. So don´t wonder when it sopmetimes refuses to cooperate.

[Endarire]

Thanks!  I like being called right!

But this is something I learned after hours of repeatedly setting things up manually.  Enjoy!

[Jumbletuff]

Quick (and possibly final) update on this thread: most of the questions posted here have been addressed and the main post edited. At this point I'm having a weird issue with installing Will to Power & Faiths and Powers based on their metadata (Faiths and Powers 0.85sd16 and Will to Power 2.3.2 both say to install them after the other resulting in PI stopping the install lol). 

Posting that issue in a separate thread though.

Thanks all!

[subtledoctor]

6 hours ago, Jumbletuff said:

Quick (and possibly final) update on this thread: most of the questions posted here have been addressed and the main post edited. At this point I'm having a weird issue with installing Will to Power & Faiths and Powers based on their metadata (Faiths and Powers 0.85sd16 and Will to Power 2.3.2 both say to install them after the other resulting in PI stopping the install lol). 

Posting that issue in a separate thread though.

Thanks all!

I answered in the other thread, but in case it's more visible here, just open "Will_to_Power.ini" in the WtP mod folder with a text editor, and delete the "After=..." line. Then PI should not have a problem.

[Jumbletuff]

6 minutes ago, subtledoctor said:

I answered in the other thread, but in case it's more visible here, just open "Will_to_Power.ini" in the WtP mod folder with a text editor, and delete the "After=..." line. Then PI should not have a problem.

Thanks subtledoctor! I'll edit my main post to go there. Here's hoping the install goes well.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Jumbletuff
EDIT 1 & 2: Grammar, framing.