Launching A Mod

Launching mods in NS2:

The -game option for launching mods is explained here: http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Modding

A quick summary: Mods can be placed anywhere (doesn't have to be in the NS2 folder). If it is in the NS2 folder then you can do -game <mod's folder name>. If it's on your desktop then you do -game "<full path folder\mod's folder name>" and don't forget the " " around that path if there’s any spaces in there.

I think a lot of people like using steam and the "Set Launch Options..." button, but this is damn inconvenient when you start working on mods. The best way is to get a shortcut on your desktop, because [maybe you’re not familiar with this yet], you will be starting/closing/restarting NS2 a lot [running it at like 800x600 windowed so you can see your code editor] and in the grand scheme of things, a single click to an icon in your taskbar is going to save time. I’m also going to show you how to launch different mods (maybe you’ll create a test mod to test out smaller elements of your mod in isolation) from different shortcuts so this should be a good productivity tip.

Here's how I like to do this:

1. We need a shortcut to NS2.exe somewhere convenient. I think you know how to do this.

2. Right click that shortcut and click Properties (we're going to change the Target).

3. You can use the -game option here like this:

(Assuming a mod called "testbed" exists in your "natural selection 2" folder)

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\natural selection 2\NS2.exe" -game testbed

(Assuming a mod called "testbed" exists on your desktop)

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\natural selection 2\NS2.exe" -game "C:\Users\Wolf\Desktop\testbed"

So much for using steam for starting NS2 right? :P