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#1 09/15/08 20:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

The Mod Depot is open for business

So I thought we needed a little Web space where mods can be properly organized, and the wiki doesn't store file types like .zip and has been rather neglected when it comes to documenting all the mods we've made, so I threw a little something together:

http://mods.oni2.net

There's more info to be found on the actual site, so I won't repeat myself here.  But thoughts and suggestions about design, categorization, etc. are welcome before the uploading gets started, either as replies here or as e-mails to the address on the site.

Also, I'm quite tired, and about to go to bed early, so (a) don't be surprised if something doesn't work right on the site because I zonked out, and (b) if you apply for an account (read the requirements on the site before applying), you won't get added until I'm actually awake again and capable of coherent thoughts.  It's at that point that we'll really find out how well the site works.  But here's hoping it will serve us better than simply uploading mods to our own various oni2.net accounts and having the links to them spread all over the community.  Particularly, this should benefit newcomers who just want to see what Oni modding has to offer without reading an entire forum/wiki hunting for links.

...Oh yeah: SURPRISE! big_smile


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#2 09/15/08 20:09

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Actually, this is pretty convenient. I like the idea.

Also, The Arena of Pain installs itself, remember?

Last edited by Gumby (09/15/08 20:09)


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#3 09/15/08 21:09

EdT
Moderator
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: 01/13/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

This is a great idea!  I know there are times I am hunting for things I've seen on the forum or on the wiki. 

Can you change the mod type from Scenario to Scripts? I couldn't understand what that meant until I read the description.

Also, maybe there could be a section for Modding Tools: OUP, OniSplit, ONIBrowser, AETools, Hex Editors, etc

Thanks for your work!

Last edited by EdT (09/15/08 21:09)

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#4 09/16/08 06:09

s10k
Member
Registered: 01/14/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Looks ok, but if you are really searching for your own hosting for files, give a try to this:

https://www.getdropbox.com/home

It works like an normal folder in your computer, and it store your files online for public or private.

It's easy and efficient.

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#5 09/16/08 07:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Script_10k wrote:

...It works like an normal folder in your computer, and it store your files online for public or private.

Well, that's nice and all, but it's not a centralized and categorized repository.  That's what I designed the Depot to be.  Certainly if the Depot gets large we will have to think about not monopolizing Alloc's server space, but I don't see it getting to 100MB anytime soon.  Ultimately I think that the Depot could be modified to also point to externally-hosted files, though, if it comes to that.

EdT wrote:

Can you change the mod type from Scenario to Scripts?

You're totally right, I even made the point in the Taxononomy definition that a Scenario would be 100% BSL, so why didn't I think of just calling it Scripts?  Dur.  tongue

Gumby wrote:

The Arena of Pain installs itself

It does?  I thought it was a plug-in.  That's a separate kind of install method from Automatic.

Last edited by Iritscen (09/16/08 07:09)


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#6 09/16/08 07:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Okay, there's a section for Modding Tools now.  I had to ask myself, "Hmm, what Install Method does a modding tool have?" because the way it's set up, you have to specify a method when you upload the file.  So I made a new Install Method, "(none)", for that purpose, since a tool is an application and doesn't get installed into Oni.

I encourage you three, being modders, to apply so we can start to get some content uploaded. <snip>

Edit: Removed obsolete text above.  It no longer matters if you upload your own mods or someone else's, because (a) there's a field now for giving credit to the creator of the mod, and (b) the Delete option will work for all registered users, not just the mod's owner.

Last edited by Iritscen (09/18/08 16:09)


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#7 09/16/08 07:09

EdT
Moderator
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: 01/13/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

I signed up yesterday, just waiting for approval

EdT,

Thank you for registering at Oni Mod Depot. Your application for an account is currently pending approval. Once it has been approved, you will receive another e-mail containing information about how to log in, set your password, and other details.


--  Oni Mod Depot team

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#8 09/16/08 08:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Whoopsy!  They went into my Spam!  I'll be fixing that, and approving you soon.

Edit: Okay, both you and Gumby should be getting approval messages at any time.  Let me know if you haven't gotten them within an hour at the most (I imagine it would take only a minute, though).  My mail is set up kind of stupidly, so I couldn't see that there were new messages in the Spam box.  And I should have been checking the site log for applicants, which I wasn't.  Lessons learned!

Last edited by Iritscen (09/16/08 08:09)


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#9 09/16/08 09:09

love_Oni
Member
From: Da Nang, Vietnam
Registered: 05/10/08

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Can we upload the scripts and mods now?

And do the scripts and mods need to be my own mods so I can upload them?


The Boy Who Knew Too Much tongue

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#10 09/16/08 09:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

love_Oni wrote:

Can we upload the scripts and mods now?

Yep!  Just apply for an account on the site itself and I will approve you.

And do the scripts and mods need to be my own mods so I can upload them?

Edit: This quasi-rule has been struck out, you can now upload anyone's mod to the Depot.  There's a field for giving credit to the mod's "Creator" when uploading.

Last edited by Iritscen (09/18/08 16:09)


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#11 09/16/08 09:09

love_Oni
Member
From: Da Nang, Vietnam
Registered: 05/10/08

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Iritscen wrote:

It's not an absolute rule that you can only upload your own mods, but think about it this way: if you upload someone else's mod, you are considered the owner of that file, so they won't have control over it.  So it's considerate to give them the chance to register and upload their own work.

That's a good idea, but how about this: If there is a mod which is too old and too hard to remember the maker, then any of us can upload it; or if your web can have a tittle for the maker name, ex:

+ Mod name: level 1 script
+ Version: 1.0
+ Maker: someone
+ Uploader: me (maybe?)
+ Upload time: today (maybe?)
+ Note, comment, etc..

Is that ok? (Or maybe that's too complicated)


The Boy Who Knew Too Much tongue

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#12 09/16/08 10:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

I agree that we will eventually have to upload a mod ourselves if the maker is gone/forgotten.  I will look into making a field for "Maker" or "Creator".  The other fields are already present, as you'll see soon.

Edit: This has been done.

Last edited by Iritscen (09/18/08 16:09)


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#13 09/16/08 11:09

s10k
Member
Registered: 01/14/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

I had register,

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#14 09/16/08 12:09

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Iritscen, technically any new level is a "plugin". But here is the deal. I originally made it with a .bat, and EdT's version was in .dat\sep format.

Also, a place for version numbers would be great.

---

Also, why are there three categories for OSs? Can't we just have a checkbox for Windows, and a checkbox for Mac (or whatever you did for Mod Types)?

---

More things: Souldn't the title show up in the search Results?

Last edited by Gumby (09/16/08 13:09)


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#15 09/16/08 13:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Script_10k wrote:

I had register,

You okay, there, Script10K? smile  You just sort of cut off.  But I did get your registration, if that's what you were asking; check your e-mail.

Gumby wrote:

Also, a place for version numbers would be great.

I did request that the uploader put the version number in the name, but I think I agree with you that a dedicated version number field is a good idea.  I'll put that in when I can.

Gumby wrote:

Iritscen, technically any new level is a "plugin". But here is the deal. I originally made it with a .bat, and EdT's version was in .dat\sep format.

You sort of lost me here, but you brought something important to my attention.  EdT's port of your level to .dat(/etc.) format was fine as a one-time dealio, but going forward (as was pointed out at the time) we really shouldn't do that because it is distributing copyrighted material.  If we're copying level resources to make a new level as in the case of the Arena of Pain, we should be doing it with a script.  Is that what your original PC version did?

So, the point I took home from this is, the site should discourage the uploading of plug-ins (or any files) that contain Oni's game data to any large degree (it also chews up server space unnecessarily; look at the Edition, it's only 600KB or so).  Your .bat would be totally kosher for uploading, but the Mac version, being a copy of level4_Final.dat/etc., would not.  But, that's probably not the point you were making, so you might need to elucidate before I understand.

Gumby wrote:

why are there three categories for OSs

I was not sure that most people would realize that they could multi-select, and pick both the Windows and Mac options.  But I am considering doing it as you suggest.

Thanks for the feedback so far, this is the kind of stuff I need to hear before the site has too many files uploaded.  That being said, don't hesitate to upload stuff, that's a necessary testing process too.  And on that note, I see Gumby just added his Arena of Pain.  Looking at how you set it up (quite well), I realize that I left out another important feature: we need to have a way of indicating whether the Edition's globalization is required.  You did it by writing a note on the mod page, which was the best way available, but going forward I think I need to put in a checkbox for that on the upload page.

Heh, I keep trying to hit Post and keep finding more to respond to (that's good, though):

Gumby wrote:

Souldn't the title show up in the search Results?

I assume you searched for your Arena of Pain and didn't find it.  That's because the index updates once an hour.  Search for "Edition" and you'll find the sample AE file that I uploaded a while back.  I can change the frequency of the indexing, but the process that updates the index is cron, and I didn't want to run it too frequently, as it scours the whole site upon each run (to the best of my knowledge) and does various things.  One hour is the standard time for these updates to occur on most sites, I believe.  Regardless of cron's frequency in being run, any uploaded file will still be immediately accessible from the filter menu on the side, so I'm not very inclined to change the cron setting at this point.


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#16 09/16/08 13:09

s10k
Member
Registered: 01/14/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Iritscen wrote:
Script_10k wrote:

I had register,

You okay, there, Script10K? smile  You just sort of cut off.  But I did get your registration, if that's what you were asking; check your e-mail.

I like the idea, I will put there any mod that I may do if the website work like I expect.

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#17 09/16/08 14:09

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Sorry, i misspoke. I meant it doesn't show when you turn on filtering. And EdT's doesn't violate any copywrite because the level file was avaliable in the demo (it actually contains less than the demo did because of the globalization smile ) Not that I agreed with him doing it that way. I was actually a bit annoyed at the time. tongue


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#18 09/16/08 15:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Sorry, I'm still not following, Gumby.  I actually tried to find your file using the filters back when I first read your post about searching (a minute after you posted it), and I found your file.  I see it there now too, when I click on "Comprehensive", "Windows", or "Automatic".  What am I missing?

I actually used the term "copyright" incorrectly, all the Oni data would be considered copyrighted, demo or not, but you're right that there is less legally wrong with uploading demo-based data (perhaps nothing wrong at all when not passing it off as someone else's work or making money off it) than with uploading data that can only be found in a commercial product.  Just wanted to correct myself as someone who tries to use the right words for things.

My main argument against including the level data is "to save server space" at this point.  We should have enough space for a long time as long as we don't go uploading level data from the original game.  Thanks to the Edition's .oni files, that shouldn't ever be necessary when we take the time to make the mod efficiently (except for when modeling our own, new levels! :-).  P.S.: Sorry if it sounds like we're ragging on what EdT did that one time; it's just a convenient example when discussing an important point.


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#19 09/16/08 16:09

EdT
Moderator
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: 01/13/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Been hiding from all the flack coming my way smile

I'm sure regarding server space, Alloc will allow you to have more.  Because, I'm sure I'm well over the 100MB allotment.

So how should we handle existing characters with only texture changes, do we just upload the textures and then the user has to apply them on their own? ie: modify the ONCC, TRMA themselves?

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#20 09/16/08 16:09

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Look!

Top one is filtered, bottom one is searched.

Last edited by Gumby (09/16/08 16:09)


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#21 09/16/08 17:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Gumby wrote:

Look! *provides incontrovertible proof that he knows what he's talking about*

Oh!  I'm sorry, I really am over-tired.  You're totally right, the mod's title must appear in the filter results.  That should be very easy to fix.

EdT wrote:

how should we handle existing characters with only texture changes

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear on that either.  I don't think anyone will have a problem with our uploading an entire character file or set of character files.  Anything the size of a level should be off-limits, but when modding a character I think we can just upload any affected file in .oni format.  I didn't literally mean we couldn't upload any Oni data, just not sizeable amounts of it.

EdT wrote:

I'm sure regarding server space, Alloc will allow you to have more.  Because, I'm sure I'm well over the 100MB allotment.

Yeah, but I asked for the 'mods' subdomain and the 'iritscen' subdomain at the same time, and I was feeling guilty about asking for so much space.  I assured him I wouldn't go over my 100MB limit.  I honestly think this is a moot point, seeing as our most comprehensive mod, the Edition, is 2/3 of a meg.  I seriously can't imagine the community generating that much new content that we have 100MB of mods.  So I don't even worry about what we'll do when we need more space because I can't see that far into the future.


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#22 09/16/08 17:09

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Large amounts of textures (new level, etc) will take up a lot of space. smile


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#23 09/16/08 18:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Prove it big_smile

But just to quantify what I'm talking about, I don't see any Oni level that is larger than 9MB.  Even a new, more complex level with HD textures can't be more than, say, twice as big.  And how many new levels are we going to be building?  Hopefully a lot smile  But not enough to endanger the 100MB limit any time soon.  Although, Drupal does occupy a whopping 9MB of space... wink


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#24 09/16/08 19:09

EdT
Moderator
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: 01/13/07
Website

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Ok, now you can stop shooting me, I posted to the mods site ArenaMac which will create the new level by script, in the same way as Gumby's.

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#25 09/16/08 20:09

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: The Mod Depot is open for business

Thanks, Ed!  Cool set-up with the script and everything, I hope to try it soon.  *shoots EdT anyway because one good shot between chums deserves another* Bang!  Okay, that was the last time, honest.


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