Fomod Builder

The Fomod Builder is a static Next.js project developed alongside the fomod library. It provides a simple and intuitive web interface for editing and building Fomod installers.

Browser Support

Supports all modern browsers. An Electron version may be down the road.

Important

Chromium-based browsers are recommended because they provide an API to access user-selected folders on the local file system with user consent.

Firefox supports most of the underlying API but, critically, does not support access to the local file system—rather, they limit it to virtualized file systems (which are, in every regard, useless to the Fomod Builder).

The Fomod Builder checks if it can use the API methods directly and will therefore automatically support Firefox and Safari if/when they choose to support the required API features.

Using

Warning

The Fomod Builder is still in early development. Some features may be broken or outright missing. You may not be able to complete a full Fomod installer. That said, if you encounter any issues, please report any issues you find!

Head over to fomod.bellcube.dev to use the builder! Have fun!

Local Copy

Open the project repository. Run:

npm i
npm run dev

FIXME

• Dynamic Length Inputs can stretch so far they push everything off of the screen

TODO

• Migrate edit functions to simply transform; do not use Immer's produce() function so we can benefit from multi-ref editing
• Add duplication options to all places with n children

Needs Styling

• Option Editor
  • Add a fade on sides of the scroll box with more step/group/option buttons

Roadmap

• Loader API - load files/folders from arbitrary and changing sources
• Folder Loader - load a fomod installer from a folder on the user's computer. Allows for autosaving and image previews. Not supported in Firefox.
• Step/Group/Option Editing
  • Style the Option editor better
  • (for Folder Loader) autocomplete image paths (assume any file can be an image but prioritize Chromium-supported file extensions)
• Blank loader - Load a completely blank installer. Used for playing around with the tool.
• File/Folder Installation Tab - edit both conditional and "required" installs
  • Note: don't try to render the conditions until the condition editor component is created
  • Button to merge duplicate condition trees
  • Button to remove empty install groups
  • If 3 or more files from the same folder are referenced, suggest using a folder for maintainability
  • (for the Folder Loader) If each file in the folder is referenced, suggest using a folder for maintainability
• Drag-n-Drop Reordering
  • Step/Group/Option
  • Installs
  • Also add buttons to reorder
• Condition Editor Component - a reusable component to show and edit conditions
  • Detect ESM/L/P dependencies
  • Autocomplete for previously-used flag names/values
  • Warn when checking for non-plugin files (mod managers usually won't detect them)
  • Reordering Mechanics
  • Add to Options for behavior type conditions
  • Add to the Metadata tab for installer prerequisites (include a big disclaimer that this shouldn't be used to enforce mod-to-mod or mod-to-self dependencies because this leads to awful installation UX)
  • Add to Installation tab
• Text Input loader - paste your XML in. Should show two basic code font textareas (not Monaco editors) and a button to continue into loading. Saving will require downloading files and saving them manually.
• Single-File Input Loader - use HTML <input> elements to get Info.xml and ModuleConfig.xml. Saving will require downloading files and saving them manually as a limitation of the API.
• Collapsing Side Navigation - show users tab names by default and collapse the sidebar at their request
• Universal Mod Manager Implementation Testing - create a fomod installer w/ integrated instructions with the goal of probing all of the quirks from a mod manager. A user should be able to follow the instructions, provide a screen capture, and send an archive to provide all of the possibly-desired information about a mod manager.
• Create some sort of system to let users know about bad practices / anti-patterns not strictly related to the installer
  • Using ESP plugins. These make their references persistent. Prefer using ESM/L plugins instead.
• Tooltips for Everything - review every single component to see if a tooltip should be present.

Here's some tooltips we need: * [ ] Differences Between Mod Manager Implementations * [ ] `SelectAtLeastOne` Groups * [ ] What's In A Name * Info.xml ``: MO2 * ModuleConfig.xml ``: Vortex * [ ] MO2's `CouldBeUsable` extra space at start (needs further investigation) * [ ] Pseudo-Deprecated Features * [ ] `CouldBeUsable` Options * [ ] Problematic Features * [ ] `NotUsable` and `Required` Options * Can lead to bad UX if used improperly * Prefer SelectAll groups for documentation and core files * [ ] `fommDependency` * Version is greatly inconsistent between mod managers * [ ] Disambiguation of Ambiguity * [ ] First matching `pattern` determines Option behavior type (top wins) * [ ] `fommDependency`, `foseDependency`, and `gameDependency` match game versions GTE the specified value using semver

Potential Warnings

• Using an ESP module at all. ESM/L modules are preferred as they are handled more gracefully by the game engine.
  • Should parse the plugin for ESP to see if it actually has the master flag set before warning, if possible with the loader.
• Importing more 3 or more files from a single folder in an option. Encourage using folders instead for maintainability.

Testing New Mod Managers for Admittance

TODO: Actually make this a real thing Use the test installer to discover the mod manager's behavior.

Tools To Evaluate For Cool Features To Cannibalize Take Inspiration/Learn From

• Fomod Creation Tool
• Fomod Designer
  • Appears to be a glorified XML editor. More research is needed.
• Fomod Creator
  • Appears to be an XML editor with dark mode and a usable UI. More research is needed.
• Kortex's Fomod Module / "Package creator"
  • Appears similar to Fomod Designer only with unofficial names everywhere.
• PrettyFOMOD
  • From looking at the readme, it seems to just create a Fomod to install ESPs based on their deps. If this is the case, we could just write an "auto-generate" feature that does a similar thing. Would need to walk the folder and then parse the plugins but that's easy.

Cool Ideas for Later

• Open the fomod from any Nexus mod? (would require an API key, 7z-wasm, and to be in the Electron app because of the current API's CORS limitations)