[Discussion] How to ask for help with modding ?

[Lumina]

Hi,

I'm reading a lot of topic here and help when i can. But there is a lot of topic when i just ask the same questions as "could you attach your mod so people can look at it ?" or "does the log contain an error ?".
So i wonder : is it possible to create a basic guide about what to search, how to create a good "ask for help" topic so everyone will gain time and people could have useful answer faster ?

For example :
 

Quote

Search the log for error.

One of the first step when you have a problem with a mod is to take a look at the log. When a crash occurs, the log could provide you useful informations about what is wrong.

You could find the log in

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogetherANewReignBeta (If you are in the beta branch)

Or

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogether (classic branch)

Usually, informations will be in the "client_log.txt"

Sometimes, a crash will happen server-side, so you must look at the server log. Search in

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogetherANewReignBeta\Cluster_1\Master

With "DoNotStarveTogetherANewReignBeta" your current branch, "Cluster_1" your current save, "Master" if the crash happen on surface, and "Caves" if the crash happen on caves.
Look at the "server_log.txt"

Now you have an error log. If you can, try to understand what the error log says. Some errors could easily be fixed by yourself. You could also try a search to see if someone encountered the same problem.

If it's not the case, you could create a topic.

 

Title.

The first thing people will see is the title. There is a lot of topic asking for help, so "help pls with a mod", "I need help" "[URGENT] Need help" isn't a good title, because it doesn't give a clue about what the problem is. Since people helping here are doing this in their free time, and since every modder have his strong point and weak point, your best option is to have a clear title, with informations about what you are searching. This way, people able to help you could see what help you need even before opening the topic.

For example "How to create a perk for my character" "My character mod is crashing (Mod and Error log in topic)", "How to make an aura healing others players ?". You will gain a lot of time with a clear title, and people will be more likely to help.

 

Content of your topic.

Your topic must contain a clear explanation about what you need.
If you are asking for help because of a crash, provide the error log (you've seen before how to obtain it), and attach your mod, so people could take a look at it.

You must zip your mod first, then you can see an option "drag files here to attach, or choose files". Attach the zip file. This way, everyone could download your file and see what is wrong. When searching the cause of a crash, looking at the code is often mandatory, so you'll gain a lot of time by attaching mod in your first post.

 

 

What do you think ? Is a topic like this useful ? How it could be improved ?
And since english isn't my native langage, is it clear ?

Thanks

 

 

[. . .]

Nice work !

[alainmcd]

Fully agree. Sadly, I don't believe people who post "pls halp!!1!" topics will search for how to properly ask for help before posting. The only way I see people mostly following these guidelines is if they are displayed when creating a new topic ("Need help with your mod? Please follow these guidelines so others can help you more easily."). But yes, we do need some sort of etiquette.

In general:

• Need help? Be helpful! Add as much info and code as possible: too often do people omit modmain.lua and modinfo.lua or reduce the crash log to the last line. Upload the files you're working with. Link the guides and tools you're using whenever possible. Detail the steps you're following. Don't make people guess what you're doing.
• Be specific! Is it a crash? A new feature you want? Porting from DS? Trouble with animation? State it in the title so people who know about it can see it right away. "Help with my character" means essentially nothing since characters can do pretty much anything.
• Don't be a jerk. Being nice is usually a good way to get people to help you.

[Lumina]

I agree, a way to see the topic before posting will be great, but at least it could be linked in a topic if someone ask questions that are already answered.

16 hours ago, alainmcd said:

Don't be a jerk. Being nice is usually a good way to get people to help you.

Yeah, especially when people take so much time to help.