[headdie]

in responce to snail's comment here http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=69068.msg1364825#msg1364825

TBH though, it is a bit counter-intuitive. For a newbie, it would stand to reason that changing the mod would change the campaign as well. Obviously that's not how it works though.

I would lite to propose a change to the code to allow an extra function in the mod.ini to set the default campaign for that mod which the engine reads and sets the campaign to on the first time a pilot is used for a mod, after that first time the behavior is as now so we dont end up with situations where people having to change campaigns if they create or download a new one based on that mod.  I would also suggest a default to FS2 main campaign if the mod.ini (or what ever other method is deciced on) setting is missing.

[General Battuta]

I agree.

[jr2]

TBH though, it is a bit counter-intuitive. For a newbie, it would stand to reason that changing the mod would change the campaign as well. Obviously that's not how it works though.

Exactly how hard would it be to include a "default campaign to load" section in a mod.ini or somesuch and make FS2Open use that data?

[Iss Mneur]

TBH though, it is a bit counter-intuitive. For a newbie, it would stand to reason that changing the mod would change the campaign as well. Obviously that's not how it works though.

Exactly how hard would it be to include a "default campaign to load" section in a mod.ini or somesuch and make FS2Open use that data?

Well, mod.ini would be impossible as FSO does not read the mod.ini files, they are exclusively for the launcher's use.  But it is certainly something that could be added to the future game-settings.tbl (tbm) that the SCP is looking at adding.

The problem is, though, what about if the user manually changes the campaign? Does the chosen campaign automatically revert every time FSO starts? or does FSO remember if the user has manually specified the campaign an always use that?

[jr2]

Something along the lines of

if mod selection has changed
get new mod's default campaign (include option for if there is no default campaign then just leave it at current)
set campaign to default
also should include error handling if default campaign is specified but is missing

even better would be a pop-up before launch, stating:
if new mod is selected, and its default campaign =/= current selected campaign, then prompt:
-This mod has default campaign selection of X
-current campaign selected is Y
-switch to mod default?
-include option to not prompt again (resettable somewhere) for power users.

ideas?  sound good?  bad?  ugly?  

[The E]

if new mod is selected, and its default campaign =/= current selected campaign, then prompt:
-This mod has default campaign selection of X
-current campaign selected is Y
-switch to mod default?
-include option to not prompt again (resettable somewhere) for power users.

Sounds good to me.

[jr2]

!  Just noticed your response to this, headdie, sorry, I would have put all of this under your thread, <facepalms> I was in too much of a hurry.  If any mod wants to move this under headdie's thread, please feel free.  

[Timerlane]

This would have to be done after the main(startup) pilot selection screen; AFAIK, people don't switch to a fresh pilot file before quitting and changing mods(you select the mod, start FSO, make a new pilot, and go from there).

Therefore, any automatic switching done before the startup pilot screen will probably just cause unwanted reseting of pilot files for other campaigns(whatever pilot was left selected when you last played), and also may not have any effect on cloned pilots made at the startup pilot screen(I for one, use modified joystick mapping, and thus reclone my main FS2 pilot file whenever I start a new pilot for another mod, to keep those controls).

An in-game check/pop-up just like the 'new user tips' that appears by default on the main hall for newly-created pilots, would be the ideal, I think. Either that, or introduce pilot management abilities(create/clone/select) into the Launcher, so all needed switching and prompting can be done out-of-game, at the time you're switching mods.

[The E]

There's already a warning popup that tells you if the current campaign could not be found. Altering that a bit could work

[headdie]

There's already a warning popup that tells you if the current campaign could not be found. Altering that a bit could work

would it be possible to add a drop list to select from?  also would it be possible to expand the trigger to look for when the current mod and campaign are incompatible because of missing resources?

[Mongoose]

There's already a warning popup that tells you if the current campaign could not be found. Altering that a bit could work

That sounds like a good idea.  For some reason, that pop-up always makes me do a double-take whenever it appears; I've seen it a hundred times, and I'm usually heading to the campaign room anyway to select the right one, but it still manages to startle me. It would be useful if it just asked you, "The default campaign for the selected mod is X. Do you want to switch to it?"

[karajorma]

There's already a warning popup that tells you if the current campaign could not be found. Altering that a bit could work

would it be possible to add a drop list to select from?  also would it be possible to expand the trigger to look for when the current mod and campaign are incompatible because of missing resources?

Why on Earth would we add a drop selection when we can simply shove the player into the campaign room and use the existing interface?

[The E]

Yep.

Besides, have you noticed drop-down menus anywhere in the interface? Yeah, me neither. So, just adapting the existing warning code would be the far easier choice.

[headdie]

Not thought of that