MR25 XML Database

[webalizer-gt]

Some of you may remember the MR XML Database we created for MR17 in 2018.
Users could upload self-created XML files for MR mods, including a description, shop image, and sorted by vehicle type.
To brush up on my development skills, I'm going to migrate the web application to the latest software versions and hope we'll need the database :D

[DrewCZ]

great!!! welcome back on stage. database is warmly welcome (hope not only for me :-D )

[QuenoGames]

Hey, I think I remember something like that. To be honest, I only downloaded maybe two mods from there because I always believed it was better to convert them myself and be sure everything worked exactly the way I wanted. But it's probably a great idea, especially for people who don't know how to convert those mods themselves. Welcome aboard!

[DrewCZ]

anyway, there was a thousands of downloads for other people (as you mentioned). best will be if you upload xml also, so then you will see how popular will be your settigs ;-)
i think this place is (or will be) great for sharing custom settings.

[webalizer-gt]

Making progress with some dummy data :)
I'd say 60% is done.

[quadural]

nice... but you are going too fast :)
I will feel obliged to look after how to allow overriding of mods, if possible

[webalizer-gt]

No worries. I had a few days because of bad weather. From today on I have to go back to my real job and there is still plenty of backend work to do :)

[QuenoGames]

Wow, that website design really captures the FS25 theme! Nice job!

[webalizer-gt]

Currently, I'm using the categories from the Giants ModHub and have streamlined them a bit. But somehow, so many categories still seem like overkill for our purposes.

What do you think could be removed or combined?

    // Driveables
    'Small Tractors',
    'Medium Tractors',
    'Large Tractors',
    'Trucks',
    'Cars & Bikes',
    'Front Loader Vehicles',
    'Front Loaders',
    'Front Loader Tools',
    'Telehandlers',
    'Telehandler Tools',
    'Wheel Loaders',
    'Wheel Loader Tools',
    'Skid Steer Loaders',
    'Skid Steer Loader Tools',
    'Forklifts',

    // Trailers
    'Auger Wagons',
    'Changing Systems',
    'Flatbed Trailers',
    'Low Loaders',
    'Semi Trailers',

    // Cultivators & Plows
    'Plows',
    'Cultivators',
    'Disc Harrows',
    'Power Harrows',
    'Subsoilers',
    'Mulchers',
    'Spaders',
    'Stone Pickers',

    // Seeders & Planters
    'Seeders',
    'Planters',
    'Seed Tanks',
    'Seeds',

    // Fertilizer & Sprayers
    'Sprayers',
    'Manure Spreaders',
    'Fertilizer Spreaders',
    'Slurry Tankers',
    'Slurry Tools',
    'Slurry Transport',
    'Weeders',
    'Rollers',
    'Consumables',

    // Harvesters
    'Harvesters',
    'Grain Headers',
    'Corn Headers',
    'Special Headers',
    'Header Trailers',
    'Windrower',
    'Forage Harvesters',

    // Grassland
    'Mowers',
    'Tedders',
    'Windrowers',
    'Forage Wagons',
    'Grassland Care',
    'Bale Wrappers',
    'Square Balers',
    'Round Balers',
    'Transport',
    'Wrappers',

    // Animal & Food
    'Forage Mixers',
    'Barrels',
    'Animal Transport',
    'Straw Blowers',
    'Food',

    // Special Crops
    'Beet Harvesters',
    'Beet Harvester Headers',
    'Beet Loading',
    'Potato Planters',
    'Potato Technology',
    'Vegetable Planters',
    'Vegetable Harvesters',
    'Spinach Harvesters',
    'Green Bean Harvesters',
    'Pea Harvesters',
    'Rice Planters',
    'Rice Harvesters',
    'Sugarcane Planters',
    'Sugarcane Harvesters',
    'Sugarcane Transport',
    'Cotton Harvesters',
    'Cotton Transport',
    'Olive Harvesters',
    'Grape Harvesters',
    'Grape Transport',
    'Olive Transport',

[quadural]

easy ones =
merging "Sugarcane Planters + Sugarcane Harvesters + Sugarcane Transport"
same with "Cotton"
same with "olive"
same with "Grape"
same with "rice"
same with "beet"
same with "potato"
same with "vegetable"

spinach + green bean + pea harvester = "other crops" category or "Misc" ?

//for grassland=
merging "square and round" balers in one category "balers" (maybe ? it depends how many piece of equipment we are talking)

//ferti and sprayer
=> merging "slurry"

//driveables =
merging tractors (there is no point to separate in 3 categories. This is too diffcult to set the line between small and medium or medium and large)
the best thing = having sorting filter to be able to limit the HP range wanted or sort the list by max hp power for example

//loaders :
in the vanilla games, only one category with all the loader vehicles would have been sufficient (wheel loader, forklift, telehandler, skid steer)
in the database website = maybe this is better to merge in one category but allow the user to filter on the "type" of vehicle (forklift, skidsteer, etc etc)

So yeah, I agree with you, it really seems "overkill" in the vanilla game (the first time, we have the impression there is one category in the shop for each vehicle... we spend a lot of time searching for the category rather than the vehicle)
But it can make sense if there are thousand of vehicles, of course (modhub for example)

[webalizer-gt]

Ok. Let's go with these then (forgot forestry before):

// Drivables
  Tractors
  Cars & Bikes
  Trucks

// Loaders
  Front Loaders
  Telehandlers
  Wheel Loaders
  Skid Steers
  Forklifts

// Trailers
  Trailers
  Auger Wagons
  Changing Systems
  Flatbed Trailers
  Low Loaders
  Semi Trailers

// Soil Cultivation
  Plows
  Cultivators
  Disc Harrows
  Power Harrows
  Subsoilers
  Mulchers
  Spaders
  Stone Pickers

// Seeding
  Seeders
  Planters
  Seed Tanks

// Yield Improvement
  Sprayers
  Manure Spreaders
  Fertilizer Spreaders
  Slurry
  Weeders
  Rollers

// Harvesters
  Harvesters
  Forage Harvesters
  Headers & Trailers
  Misc

// Grassland
  Mowers
  Tedders
  Windrowers
  Forage Wagons
  Grassland Care

// Baling
  Balers
  Bale Wrappers
  Transport

// Animal & Food
  Forage Mixers
  Barrels
  Animal Transport
  Straw Blowers
  Food

// Root Crops
  Beet
  Potato

// Vegetables
  Vegetable
  Spinach
  Green Bean
  Pea

// Special Crops
  Rice
  Sugarcane
  Cotton

// Grapes & Olives
  Olive
  Grape

// Forestry
  Harvesters
  Forwarders
  Excavators
  Wood Transport
  Wood Chippers
  Stump Grinders
  Mulchers
  Winches
  Tree Planters

[quadural]

I would put "grapes and olives" in special crops too (but this is "my" opinion = maybe this is relevant to keep a separate category ?)

[jufcar]

Not sure how you plan to store the uploaded xmls but if you can read them, i'd recommend putting all the (front-)loaders into one category and add a filter for the attacher type as there are enough implements (aswell as a few vehicles) out there that have an attacher configuration.
Besides this I hope there will be a filter for the fill volume of trailers.

[webalizer-gt]

Reading the XML files would be possible. However, there are also many "modpacks" with multiple attachments or vehicles. Therefore, ZIP files can also be used in the database.

With multiple XML files, automatically reading XML parameters is no longer possible. And creating individual uploads from them isn't a good solution, in my opinion. It should be a 1:1 representation of mods or modpacks if possible.

For now, we'll have to wait and see how MR mods are integrated into the game.

[DrewCZ]

important beside category is also kind of searching. expect that the search engine will looking only inside actually selected category. it can save another "subcategories" like brand etc. imho

[lenncube]

Hey, 4 Months have passed by now, and I was wondering what's the current state of the XML Database?

[KCHARRO]

I imagine they're waiting for Dural to finish MR, after converting the base vehicles and starting on mod integration...

[lenncube]

I don't really know what there is to be integrated...I have plenty of Mods converted by simply replacing the xml in the Mod Archive with one that has all the MR parameters. Works perfectly for me. Maybe @quadural can clarify for me what he meant by integrating the overriding of mods?

[quadural]

With FS17, there was a "system" to allow people keep the genuine mod zip file and then put an xml in a given folder to override the genuine one at loading time.
With such a system, it was more convenient to share "MR conversion" (only have to share xml files, the zip coming from modhub for example).
Without such a system, it can be difficult to share converted mods because I guess copyright would not allow somebody to publish someone else mod with mr modification.
And that would not be fair : what we want = if somebody want to play with a mod converted to MR, he should first download the genuine mod (this give credit to genuine author) and then either convert the mod or use an existing MR xml file for it.

[martinfsun2-svg]

Hi. Since MR mod comes out I play only with MR tractors. I'm looking for that Mr XML Database and nothing I found. What name is of that Web page ?

[webalizer-gt]

It is still not online as there is still no standardized mod-integration in mr.

[quadural]

Hi,

here we go : version 0.26.08.26 of the game engine provides support for the "moreRealisticXmlDatabank"
the xml file for the john deere 7810 from modhub is provided as an example

regards

[KCHARRO]

Great... We'll start converting mods soon, hopefully the site will be ready in a few months...

Edit: After reading the "readme.txt", this is better, since we only need to put the XML files inside the database, unlike before in FS17, where we had to put the XML files inside the mod's .zip file...

[webalizer-gt]

The website is now live:
https://mrdb.tlg-webservice.de

I did a few tests and everything looks good so far. Please report back any problems!

regards
webalizer

[QuenoGames]

[webalizer-gt]

What did you try?

[QuenoGames]

upload the whole converted mod ZIP file

[webalizer-gt]

We do NOT upload the complete mod zip. Only the XML-File OR a ZIP file that includes one or more XMLs!

[quadural]

wow : that was very fast. Thanks a lot (again). I have updated (and maybe will update) the john deere 7810 xml file. But I guess I have to keep it into the "morerealisticXmlDatabank" zip file as an example.

[webalizer-gt]

I stopped working on it in January and completely forgot that i prepared almost everything to get it online :D

[QuenoGames]

Too bad I have like 300+ converted mods, but I messed with the i3d in all of them so I can't drop them.

[webalizer-gt]

What kind of changes did you make in the i3d files?

[QuenoGames]

I can't really give you a general answer every mod is different. Sometimes it's just visual fixes, sometimes adding new features, and sometimes things just don't work right. Occasionally the front suspension is a bit off or the components aren't connected properly. I prefer fixing these things in the i3d because I can actually see what I'm doing. Plus, back when there was no database, I was making these mods for myself by editing the i3d instead of overriding things in the xml. For me, converting a mod to MR isn't just about converting it's about fixing bugs and sometimes adding new features, like passenger support, which straight-up requires editing the i3d file.

[webalizer-gt]

That is completely understandable. Unfortunately, we cannot publish the full mod on the site because that would be stealing. The XML files are, so to speak, a gray area that is acceptable.

[QuenoGames]

Sure, I get it! It's still awesome that people can share their XMLs so others can enjoy them.

[KCHARRO]

I created a Claas pack myself, and I had to modify the front axle of the Axion 800 to add the warning stickers, which it never had (since the FS19 DLC). I also did some work on the Axion 900-900TT, and on both the Xerion 4000 and ST, I separated the front axle so it would function as a pendulum (I hated having one wheel suspended in the air and losing traction when working on uneven terrain). This pack still needs work, but all the vehicles were converted by me from FS22, except for the ST (from ModHub). I can upload this pack without problems, but I'll need the XML files of all the vehicles converted to MR to compare them with mine, since I mainly modify the suspension, center of gravity, engine, fuel capacity, etc. (things that are in the PDFs downloaded from the CLAAS website).

Edit:The problem with the Axion 900 was that with MR active, the front axle wheels became unstable and sank into the ground. I discovered it was the mass value shown in GE, but since it doesn't allow changing it, not even in i3D itself, I replaced the axle "Component" with the one from the Axion 800 and the problem, which had always been present since FS19, was solved.