no longer works The Ultimate DCS World JSGME Guide - If you use mods, you need this.

[Ebs]

Hi Everyone,

 

I see a lot of problems arising with people using mods, then the DCS:W updater then getting frustrated when their mods are moved to the _backup folder...Also, if you like tinkering with the game files you can end up with a ton of extra 'copies' in your DCS World folder with no real way of knowing what or where they are.

 

There also seems to be a few problems with MODMAN, but that's not really something I've looked into much...Mods have to be "MODMAN compatible" and blah blah blah.

 

My 'weapon of choice' for DCS Modding is JSGME (JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler) I've been using it for ages now, I'm pretty sure I started using it in the Falcon 4.0 days, or if not definitely since Silent Hunter 3. It's a very simple utility and it keeps your game directory nice and clean...Also, it doesn't require a specific 'package' to be made, in fact 99% of the mods you use are already read to go with JSGME.

 

Still with me? good. let's get started!

 

Step 0) If you have mods installed in DCS:World uninstall them...now.

The days of going through the file system to replace and backup are over! The future is now ;) ...well, in the next step...

 

Weblinks removed due to Hijacking by Hosting Websites

 

2) Unzip the files to their new home.

A lot of people say that you need to unzip JSGME in the game directory you're using it for. this is not true. I personally like to have it 'installed' in C:\JSGME keeps things tidier that way. So make a new folder in C:\ and copy the files there.

 

3) Set up your shortcut

This is very important as we need to tell JSGME where to operate. make a shortcut to the program on your desktop. Right click the shortcut and choose properties...This is what you'll see.

 

 

As you can see, Target is c:\JSGME\JSGME.exe this is set automatically. What we're looking at is the "Start In" box. We need to enter our main DCS World folder in here. In MY case it's "d:\DCS World" but I believe the default is "c:\program files\eagle dynamics\dcs world" or something like that. Make sure you double check and enter the correct path!

 

4) create a mods folder in your DCS World directory

we'll need a folder in DCS World for JSGME to use, as you probably know there is already a folder called "Mods" in there so we'll make a new folder called "_MODS" to keep things simple. This is the ONLY folder that you need to add to the DCS:W directory, the rest stays stock so it stays well maintained.

 

 

There ya go...

 

5) Run JSGME

Finally we start getting to the good stuff. After you've made your _MODS folder in DCS:W, run JSGME from your desktop shortcut.

 

You'll be immediately greeted by this screen...

 

 

Simply enter our new DCS:W _MODS folder in the box as seen above and press OK.

 

JSGME will load and we'll end up with a blank screen.

 

 

...yawn.

 

6) setup JSGME...

We're nearly there!

See that blue word saying 'tasks' right in the centre...you're going to want to click that. In the little menu that pops up, click "Generate Snapshot of Game Files" and then sit back and wait safe in the knowledge that Ebs had to reset all his JSGME settings and go through all of this s*it so you don't have to...

 

Now wipe that smug grin of your face and carry on reading!

 

The purpose of the snapshot task is so that JSGME knows what your default DCS World file/folder structure looks so when you install/deinstall mods JSGME can restore your original file/folder structure. Close JSGME when the snapshot is finished.

 

7)You're all done!...Almost...

Rememer that _MODS folder we created? this is going to be where we...wait for it...put all our mods! the _MODS folder is almost like a virtual DCS:World directory. To demonstrate how to install a mod I'm going to use neroroxxx's female wingman mod (http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=96405) as an example.

 

When you download the mod you'll get a zip file containing a folder called "1" within that folder there you'll find the wav files and more folders containing wav files. This is how we get it into JSGME...

 

On his post he says that you must install the mod to DCS World/Sounds/Speech/Sound/ENG/Common/Wingman/

 

Go to your new DCS World/_MODS folder. Make a new folder called "Female Wingman" and within that recreate the EXACT structure of the folders...

 

DCS World/_MODS/Female Wingman/Sounds/Speech/Sound/ENG/Common/Wingman/ and extract the female wingman mod to this directory. Your mod is now ready for use.

 

Load JSGME from the desktop shortcut once again and you'll see "Female Wingman" in the list on the left. To enable it, simple click the mod then the ">" button in the centre of JSGME to move the mod to the right list and enable it.

 

Close JSGME, run DCS World and there you go...Female wingman. To disable the mod, close DCS World, open JSGME and move the mod from the right to left. DONE. Clean and simple.

 

 

To add more mods simply add them to the _MODS folder. Create a new folder with the name you want for the mod. and then in that directory recreate the DCS World folder structure exactly as you need for the mod files.

 

One more example: The awesome KA-50 JTAC mod (http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=93228)

Download the zip. Create a new folder in _MODS called "KA50 JTAC". open the downloaded mod zip and click through the folders until you see two folders 'sounds' and 'mods'...Just extract these two folders to your new "KA50 JTAC" folder. run JSGME and enable...You now have JTAC in the Kamov.

 

Just remember: When you create a folder in _MODS, this folder becomes your virtual DCS World root directory and any modded files must be placed in the correct folder. If you remember that you can't go wrong.

 

Here's how my JSGME currently looks...

 

 

 

One last thing before I go. JSGME is an incredible help when it comes to DCS:World autoupdating...When you get notification that a new update it available, don't download just yet. Run JSGME and disable all your mods...THEN download and apply the update. This way, your DCS World directory is restored to default and the update won't mess with any of your mods. After the update you can simply enable your mods again. You can even choose to 'compare files with snapshot' after the update to see exactly which files ED have updated...for futher tinkering purposes ;)

 

If you're at all serious about using mods in DCS:World, you need JSGME. Plain and simple.

Cheers!

Ebs.

 

 

TL;DR? Take your Ritalin and try again.

Edited January 5, 2017 by SkateZilla

[GregP]

Excellent guide for those new to JSGME, thanks for taking the time to put that together. With the introduction of the auto-update feature in DCS a few months ago, I did exactly as you've described here and now dealing with updates couldn't be easier: uninstall all mods, update, reinstall all mods. The pain of manually reinstalling mods is now a thing of the past!

[MegOhm_SD]

I used this in IL2 46 HSFX...

 

Never dawned on me to use it for DCS...

 

Installed and loaded my Mods...works great...

 

Hey Thanks Ebs...just made life so much easier...

Edited December 5, 2012 by MegOhm_SD

[HungaroJET]

Sounds good...i will try it :)

 

Thanks...but... 403 - Forbidden :(

 

another link for download ?

 

is it the same ?

Edited August 23, 2017 by NineLine
Removed bad link

[71st_Mastiff]

works great thanks

:thumbup:

[kobac]

This is exactly what I needed. I loved your tutorial, especially funny quip.

 

One thing I don't understand why did you do "BLANK DCS World" folder (and what do you keep in it?), if JSGME made a snapshot without modes?

[Ebs]

is it the same ?

http://www41.zippyshare.com/view.jsp?locale=hu&key=2423962

 

The Gamefront link works for me but I've added that Zippyshare mirror to the original post. Thanks.

BTW, your new Flanker model is incredible! I was going to use it as an example for JSGME but a few files need to be added manually for your mod. Awesome work!

 

This is exactly what I needed. I loved your tutorial, especially funny quip.

 

One thing I don't understand why did you do "BLANK DCS World" folder (and what do you keep in it?), if JSGME made a snapshot without modes?

 

 

Thanks! The BLANK folder is the complete DCS world folder structure minus any files. I use it when I need to test a mod quickly and don't want to manually make any folders.

[kobac]

It means you've made a new folder "BLANK DCS World" and copied all the content ~9.5 GB in it?

 

Whether this new folder _MODS may be located somewhere on the second partition of the HDD?

[Ebs]

no it's just an empty folder structure...Here, it might come in handy!

[kobac]

Well, it's took away lot of time, thank you. So if you want to try some mod you put it in the appropriate folder and move him right into active modes, right?

[SilentEagle]

I can see the need for this tool for any Mods that have to modify files outside of the "Mods" folder, but my hope is that ED continues to increase the amount of things that can be placed directly in the default "Mods" folder so that they are never overwritten and always read first.

 

Thanks for the tutorial!

[MotherGoose]

Ebs,

Excellent tutorial. Wish everything was that easy to understand.

[71st_Mastiff]

this needs to be a sticky.. and on aside note if you have already made a JSGME mod can you make it available on files? so it will save some poor sole some time in making one?

:thumbup: heres some of mine so far.

 

list: Female wing-man

JTAC AWACS KA50

Rocket sounds

Smoke and fire burn longer and taller.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Mastiff

[Dozer1606688093]

Wait a minute.. About this Female voice mod as your example..

Do i really have to make new folders and write within DCS World/_MODS/Female Wingman/

in this order /Sounds/Speech/Sound/ENG/Common/Wingman/ and finally put the mod in the last folder called wingman to make it work?

 

If so, then Modman was more simple :huh:

[71st_Mastiff]

Wait a minute.. About this Female voice mod as your example..

Do i really have to make new folders and write within DCS World/_MODS/Female Wingman/

in this order /Sounds/Speech/Sound/ENG/Common/Wingman/ and finally put the mod in the last folder called wingman to make it work?

 

If so, then Modman was more simple :huh:

 

no modman is the same way, but it wouldn't work all the time for modman.:thumbup:

[Dozer1606688093]

I see..But modman didn't require you to create folders and write path for every mod you want to install.

Just add the mod you want (unzipped) and click install. 5 seconds? :thumbup:

[TurboHog]

Hey Ebs thank you for this! I finally did a clean install to get rid of the uncontrollable amount of mods. Now with JSGME I'll never get lost!

 

One thing: When I install a new module and I am going to install a mod that changes files in the folder of the new module, should remove all my mods and make a new snapshot? In other words: do you need to make a new 'default' installation if you add or remove any official modules?

[Ebs]

I see..But modman didn't require you to create folders and write path for every mod you want to install.

Just add the mod you want (unzipped) and click install. 5 seconds? :thumbup:

 

Dozer, how'd you think the mod gets created in the first place? :music_whistling:

[Ebs]

Hey Ebs thank you for this! I finally did a clean install to get rid of the uncontrollable amount of mods. Now with JSGME I'll never get lost!

 

One thing: When I install a new module and I am going to install a mod that changes files in the folder of the new module, should remove all my mods and make a new snapshot? In other words: do you need to make a new 'default' installation if you add or remove any official modules?

 

Yes, you should generate a new snapshot everytime you install a module like Blackshark, FC3, Huey, F/A-18 ;) etc... The ED autoupdates will make changes to these modules as and when required. (btw, did you test the thing I mentioned about NVG swapping with the JTAC mod?)

[Ebs]

Triple post!

I checked out a KA50 mod today that adds a "TV" mask to the KA50 SHKVAL and it's awesome! But the filestructure had changed since 2009 etc....

 

So here it is ready for JSGME...Just extract this to your _MODS and away you go!

 

I didn't make this, I just repacked it. Full credit goes to Migo.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=45496

[Dozer1606688093]

Dozer, how'd you think the mod gets created in the first place? :music_whistling:

 

No offense, but i just find it a bit annoying adding mods this way. I do prefer to use Modman though.

[Ebs]

Dozer, the point of all this is to hopefully encourage modmakers to use JSGME instead of ModMan. I tried ModMan once and found it a pain in the arse. You shouldn't need to mod your mod installer just to get it to work with DCS World or worry about red or yellow lights or whatever it is. zzzspace just released his 2.0 sound mod and most of his original post is instructions on how to get ModMan to work...followed by futher posts in that thread regarding issues with Modman..and not the mod itself.

 

I think you're misunderstanding a key point here. You don't need to do anything extra to get a mod to work with JSGME. If the mod is packaged in the correct way by the creator of the mod then it's a simple drop in for JSGME. If a previous mod has install directions of "just unpack this zip to your DCS:W directory and overwrite" then it's ready to go with JSGME.

 

I started this thread because I saw post after post of people getting frustrated because they had problems with modman. In those cases, JSGME is the perfect solution.

 

Ask a mod creator what he'd rather see. His thread full of posts discussing his mod, or a thread full of posts dealing with problems with the program that's used to install the mod.

[fangav]

Not being able to use modman and the default DCS load path was a deal breaker for me.

Now I use JSGME and all is good.

 

Big CHEERS to you Ebs.

Edited December 16, 2012 by fangav

[Ebs]

Cheers Fangav!

 

Just giving something back to the community, that's all :)

[Dozer1606688093]

Ok Ebs, i will give it a go again, but i´m not sure if i do everything right..

I can´t seem to make any mod work and that pisses me off.

I followed your guide but i still don´t understand how to get that Female voice to work. I´m not so good at computers i guess. Folder here folder there.. Gives me headache :smartass:

I have everything set up, but i don´t know how to create the folder structure to make the mod work. My structure looks like this:

 

C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Sounds\Speech\Sound\ENG\Ka-50\Wingman

 

A little different from your guide:

DCS World/_MODS/Female Wingman/Sounds/Speech/Sound/ENG/Common/Wingman/

 

Help me out here.. :joystick: