BOSS v1.6 is the next version of BOSS, which I'm hoping will be released during the latter half of next week. It's currently undergoing closed beta testing of the various changes made. Before it can be released though, I'd like to hear the opinions of current users of the changes, with particular regard to those using edited masterlists, as there's some features added that will affect them more than the average user. For reference, the changelog is:
Spoiler
- Added Fallout Wanderers Edition (FWE) specific message type for the Fallout 3 masterlist.
- Added masterlist updater functionality to BOSS, accessible via a command-line switch and a .bat file.
- Added mod version display to BOSSlog output, with command-line off switch.
- Added sorting of ghosted plugins.
- Added hardcoded undo functionality to make it easier to undo BOSS's changes.
- Added custom user rules functionality to allow users to customise how BOSS sorts their files, and more.
- Removed need for BOSS.bat.
- Moved BOSS's input and output files to Data\BOSS\.
- Converted Readme from RTF to HTML format.
- Converted BOSSlog from plain text to HTML format.
- Fixed Fallout3.esm being reported as an 'unknown mod file'.
- Improved error support to catch more errors and provide more useful error messages when BOSS doesn't work properly.
- Improved portability of source code.
- Merged BOSS and BOSS-F source code, allowing one EXE to support both Oblivion and Fallout 3.
- Major refactoring and rewrite of BOSS source code, resulting in a significant performance improvement.
Also for reference is the WIP documentation for the next version:
http://better-oblivion-sorting-software.googlecode.com/svn/data/boss-oblivion/BOSS%20ReadMe.html
http://better-oblivion-sorting-software.googlecode.com/svn/data/boss-oblivion/BOSS%20User%20Rules%20ReadMe.html
(Right-click the page and select 'Save as...', then open the downloaded file. Chrome users will also have to change the file extension from .txt to .html. )
The main change that will affect all users is the move of all the non-executable BOSS files into a subdirectory. My first question for current users is:
1. Should there be a note in the install instructions telling previous users to delete their current BOSS.bat, modlist.txt, modlist.old, masterlist.txt and BOSSlog.txt files?
In the majority of cases, this is fine, unless the user has an edited masterlist, in which case they'll be deleting their edits. Can I rely on common sense in this case? In any case, I'd like it if they migrated to using user rules anyway.
The second change that will affect users of edited masterlists is the included updater. This will delete your current masterlist and replace it with the latest one on Google Code, so if you use it, you'll lose edits, if the edited masterlist is in the new BOSS subdirectory. This has been put in bold in the readme to ensure people know. Because such users can't use the updater, the masterlist will still be available as a separate download on Nexus, updated weekly as it currently is. The second question is:
2. Should the main BOSS archive include a masterlist file?
ATM I'm thinking that it shouldn't, because when users install BOSS, they can use the auto-updater to get the latest version, and this will be a step in the install instructions. Because this goes in the BOSS subdirectory, it won't overwrite the one in their data folder, and so edited masterlists can be later updated manually. Edited masterlists include those with edits made by BOMM, though BOMM will just re-apply the edits when you next use it, so there's no big issue there.
The third issue is connected with the above: BOSS will include user rules functionality (like BOMM has), which will allow users to define rules that change how their mods are sorted and more, while making no changes to the masterlist, and so allowing you to use the updater. The third question is:
3. For those of you with edited masterlists, but who do not use BOMM to edit them, would you switch to using user rules instead of making your edits directly?
Ideally, I'd like to see all those with edited masterlists switch to using BOSS user rules, or if they prefer to stick with BOMM, that's fine too IMO. If you think you won't switch, I'd like reasons why.
Since user rules are available along with an updater to ensure there's little reason to not use the updater, the fourth question is:
4. Would it be OK if we stopped posting masterlist updates to TES Nexus, and required that those who refuse to use the updater for whatever reason have to get their updated masterlists from Google Code manually?
Note that I haven't even talked about stopping masterlist updates with the other team members, it's not something we're planning on doing, so don't panic. I'm just interested if you would still deem them necessary.
The fifth is a straight-up question:
5. Do you use, or are you interested in using, the FCOM-only masterlist? It's really old, and I'd like to know if there's enough interest in it to warrant an update to it, or if it should just be forgotten.
That's all the questions I have for the moment, when reading the readmes bear in mind that they are WIP, and so don't necessarily reflect the finished items, and don't try to use what they say with the current BOSS, because it might not work.
Thanks.
DISCLAIMER: Any opinions expressed here are mine alone, and are not to be taken as the collective opinion of the BOSS Team, or any other individual members of the team. This thread was made entirely on my own without any input from other team members. All information posted is subject to change.