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So, you've been working for weeks or months and finally have a fan mission that you're happy with. Now what do you do? 1. Playtest (in private) You've obviously been testing things yourself as you build, but it's important to get a few fresh perspectives before releasing your mission. Other players will try things that you never thought of, and will help you decide if your mission is too easy or difficult. They can also spot texture misalignments, floating objects, and other mapping pitfalls that we all fall into from time to time. Don't just post a link to your mission in the public forums, however. Lots of people are bound to download it and play it without realizing it is still in the playtest phase, and then complain about any bugs. We recommend you post a message asking for beta-testers, and then email them a link to your mission. It's probably also best to handle feedback through private messages; even with spoiler tags, things inevitably slip out. 2. Test the Release version It's very easy to make a last-minute, minor tweak to your mission, and then upload it, only to find out that you forgot to dmap, and now your aas is out of date. Oops! If you change anything, it needs to go through a couple of testers. This does slow down the release process, right at the moment where you're most excited. But you don't want to be in a position of dozens of people trying your mission with a last minute bug that slipped through. 3. Submit your mission .pk4 for hosting Where should you host your pk4? Good question. There are several public sites that will host small pk4 files. Mediafire darklurker 4. Post a Release Announcement Post a new message in the Fan Mission forum with the following title: "Fan Mission: [mission title] by [author] ([release date in yyyy/mm/dd format])" The first post should include a short synopsis of your mission, perhaps with a couple screenshots, as well as download links. 5. Add your FM to the Fan Mission List. Other Considerations A few other miscellaneous details... External Material: If you use external material (textures, sounds, models, etc) that isn't part of the mod repository, and you didn't make it yourself, get permission. We won't host or link to any missions that use copyrighted material, and it's not a good way to make a name for yourself. Credit: Be sure to give credit for anything you use that you didn't make (other than the stuff in the main mod itself). That's just good form. If someone helped you write your readables or made a loading image for you, credit them too. The TDM Website: Don't post asking why your FM has not been added to the official FM page on the Dark Mod website the day it is released. As the number of TDM FMs grows, it will take longer to ensure that new missions are copyright-issue-free, so it may take some time for new missions to appear.

Firstly, can you please hide your spoilers in the spoiler tags please HalfKatzBoy? It's in the 'Other Styles' drop down list at the top left of the full editor. Fuller answers are in the main thread at http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/10878-fan-mission-the-heart-of-lone-salvation-by-fidcal-baddcog-20100402/page__view__findpost__p__213506