ComSenMod (now for A18)

[Crater Creator]

Is there a way with the mod launcher i could play this mod pack with SMX bigger backpack?

 

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I downloaded the 'Big Bag' version of SMX and checked what files it modified. Both it and ComSenMod modify some of the same user interface files, but we change different lines within those files. So if you have a file merging utility, I predict you should be able to mash the two together without conflicts.

 

I don't know what the mod launcher does when you install multiple mods. It may do a file merge, or take some other approach. I would ask directly in the mod launcher thread. Hope this helps!

[Crater Creator]

First. Very excellent work. Ejoying the common sense of your effort.

 

Clothing and Temperature. I disagree with clothing not having a minus effect on temperature. Having been in several hot locations clothing is essential in protecting from temperature. Taking off all your cloth to keep from going over temperature is as unrealistic as going into hypothermia at 50 degrees because you had all the minus clothing on.

 

Since the game doesn't have proper hot weather gear we have to accept that shorts, tee-shirt and cowboy hat fill that role. Perhaps not at the the vanilla listed values but something.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

My take on it is that wearing clothes has multiple potential effects. It both insulates and shades the body, and these effects work in opposite directions. Unfortunately, modders have just one "insulation" value to adjust. No matter what the value is, it's not going to simulate both effects. It's either going to make you warmer when it shouldn't, or cooler when it shouldn't.

 

Given that one variable can only simulate one side of this temperature equation, I felt warming was the lesser of two evils.

 

• 
   
   
  
• Insulation is 'active' whenever you're wearing clothes, even in hot weather, while shading is only active when you're in the sun. Since the game applies any heating or cooling effect all the time, it makes more sense to simulate the insulating effect over the shading effect.
   
   
  
• Players wear clothing for other reasons than controlling temperature: to style their character a certain way, to show their progression beyond naked Day 1 status, or to simply look 'normal'. For those secondary reasons to be viable, the primary function of controlling temperature has to work for a wide range of clothing options.
   
  I think making all clothing warming allows more possibilities than designating a few items as cooling. In vanilla, you don't wear a poncho and cowboy hat because you like the way it looks; you only wear it to stay cool. In ComSenMod, if you really like the poncho-and-cowboy-hat look, you can make that outfit work temperature-wise about as well as many other outfits.
   
   
  
• Simplicity. I've seen a lot of feedback that vanilla weather survival is tedious, requiring too much babysitting, to the point that people either turn it off or abandon common sense and ignore everything that's not a poncho or a duster. Clothing in ComSenMod is the simplest I can make it without removing weather survival entirely. If you're cold, wear more. If you're hot, wear less. You don't have to think about the dual purpose or construct weird combinations.
   
   
  
• Just looking at things from that common sense perspective, there are more places where dual-purpose clothes would warm you (snow, maple forest, pine forest, plains) than cool you (desert, burnt forest).
   
  

 

However, I suppose I could just shift everything: make all biomes 10 degrees warmer and make all clothes 10 degrees cooler, even if they go into the negative. Better yet, I could make light colored clothing cooler than dark colored clothing. In fact, I think I'll add that to my list of potential ideas for the next update.

[Crater Creator]

I've taken the first step towards an A17 version of ComSenMod by comparing every change ComSenMod makes to the new files. I'd estimate about 80% of them still apply. Due to a graphical issue that's discouraged me from playing, and the ephemeral nature of experimental builds, it's been too early to draw many conclusions about what new common sense things should be added for an A17 version of ComSenMod.

 

The change to loot drops is the biggest unknown. Whereas in Alpha 16 nearly every zombie type dropped loot designed to make sense for their character, in A17E there are only two types of backpacks zombies drop: basically 'regular loot' and 'good loot'. I'm still deciding how to account for this, but I'm thinking of splitting it out into a separate kind of backpack for each zombie that used to have its own loot list in Alpha 16. This would allow zombies to have the same loot drop rate as in vanilla.

 

Big picture, my next step is to decide if ComSenMod's future is as an xpath "modlet" or a traditional overhaul of the affected files. My current understanding is that a modlet is more work up front, but it should be more forwards compatible with future changes. I'm open to advice by those of you that have had a chance to try both ways by now, keeping in mind that ComSenMod is limited to xml edits, but there are several hundred of them.

[Sirillion]

I've taken the first step towards an A17 version of ComSenMod by comparing every change ComSenMod makes to the new files. I'd estimate about 80% of them still apply. Due to a graphical issue that's discouraged me from playing, and the ephemeral nature of experimental builds, it's been too early to draw many conclusions about what new common sense things should be added for an A17 version of ComSenMod.

 

The change to loot drops is the biggest unknown. Whereas in Alpha 16 nearly every zombie type dropped loot designed to make sense for their character, in A17E there are only two types of backpacks zombies drop: basically 'regular loot' and 'good loot'. I'm still deciding how to account for this, but I'm thinking of splitting it out into a separate kind of backpack for each zombie that used to have its own loot list in Alpha 16. This would allow zombies to have the same loot drop rate as in vanilla.

 

Big picture, my next step is to decide if ComSenMod's future is as an xpath "modlet" or a traditional overhaul of the affected files. My current understanding is that a modlet is more work up front, but it should be more forwards compatible with future changes. I'm open to advice by those of you that have had a chance to try both ways by now, keeping in mind that ComSenMod is limited to xml edits, but there are several hundred of them.

 

It is no secret that I am a big fan of the xpath and modlet system.

 

I would advise you to develop the mod as different modlets and divide them how you find natural for your mod and prefix them accordingly, an example CSrecipes, CSitems, CSblocks and so forth. You can even dig deeper if you have a lot of them like CSrecipesFoods, CSrecipesDrinks and by dividing like that you get better control of what is where.

 

The advantage as I see it is that it will be easier to make changes between builds as you have no complete code base to take into consideration when updating.

 

And also, should you wish to make it a complete mod instead you can just do exportcurrentconfigs from the console and you get the completed xmls exported.

 

My two cents

[Crater Creator]

ComSenMod 4.0 now available!

 

I'm pleased to announce ComSenMod 4 is now ready for download!

 

This is a complete rewrite of the mod, using the new xpath syntax. In addition to carrying over all the changes from previous versions that still make sense in Alpha 17, ComSenMod 4 adds new adjustments and, for the first time, new artwork in the form of item icons! I have plenty more ideas for future development, but for now, you can (finally) have the best of both worlds: Alpha 17 and ComSenMod working together in harmony.

[Ragsy 2145]

I'm pleased to announce ComSenMod 4 is now ready for download!

 

This is a complete rewrite of the mod, using the new xpath syntax. In addition to carrying over all the changes from previous versions that still make sense in Alpha 17, ComSenMod 4 adds new adjustments and, for the first time, new artwork in the form of item icons! I have plenty more ideas for future development, but for now, you can (finally) have the best of both worlds: Alpha 17 and ComSenMod working together in harmony.

 

Loved the A16 version and look forward to giving this a run out soon, glad to see this mod transitioned to A17.

[Crater Creator]

Loved the A16 version and look forward to giving this a run out soon, glad to see this mod transitioned to A17.

 

Thanks, Ragsy! I got your message about the mod not showing in the A17 section of sphereii's mod launcher. I've contacted him and hope to get that resolved as soon as possible. In the meantime, manual installation should work.

[Crater Creator]

Okay, ComSenMod 4 is now fully, cleanly working with the Mod Launcher. I had to re-organize some files. While I was at it, I got rid of some unnecessary OS-specific meta-data, and updated the manual installation instructions.

 

Sorry for the messy rollout for those that use the launcher, but both sphereii and I are now able to download and install ComSenMod without issue. Enjoy!

[Cernwn]

Recently started playing with this mod, as part of a larger mod-pack for A17b27. Most of it works well, with a couple alterations to load order. Cryin' shame it doesn't want to have babies with JSS:

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?106574-JSS-(Just-Survive-Somehow)

 

@Crater Creator: Thank you and keep up the great work! We all could use a bit more common sense in our lives.

[Ghostlynx]

Great mod and am having a blast. Only issue so far is it is Day 9 and haven't found a single battery in wrenching cars. Plenty of engines, wheels, headlights, acid, gas and all the usual (oil, mechanical parts, iron.. etc). Unlucky or is there an alternative in this mod I am unaware of?

[Crater Creator]

@Cernwn: Thanks! I haven't tried ComSenMod with JSS, but if these two mods conflict, my first guess would be it has to do with loot. ComSenMod makes so many loot changes, it's still technically a modlet but it overwrites the entire loot.xml file. JSS may be looking for something in the file that's been reconfigured.

 

@Ghostlynx: Great to hear you're having a blast! In ComSenMod, you get batteries when harvesting undamaged cars. In vanilla, they're found in damaged cars. I made this change because it's easy to get a battery out of a car without having to damage it. If you see a car that's been stripped for parts, you can be sure the battery was one of the first things to go.

 

I just double checked the files and verified ComSenMod is still set this way. If you're having trouble finding enough batteries, there's also a chance to find them by looting the car (representing that some people might carry a spare battery in the trunk or cabin). Like other car parts, you can also find them as loot in various other places:

 

 

 

collapsed battery bank

garage boxes

working stiffs (and by extension, air drops)

cars (as mentioned)

biker zombie

farmer zombie

car parts shipping crate

collapsed workbench

 

 

[vannie]

Hi Crater Creator

 

I downloaded your newest comsenmod, I was going to try it on my 17.2 server but it got updated. So I set it up on 17.3 and I can't seem to get pass the starting game screen, I here background noises and the time on the server was going but I never login to see world. Also my mouse stops working after 2 mins. I can run it on my local system with no issue but not the hosted server. Back to default game then.

[Crater Creator]

Hi Crater Creator

 

I downloaded your newest comsenmod, I was going to try it on my 17.2 server but it got updated. So I set it up on 17.3 and I can't seem to get pass the starting game screen, I here background noises and the time on the server was going but I never login to see world. Also my mouse stops working after 2 mins. I can run it on my local system with no issue but not the hosted server. Back to default game then.

 

Hey vannie, thanks for posting!

 

I just tested ComSenMod in 17.3 in single player and (like you) didn't find any issues. Unfortunately, I'm not able to isolate the problem you're having solely from the information you provided. If you're willing to try again, could you please open the console with F1 right after you join the server, and see if any red text shows up while the game is starting? And/or, you could share your log file, which will be named output_log__[date]__[time].txt.

 

Although running a server isn't my forte, these are the server installation instructions I've cobbled together from different sources.

• Install the 7 Days to Die dedicated server through Steam.
  
• Find C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/7 Days to Die Dedicated Server.
  
• Make a copy of this folder for the ComSenMod game. Move it somewhere else, so that Steam doesn’t automatically update it when you don’t want.
  
• Make a new folder in this new 7 Days to Die Dedicated Server folder called “Mods”.
  
• Download ComSenMod from http://chamotlabs.com/Bob/ComSenMod/ComSenMod-A17-Latest.zip.
  
• From the extracted download, put the Mods/ComSenMod folder in the Mods folder you just created.
  
• From the extracted download, move Data/Config/Localization.txt and Data/Config/Localization - Quest.txt to 7 Days to Die Dedicated Server/Data/Config, overwriting the original files.
  
• Modify 7 Days to Die Dedicated Server/serverconfig.xml as desired.
  
• Run 7 Days to Die Dedicated Server/startdedicated.bat.
  

 

References:

https://7daystodie.gamepedia.com/Server

How to set a server up through the Steam Application:

 

You said it worked for you locally, but as a reminder, each client also needs to download and install ComSenMod locally.

 

Please let me know if this was helpful!

[Indi]

download link is dead

will it work in 18?

[Crater Creator]

download link is dead

will it work in 18?

 

Thanks for your interest! I haven't had time to update ComSenMod for A18 yet. It should work with A17, though. I will look into the broken link and get back to you soon.

[Crater Creator]

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! I've fixed and verified the download link. I don't know how the symlink was deleted on my web host, but it should work now, both via the download link and through the mod launcher. If you still get a 404 page, you may need to empty your browser cache.

 

I do want to reiterate that ComSenMod is only supported up to A17, for now.

[Indi]

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! I've fixed and verified the download link. I don't know how the symlink was deleted on my web host, but it should work now, both via the download link and through the mod launcher. If you still get a 404 page, you may need to empty your browser cache.

 

I do want to reiterate that ComSenMod is only supported up to A17, for now.

 

Thanks for that,downloaded ok,think I'll wait to see if you update for A18...........

[EstebanLB]

I would also like to see this mod updated to Alpha18. keep up the good work!

[Cernwn]

I've fixed and verified the download link.

 

Looks like the main download link is broken again. Haven't tried the launcher.

[Crater Creator]

Oh dear. Once again, it seems the symlink was deleted on my web host's end. I don't have an explanation. Nexus Mods is starting to look more appealing. Before I fix it, I'll need to check the links the mod launcher uses, so as to not break downloads on that platform.

 

The good news is, I can reveal at this point that there will be an A18 version of ComSenMod! I'm currently in the testing phase, doing a long playthrough to suss out the bugs and balance concerns.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Crater Creator (see edit history)

[JRavens]

Any chance of getting a copy of the last A17 build? This is exactly the kind of mod I am working on and interested in!

[Crater Creator]

Sure thing! For now, here's a direct link to the lastest release.

 

Just to be totally clear, this is the Alpha 17 version. There will be an Alpha 18 version soonish, but it's still in testing.

[JRavens]

Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

Worse comes to worse I'll install A17, but I've been editing things to my own liking in A18 and pretty much everything stated in your mod description is among things I want to add or change LOL

[Crater Creator]

Hungry for something different this weekend?  ComSenMod 5.0 is now available for download!  Version 5 brings Alpha 18 compatibility and over 60 new changes.  See the updated top post for details and a download link.

 

I've verified that manual installation works for Mac and Windows.  In the next day or two I should be able to post the full change log here, and get it listed as an A18 mod in sphereii's mod launcher.

[Crater Creator]

Change List

Version 5.0    5/9/2020

 

blocks.xml:

• Rebalanced wood yield from trees (harvest+destroy)
      For a consistent ratio where every 8.333 HP of damage done yields 1 wood
• Configured end table lamps to act as real, powered lights and break into end tables
      It’s a waste of electric parts etc. in the recipe when they don’t actually function as lights
• Removed snowball harvesting from ice machines and added a loot list
      If there’s ice/snow inside, you wouldn’t have to disassemble the machine to get it
• Allowed vehicles to instantly crush mattresses & burnt wood blocks
      So that this debris in the road is less of an obstacle
• Reduced hit points for crushed cars
      To be more consistent with non-crushed cars
• Changed bedrolls to be repaired with cloth fragments
      To match the new recipe

 

entityclasses.xml

• Changed boiled water to mineral water in starting player items 
      To give the player a fighting chance against getting dysentery on their first day, and a sense of transitioning from safe pre-apocalypse supplies to unsafe homemade supplies
• Rebalanced experience points for killing all animal types, influenced by how difficult they are to hit and kill, and how valuable their harvestable materials are.
      So that the reward more closely matches the risk/effort required
• Overhauled Animal Tracker skill to put deer before rabbits & chickens, and made level 5 awesome by tracking zombie animals
      A big game animal is easier to spot and leaves bigger tracks than a small game animal. Maxing out the skill just to see mountain lions & bears was lackluster since animals are so rare.
• Reduced experience points for killing zombie Moe
      Since he uses regular instead of strong attacks now

 

items.xml:

• Added cold resistance to ski goggles
      Since they’re included as part of warm clothes
• Restored flashlight’s melee attack
      The script was still there, but deactivated for technical reasons.  Assumed to be an oversight.
• Increased cost of cigar
      It cost one tenth as much as shades, goggles, and glasses. But unlike the eyewear, it pays for itself in improved trader prices in no time. Such a valuable bonus should be expensive.
• Decreased weight of brass wristwatches
      They were still giving a candlestick’s worth of brass, which was too much for their size
• Increased food poisoning chance of charred meat slightly and decreased it on learned recipes
      Part of learning to prepare & cook food is learning to do it more safely
• Decreased sell bonus for items with mods
      Adding a mod you have is trivial, so it shouldn’t change the value over selling the item and the mod separately.  The bonus is still dependent on the underlying item’s quality, but this brings the bonus much closer to the standalone value of the average mod.
• Gave knives a bonus against cloth & paper blocks
      Scissors beats paper.
• Made buckets non-stackable again
      Due to engine limitations, a stack of buckets would reduce to 1 bucket when emptied

 

ItemIcons

• Re-made icons to new higher resolution standard
• [Easter egg]
• Replaced pumpkin cheesecake icon with pumpkin soup icon
      Because this item was replaced
• Gave the brass radiator a more saturated, brassy color
      For better visual identification

 

Localization.txt (and formerly Localization - Quest.txt) (English only)

• Mentioned flashlight can be used as a melee weapon
• Changed mentions of pumpkin cheesecake to pumpkin soup
• Mentioned use in the workbench for wrench, wire tool, and tool & die set
• Rewrote description of Animal Tracker skill & levels to reflect changes
• Clarified why Wasteland Treasures yields extra resources on harvesting coffins that you also get when looting them
• Replaced mentions of brass candlestick with brass wristwatch

 

loot.xml:

 

Zombie loot backpacks get a comprehensive re-balance to accommodate as many weapons, mods, clothing/armor, vehicles, etc. as possible.  Instead of favoring some character builds over others, old instances of specific weapons are replaced with all weapons in that class. For instance, pistols, magnums, and SMGs are now found wherever pistols were found before.  T1 mods and T1/T2 weapons can be found in generic zombie backpacks, while higher tier items can be found in at least one type of custom zombie backpack, to enhance the progression.  For instance, all pistol-type weapons can be found in cop zombie backpacks.

• Replaced canned food in purse loot with new accessories loot group
      Things that go on the face like glasses are much more typical in a purse than canned food
• Removed leather poncho from warm clothes loot
      Its hypothermal resistance isn’t high enough to make it very warm
• Removed cloth hoods and football helmets from clothes loot
      They’re really armor, and it’s implausible you’d find them on a corpse, in a laundry hamper, etc.
• Moved mining helmets to Tier 2 light armor loot group
      It was in an unused armor loot group, and T2 light armor is where its stats put it
• Split chance of helmet light between military & mining helmets
      In keeping with the mining helmet no longer being the only hat with a light
• Used mineral water for air drops & cold food loot
      To complement the idea that clean water is hard to come by, now that homemade boiled water isn’t the only kind
• Removed tier 3 armor parts from Working Stiffs loot
      Tier 3 armor is purpose-made, not cobbled together, so you’re unlikely to find its components at a hardware store
• Added chance to find pure mineral water in (clean) beverages loot
      Bottled water is cheaper and more popular than, for comparison, an energy drink
• Increased amount of medicine found in backpacks
      To compensate for the more rare/valuable medicine now being excluded
• Expanded backpack loot to include tier 2 and tier 3 weapons, based on loot level
      The window of time when a wooden club or other primitive tier 1 weapon is better than what you have is vanishingly small. Loot level slants the chances towards finding something one step better than what you have.
• Restored plaster casts in medical quest loot
      Casts were removed from loot, but they’re a reasonable high-level reward for completing a quest
• Segregated instances of ammo into vanilla’s regular ammo and advanced ammo groups 
      To align with vanilla, reserving the best ammo for high-value containers
• Added shotguns to military weapon loot
      Shotguns play an active role in past & present militaries
• Replaced old ‘basic weapons’ loot group with tier 2 ranged and tier 2 melee groups
      For some places to allow all classes of weapons, but not the highest-tier weapons
• Limited ammo pile loot to only contain T2 ranged weapons
      It’s mostly a pile of ammo, so any weapons in the mix would be ranged, and an afterthought
• Scaled chance of finding warm clothes by how warm each article is
      To enhance the progression
• Created new ‘small arms’ and ‘military ammo’ loot groups for physically small weapons
      For more tailored weapons & ammo in places like purses/toilets/small weapons bags and munitions boxes, respectively
• Adjusted feathers & eggs from nests
      To reduce the near-useless clutter of finding a single feather, and because ratio of eggs was too low in testing
• Added small chance to find advanced ammo in some places where regular ammo is found
      It’s more of a fun surprise to find it rarely in several places, instead of only in treasure loot
• Added automotive loot, leather, and forged iron/steel to car part crates, and increased chance of vehicle parts
      Many actual car parts, like radiators and batteries, as well as important raw materials weren’t included
• Restored paint & paint brushes where they were found in Alpha 17
      The places were appropriate. Paint added variety, and the opportunity may prompt a player to explore a part of the game that they otherwise wouldn’t.
• Reduced chance of finding scrap metals in destroyed stations
      It was a disappointing payoff for such rare containers
• Expanded soda fountain loot to include many drinks
      It looks like it offers a wide variety, and most could be found in a draft/iced/fountain form
• Removed bullet casings from bathtub loot
      Even if the dissected body inside died from a gunshot, you’d find the bullet tip, not the casing
• Created new ‘hard drugs’ loot group
      Many zombies had used ‘rare medicine’ to represent illicit drug use, but this excludes some drugs and includes non-drugs
• Moved farming/cooking recipes from sinks to cupboards
      Cookbooks wouldn’t be kept in, say, a bathroom sink
• Switched all trash-type loot containers to have poor quality items
      If something was thrown out, it was probably in poor condition
• Lowered gun safe loot to regular quality
      Guns are secured in safes mostly for safety, rather than because they’re extra valuable
• Added brass wristwatches to nightstands, safes, desks, suitcases, lockers, & purses
      This handy replacement for brass candlesticks fits in a lot more places
• Increased quantity of food in fridge loot
      Fridges are large, multi-block objects, and they can hold a lot
• Created new loot list for ice machines
      You could loot the ice/snow inside without having to disassemble the machine
• Removed stone axe from tools loot
      It’s implausible and unhelpful to find a primitive stone tool you can already make in toolboxes etc.

 

quests.xml:

• Gave player 2 additional first aid bandages after completing the first, make-a-club quest
      This was the easiest, least convoluted way to get the player a stack of 3 bandages, which is to give them a fighting chance against bleeding out on their first day

 

recipes.xml

• Made metal & wooden furniture require a workbench with a wrench
      These are mostly more decorative and larger items, more suited to an established base
• Re-implemented snow block recipe
      If a player wants to build an igloo, that doesn’t hurt anything
• Changed pumpkin cheesecake recipe into a pumpkin soup recipe of pumpkin, mushrooms, and stock
      It was too much of a stretch to have a cheesecake with no dairy or dairy alternatives
• Cut can of Sham recipe to make one can at a time
      To allow more granular quantities now that expensive acid is removed as an ingredient