What is ‘TS4 Mod Hound’?
TS4 Mod Hound is a system designed to help modders and mod users manage and track info about mods for TS4.
The goal is:
- to provide a centralized platform for mod update information, making it easier for modders to inform about their content AND for users to stay updated.
- to provide online tools for modders
Mod Hound empowers modders with bulk mod list operations and automation, a well as online tools (AND it offers mod users automated folder check options).
The Hound’s abilities
(and why I PREFER it vs manually maintaining a spreadsheet):
1. Modder’s Dashboard & “My Content” Table
AUTOMATION
With the Hound, you often don’t need to input mod info in sheets manually, except for download links and update notes.
Through the hound’s automation systems, everything else can be imported from your mod files themselves.
You can add all your mods to the system in just a few clicks, and as quickly bulk-report mod updates, clear mods for patches via the dedicated Patch system, etc!
TRACK MOD REQUIREMENTS AND INCOMPATIBILITY
TRACK MOD REQUIREMENTS AND INCOMPATIBILITY: you can easily indicate relationships between mods (incompatibilities, requirements, dependents) and have mod users warned when they’re using incompatible mods or missing requirements for mods!
SEARCH AND FILTER ABILITIES
SEARCH AND FILTER ABILITIES: tables on Mod Hound are easy to search and filter via dedicated fields and buttons.
EXPORT Option
- PLUS you can still export your table as a spreadsheet, so you can have backups of your data, or even migrate from the system with your inputs intact to transfer onto another.
VISUAL OPTIONS
- VISUAL OPTIONS: light or dark mode and choice of 4 different fonts, to make your browsing more comfortable.
2. The PERKS: other systems automatically tied in to your Content & Dashboard:
MOD USER AUTO-FOLDER CHECKS
MOD USER AUTO-FOLDER CHECKS: if you use the Hound to list your mods, then its automated folder checks for mod users can let them know if their copies of your mods are outdated, have a broken status, etc, saving you mod support work!
Modder’s PUBLIC PAGE
- PUBLIC PAGE: the info you feed the Hound is also formatted for mod users into a public page that can be your “Mod Updates” page or even your Mod Index.
You can have a profile picture, custom text, and social links there. It’s a quick way for mod users to get caught up with your mod changes and find your links.
ACTIVITY FEED
ACTIVITY FEED: changes made to your files are recorded in the Hound’s activity feed. It appears in its own page, on your public page, and on Discord via bot integration.
3. The “TOOLS” section
Mod Hound users also have access to some mod-related tools.
More tools will be added, too!
Tuning Example Finder
The point is to track down Game examples for specific features / TDESC elements.
How it works:
- Specify what Tuning Types and / or Classes you’re looking for, if you know.
- Specify search terms (text, xml fragments, etc) if you have any.
- Check out the results!
Mod Tuning Reference Browser
This feature is directly inspired by the “Browse Tuning References” functionality of the late Scumbumbo‘s “Tuning Browser”.
The point is to track down links between mod tuning instances.
How it works:
- Point to your mod(s) file(s). Then, choose or search for a mod tuning in the drop down to see what other tunings reference it and are referenced by it.
- You can also hit the Preview buttons to see the tunings’ XML contents
(The Hound knows how to chew on XML files, and thanks to Frank’s S4tk, can also read directly from your PACKAGE files for this!)
EA Tuning Reference Browser
The point is to track down links between EA tuning instances.
An adaptation of Scumbumbo‘s program / idea, but for online use.
Same as the “Mod Tuning Reference Browser” described above, except just for EA tuning.
This tool doesn’t require logging in.
You Can Use It HERE
How it works:
- Give the page a moment to load.
- Choose or search for an EA tuning in the drop-down to see what other tunings reference it and are referenced by it.
- You can also hit the Preview buttons to see the tunings’ XML contents
Override Checker
The point is to see which of your overrides got changed by an EA patch and need your attention – as well as what package they’re in.
This tool doesn’t require logging in.
You Can Use It HERE
How it works:
- Give an XMLcompare file (those shared on Creator’s Musings, for example).
- Choose the package file(s) to check for overrides that you’d need to revise for the patch.
- Voilà!
Bulk Package Extractor
The point is to extract the contents of several package files at once, in bulk.
How it works:
- Choose to sort extracted contents in subdirectories per package or not.
- Decide whether to extract only Tuning + SimData, or Everything.
- Point to the Package files you want extracted.
Access to package contents is powered by Frankk’s S4TK.
Basic Buff Maker
For all of your tuning building needs, I heartily recommend Lot51’s TDESC Builder.
The Basic Buff Maker is a web port of a personal desktop program I made before Templates were an option in Lot51’s builder.
Its purpose was to speed up the creation of buffs & moodlets, especially those that use custom moods from my Mood Pack Mod.