[1.1.19] mod manager installs and activates dependencies of deactivated mod

We are aware of them, but they have low priority. We have more important things to do. They go here in order not to take space in the main bug thread list.
Post Reply
DukeAl
Inserter
Inserter
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:55 pm
Contact:

[1.1.19] mod manager installs and activates dependencies of deactivated mod

Post by DukeAl »

Hi,
i got Space Exploration installed and deactivated.
When i update my mods and there is an update for Space Exploration it will install and activate AAI Industry, AAI Signal Transmission and Alien Biome.

Rseding91
Factorio Staff
Factorio Staff
Posts: 13171
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2014 5:23 am
Contact:

Re: [1.1.19] mod manager installs and activates dependencies of deactivated mod

Post by Rseding91 »

Thanks for the report however I don't consider this worth changing. If you don't want them activated you don't need them updated either. So you can just not update them, or just disable them after they're updated.
If you want to get ahold of me I'm almost always on Discord.

DukeAl
Inserter
Inserter
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:55 pm
Contact:

Re: [1.1.19] mod manager installs and activates dependencies of deactivated mod

Post by DukeAl »

fair enough

Saiph
Inserter
Inserter
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:38 am
Contact:

Re: [1.1.19] mod manager installs and activates dependencies of deactivated mod

Post by Saiph »

I have a large collection of Factorio mods. I never run games where all the mods are activated simultaneously. I run different saved games to enable me to enjoy the mods in a proper context, and this also helps avoid incompatibility issues between them.

Mod authors often update their mods to fix bugs and for various other reasons. Therefore, it is a good idea to regularly check if mods have been updated, and install any updates that are found. However, this often means that Factorio will decide to install mod dependencies which are inappropriate and not required. One example is the "Space Exploration" mod by Earendel, as mentioned in previous posts.

It is an absolute pain in the backside to go through my entire list of mods after every update, just to check if Factorio has decided to install unnecessary dependencies. In the case of Space Exploration, the game often decides to install a number of hi-res graphics files, some of which are many megabytes in size, and this massively increases load times. This is very silly, considering that the graphics are not needed, and will never been seen in that particular save game!

It should be quite simple for Factorio to determine if a particular mod is active or not for a particular save. After all, it has the "sync mods with save" option which obviously can tell if a mod is active or not. And the in-game mod portal seems to have no trouble working out which mods are active and inactive.

So why does Factorio behave in such a stupid way when mods are updated, by installing and activating mod files which are not required, and which may cause any number of issues, including compatibility problems, problems with loading times and many others? Factorio should not be installing and activating files for disabled/inactive mods.

This is definitely a bug, it is definitely not minor, and it definitely needs to be fixed.

User avatar
eradicator
Smart Inserter
Smart Inserter
Posts: 5206
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:03 am
Contact:

Re: [1.1.19] mod manager installs and activates dependencies of deactivated mod

Post by eradicator »

Rseding91 wrote:
Fri Feb 05, 2021 3:56 am
If you don't want them activated you don't need them updated either.
Maybe the updater could be more intelligent then. When checking for updates the default selection is always "everything". If the default selection was "only currently active mods" that would be much more convenient. People who want to update all mods can simply double-tap the master checkbox.

(On the occasion of SpaceExploration splitting the graphics into 5 packs and thus triggering 250 megs of downloads that weren't even listed in the update menu.)
Author of: Belt Planner, Hand Crank Generator, Screenshot Maker, /sudo and more.
Mod support languages: 日本語, Deutsch, English
My code in the post above is dedicated to the public domain under CC0.

Post Reply

Return to “Minor issues”