I've been thinking, and it's time we setup some modding guidelines/rules. I'm not thinking about the making of mods, but how they are distributed, and what documentation they should contain. I'm sick and tired of you durned programmers that love programming and hate documenting your work!

Anyway, the first issue I wish to address is the info/setup of the readme file you include with your mod/tool. Believe it or not, but there is in fact sort of a "standard" our there. I tried to find documentation on it, but to no avail. Even so, Gurkoz have used it in his sound mod, so I guess he would know. I will post the readme file that came with his mod as a suggested standard. Please comment on it and let's find a standard we are comfortable with (I know that means as little as possible for most of you ).

The first point I want to address aside from the documentation itself is the name of the .vfs file. NEVER call it cfg.vfs! Always call it modname+cfg.vfs. This way we will most likely not have trouble with mods overwriting each other, except for the ones changing the localizationpack.vfs. This is a temporary solution though, since I would prefer in the future that all mods are Alpine plugins. That makes things so much easier for everyone using them.

Second is the actual name of the readme file. NEVER call it readme.txt. Every fool in the galaxy is calling their mod's readme file that, and the result is that all mods overwrite each other's readme files. VERY annoying.

Third, it's time your mods get some more exposure. Therefore I suggest we talk to the eminent people at ModDB, and ask if they are interested in adding Aftermath. If they are I suggest we add the larger/more interesting mods to this site. It has a HUGE amount of users, and is a nice resource in my opinion. With ModDb, IMDB and ToTheGame I have more or less all the sites I ever need

Sooooo, what are your thoughts on this? More "rules" that should be added?

Here's the readme file from Gurkoz's mod:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : GurkoZ Productions UFO Aftermath Enhancement
Filename : gpufoeh01beta.zip
Version : 0.1 Beta
Supports : UFO Aftermath v1.0+
Base Used: UFO Aftermath v1.2
Date : 2003-11-15
Author : GurkoZ
Email : gurkoz@gurkoz.com
Homepage : http://www.gurkoz.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Well, uhm... like,.. what is this butthead?

A: Basiclly, this thingy is a set of sounds than will hopefully, add
additional depth and feeling to your UFO game experience.

My first reactions from this game was that the sound effects really
was lacking. You can be highly involved in a game experience up to the
point when you notice something that pulls you out of the game.
i.e, Gaps and flaws in the design. Things that distract you from
enjoying the game to it's full extent. And to my experience,
the sound was one of these things.

Anyway, don't get me wrong here.. big cheers to Altar for
this well designed game, i only want to make a good product even better.
What i would like to accomplish with this enhancement is to fill
in those missing gaps too keep you in depth with the full game experience.

Like all other enhancements i've made for games, they will only just
"Enhance" the game, not alter it in any other way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How do i install this neat thingy?

A: Unzip the content into your UFO directory.
A file called cfg.vfs will be created and your ready to go.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Well, i've installed it, now how do i run it?

A: Just start the game dude.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Is it compatible with comming versions?
Now go try out this new experience! ;o)

A: Gee.. i guess so... if Altar doesn't change a hell of a lot on the basic
setup.. i guess it will work. Mind you, this is just a beta version that
is using the cfg mod loading solution. A better mod support is under
development. So be sure to check http://www.gurkoz.com for updates.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: So what does this enhancement include?

A: This first release is targetet towards the sound aspect of the game.
It contains new weapon sounds for just about every weapon.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Didn't you create pakfiles for Quake 1,2 and 3?, is it still available?

A: Yeh, it sure is.. check in @ http://www.gurkoz.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Loc'tar!, i love your work! can i donate some money, beer or
my sisters?

A: You sure can ;o)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Problems
--------
* The size of the sounds may cause memory problems...
But i don't think so,.. unless your playing with 16MB RAM.
If you encounter problems, buy more memory you sneak ;o)

Future
------
* Future versions is allready in the works.
It will feature not just replacement sounds like this release, but will
introduce fully featured and distinct sounds for all weapons.
Also new music and ambient sounds to add to the allready creepy settings.
And hopefully, full sounds for aliens like screams, death and grunts.
Anyway, you get the picture ;o)

Notes
-----
* In order to keep the filesize at a respectable level, i resampled all sounds
in 22kHz. Although 44kHz is sweeet this will do for now ;o)
I may use 44 in a final version to give it a nice ending, time will tell.


Credits
-------
well, me and my spare time ;o)
(spare time.. yeah right)


Beta and Quality Assurance testers
----------------------------------

* Uhm me ;o)
I really didn't have enough time to test this properly.
Hence the Beta state ;o) If you find something strange,
Please let me know. Future versions and updates will follow.

Disclamer and Distribution Permissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This software is distributed 'as is'.
I am not responsible for any damage or modification this mod does to your
hardware or software, if you play UFO Aftermath you ought to be tough enough
to take full responsibility for your dirty deeds.

GurkoZ is not responsible for any harm or psychological affects,
loss of hearing, fatigue or generalirresponsibility from playing
with this Enhancement.

This Enhancement is freeware and can be distributed freely as long as
the zip and it's content is not modified.

I am doing this just for kicks and to honour a great game like UFO Aftermath.
Comments, cheers, beer, wrapped boogers and your sisters are always welcome ;o)

sigget, Aralez, Fulby and everyone else that is modding. This question is meant for you. So get the finger out of your behind and answer!

Gives Slaughter the finger

The ALPine plugins already have a fairly obvious structure both for the plugins and the readme, and it's even mentioned in the documentation . The included plugins can be used as examples of where to put plugin files ("plugins\pluginname" directory) and of how to write the "plugin readme.txt". Plugins shouldn't need installation instructions if they are zipped up right (i.e. relative to the plugins\ directory), so the readme can just be usage instructions.

Fulby

But i really like my readme.txt's all written in lowercase

Hm i thought my readme (which is called RebalanceMod.txt btw) was sufficient, it contained all the info one needs, listed the changes in an orderly manner. And in the newest version it is called RBMODcfg.vfs. So i think i fullfilled al f siggets proposals.

Btw, my finger was not in my behind, but in a girls XXXXX , so please apologize Slaughter

lol Aralez

So what you guys are saying is basically that you are all happy with your documentation?

*sigh*

But yeah, I agree with you Fulby, if all the mods ended up as Alpine plugins, and documented thereafter that would be best. Let's go for that guys?

And a request for the Alpine by the way Fulby. How about you split the left column in two, the top ones being the plugins that follow Alpine, and the bottom ones the ones where you need to download extra stuff like the musicmod and rebalance?

That would be quite difficult, as a stop gap I've changed the names of those mods to have an asterisk in front of them and added a note when ALPine starts to inform people that those plugins need extra files. Something like what you suggest may be added to some future version of ALPine (I'll add it to the TODO list )

Fulby

Hm, i will try to rework my readme for the next version, it never seemed that important to me, but ok....

Now for that Alpine plugin style , well you have to talk to Fnurg about that: he's doing a complete new installer/uninstaller for the next RBMod (written in Visual Basic with nice Splash screen etc.), i don't think he will be very happy to see all his work "wasted". I have to admit i like the previews of his installer A LOT!

Well, maybe you can convince him to do an extra Alpine-plugin as well, but you have to ask HIM, he's doing all that work.

A fancy installer doesn't help much if the mod isn't compatible with other mods, now does it?

And by the way, there are loads of free installers out ther already. Why make a new one?

Well, we'll have to wait for fnurg, it's his work. So only he can decide what he'll do.

Update: I mailed fnurg to take a look at this thread.

This post has been edited by Aralez: 4th December 2003, 11:40pm

I dont mind trashing the installer i wrote. I was just trying to make installation and execution of the rebalance mod as easy as possible (no copying of files into different directories and such)
Admittidly, i havent had a look at alpine. I'll be sure to try to make the mod alpine compatable, and to rewrite the readme file into a better layout. Although im not too keen on the one specified in this thread.

The next version of ALPine will support mods with files of the form "*cfg.vfs", so if the next Rebalance mod's cfg.vfs file fits that it should work with ALPine. (Previously the files had to be called "cfg.vfs".)

Fulby

No need to trash your installer Fnurg. Why don't you make it a nice Alpine installer instead. Get directions from Fulby on where to put the files and so on, and we'll have a nice installer for use with the Alpine tool. Thus everyone making mods can have a nice Alpine installer for their mod. Sounds good?

And use the textfile standard you want, as long as you make one textfile that fits into Alpine.

Oh, and these are not orders from my side . They are mere suggestions to make life easier for everyone. You are welcome to add your thoughts or protests

I've uploaded a small beta of an Alpine plugin. It's about a small bird floating and shooting, i used the readmes provided by Fulby, is that a start?

Good boy . I'll add it to the site now.

I start to think that the next RB-Mod will be the final "fullfledged" mod. Other RB mods and addons will be delivered in small plugins then. This will make updates easier , faster, more flexible and will take some of the workload of the poor fnurg, i think i posted enough versions of the RBMod to him to fill a 120GB harddrive

Hehe, that sounds good to me. Much better to let people "make their own mods" by choosing what plugins to apply.

In fact, the way I see it, you should make little plugins for Alpine all the way, and then compile a RB mod from some selected plugins now and then to add to the site as the rebalance mod. We could even have polls as to what to include in the mod...

Sounds like a good idea. Fnurg and me agreed on doing this "last" version of the RB-Mod before Xmas, then we'll wait for the official tools to be released.We will decide and plan then about further mods. Fnurg also volunteered to do the readme in an readable and organized manner (unlike mine) and even to make the mod an Alpine-Plugin! I will try to finish my work on the mod this weekend, send it then to Fnurg for addition of his files, then he'll upload that thing to Slaughter. Oh, btw, the new mod will be a "naked" version, too. So everyone should be satisfied.