Identifying My Plugins

[MattSB77 30]

Hi

First I have tried to find something similar to what I am about to ask but haven't found anything yet so, if anyone knows of another thread or whatever please point me in that direction!

I have had what I thought was a tidy usable plugin folder but I have come to realise that I need a bit more organisation! It takes a while to load when I start SimCity and most of what's in there I don't need for what I want to do. For example I have quite a large buildings sub folder. I have broken that folder down to the specific creator but I want to go further. I want to do it by region type such as City (including town but may split this out further), Countryside or General (that suits everything). I have another sub folder for power and so on and so on. You get the idea!

The biggest problem I have is identifying what each file is in the plugin folder. My question is then, what is the quickest way of identifying what each file is? Is there a simple way of opening a file in SimCity and seeing what it is so that I can file it in the new sub folder? Is there a test region set up that allows you to quickly and easily drop in your buildings without having to wait for them to grow?

The painful way at the moment is to look at what the file is called and do a search on line to see if I can identify the building. This is killing me and taking for ever. I know I can search by maker but that still takes a while!

One of the other reasons I want to do this is to remove out of my plugin folder what I don't want to use in order to cut down load time etc. 

I hope this all makes sense and I'm not just another numpty that doesn't know what he's talking about!

Oh, yes, sorry if this is in the wrong forum section!

[rivit 3,391]

Given you want to make a smaller plugins folder I would back up the old one and make a new one from scratch. Put into that new plugins folder the folder structure you think you want and start copying those things you are sure of into it. Most authors have used descriptive folder names which help a lot.

Its best if you start again from the zips themselves (this assumes you kept them) then that's likely to tell you exactly what it is as they (almost) always have readme files. They will also detail the dependencies you need to also put into your new plugins folder. After that comes the slow and tedious bit - the ILive's Reader is your friend - it can look into any SimCity file so you can see the contents. But all of this is way faster than looking things up on the web.

After that its a plan, patience, perseverance and attention to detail that will get you a new shiny working set of plugins.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

On 16/06/2020 at 10:16 PM, MattSB77 said:

what is the quickest way of identifying what each file is?

Use DataNode. It will show you what mods come from what files (and what overrides what, down to the subatomic level).

[MattSB77 30]

On 17/06/2020 at 12:45 AM, rivit said:

Its best if you start again from the zips themselves (this assumes you kept them) then that's likely to tell you exactly what it is as they (almost) always have readme files.

First, thanks for the great advise @rivit. Much appreciated. I had taken a copy of my plugins folder and from there was sorting them out. Unfortunately I have not kept the zip folders so can't go back to the beginning for each file. Also in my rather immature approach to my plugins folder when I started I have not kept or have moved read me files for a number of my first plugins. Now the only way of identifying what each file is, is to look on the internet in order to decide where I want to put the file!

On 17/06/2020 at 12:45 AM, rivit said:

After that comes the slow and tedious bit - the ILive's Reader is your friend - it can look into any SimCity file so you can see the contents. But all of this is way faster than looking things up on the web.

After that its a plan, patience, perseverance and attention to detail that will get you a new shiny working set of plugins.

Ahhh the slow and tedious bit. Hence the reason for asking my initial question! Still, if that is the only way of doing it, so be it! I will look at ILive reader for a friend! Hopefully I will get a much neater and smoother system in place sooner rather than later!

Thanks again

[MattSB77 30]

20 hours ago, jeffryfisher said:

Use DataNode. It will show you what mods come from what files (and what overrides what, down to the subatomic level).

Thanks for the suggestion @jeffryfisher I will have a look at DataNode. Anything that will help sort my files out will be a relief!