Extended texture + resource packs

[SteveL]

Would there be any chance of a sticky in this forum with permalinks to the textures and prefabs that members have shared? I know that Biker and Melan and probably others have shared collections but I wouldn't know how to find them.

 

I know we wouldn't want to weigh down the core mod download by adding everything, but variety and something a bit different is great for mappers who can bundle just the ones they want with their map.

[Bikerdude]

Weeeeelll funny you should mention this because.... I will be intergrating Melans textures packs, but its a lot of work, because some of his textures are already part of the mod.

[Tels]

If the content is good (quality wise) and diverse and TDM related, why not add it directly to the mod?

 

Speaking of that, TDM could really use more diverse sound effects. Slamming doors, grates, noises etc. Now that it is standalone, it is quite shocking how many D3 effects I used...

[Bikerdude]

If the content is good (quality wise) and diverse and TDM related, why not add it directly to the mod?

Yeah, thats what Im doing mista!

[SteveL]

If the content is good (quality wise) and diverse and TDM related, why not add it directly to the mod?

 

I guess it's just about download size. However big we decide the core mod should be, there could be more resources made available to mappers.

[AluminumHaste]

The problem with having texture packs that the map authors can download and use in their mission, is it increases the download size of the missions themselves. Another problem is lets say an awesome texture pack is released by a member, the next 5 maps to be produced use this texture pack so it has to be included in the pk4 of the maps. Each map is now 120 MB in size, as opposed to having 100MB of textures in the mod download, and each map being 25 MB instead.

 

It just makes more sense to always add texture resources to the core mod if they are of good enough quality.

[SteveL]

The problem with having texture packs that the map authors can download and use in their mission, is it increases the download size of the missions themselves. Another problem is lets say an awesome texture pack is released by a member, the next 5 maps to be produced use this texture pack so it has to be included in the pk4 of the maps. Each map is now 120 MB in size, as opposed to having 100MB of textures in the mod download, and each map being 25 MB instead.

 

It just makes more sense to always add texture resources to the core mod if they are of good enough quality.

 

I'm not arguing with that, but what about the ones that are of borderline quality? In my sporadic attempts at working on a map I've often thought, "um, only 1 of those? and it doesn't quite match what I want", and I'd happily have chosen something of a bit lower quality over using the exact same texture/model that every other map has, and that didn't quite fit my scene.

 

I don't think the FM download size is very important. Anything good enough quality to be used by 5 mappers during one dev cycle would likely have been picked up by the core mod anyway. And TDM's FM downloads are very small by current standards, so we have room to maneuver.

[Springheel]

The size of the core mod is something we do need to keep in mind. Obviously good, highly usable textures should continue to go in the core mod, but we should exercise some restraint too. There is definitely a place for texture packs for things that are of limited usefulness (detailed street signs or plaques) or marginal quality.

 

(Or if it is something we already have ten different variations of)

[Melan]

We've probably got enough stone/brick textures for a decent base, and should be conservative about adding more (although sometimes you find one that's genuinely great). We could even think of grouping them into sub-categories in DarkRadiant, since scrolling through them is becoming harder.

 

There are still areas where we are not yet set, though - good detailed metal textures, sculpted detailwork, and certain kinds of windows for instance. And modelled machinery. That's a woefully underpopulated object group.

[Obsttorte]

Wouldn't it be possible to use mods for TDM? I mean, something like a fature pack, packed as an pk4 which just has to get into the darkmod folder.

 

We would have TDM core just containing the high quality stuff mostly used, and if an FM uses a certain texture pack for example it could be noted in the mission description in the in game downloader, or said one even downloads that one if it isn't already on the players hard drive.

 

This approach would on one side keep the download size for the core mod as small as possible, but on the other side packs containing additional stuff would only needed to be downloaded once.

 

This would obviously require to pack additional stuff in a logical manner, like textures packed into one pk4 if they fit together or whatever, andit would require some code changes (at least for the mission downloader thingy).

 

Don't know what you thing about that (left aside the effort for implementing it, this is a different matter).

 

However, as long as we are setup like now it may make sense to create a pinned thread in the editors guild with links to the custom resources. Maybe one post per link with some example screenies, so one get an idea of what is contained before downloading.

[Tels]

Mods or extension packs are already possible, swift is one, for instance. The bow targeting thingy is also one. I don't think it needs code changes.

 

The only conflicts I could see if you have "mod A" and "mod B" and one FM needs A, but not B, while the other needs B and not A. The user would then need to move them around.

 

OTOH, you can already copy PK4s into each FM directory,and the PK4 will then be only loaded with that FM.

 

So, I think this is already perfectly possible, it just needs organizing the assets into PK4s in an orderly fashion.

[Bikerdude]

So, I think this is already perfectly possible, it just needs organizing the assets into PK4s in an orderly fashion.

Melans packs are arelady in thier own .pk4 files, I just have to track down which ones are are already in the mod and remove those so we dont have duplication.

[Springheel]

We would have TDM core just containing the high quality stuff mostly used, and if an FM uses a certain texture pack for example it could be noted in the mission description in the in game downloader, or said one even downloads that one if it isn't already on the players hard drive.

 

I can see some use for that, like entire sets of assets for non-core settings (like a "modern setting' pack) but we'd have to tread very carefully to avoid confusion for players. I envision a constant stream of "why doesn't this mission work?" questions.

 

I think for most cases, things should either be in the core mod or in the mission pk4 itself.

[Melan]

The real trouble with distributing my texture work in PK4 packs is that the CGTextures license specifically forbids it. We could theoretically make a ''texture gallery'' mission, but that'd be circumenting the spirit of the law... not any better than breaking it. So they either go into the mod or they get disseminated through FMs.

 

But PK4s are the way to go, and it is a great way to organise things. Want to test a mission without a specific mod/resource pack? Moe that PK4 to another folder.

[Obsttorte]

I can see some use for that, like entire sets of assets for non-core settings (like a "modern setting' pack) but we'd have to tread very carefully to avoid confusion for players. I envision a constant stream of "why doesn't this mission work?" questions.

 

I think for most cases, things should either be in the core mod or in the mission pk4 itself.

That's why I thought it would be good if the mission downloader takes care of that automatically.

 

However, whether it makes sense to discuss such options depends on how strongly we really need it. If we consider the "harm" done by having several mission pk4's containing the same additonal contents as relatively, even though it means that the players have to download more data then really needed, we may don't need to put time into designing and implementing such a feature.

 

It's a difficult question, which also depends on what you as a player got. If you have a fast internet conection and lots of free space on your hard drive, you may not consider the overhaul as a big deal. If you have a slow connection and not that much space, you may see it in a different light. The problem is that I have no idea what kind of technology people especially from poor countries are using.

 

It may be worthwhile to open a thread asking on how important this really is, and if it would help someone.

 

If all players have good connection and big hard drives, it would only be a cosmetic change not really worth to be implemented.

[NeonsStyle]

Has there ever been any thought given to a TDM updater when things like textures/models/prefabs are added. Be a neat

way to just auto download when they are added.