Git repos for mods

[Rip and Tear]

I've noticed that some ZDoom mods are using git repositories (e.g. https://github.com/MajorCooke/Doom4Doom) to manage their files. These files are normally in a .pk3 archive, so how is this being done?

[Voros]

The contents of the PK3 are in the repo. What's else is there to it?

[Kinsie]

I've noticed that some ZDoom mods are using git repositories (e.g. https://github.com/MajorCooke/Doom4Doom) to manage their files. These files are normally in a .pk3 archive, so how is this being done?

GZDoom can just outright run folders as PK3-style mods if asked to. This is useful for development (since you can use version control like Git) and testing (since you don't need to pack up a PK3 to play).

Most mods that go this route typically also include a command-line version of 7zip and a batch script to generate a PK3 on command, for creating release versions to distribute on this forum or elsewhere.

[Rip and Tear]

GZDoom can just outright run folders as PK3-style mods if asked to. This is useful for development (since you can use version control like Git) and testing (since you don't need to pack up a PK3 to play).

Could you please direct me to a wiki page that documents this? I haven't been able to find anything on it.

[Nash]

Could you please direct me to a wiki page that documents this? I haven't been able to find anything on it.

https://zdoom.org/wiki/Archive_format

It's easy. Just do

gzdoom.exe -file MyModFolder

You can even drag the folder on to GZDoom.exe and it'll work.

Of course, your mod will need to have proper directory structure for this to work

[Rip and Tear]

Could you please direct me to a wiki page that documents this? I haven't been able to find anything on it.

https://zdoom.org/wiki/Archive_format

It's easy. Just do

gzdoom.exe -file MyModFolder

You can even drag the folder on to GZDoom.exe and it'll work.

Of course, your mod will need to have proper directory structure for this to work

I actually tried that, spaces in the directory were just causing issues. Either way, I'm still having some troubles with that, so instead I just made a shell script that automatically zips the directory into a pk3 and launches it that way.

[Rachael]

Or just rename the folder not to include spaces.

[Kinsie]

...or just use quotation marks around the folder path? I just tested with the following and it worked fine:

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gzdoom -file "D:\Games\Doom\Projects\Juvenile Power Fantasy\jpf-dev"

[Rachael]

I was trying to keep it simple but that works too.

[Major Cooke]

If you're curious, D4D specifically has a remote auto-compile server set up for it. Every time I push a new commit, the system auto compiles into a brand new .pk3, managed miraculously by ZZYZX.

Also, I wish ZDL could accept folders directly. Otherwise, I just use a batch compiler with 7zip to autopackage whenever someone else commits to my repos. Seems like extraneous work but I-- just lost my train of thought after my dog jumped on my lap... Damnit!

[Caligari87]

If I need to build a repository on Linux, it's just

Code: Select all

zip ../project.pk3 *

from within the folder, or

Code: Select all

zip project.pk3 ./*

from outside it. Usually though I like just keeping everything in a reasonable state where cloning the repository or downloading the master .zip results in a working mod. Granted my mods are pretty simple, but this works perfectly for me.