Small Folder Structure Adjustment

[Schatten]

My german heart yearns for order, my programmer's mind cries for modules. I really don't like the flat folder structure, because files will keep piling up in some of them. IIRC, there had been a problem with the depth of the folder structure, but this had become a non-issue, I just tested it with the footsteps.

 

I propose the following adjustments:

 

We add one additional folder layer to most existing folders, so that each subcategory gets it's own folder. For example:

 

sfx\tools\lockpick

sfx\tools\broadhead

sfx\tools\food

sfx\tools\flashbomb

 

sfx\movement\footsteps

sfx\movement\materials

 

sfx\world\levers

sfx\world\doors

sfx\world\buttons

 

sfx\game\menu

sfx\game\hud

 

etc.

 

The benefit of this is that a mission author can easier keep track of his/her own additions, and it's a lot easier to browse a specific type of sound than to scroll through an endless file list. For sounds with a single instance that wouldn't warrant an additional subfolder, we can still create a \misc folder in each category.

[Schatten]

As an afterthought, it might make sense to exclude the folder for metasounds from \sfx, and put it on the same hierarchy with \ambients and \sfx

[Springheel]

I think your structure makese sense. But how much of a hassle would it be to fix all the broken soundshaders, along with any def or gui file that points directly to the sound file?

[Schatten]

Fixing the soundshaders is easy work, that's only a couple of minutes. As for direct linking def files, those would be a problem. How many sound files would be affected?

 

In any case, if we want to change the folder structure it's a good idea to do that before even more sounds roll in.

 

Edit: Depending on the implementation, I guess fixing def and gui files would be the same as soundshaders, meaning a search/replace job.

 

Edit2: After browsing some gui and def files, search/replace is a definite option. Seems like the the file extention is sometimes omitted, but that doesn't make any difference.

[pakmannen]

About arrows, does it make sense to create a folder for each arrow type? Consider the water arrow, or the fire arrow. They have only one impact sound each (splash/kaboom).

 

Should there be a /bow/ folder instead, or do we point special arrow types (water/fire) to general water/fire sounds in the /world/ folder?

[Schatten]

I could live with a \bow\ folder, it's a good idea. We don't want to exchange a horridly long list of files with a horridly long list of directories.

[Springheel]

They have only one impact sound each (splash/kaboom).

 

Do we eventually want multiple versions of those sounds as well? (that doesn't change your argument, but just wondering)

[pakmannen]

We don't want to exchange a horridly long list of files with a horridly long list of directories.

My thoughts exactly

 

@Spring: I don't see why not. Two or three different ones would be good for variation.

[Schatten]

Ok, here's a draft of the new structure. If nobody complains, I'll mirror that structure on our ftp, update the sticky thread and point comp-music to it, so we can get this rolling:

 

I have the latest beta build, so I can modify the shaders, gui and def files therein to the new mapping. I reckon the guis are currently being worked on, so we may have to adjust things once they are at a more stable state.

[sparhawk]

Can you repost this structure, then I make it sticky.

[Schatten]

Can you repost this structure, then I make it sticky.

 

I could just edit the already sticky thread for sound folder structure myself.

 

The reason why I dind't do it yet is because I want some feedback from the other sound guys first, in case I missed something or one of them has a better idea for a particular sub-folder.

[sparhawk]

Ok. So as soon as it is agreed, this chart should go into the sticky as it is really helpfull.

[comp-music]

sfx\tools\projectiles\ |Bow,croosbow and arrow sounds.Also magic projectile sounds.

 

Hi everybody,

Cool structure but why you put Bow,croosbow and arrow sounds with magic projectiles ?

i think you can separate between them,you can create new folder call it

Magic projectile FX,as example

 

 

sfx\world\doors |Doors sounds

 

you mean All doors metal and wood >slidy and spinny doors,shutters....etc?

[Springheel]

i think you can separate between them,you can create new folder call it

Magic projectile FX,as example

 

That's a good point. In fact something like a 'magic fx folder might be good, since the same magical sounds might be useful for other things besides projectiles.

[pakmannen]

Seems pretty good. A few things though:

 

Impact sounds (stuff hitting other stuff) goes in the sfx\movement folder?

Is an impact considered a movement? I guess it is, sort of, but it doesn't seem logical to me.

 

Wouldn't it make more sense to put the materials folder in world, and name the sounds wood_impact, wood_destroyed, wood_slide, wood_dropped or something like that?

 

@Spring: That's sort of what I was getting to earlier. Some things, like the elemental arrows (fire/water) use pretty generic sounds (explosion/splash) which could possibly be used for other stuff as well. But then again, it might be good to distinguish the weapon sounds from other sounds, so they are easily recognizable.

[comp-music]

Impact sounds (stuff hitting other stuff) goes in the sfx\movement folder?

Hi,

 

I think Yes,Impact sounds goes in the sfx\movement folder.

Are you can Hit anything without movement?

 

Wouldn't it make more sense to put the materials folder in world, and name the sounds wood_impact, wood_destroyed, wood_slide, wood_dropped or something like that?

 

make sense to rename the sfx\movement\materials folder to sfx\movement\impact.

[Schatten]

A seperate directory for magic fx is a good idea. I'll adjust the list.

 

comp-music, the reason why I included all doors into one folder is that we don't want to have a lot of directories instead of a lot of files to browse. For the same reason I'm not sure to seperate impact from movement sounds, but I wouldn't veto a seperate impact folder. Read on though, you'll see what I have in mind.

 

To clarify on the movement\materials folder:

Because we are creating a repository for a tool set, we need material sounds that authors can apply to thier custom objects. To make a few examples:

 

mat_wood_solid_over_marble_loop.ogg

...would be a sound for chairs, tables, filled crates and so on when they are pushed over a marble floor

 

mat_marble_hollow_hit_stone_01.ogg

...would be a sound for vases, cups, etc for when the player picks up such an item and drops/throws it on a stone wall or floor.

 

Generic damage/destruction sounds should also go here.

mat_glass_destroyed.ogg

mat_wood_hollow_damaged.ogg

 

Because some impact and movement sounds will sound very similar on the same material categories, we can slim down the workload for those and name them accordingly, like:

mat_stone_hit_soft.ogg

...for a stone hitting a carpet or grass.

 

I think we can consider elements as materials in this regard. This should apply to generic elemental sounds, because it makes sense to keep the weapon sounds distinct for gameplay reasons.

 

mat_water_hit_hard.ogg

...would be a splash, maybe from a bucket with water turned over.

 

Impact sounds for weapons like elemental arrows should remain in the \tools\ folder imo, for seperating them from the generic sounds. The same should be true for specialized objects, ie. those sounds would go to the \world\ folder. For example, if a player wants to hurl a guitar around, that would be sfx\world\musical\guitar_impact_01.ogg or similar. This way we can keep specialized sounds seperate from the generic ones and won't mess up either folder.

 

I was already thinking about creating a checklist for the \movement\materials\ folder. Pak, you have sounds that'd fall into that category already listed in the sticky - would it be ok with you if I'd create a generic material list from scratch?

[comp-music]

comp-music, the reason why I included all doors into one folder is that we don't want to have a lot of directories instead of a lot of files to browse. For the same reason I'm not sure to seperate impact from movement sounds, but I wouldn't veto a seperate impact folder. Read on though, you'll see what I have in mind.

 

Hi everybody,

 

 

I know that "Schatten"but sometimes you must have a lot of directories or subdirectories to easily recognizable

Anyway we'll wait.

 

BTW:I think we don't need this discussion about folder structure take long time!

 

Bye

[Schatten]

Right, I've had a busy week.. I'll update the files and list over this weekend.

[Schatten]

Ok, I've updated the table and mirrored the folder structure on the ftp in TheDarkMod/sounds. I've updated the sticky accordingly.

 

I have modified all relevant gui,def and sound shader files and applied the structure on the mod directories. I'll upload it on monday from work, my modem doesn't provide the bandwidth for this. The reorganized structure will replace the current structure in the repository, so it should be synchronized by someone with access as soon as possible.

 

If any WIP files are affected by this, I have a table with the search/replace terms, so files modified after the beta release can be adjusted pretty quickly. The person synchronizing should take care not to overwrite anything with a version date after the beta release.

 

comp-music, you can upload your sounds to the ftp and use the guidelines provided in the sticky thread. Sorry it took so long, but it's better to think things through before jumping straight in.

[comp-music]

Hi everybody,

 

Good work "Schatten" i will upload it right now.

[comp-music]

username OR pass not working!

[sparhawk]

Did you setup SVN? Can you send me your password again? Or do you mean FTP password?

[Schatten]

Huh, it should work... I have no problems with the account data.

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=609

[Schatten]

All right, the update is on the ftp. Now I have to ask somebody to synchronize it:

 

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part01.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part02.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part03.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part04.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part05.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part06.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part07.rar

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/miscellan...date.part08.rar

 

Watch it, every file is ~20 megs.

 

Please, please take care not to overwrite stuff that has changed since the 0.004 alpha. I don't want to be responsible for destroying somebody's work.