Predesigned Vehicle-focused mod difficulties

[yoshiyoshigraf]

G'Day Ladies, Gentlemen and Themtlemen [I really, REALLY hope that's not somehow a slur.........]

If you are reading this... Thank you for your patience, and good on ya for being explorative with the GearCity Modding scene..!

[Basic Issue Description]
I've tried to upload and share a basic PredesignedVehicle mod, but cannot get it to work. I'm now admitting I'm doing something wrong and need help.
[/Basic Issue Description]

[Data Provided]
- The Mod Data itself in the attached "ASMAVD_ModData.zip" file, excluding...
-- The "Manifest" for the Steam Workshop object (can be provided via PM/DM if desired)
-- The Images/Photos for the Steam Workshop object (they obviously work perfectly and would take up space that doesn't need to be wasted)
-- Specific folder locations used (I have replaced partial file paths with "/<Placeholder>/<Mounted>/<Folder>/," I'm sure anyone working with these attached files will be able to adjust the .xml files to suit and work around that obfuscation)

- Three screenshots to show symptoms
[/Data Provided/Attached]

[Potential Mitigating Factors]
- I don't currently have Windows OS running on any device, but can set it up if necessary.
- Apparently one should be able to 'Read the log file' to see why the game is failing to start, but the wiki article, https://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=m...g_log_file, seems to be blank... I can provide log files if I'm reminded where to source them from and/or what to look for (I work in IT Support so I have at least a little capacity to read through log files, even if limited)
- According to the ModTools wiki page https://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=modtools:editors, the "Predesigned Vehicle" is 'Currently not implemented,' although as that page is dated as being last updated in 2022 and the Mod Tool seems to mostly work, I have ploughed ahead assuming this was just out-of-date...
- I literally just remembered (many hours later) that the DMCA Safe Harbour requirements mean that Eric cannot look at the mod files itself; good thing I separated the screenshots from the Mod data itself..! I'll leave the mod data here for anyone else interested to review...
[/Potential Mitigating Factors]

========

[Symptom Set #1, active at the time of writing, 10th of January, 2026]

- When opening the "Video Setting Editor" program
-- The "Item Installation Complete" prompt will always appear (see attached image "GC_ASMAVD-Mod_SymptomSet1_Image1.png)
-- The mod will be visible in the "Video Setting Editor" program (see attached image "GC_ASMAVD-Mod_SymptomSet1_Image2.png)
- When attempting to launch GearCity (whether launched directly OR via Steam) the application will show a black screen of the 'correct' window size for 1/2 a second, then disappear. Steam will, within 2-3 seconds, assume that the game has closed.
[/Symptom Set #1]

[Symptom Set #2, not active at the time of writing]
What's the difference? I left the 'Supported Maps' area 'blank' in the main Mod.xml file

- When opening the "Video Setting Editor" program
-- The mod will NOT be visible in the "Video Setting Editor" program (image not attached)
- GearCity will launch, but there is no sign of the mod, nor the Predesigned Vehicles, even when creating a new Campaign specifically in the timeframe of the Predesigned Vehicles.
[/Symptom Set #2]

=========

{Basic System Information Notes="More details can be provided if desired"}
Devices tested:
CPU: Both AMD Ryzen 5000-based CPUs (one laptop, one desktop)
GPU: Both AMD-powered (Radeon RX6900 XT in Desktop, Integrated "Radeon Graphics" GPU in laptop)
OS: OpenSUSE Leap 15.6 64-bit Linux OS, kernel 6.4.0-150600.23.81-default
Desktop environment: XFCE (i.e. X11 Windowing system)
{/Basic System Information}

{GearCity Settings}
Rendering Engine: OpenGL
ColourDepth: 32-bit
Dynamic Reports Size: Off/Disabled
Units: Metric (mostly)
Shaders: Generally set to 'Enabled'
Shadows: Generally set to 'High'
{/GearCity Settings}

=========

[Background Notes="Fluff for any time-travellers wondering what the heck I'm doing"]
I've been 'causing trouble' in the Discord for quite some time now, and according to Steam, have sunk more than 2,500 hours into the 'Vanilla' version of GearCity, mainly via a single, normal-difficulty, Autism/ADHD-induced-level of micromanagement - never, EVER let me be a real-world organisation's manager in ANY capacity 0_o

As I've chugged along through the game, I've slowly gotten better at handling the vehicle designer (see 'AuDHD level of micromanagement,' each design took about 45-75 minutes to settle on), and thought it would be nice to share them with the GC community for general usage.
So, I created "my first Steam Workshop" mod, which I've named "ASM's Additional Vehicle Designs," and started with a set of vehicle designs focused on the 1950s-1970s. URL is https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f...3579502142

I've chipped away at getting the mod to work, but I now believe that I have to be doing something wrong, or causing some kind of error, that is preventing it from working. I have two sets of symptoms that I currently can regenerate...

Assuming I can get this mod to work, I will add to it over time, and eventually make a Customised Map in future as well (long into the future)
[/Background Notes]

=========

[Eric.B]

Did you edit the xml files by hand? Or did you use the tools? Double check that the xml files are valid xml.

[yoshiyoshigraf]

Did you edit the xml files by hand? Or did you use the tools? Double check that the xml files are valid xml.

I only manually edited the XML files when putting the 'placeholders' into the file paths; I only used the Mod Tools prior to the obfuscation attempt I made prior to uploading the files as part of the original post.
I can further confirm that the uploaded/Steam Workshop version only uploaded because the XML was valid, so the Mod Tool's built-in XML Validity checker is doing the job it is expected to :-)

I just realised that I have apostrophes in the file paths and the name of the mod itself - would that have potentially messed with the file uploads/compatibility?

[Eric.B]

Paste the xml here: https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_validator.asp

And it'll tell you if it's valid or not, and where the error is.

[yoshiyoshigraf]

Paste the xml here: https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_validator.asp

And it'll tell you if it's valid or not, and where the error is.

For better or for worse, the original (non-redacted) XML is valid on all files  

Maybe... Can you remind me of the relative location of the log files and how to trigger GC to collect data upon program launch..? Maybe I can get the log file after triggering the crash, then try to interpret the log myself or upload the log file here..?

[Eric.B]

https://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=t...am_logfile

[yoshiyoshigraf]

https://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=t...am_logfile

Oh I'm silly. I was looking for the instructions in the ModTools area only...

Thank you for your patience Eric :-)

I've attached three of the Log Files; the "Logfile_2_SessionsAgo.log" should be for when I started the game with zero mods explicitly enabled (but the customised map "Base City Map +" was still selectable/active). The other two log files were from when I enabled my (troublesome) mod then re-attempted launching GC two separate times.

I also tried checking out the log files myself, but MousePad (the plain text editor for XFCE on OpenSUSE) complained that the log was not UTF-8 compatible... Oh well.

I eagerly await the next update or instructions (whether that be the specific encoding/decoding method I should use in the plain text editor, or what surprises you find )