Deep Blue naval pack build icon placeholder

Spacenuts

Hi all, I want to use the mod Deep Blue Naval pack Xeno rebalance from the archive in faf but when I activate it all the build icons for mod added units are broken and show only placeholder.

when i activate original version 4 of the mod from moddb in forged alliance regular non-faf client while also using blackops icon support the build icons for mod units show up without issue.

I tried using that version from moddb with faf by copying the necessary files to my faf mod folder but again the icons are still broken by it

I would like to know what's going wrong here and how i might go about fixing it as it seems there is something about that mod that my current faf setup does not agree with.

Is this a conflict with other mods im using or can the issue be addressed without sacrificing on my selection of active mods?

finally i would like to ask, if the issue cannot be resolved what mods might others recommend which include a good selection of new naval units especially at tech level 1 & 2?

Thanks for reading all! I'm ready to answer any further questions that may be relevant to the issue.

Jip

I've asked Balthazar to help you with this. You can also try the #modding-general channel on the official Discord. Make sure that you have given yourself the mod maker role in the #role-selection channel or it won't show up .

Uveso

Well, the Deep Blue Naval pack, rebalanced from LordXenos
is more or less a fake balance mod.

The only thing that was changed is unit tcau0201 (Predator Drone)
and unit tcau0401, tcss0301, tcsu0302 are deleted.

Sadly i never got contact to to blueacolyte or parado0m so i cant upload this mod to the vault.

Only for personal use and testing:
http://faforever.uveso.de/DeepBlueNavalPack-v5.zip

Sprouto

This mod also has some invasive hooks to the UI and the game mechanics that make it questionable.

Uveso

@Sprouto

Oh yes, i did a fast cleanup in version 5:

- moved icons to new position mod\icons\units\
- added icon support gamecommon.lua
- added icon support ui\game\unitview.lua
- added icon support ui\uiutil.lua
- clean up cybranprojectiles.lua
- clean up seraphimprojectiles.lua
- clean up terranprojectiles.lua
- clean up terranweapons.lua
- clean up aeonprojectiles.lua
- removed unused effect emitters
- removed unused aeonunits.lua
- removed aeonweapons.lua
- removed cybranunits.lua
- removed cybranweapons.lua
- removed defaultcollisionbeams.lua
- removed defaultunits.lua
- removed seraphimunits.lua
- removed seraphimweapons.lua
- removed terranunits.lua
- removed terranweapons.lua

But i never really bugfixed this mod because of the missing permission from the mod author.

Spacenuts

@uveso Ahaa! it works the icons are restored! many thanks.

but I am curious to ask why must the wider community be denied a working version of such a mod?

i understand a little about the fact of creator's ownership rights and permissions, though not much, but coming from modding communities of other games my understanding is something to the effect of the following:

aside from other issues such as copyright its important to respect permissions on a purely practical basis because technical support for mods would be rendered impossible for mod authors/custodians if there exists a situation in which unauthorised altered copies of mods are made widely available

from what i have seen with other mod communities however the convention is also something to the effect of this:

if the mod appears to be abandoned and all efforts to reach the mod author over a reasonable and considerable time period come to nothing then its to some extent accepted that others may take up the task of providing continued fixes or support, subject to a notice submitting to the wishes of the mod author to reclaim control or take down unofficial versions produced in their absence

these conventions seem to me a reasonable solution to the question of abandoned mod content being maintained for the sake of the community, after all mods are predominantly created in a spirit of donation to the community of a game.

I do understand however that its a complex issue with many different viewpoints and do not presume to be an authority on the subject nor to tell others what they ought to think about it.

thanks for your help with this particular abandoned mod

Uveso

@Spacenuts

Well, I could declare these mods as abandoned and maintain them.
In fact, I have tried to contact many mod authors over the years and have never received a response.
At least I have some permissions for bigger mods like Total Mayhem and Xtreme Wars.

In the case of copyright, we often have users "borrowing" units from other mods and building their own unit pack mod.
To prevent that i often report those mods and they get banned/hidden.

Now of course it would be very inappropriate if I would publish mods that do not belong to me and where the legal situation is at least not clear in every country. (Discontinued software)

For this reason I do not maintain mods for which I do not have explicit permission.

https://forum.faforever.com/topic/364/updated-mods-for-faf-and-vanilla-steam