Some thoughts on FM downloader

[maga]

For example, i download mission x via fm downloader, i'm playing it and all is okey, but next day an updates is released and its now mission x 1.2. Will, on the next launch, tdm scan my installed fm and tell me if there is an update?

 

Best way to solve such issue is a CRC check, or force fm makers to put an fm version inside of file. Next time tdm will just check what version is mentioned in this file and compare with the same data on site, and tell me if there are new version exists.

 

Next, i tried to play this fm: http://modetwo.net/d...22/page__st__50 and grayman told me that:

 

If you're playing with TDM 1.04, there's a known crash loading these missions:

 

Special Delivery

The Thieves

Awaiting the Storm

Trapped

 

1.05 fixes the problem.

That's also not normal, again if such thing exits it must be told me. If i'm just going to download fm, it will tell me "be aware its not compatible with your version of TDM". And if i already donwloaded fm it will tell me "we found that some of you mission in not compatible with current version of tdm" and mark them somehow just to avoid them.

More suggestions will come soon

[New Horizon]

For example, i download mission x via fm downloader, i'm playing it and all is okey, but next day an updates is released and its now mission x 1.2. Will, on the next launch, tdm scan my installed fm and tell me if there is an update?

 

Yes it will.

[greebo]

More suggestions will come soon

Thank goodness.

[Bikerdude]

Thank goodness.

Greebs, you crack me up..

[maga]

I've got another suggestion. We have two "scrolls", one with fm list and another with download schedule, right? How about to merge them? Just add check boxes and it will be enough (also it will allow to download few missions at once). This will free some space for columns where useful data could be placed, release date, completion time (this will also be a sign that you've played this fm) and author name.

 

And please, add some filter option. For example it would be perfect to filter mission list by author and release date so i could play all missions from GOGA in chronological order.

Edited April 7, 2011 by maga

[Chiron]

Eventhough I really don't want to add to magas flood of tips, ideas & suggestions that sound like orders, I second his request for a sortable filter in the FM Loader:Finished/Added/LastPlayed.....

 

Congrats for releasing 1.05 BTW

[Chiron]

Another idea/request:

Automatically show the description of the currently installed mission, unless you select another FM in the list on the right side.

[gnartsch]

Mission Downloader

The in-game mission downloader has a small limitation, that is sort of irritating.

While you are allowed to add as many missions to the download queue as you want, it will only download 13 of them.

That's exactly the amount of missions that fits on one page in the queue list.

All further missions are not downloaded and no notification indicates this.

 

Another small issue:

The 'Training Mission' - in case it is not in the fms-folder - is listed by the Server and offered for download.

But the download for this one fails and requests me to "check for writeprotection/disk full".

None of these situations applies and for sure neither the Doom3\darkmod\fms\training_mission nor the Doom3\training_mission folder do exist.

 

Not sure if this is the right place, but since the question is related :

Is there a reason why 'No Honor Among Thiefs' does not show up in the Download list ?

At least it is maintained on the official Download-list.

In case the ZIP format is a problem, then the author also had published the 3 missions as separate pk4-files.

 

Except for these little issues, the downloads worked fine for me.

 

Thanks!

[greebo]

The training mission issue was easy to solve, the file was missing on the server.

 

I've briefly looked into the first problem, but I haven't confirmed it yet. I can see in the debugger that more than 13 downloads get scheduled in the DownloadManager, so it's strange that they won't finish. Needs further investigation.

[greebo]

Ah, found the issue. The download stopped when you switch progress pages. http://bugs.angua.at/view.php?id=2750

 

Thanks for the report, is fixed in source now.

[Glyph Seeker]

I searched for uninstalling FMs on the wiki but couldn't find anything on it :-X

 

I've got missions in my list I've tried uninstalling in the game - - and when that didn't work deleting them manually and refreshing but they still persist - I've got a defunct version of St. Alban's Cathedral next to the working one I want to get rid of. =-D

 

Am I missing something super obvious? Usually I do!

[gnartsch]

Thanks, greebo !

 

I searched for uninstalling FMs on the wiki but couldn't find anything on it :-X

 

I've got missions in my list I've tried uninstalling in the game - - and when that didn't work deleting them manually and refreshing but they still persist - I've got a defunct version of St. Alban's Cathedral next to the working one I want to get rid of. =-D

 

Am I missing something super obvious? Usually I do!

 

Indeed I don't see the purpose of that uninstall feature either.

All it does is deleting the savegames, but the mission remains in the list.

From what I get, this works as designed.

What you would need to do:

delete the following two folders:

Doom3\stac160 and Doom3\darkmod\fms\stac160 (or however the defective one is called - maybe stac142 ?)

Since you have uninstalled the defective one via the DarkMod UI already, simply check if there is something left in Doom3\darkmod\fms.

The UI only deletes the stuff in Doom3.

In case in doubt, make sure not to delete the one that is ok.

If you have not messed with it, it should still be found in both of these folders.

 

As for my own position on the Uninstall-feature:

Hmmm.... I don't want to delete ANY savegames.

I just want the list of missions to be more readably and to be less lengthy - especially since there is no way to sort them by author, campaign, or whatever else (date of last playtime ?).

OK, maybe it does not work as I would like it to be, so I helped myself by creating two batch files that entirely move both the savegames and the mission entry away.

And restore it if I feel like replaying.

Imagine what the list will look like once there are 100+ missions !

 

Both files should be placed in the Doom3 folder (on the same level as darkmod).

Both take the name of the mission-folder that DarkMod created.

 

moveFM.bat

@echo off
echo MOVING FM %1
move darkmod\fms\%1
darkmod\-done-\ 
move %1 darkmod\-done-\%1\ 
echo DONE 

 

restoreFM.bat

@echo off 
echo RESTORING FM %1 
move darkmod\-done-\%1\%1 . 
move darkmod\-done-\%1 darkmod\fms\ 
echo DONE 

 

Note: you would need to create a folder named -done- in folder darkmod first, before trying.

No warranty provided !

Edited May 9, 2011 by gnartsch

[greebo]

A possibility would be an option to hide all missions from the "New Game" dialog that have been completed already? Or is the intention to remove FMs from any menu permanently, some sort of ignore list?

[gnartsch]

A possibility would be an option to hide all missions from the "New Game" dialog that have been completed already? Or is the intention to remove FMs from any menu permanently, some sort of ignore list?

 

There is absolutely no need for an ignore list.

It is just hard to keep track which missions belong together/are from the same author if you have to scroll through 4 pages or more.

Or which ones one might have completed already.

So, currently I keep track of the missions OUTSIDE the TDM UI and move back in the ones I feel like replaying.

 

What I feel missing in the list: info about the author/campaign.

If the list was sorted by author, then this would help very much already.

Plus a flag : 'completed' (and maybe 'update availlable' ?)

[fllood]

Plus a flag : 'completed' (and maybe 'update availlable' ?)

A green check mark already flag completed FMs.

 

But indeed, any sorting possibility would be a fine improvement in usability. Specially for "Author name" and "Completed". If the players sort setting would persist between TDM sessions it would even be more splendid!!

[Glyph Seeker]

A possibility would be an option to hide all missions from the "New Game" dialog that have been completed already? Or is the intention to remove FMs from any menu permanently, some sort of ignore list?

 

Oof, sorry, I've got it sorted now - It was just deleting things like that converted Quake 4 map or other "in progress" maps I didn't want in the menu! =-3

 

As for the green tick, one other person pointed this out: In Sotha's Vertical Tower mission, I've completed it, even reloaded the game and completed it again - and no green tick appears after I get the mission complete screen. No other mission does this, which is weird.

[STiFU]

The change I would like to see in the FM downloader is up to the FM authors, rather than Greebo. When an update to an FM has been released, I would like to know whether it is worth replaying it, so a brief summary of the additions and fixes in the long mission description would be great.

 

Indeed I don't see the purpose of that uninstall feature either.

All it does is deleting the savegames, but the mission remains in the list.

The purpose is solely to clean up your Doom 3 folder. Every FM creates its own folder under the Doom 3 Folder with a second copy of the FM pk4. The Uninstaller simply removes this redundancy and ensures a clean folder structure.

[WReis]

Hi,

 

Just reporting some downloader issues.

 

I used it - the one that comes with TDM 1.06 - once and got a huge list of missions to be upgraded. I trusted the information, but after some minutes I had a mission list plenty of duplicates. Inside doom3 and fm folders I noticed the names of the last downloaded missions had "_" between the words, while the ones of the previously downloaded missions did not have it. Then I finally checked txt files and noticed that I already had the new versions... So I manually deleted the repeated folders and renamed the old folders after the new ones. After that the downloader hasn't but "A score to settle" in list, one of the fresh missions I downloaded among the 'updated'. What to do? Believe that a new version appeared just after I got the mission and re-download the file or...?

 

I can't remember the reason, but in trying to do these fixes I deleted the ".tdminfo" file, and now the finished missions are no more checked, and some minor informations are gone too... As TDM checks the size of saved files, this information is kept.