Ways to reduce module build times

[Legacy_KenquinnTheInsaneOne]

               Any persistant world builder knows that as your modules increase so does the build time. After you get to 60+ megs in size it can take almost an hour to build depending on your computer. Lucky for me I don't just have one 60+ meg modue, but three all with seperate content. I have been thinking of ways to reduce the build times. Other than putting  Creatures/Scripts/Items/Encounters/etc that you dont edit very often into a hak. Is there anything else you can do to cut down build times?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lightfoot8]

               Best way to reduce the time.   Dont do it.  If the module prompts you to build the module Press the cancel button and go your merry way.  The build does not do much more then cross checks for the report it gives after the build.  If you are not interested in the report it gives dont do the Rebuild.  



For manual builds with just the "compile scripts' checked. is the only usefull function I have found for the build options.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_TSMDude]

               Editted for being an idiot, lol....must have failed my Reading DC Check again.....
               
               

               

                     Modifié par TSMDude, 31 octobre 2010 - 02:39 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_KenquinnTheInsaneOne]

               

Lightfoot8 wrote...

Best way to reduce the time.   Dont do it.  If the module prompts you to build the module Press the cancel button and go your merry way.  The build does not do much more then cross checks for the report it gives after the build.  If you are not interested in the report it gives dont do the Rebuild.  

For manual builds with just the "compile scripts' checked. is the only usefull function I have found for the build options.

I don't use the stock compiler to compile my scripts I use the PRC Command line compiler, but that is not part of my question. So the toolset calling the compile options compiling apart from the scripts option is a loard of farce? One reason I assume it was nessicary was party, because they are compile options which implies they are doing more than checking for issues. The other reason I made the assumption is, because when content was submited to me and I uploaded it ot the server it did not allways apply. I got the users to make sure to build the content on their end with only the compile optins on and that stopped the issue. Any idea what could of caused the changes not to of apply. It was solved by me making sure anything that was sent in got compiled on their end first. Could it of been them forgetting to save the module, before trying to send me the changes? Other than that I have no idea what could of cause that other than them not compiling it.

I tested it on my end and it works exaclty as you say. No need to compile the module to make changes take affect.

@TSMDude: Was not talking about tricks to make content faster, but thank you for the advice.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_kalbaern]

               

KenquinnTheInsaneOne wrote...

Lightfoot8 wrote...

Best way to reduce the time. Dont do it. If the module prompts you to build the module Press the cancel button and go your merry way. The build does not do much more then cross checks for the report it gives after the build. If you are not interested in the report it gives dont do the Rebuild.

For manual builds with just the "compile scripts' checked. is the only usefull function I have found for the build options.

I don't use the stock compiler to compile my scripts I use the PRC Command line compiler, but that is not part of my question. So the toolset calling the compile options compiling apart from the scripts option is a loard of farce? One reason I assume it was nessicary was party, because they are compile options which implies they are doing more than checking for issues. The other reason I made the assumption is, because when content was submited to me and I uploaded it ot the server it did not allways apply. I got the users to make sure to build the content on their end with only the compile optins on and that stopped the issue. Any idea what could of caused the changes not to of apply. It was solved by me making sure anything that was sent in got compiled on their end first. Could it of been them forgetting to save the module, before trying to send me the changes? Other than that I have no idea what could of cause that other than them not compiling it.

I tested it on my end and it works exaclty as you say. No need to compile the module to make changes take affect.

@TSMDude: Was not talking about tricks to make content faster, but thank you for the advice.

Only the when editting factions does a rebuild become neccessary and I've never been able to stop a full build in those cases. So making custom factions when you first start a new module is best as the rebuild is alot quicker. Better off making more than you'll end up using than constantly adding new ones too. But as Lightfoot said, just abort the builds when changing haks. You do have to abort fairly quick though too. Often waiting more than a minute will fail to let you abort the rebuild.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_KenquinnTheInsaneOne]

               I never rebuild when adding haks. I am still unsure as to what the issue was with the updates that were being sent to me to upload. I am guessing that the person forgot the save it on their end, before exporting them and sending it to me.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_TSMDude]

               DOH! You mean when you run the build? I have to agree with Lightfoot as the other parts have really never done anything for me either.



Just run the Scripts Compile and save a lot. Otherwise your just wasting your time.



And yes on factions. Another short cut on factions is to make a "empty world" of areas except one and then do the custom factions there with JUST creatures and one area. The full build takes like 5 minutes this way and then you just readd the creatures BACK to the orginal allowing them to overwrite and voila...



Easiest way i could find.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_DM Heatstroke]

               

TSMDude wrote...

And yes on factions. Another short cut on factions is to make a "empty world" of areas except one and then do the custom factions there with JUST creatures and one area. The full build takes like 5 minutes this way and then you just readd the creatures BACK to the orginal allowing them to overwrite and voila...

Easiest way i could find.

That is brilliant, thanks.

@Kenquinn - I don't rebuild my module either.  Very little need to.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               What about rebuilding the palette? I like to compile just the palette after I've deleted some things from the palette.



Also if I bulk copy from another module into the temp0 directory, I'll rebuild the palette at that time also.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               There are other situations where it is a very good idea to do a full compile, including troubleshooting for certain problems. So learning ways to make the compile process faster is still very useful, even if one chooses not to compile frequently.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_FunkySwerve]

               The OP wasn't talking about a full compile of the mod's scripts, which is a good thing to do before you drop any update to a live server, but the build option built into the toolset, which is a waste of time. You don't even need to do. Even the palette can be managed with a right-click refresh, which takes a minute or two tops. Doing full mod builds, and worrying about how to speed them up, are both wastes of time in most cases. The only time our toolset ever goes idle for that long is when we add custom factions, which is a royal pain in the rear.

Funky
               
               

               

                     Modifié par FunkySwerve, 04 décembre 2010 - 06:37 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               I understood the question, thanks very much. Apparently you did not quite understand my response.

I have personally been involved with troubleshooting several problems where a FULL BUILD OF THE ENTIRE MODULE was necessary to identify the problem. Yes, it is rare, but there are indeed situations where building the module is the *only* way to get to the bottom of a problem.  So anyone who says a FULL BUILD OF THE ENTIRE MODULE is absolutely never useful is misinformed.

Just to be clear, let me say it again -- this kind of scenario is uncommon. For everyday use, a full build is generally not necessary. But there are indeed certain situations where a full build is actually beneficial.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Invisig0th, 04 décembre 2010 - 09:55 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_FunkySwerve]

               Can you give an example? I've never, in over 6 years of modding, encountered such a problem. By contrast, sometimes a full script build is useful for diagnostics (modders I help have often forgotten to compile something), which is why I assumed that was what you meant.

Thanks,
Funky
               
               

               

                     Modifié par FunkySwerve, 04 décembre 2010 - 10:20 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               I can't actually locate the specific example I was thinking of at the moment, thanks to the shortcomings of the search engine on the old site. I also don't remember the symptom that first caused the poster to start a thread. However, IIRC after several days of unsuccessfully trying to find the cause of the problem, I finally suggested that he should just do a full build of the module. That caused the toolset to crash with an error, one which he had not seen before that. Based on that, I suggested that the underlying problem might actually be a corrupt installation of the toolset. After he reinstalled the toolset, he was once again able to run the toolset and rebuild his module without any problems.

I've seen a similar problem at least one other time.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Invisig0th, 08 décembre 2010 - 05:24 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_FunkySwerve]

               I can see how that makes sense, at least anecdotally. Still, I've never had to resort to a full build to recommend that someone reinstall - odd exception errors and the like are a good indicator that there's a problem of that kind. Most of the corrupt installs I've seen have pretty obvious symptoms, like crashing out of certain areas - corrupted texture files are the variety I've seen the most, though, as you say, it's not a common problem (most means about a dozen, out of tens of thousands of players, and only handful of builders, mostly from troubleshoot work with HGLL, SIMTools, and letoscript). Further, a full mod build wouldn't necessarily turn up that sort of problem.



Anyway, given how uncommon a problem that is, I don't see how it makes finding faster build methods worthwhile. You'll wind up wasting more time on the fix than the problem.



Funky