Integrated mod/addon distribution as future Arma feature?

[galzohar 31]

Yeah including the mod in the mission is good for tiny mods that are only used in this mission, but is bad for big mods that are used in many missions. And if your mission uses a big mod that is only used in your mission than you should really re-consider how you pick which addons to use in your missions.

[KELLO 0]

obviously including the bigger mods like ace would be silly, but if all servers had the bigger mods on, and a tag in the server name to indicate this, then the subtle mods that are not so big can be added into the missions as and when...the mods on a dedi take a few minutes to download and install, so its not that big a deal to add big file size mods to a dedicated server...and if I'm right, the mods are only used if the mission requires them, so running a non mod mission would enable players with vanilla installs still be able to play...Is that right?? :j:

If you want to test this mac, i'll give you acces to a server to try it for testing. i'll get you ftp access etc, pm me or get me on msn or steam...

TaxMan can get hold of me also.

[quiet_man 8]

It is naive to suppose it is so straightforward. What if you want to join a server running an ACE beta release, should it overwrite your ACE 1.0 folder? Create a new folder for each new beta release? Decide to overwrite the beta release used on your usual favourite server? There are other games that do it but none of them have to deal with the volume and variety of modifications available for this game. And when the server has downloaded 800MB of ACE how will you know how to use it if you haven't had to invest a single ounce of energy in seeking out what it is and what it does.

partly right, last time I tried to join a ACE server I was kicked because of not allowed files. The server had an older ACE version but I had no clue which.

Asking the player if he likes to overwrite his version with the one the server runs would be a hundred times better than now.

Also I just learned that one server I played for months allows a gras mod :butbut: and I always though the other players were simply better :j:

Sorry no, all concerns should be looked at, but this needs to be integrated for "normal" players. If someone likes to play with hand selected mods and players who know the "secret" URL to download the right stuff, he can always do it.

QuietMan

[Yoma 0]

Asking the player if he likes to overwrite his version with the one the server runs would be a hundred times better than now.

Also I just learned that one server I played for months allows a gras mod :butbut: and I always though the other players were simply better :j:

Sorry no, all concerns should be looked at, but this needs to be integrated for "normal" players. If someone likes to play with hand selected mods and players who know the "secret" URL to download the right stuff, he can always do it.

QuietMan

Just to let you know: AddonSync can tell you what signatures a server allows.

It also allows you to download files to a separate folder.

And you can also query for a signature through the integrated GS browser.

As for integration of addon downloads: of course that would be great. However it is by no means an easy feat given the allround liberty server admins have for installing stuff/signing stuff/packaging stuff.

It all depends on how easy you want it to be for the enduser.

The thing both Sickboy and I are doing is simply trying to implement something that could be tightly integrated in the server program itself.

Every approach taken will have it's good and bad sides, but bottom line is that it's something like JIP and probably sooner or later BIS will fix up the problem.

[Slyder73 10]

I'm with Pulverizer here. If people find even Yoma's AddonSync difficult to use/comprehend, there's no hope.

What's so difficult about it? What's there to understand? You paste a provided url to a tab called "Auto config URL", you click import, click the "Download Addons" tab, and then download the addons. It's all done for you.

rSync is a lot less user friendly, but if you follow the provided manual, it's easy enough to set up.

Not to mention we also have a stickied thread in this forum section called "MP Mission manuals here please!" with lots and lots of information. On top of that, Terox made this Multiplayer Guide.

If you want to know how to use Six Updater or Yoma's, read through them. It's all about RTFM.

The problem is that there will be a large contingency of players who are not gamers, but tactical minded, mature, adult players who will never come to these forums or go hunting and searching for a variety of addons that require specific knowledge and skills at "computer stuff". This group, and I'd consider myself mostly one of them, won't be on here hunting for stuff, will be more casually looking for good play in the little time available for games and is probably by far the largest group of potential new players to the game who will never show up to play. The two friends I had buy the game with me, have both since quit playing because of the complexity of trying to get anything to work for a good PvP and they are not idiots, or kids, but professionals who like the game and the tactical realism involved but know next to nothing about more than the surface features of computers. One of them is 50 and knows how to play well with others but won't come back to a game like this unless it is more "user friendly" to the average player.

I disagree that if you make it easier you will attract idiots. Sure, there will be some, but by far, the game will attract MANY more good players who just aren't interested in the modding/programming/coding or whatnot it takes to get anything to work in this game.