ColumbusOHGamer Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 After lurking on the BTS board for quite some time now and seeing how many different websites exist for mods and scenarios, I've decided to try and do something constructive. If I create a VERY easy to use, very basic, website for storage and retrieval of *ALL* the mods and scenarios currently available, would anyone use it? It would include a place to u/l your own mods and scens. There would be nothing fancy about this. I don't have time to create a full-blown be-all-that-you-can-be website. This would be more like a big file server. The idea is to have ONE place where people can go to get their mods and scens. Should I spend my time doing this, or are there enough/too many of these websites already? Thanks. COG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWB Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Central Mod repository would be cool. There is already a scenario depot that serves that function for scenarios. You can check it out at the first link in my sig below. WWB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Björn Eriksson Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 I would definetly use it. I hate having to search all the CM sites on the web in order to find good mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jussi Köhler Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 It depends a bit... Firstly, you would be undermining the work of MANY webmasters who might have worked very hard on their page-layout, material etc... Secondly, this would admittedly be quite handy... Difficult to say, maybe I would go with the majority on this one... Let the voting begin! Jussi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 It would indeed be used, but be warned. Several popular CMBO 'free' sites have had the plug pulled in the last year because all those file transfers were using too much bandwidth (I think one said as much bandwidth as a fair-sized corporation usually uses!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agua Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 As WWB stated, the Scenario Depot already provides a single source for nearly every scenario that has ever been published (probably less than 20 old scenarios out there Keith hasn't found). A one stop mod repository would be most appreciated. You're going to run into the same problem Keith did initially with the scenario depot, though: you'll need to get the artists' permission before hosting their mods. Very ambitious project. Best of luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusOHGamer Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Yes, I thought about upsetting the webmasters who put a lot of time and effort into thier websites. Some of them are VERY good and I don't want to rub anyone's fur the wrong way. I'm not talking about anything fancy. I have no artisic talent whatsoever, but I can program the crap out of a web database. Hence the question... should I do this? Thanks for the input. I want to hear form both sides. that'll let me know if it's the right thing to do. COG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabla Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Yes, but only if you can do it very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbott Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 The more good CMBO/CMBB sites the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusOHGamer Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Mikey has good point... bandwidth might end up being an issue. I use WOW cable for my ISP and don't know how they would feel about this. Maybe they won't care. The only way I know to find out is to try it and see what happens. You've got me thinking about that though.... COG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kump Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 If you build it, of course they will come. The more, the merrier. Additional resources for the CM Community is a good thing. Stop the talking, soldier. Get to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal DI FOLCO Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Until recently CMHQ acted pretty much as a central mod repository... I hope it'll be restarted soon, is Madmatt ill ? :confused: Now we need one for CMBB, but think that a site like this will need maybe some 10 Gb storage AND maybe as much as DAILY bandwidth ! I don't think a private Cable subscription allow for that :eek: . We should rather use some University comps ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Keth Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 As WWB stated, the Scenario Depot already provides a single source for nearly every scenario that has ever been published (probably less than 20 old scenarios out there Keith hasn't found). Truth be known, I have prolly 50+ CMBO scenarios that I could never get the author to respond, thus never gained permission and never got posted. <sniff> Such a loss. </sniff> Plus there are 50+ CMBO scenarios hosted on other sites (like the Fading Hope campaign), that I would never be presumptuous enough to post even the synopses without their explicit permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Keth Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Originally posted by ColumbusOHGamer: Mikey has good point... bandwidth might end up being an issue. I use WOW cable for my ISP and don't know how they would feel about this. Maybe they won't care. The only way I know to find out is to try it and see what happens. You've got me thinking about that though.... COGBandwidth, especially for mods, will be a big issue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what laid Manx's site low? The Scenario Depot has nearly a million page hits per month, and 10+Gb worth of traffic, and that's just for comparatively smaller files. Make sure your web host allows as much traffic (hopefully unlimited) as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusOHGamer Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Thanks for the info Admiral! I sent an email requesting the definition of "too much bandwidth" to the head techie at WOW. When I get an answer, then that will determine if I do this or not. I host a coulpe other non-professional sites and don't want to have my access to everything pulled because I host a mod site. Here's what WOW had to say in it's service agreement: F. CUSTOMER shall not utilize excessive "bandwidth" (i.e. volume of data transmitted) arising out of the Service at any time and on an on-going basis. PROVIDER shall have the sole and unreviewable right to determine whether CUSTOMER’S use violates this standard. Hmmmm......doesn't look good. COG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pvt. Ryan Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Most cable providers do not allow you to set up a server on your account at all. They usually provide customers with a small amount of space on their server, 5 or 10 MB. I think the excessive bandwidth you quoted was referring to downloads, not uploads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameroon Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Well, since reposting all the mods that are already being hosted is probably not feasible (due to bandwidth, getting everyone's permissions, etc)... would a slightly different approach be more feasible? In general I like visiting the different CM sites. They all have their different styles, layouts etc. But I never have ANY clue which one has what mods, and most of them have thumbnails that still strain the patience with a 56k modem. Would a site that provided a highly searchable catalogue of Mods be a useful design? I'm not advocating providing direct links to the downloads, just links to the page where the Mod resides. Or to the site, if to the page with the mod is considered bad form (though I'm hoping the community is for the "to the page" ). Heh, then I'd be able to get Mods off of Tom's site even if he sticks with the evil Java nav bar (crashes Mac Mozilla almost every time). Take CMHQ for example. There are a TON of CMBO mods, but to find what you're looking for requires an extensive amount of hunting Personally, being able to search for things like keywords "tiger" and "weathered" as well as author, game (CMBO/CMBB), etc would be invaluable. Of course, that would ALSO be a ton of work (all the categorization)... but I'd sing your praises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pvt. Ryan Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Manx had that database on his Combatmissions site. He started transfering the list to CMHQ but I don't think he ever finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dog Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Just a thought. Perhaps, if you are deft at programming search databases and want to offer some of that expertise to the community, you should see if Kump could incorporate some sort of search application you developed into his CMBB Mod Catalogue? His catalogue is far and away the best source for reviewing what mods are available, and includes a link to each mod source. Combine that with a detailed search function... Oh, yeah! Some example search criteria: Mods added to the Catalogue since a certain date All mods by a particular mod artist Mods covering a particular unit (e.g. Soviet Guards Armor) Mods of a definable type (camo, Pigpen, whitewashed, etc.) Mods at a particular website Not sure what's involved, but I can sure see the combination as useful for the community. - Old Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wodasini88 Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 First I'd like to say this would deffinately help the CM community. I'v never liked the senerio depot as my first experiance with fan based file archives was myth2. http://www.mythmaps.com/ is a very good example of a solid file site. Senerio depot has a poor search system and lots of broken links to files. To do this type of thing you got to have access to a lot of server space and a helluva lot of bandwidth. I'd suggest emailing the creaters of the page I gave you and get some info from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusOHGamer Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 This is the response I got when I asked how much bandwidth use is too much: "We block ports for residential accounts for both Web and FTP services. These options are available though through commercial accounts." How would you take that message??? I'm thinking I'm going to have to find an alternative... COG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusOHGamer Posted October 28, 2002 Author Share Posted October 28, 2002 I went ahead and did it! http://cm.cozog.com Let me know what you think... COG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted October 28, 2002 Share Posted October 28, 2002 Well I think it's a great idea, and as far as permission goes, if I'm not mistaken when you read the read-me files in the zip, the mod creators give permission to use the mod as long as you let people know who made the mod, and don't try to take credit for the mod, and they even go as far to write that you can even change the mod as long as you give the author of the mod credit for using his mod as a basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warlord69 Posted October 28, 2002 Share Posted October 28, 2002 I'm loving your new website. I picked up all the CMBB mods today that I've been trouble getting. Thanks, now I'm up to date. I hope you don't go bankrupt over this attempt. Don't worry about pretty graphics or anything like that. Just give us the mods! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecumseh Posted October 28, 2002 Share Posted October 28, 2002 yeah this is the easiest mod website i've used. Find what i want straight away, then instant download at 40kbps. Great work dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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