Preparing a Mod for Download

[Rhyfelwyr]

I'm ready to release a Beta version of my Mali faction mod now. However, I'm not sure how to do this. How would I get the edited files to replace the originals to help people when installing my mod. Having to do this manually would take a long time and might put people of playing it.

Thanks for any :help:

[FactionHeir]

You got 2 options really.
One is a mod folder, the other is simply putting in their data folder.
The former is more useful if someone is already running another mod and wants to choose between two or more. It also is better for those who have already unpacked all their files.
The latter is easier to use overall and doesn't require knowledge of files. It also is aimed more at those who have not unpacked their files.

If you are aiming for the former, prepare an archive with the mod folder (i.e. all files that are needed for a mod folder to run AND your modified files combined). That can then be dragged into the M2TW folder with the batch file etc all in place.

If aiming for the latter, again, prepare an archive that contains ONLY your modified files [well and originals that would be replaced for uninstallation, but only for those files that are not unpacked (i.e. sounds, imperial_campaign etc) in the first place] to drag into their data folder with instructions on how to make it work.

For an example of the latter you can check my fix mod from the signature. Basically you are aiming for a similar setup in a way. If you want to make this a modfolder, just put the data folder into another folder (i.e. MaliMod) and add some more folders/files to it which are the ones that are needed for a mod folder to run and the files you actually modified.

The above is basically all a drag and drop 1-step process which is quite simple to understand and perform.
Of course you can also make this an automated process, but for that you want to have some programming knowledge.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well I edited files that mean the mod folder was not an option, so I just list all the edited files and send away?

[FactionHeir]

There is a difference.
If you edited files that in a vanilla installation were not unpacked, then you can go either way.
If you edited files that in a vanilla installation were already present, you'd be more inclined to use a mod folder.

Either way works really, but that's for simplicity's sake.

What I would recommend you do is this:
Download alpaca's mod folder installer.
Install it, calling your mod "MaliMod" or something like that.

Then move all those files and folders elsewhere first to get an overview.
Now move all the files you modded for your mod into the MaliMod folder to where they belong, overwriting when prompted.

Now zip the whole thing and upload. The person downloading will only have to place the MaliMod folder in their medieval2 folder and run it with the shortcut provided.