Useful Tools – Beta

This is the Beta version of my mod, Useful Tools. It is meant for public testing of upcoming features. If you are not interested in testing, I recommend you visit the link below for the non-beta release of Useful Tools.

This Beta was released primarily to test the new Building Tool, as it will likely have some kinks to iron out. However it should be pretty stable at this time.

The Beta is meant to be run in place of Useful Tools. Do not run both mods together.

The Beta contains all the tools from Useful Tools, plus the Building Tool. This includes unique items such as:
– Pressure Washer – quickly remove paint from structures. Point and shoot. No ammo.
– Paint Sprayer – includes a dye menu
– Selector – a tool that makes it easy to quickly equip weapons and tools in your inventory that are not on your hotbar.
– Several tools based on the original S+ tools, some heavily modified.
For more info on these tools, visit the workshop page for Useful Tools, at the bottom of this page.
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This is a unique new tool, containing several building-oriented features. It was designed primarily with Ark Builders in mind – the kind of players who enjoy building, both large scale and small. I had three goals in mind when I built it:
1. Improve the experience of spawning no-engram structures from mods. No more searching for spawn commands and filling your console with them, or running to an Admin Vault.
2. Eliminate Drag and Drop, and typing in search boxes. Find and equip a structure to your hotbar as fast as possible, without fiddling around in the inventory.
3. Provide server admins with a new option for building-oriented servers. One that does not require giving everyone Admin capabilities, or access to GCM (and the god-mode that comes with it), or require Admin vaults, to provide players with resources and/or parts.

All features currently require the tool to be equipped in the character’s hand. Many of the features are only available with Creative Mode enabled in the ini. In Regular Mode, the tool will simply provide a faster, hopefully more fluid way to quickly equip structures from your inventory to your hotbar. It will still auto-replenish your hotbar in Regular Mode, but only if you have more of the item in your inventory already. In Regular mode it will not spawn anything and you will not have Deletion Mode.

Building Menu:
– Press R to open. In it you will find every structure part that your singleplayer game or server currently has to offer, including all Official structures, Mod structures, and even those mod structures that do not have engrams.

– Choose a Category to browse its list of parts. You can filter by Part Type (Walls, Foundations, Ceilings, etc) and by Tier Type (Tier 1 = Thatch, Tier 2 = Wood, Tier 3= Adobe, etc)

– Once you have found a structure part you want to build with, equip it to your hotbar. To do this, press 0-9 on your keyboard, then click the part in the building menu. The structure piece will be equipped to that slot. In Creative Mode it will automatically spawn some if you have none. It will not spawn full stacks, to try and prevent encumberment. Auto-Replenish will ensure you don’t run out.

– If you are in the Building Menu you can quickly clear a hotbar slot by pressing the number key of that slot, and the left clicking the Clear Slot button. Right clicking the Clear Slot button will clear all structure parts off your hotbar. In Regular Mode this means putting them back in your inventory. In Creative Mode, it will simply delete them. The Clear Slots button is there to help you get unencumbered if you manage to spawn too much.

– The tool is designed to never delete anything that isn’t a structure part, even in Creative Mode.

– The tool will remember the last filters used, so when you re-open the menu you don’t have to click all the buttons again.

Auto-Replenish:
– The Building Tool will automatically respawn more pieces when you run out, placing them on whatever slot you have them on, for a smooth, continuous building experience. It’s even smoother than GCM, as GCM requires you to press the key to respawn the item, which can throw off your groove when you are throwing down lots of foundations for example.

Deletion Mode:
– G will toggle Deletion Mode. This is similar to the Demolish Gun. It will simply delete a structure you shoot at, and will not give back resources. This is to prevent encumberment while building. Deletion Mode is only available if Creative Mode is enabled.
– Deletion Mode follows all the same rules as my Pickup Gun. It won’t delete platforms, it follows several different Tribe settings, etc.
– R will toggle Terrain Collision mode while the gun is in Deletion Mode.

Hide Item Descriptions:
– Q will toggle the text on the structure items in the Building Menu, if you find it too cluttered. The tool will remember the setting.
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A Note on Gamepad Support:
While I originally planned on making the tool fully compatible with gamepads, it will unfortunately not support them. I ran into a bug that prevents scrolling the parts list with a gamepad. I was also unable to figure out a way to set up the equipping logic so that a gamepad could assign parts to the hotbar. Without solutions to either of these problems, gamepad support will not be possible.
The one feature that may still work is the Auto-Replenish, though I have not actually tested that yet.
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Here is the link to Useful Tools, for those who are not interested in the beta and/or want to see more info about my other tools.

Huge thanks to Koz from the modding discord, for his tips and advice, and to Quellcrest and Nevcairel for their nuggest of wisdom.
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Meta Tags
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