README.md for Rtmods

Rtmods (for "Rule the mods") is a modification installer/manager for Rule the Waves 2.

Background

Rule the Waves 2 (RTW2) is a wargame by NWS. In it, you are the commander of a navy of one of the world powers between 1900-1955. You can design ships, then fight those ships against the fleets of other naval powers.

Some people have written modifications for RTW2. These mods can be fiddly to install involving messy faffing about with files. Rtmods aims to streamline the process.

Dependencies

Rtmods requires:

• a copy of Rule the Waves 2
• Python 3.8 or later
• Git

Installation

First install Python and Git on your system.

Then create the directory C:\cab\. In this directory, use git to download Rtmods:

C:\cab> git clone https://github.com/cabalamat/rtmods.git

This downloads Rtmods from Github into C:\cab\rtmods.

Now create a clean copy of Rule the Waves 2 into C:\cab\clean_rtw\.

That's it! Rtmods is now ready to run.

Directories and files used

• C:\cab\rtmods\ = the top directory fo the Rtmods program
• C:\cab\rtmods\rtmods.py = the executable for the Rtmods program
• C:\cab\rtmods\README.md = this file you are now reading
• C:\cab\rtmods\mods\ = Each mod goes under here in a separate directory hierarchy
• C:\cab\clean_rtw\ = this is a clean copy of Rule the Waves II
• C:\cab\modded_rtw\ = this is a copy of Rule the Waves II, with some mods added

For each mod there is a mod directory and a mod documatation file, for example the invasion-range mod has:

• C:\cab\rtmods\mods\invasion_range.md = the mod's documentation file
• C:\cab\rtmods\mods\invasion_range\ = the mod directory

How it works

There are essentially two operations that Rtmods can perform:

Reset the modded_rtw. The --reset command, which deletes modded_rtw\ and copies clean_rtw over it. This puts modded_rtw\ back into a pristine copy of the game.

Add a mod, using the --add command. After you have reset the modded_rtw\, you can then add mods to it one at a time. Adding a mod works by looking at the mod's directory under C:\cab\rtmods\mods\ and copying the files (and their directories) found there into modded_rtw\.

Don't remember what mods you've already added? You can view a log of what mods have been added to C:\cab\modded_rtw\ using the --log command.

Use

You can get help information using the -h flag, e.g.:

> python rtmods.py -h
usage: rtmods.py [-h] [-v] [-l] [-i MOD] [--log] [--reset] [--add MOD]

*** Rule the Mods -- a mod manager for RTW2 ***

optional arguments:
  -h, --help          show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbose       increase output verbosity
  -l, --list          list mods available
  -i MOD, --info MOD  display info about a particular mod
  --log               display log of mods added
  --reset             reset modded_rtw from clean_rtw (may take some time)
  --add MOD           add a mod to modded_rtw

To install some mods, first reset your modded_rtw:

> python rtmods.py --reset

Then install all the mods you want to, one at a time:

> python rtmods.py --add mod1
> python rtmods.py --add mod2
> python rtmods.py --add mod3

Then play the game by running the RTW executable in C:\cab\modded_rtw\RTW2.exe.

Future enhancements

I might add a web-based interface for it, running on localhost.

This would list the mods available, display their descriptions and any instructions for them. There would be hyperlinks to the mod's homepage, if any.

There will also be a short guide on how to write a mod and put it on the system.

/end/