Conclusion: Deleted
(wow, I think I've officially entered the realm of asshole with this one)
Hence the edited post. I think I edited it a little too late though... I wasn't trying to offend anyone (although clearly I did).
So, to be more objective, the maps are a great of example of finished released (a refreshing change to the various unfinished projects floating around).Thank you thats exactly what I was trying to do. Make something and finish it
However, there is definatly room for improvement, namely in the naming convention of both the mission's names as well as the file names.I had not really thought the name was important but that can be changed without to much trouble if people think its that important to do. Besides I have never been good with names.
cEden and cPlymouth are easily confused with something else and anybody can choose those names,.... so that wouldn't be my first choice of a name. The colony mission names I think should probably be something more than just "easy colony eden".
The ZIP's structure isn't what I would have chosen as it is somewhat arduous to go through. I would have probably stuck all of the playable files into a VOL file of sorts (e.g., sb_pack1.vol) and then put the source files into another directory like 'source' or 'src'. It makes it easier to browse. Actually, it might even be easier to just leave the source files in a different archive altogether so that those who want to view it can download it and those who don't care for the source and just want the maps can download those.I thought it would be nice to allow everyone to be able to edit the missions themselfs to make the small changes they wanted or to use the files to make a new colony mission. And this is the first time I have ever used Zip the other way around so I did not really know what I was doing.
Anyway, long story short: clean finished maps. Distribution and naming could use some work.
I would say that these are sandbox maps, cause even on Hard, there are no attacks, and the ore is the same
As a note, dll's packed into a VOL file will not load. Those must be packaged independantly. However, MAP files can be packaged into VOL files. Generally the reason I would use VOL files are to package several maps together so that if I were to release a map pack with 5 maps in it, I'd only be distributing a ZIP with 6 files in it (the DLL files plus the one VOL file containing the maps).
As far as the ZIP structure, it's not that it's bad: it's just more complex than it needs to be.I like that layout. But I took your statment about having the source files in another zip and applied it so now I have two zips. it will save some download time for those on dialup too.
For instance, the structure I would have recommended is this:
+ ZIP FILE
| + SOURCE
| | + EDEN
| | | <source files>
| |
| | + PLYMOUTH
| | | <source files>
|
| cEden.dll
| cPlymouth.dll
| cow.map
Spiritflyers population colony game for Eden - easy mode
Spiritflyers population colony game for Plymouth - easy mode
Spiritplym.dll
SpiritEden.dll
I think they are very original names, as the coders anme is in the files names
and spiriteden.map
And to make it show up you need to have the letter C at the start of any colony game.
SDescBlock DescBlock = { Colony, 1, 12, 0 }; // Important level details
^^^^^^
QuoteAnd to make it show up you need to have the letter C at the start of any colony game.
The 'C' in the beginning is not so that it shows up in the menu. It's a naming convention so that users can easily distinguish between different mission DLL's.
The engine looks at the internal map type within the DLL's exports. To be more specific:Code: [Select]^^^^^^SDescBlock DescBlock = { Colony, 1, 12, 0 }; // Important level details
It's in that part of the code that the game determines what type of map the mission DLL is and where to place it.
Actually, the "c" prefix to the level name IS required. The game only checks DLLs that start with the correct letter. It won't ever list a colony game in the colony game list box if you don't prefix the DLL name with a "c". It basically does this to save time when populating the list box. It only needs to open the DLLs that start with the right letter, and check for the required exports. If it finds them, then it reads in the level details and will display the game in the list box. So in short, you need both the DLL name prefix AND the DescBlock settings to agree for the level to appear in a list.
With that said, you can always test levels through the debug menu no matter what the DLL is named. It'll just list all the DLLs there.