Maps in the Filebase ?
 

Just an idea that crossed my mind...

Would you mappers be interested in posting your bot-friendly maps, both releases and WIPs, in our filebase here at Bots United ?

That would make sense... They would benefit from download counters and that would sorta give them a "bot certification". And the more we unite the community, the better IMO.

What do you guys think ? :)

If you like this idea we'll take this discussion to the Agora for the other members to debate on and the Council to approve. Someone could then create a "maps" category in the filebase for people to post their releases there.

*edit* btw, the filebase allows external links too... so you can still keep your downloads on your current site and just set the download link to point there...

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

i have 5 or so beta ( unfinished works collecting dust ) maps that i would love to submit.

i have 2 ( WIP ) ( ATM )...

*** anyone have my first one cs_electrode ??? ***

i currently have a terrashare acount with like 12mbs or something of free cheap space i post images on...

ill have them zipped up by the time i post this... ( only have basic .bsp , .mdl , .spr , etc etc etc )

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

aye it would be nice....me wondeer's about ur guys bandwidth...if we start hosting maps

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I wonder about using bandwidth on unfinished maps & stuff.
No offence 3rd, etc., but you may as well have something "cherry" looking in place, rather than a bunch of 1/2 done things.
Keep 'er looking pro ... & all that.
We can already post WIP threads, so why be redundant.
I say, "Finished maps only."
(But ... hey ... I ain't the boss.)

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I'd even suggest "finished & tested" maps. You know, there are many map archives out there. Most of them offer no more than a post stamp-sized screenshot (if anything). IMHO, the filebase here at bots-united would be a good place for an archive of maps that have been "bot-verified".
Old maps could be added to the archive as well - if they work well with bots. The file base entry could remain a link to one of the mentioned archives - they are many, and mostly they have huge bandwidth reserves.
The only question now is if there are any substantial differences in what one bot can do and the other one can't. For example, what do we do if JoeBots open doors that need to be "used" (the doors themselves, no button!) just fine, whereas IvPBots have problems doing the same? (Just an example, I dunno about these two bots' particular abilities!)
Well, I'm not the boss here, either, and I certainly don't want to do anything to upset you great mappers now the mapping forum is slowly getting busier and more visited - all I'm looking for is a possiblity to make a possible map archive in this place something special, preferably in way that it has to so something with the overall site topic - bots.
What do you think?

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I think that it makes a lot of sense. The "bot certification" thingy is definitely something I had in mind, but I might not have foreseen all the bandwidth expense. When it comes to hosting WIP maps... both of you are right. Perhaps I was just getting impatient of being only able to see SoUlFaThEr's and Carp's beautiful screenshots and not having a chance to actually play their maps yet :D

But it's cool that you seem to agree that we should nevertheless have some sort of bot-verified maps section here.

In any case, if the bandwidth is really the problem, I will stress out that you can still host your maps on your own servers, and just have the filebase redirect our visitors there. You can supply your own download URL for every filebase entry, instead of uploading a file to BU.

Anyway guys... there's no "boss" here ;)
That's just the point of having a Council and an agora to discuss things and bounce ideas around - YOU participate. :)

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I wonder if it would be ok to link to download pages instead of directly to the files. I mean, some map archives don't allow hotlinking (quite understandable from their position), so if we'd place a link to any map they are hosting it would lead to a page where you still have to click some "download" button to get the map.
Often there are direct links available somewhere, but they tend to be less reliable sources and often go down. It's possible to place several mirror links for one file base item, isn't it?

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

i love this idea.....most of my maps were made with thoughts of bot navigation...so i never put in wierd things just because bots may not be able to do them.....and made sure layouts were ok enough that the bots would use the whole map :)

i vote for ONLY finished maps tho and maybe the external linking is a good idea too...for example my maps are ALL at Terrans Excalibur and its the only place where ALL of them exist(actually i need someone to hack 2 of mine cuz they got ruined with cs1.5 my hossies are in the floor)

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

OK - I think it's time to move this thread to the Agora for public discussion with the non-mappers :)

I'm going to side with the finished maps only. Do we need a vote or does the Council already agree ?

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

Any mappers would consider a map for TOD ??

TOD mapping is close to CS mapping considering entities and fgd use.
Form what i heard TOD has an excelent fgd although im no mapper (it's what i heard. and a little propaganda from my side ofcoarse =))

--------
edit.

counter strike DE maps play out of the box on TOD except for the bomb spot.
Well TOD has more goodies like choppers and tanks and jeeps. :D

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

Not to be confused with CS:CZ TOD (Tour of Duty)...

There are a small group of us in the cz community looking for hosting for CS:CZ TOD mission pack add-ons. This does relate to bots (CSBot), but packs are coming out that will include maps and models, which can get quite large. The demo for my pack will be approx. ~ 70Mb using some quite large maps. I highly doubt you guys would donate the space for pack hosting, but what about a webpage or forum topic for the creators of these packs? Something like czmissions.bots-united.com?
Now that I think about it, a gaming server company has agreed to donate pack hosting so that's no problem.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

dead topic?

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I don't really see in what sense CZ missions have more to do with bots than maps in general... ???:(

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

They are Single Player Missions using CSBots. not on-line anything. Custom maps also require nav editing to make the maps more playable with csbot. A mission pack would contain:
-mission files
=career files: maps, their tasks, pretty much the "coding" of the missions.
=bot files: botprofile, navs for custom maps.
-custom maps (if any)
-custom models (if any)
-other add-ons (if any): sounds, cfg files, etc...

These missions are designed to play with CSBot. They are Single Player only.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

my bad, OK. 9_9

We still need to hear other council member's voices.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

***BUMP***

agreed!

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

RE-BUMP

OK, well since every single council member here seems so lazy to even formulate a "I agree" / "I disagree and why" line and post it to this frikkin thread, here's a poll then. >:(

Everybody can vote and comment over. Council members are REQUIRED to vote. <swear>.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I voted "yes" but only for bot certified final release maps.

ps I originaly wrote boted instead of voted, I'm a lifer.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I like the idea of having only finished maps in the db. I doubt many wants to play half-finished maps.

However it would be cool to have the rmfs of the unfinished maps in the db. There are loads of archieves on the net which offer finished maps, but very few which offer half-done maps.

I bet all mappers have plenty of unfinished maps which others might want to finish. Besides that rmf files zipped only fill up very few kbs.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

That makes sense, Zacker. Thanks for the idea :)
Since these RMF files only take a few kilobytes I suppose that's perfectly okay if they have their place in the filebase too.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

It can't hurt, I guess. Strictly speaking, unfinished maps are not what I'd call "fully on topic", but hey, if those rmf's are just a few kB in size...
Besides, it may draw some peoples' attention to this site although they'd never have visited it if their search thingy hadn't told them that there are rmf's to be found here. And once they're here, who knows? Maybe they'll think "What's this site about, anyway?", look around a bit and get interested in bots? Just a vague hope, but I think trading a few kB for this hope sounds like a fair deal.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

I made a map for TOD ... once.
I was ... basically grumbled outta the community for stating the fact that not all soil is red in Vietnam.
The fgd for TOD is fine.
The people involved in TOD ... I can't say the same about.
Self-righteous blowhards.
Safely, I can say that my map was not great, but it was still just a 1st beta & showed some potential, at least.
It was impossible to get any useable feedback from anyone at their forums.
They were completely unsupportive of new mappers.
(Astonishing, as most of the official maps were REALLY friggin' ugly.)
Well ... they got their wish ... nobody plays their mod.

It was, at best, an unpleasant experience.

p.s. Their prefab vehicles were wrought with overlapping brushes.
Every time I used on ... it required rebuilding/retexturing first.
(Which defeats the whole purpose of having mod-specific prefabs available on your website.)

Umm ... yeah.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

3 council members voted Yes. Majority is reached. Vote validated! :)

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

Im sorry yr experiece with TOD was that bad.
But TOD is run by a new team now.
Maybee they are more willing/cooperativer as before.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

Sned me the maps or a link to the maps and I will fix them and send them back in a few minutes.

Re: Maps in the Filebase ?
 

oh well damn!! Thanks Austin :)

i dont have one single unfinished map.