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Universal Map Package Format Concept

by MovingTarget on 07/06/2008 20:12, 33 messages, last message: 09/25/2008 18:01, 15447 views, last view: 05/05/2024 14:03

I've been thinking lately about how exactly to solve the never-ending issue of incorrect map packaging over at Quadropolis.
I tried with a Python script I submitted, but it didn't turn out that well, and even if it did, how would the community two years from now find out it's there? Of course you could provide a link in the Packaging section, but who looks there?

Then it hit me: Why not have a file format that stores the map, textures, screenshot, models, and other stuff?
Someone who has made a map would run a command--let's say "packagemap"--and the engine would run some steps:

1) Engine checks that map file exists
2) Engine checks that map file has screenshot (if not, prompts user to take one?)
3) Engine checks cfg (if there is one) for textures, models, skyboxes, and sounds that aren't included in vanilla Sauerbraten and includes those in the file
4) Engine jams all the stuff into a file named MAPNAME.sauermap (?)

The user then does the usual steps to upload their map.
Another user downloads the map. They stick the map in the main Sauerbraten directory (or some other place) and starts the game up. Sauerbraten indexes wherever the map files are to be placed, finds the newly downloaded file, unpackages everything where it's supposed to go, and the user can then play the map, with hardly any effort on his/her part at all.
And they lived happily ever after :D

In an even better scenario, the user that made the map, after running "packagemap", runs "uploadmap" and a GUI comes up with fields for all the required stuff (title, blurb, detailed description, etc.) He fills them in, presses OK and the engine uploads the map to Quadropolis (possibly through an interface meant to be used by Sauerbraten clients). The only thing I'm not sure about with this part is the username the map will be posted under. Maybe a username and password field too? Anyway, this interaction could be done with the help of libcURL.

The second user starts up Sauerbraten and clicks on the "Quadropolis" entry on the main menu. Sauerbraten quickly retrieves the latest maps (RSS feed?), parses what it gets, and shows the user a GUI with the ten or so most recent maps. He clicks on one, gets the detailed description and a download button. He downloads the map, the engine takes care of the unpackaging, and he's golden.

Now this is all just a concept I thought up, but I thought it an interesting enough concept to share with the community. Currently I'm not going to work on this until I get the plugin stuff done, if I work on it at all (hey, I might not need to if eihrul beats me to it :D).

If you like the concept, post why you like it. If you don't like the concept, post why you don't like it. And both categories of people, post how you think the idea can be improved.

Board Index

#14: Re: Directory structure?

by SheeEttin on 07/07/2008 00:11, refers to #12

Yeah. I've been thinking about just setting up something on Quadropolis (or getting MeatROme or Quin or somebody with this kind of access) so that the map-upload form has fields for the CFG, screenshot, OGZ... and the packaging is done server-side. Completely skips the problem of user error. (Of course, it'd take a little more effort to support the packaging styles of Sauer, AC, etc.)