Glest Guide Update

[Omega]

Once I finish the elves webpage, I am going to (finally) update the glest guide (glest.110mb.com). It's been too long, so now I am going to add some new features, fix the information, update the mods section, and improve the xml guides. NOTE: The general format of the guide will not change. Will remove the splash screen.

TO DO:

-XML Reference: Will try to add synastix highlighting. No easy way to do this... (Ooh, manual work). Will impliment javascript so that when you hover over any line, it will tell you what that line does, and samples for that line in an unobtrusive manner.

-Up to date Mod list: All mods that have been released with a beta or better. I am a bit behind with them, so can someone send me a list of mods that have a beta or better?

-Section for using the G3D exporter

-General questions answering the majority of questions that a newbie to glest might ask (ie: how do I install a new tech tree?)

-Add new fan art that was submitted to me. If anyone wants to add more of there own, now would be a good time to send it.

-Links to download all mods and tilesets

-Strategies for all units in the standard magitech

POSSIBILITIES:

-Unit strategies for all mods that are classified as a FINAL release (persian, indian, norsemen, nihilirian, any others?)

-In depth guide on how to make a campaign style quest, in the way labyrinth was created.

NEED HELP WITH:

-List of all mods, and their current release status (in terms of how complete it is, ie: alpha, beta, half-done, final, etc;)

-IDEAS FOR ALL OTHER SECTIONS

-Possible GAE section? Still doesn't work for me, until I download a new linux OS, so this would have to be 100% from stuff I've read about and stuff others can help me with.

-List of errors/typos/spelling mistakes/grammar mistakes...

~THANKS. I want the glest guide to be helpful to everyone, so if there is any ideas for improval, state them!

*PS: Just out of curiosity, how do you like my custom avatar?

[Omega]

Sorry for DPing.

The guide should be up by the end of the week. I just have a few XMLs, the lua, and a small bit of pages to do. Then there's the mods. That'll have to wait until I can get a list of completed mods (too many alphas and betas and 'I am going to do this' things, can't keep track).

The new layout rocks (not up yet, so don't bother going to look for it). The best thing is the FORUM BOARDS that can be used to discuss Glest in ways not possible here, and for more depth on improving the guide. The XML layouts are far less complex, yet more detailed than before. The site has a friendlier feel to it, and seems less crowded (more information, better organization/layout). There is also a small quiz that is available for each person (cookies remove the 'almost ad-like' link after completion). The quiz is powered by PHP to write a special text file, which has a randomly generated name in a special folder. Since 110mb.com doesn't let free users use PHP Mail, I used write to file instead, with it easily accessible to me and me alone!

Expect to enjoy this version of the guide, and more improvements to come! (Still gotta scourge  the board soon and take links for every map, mod, tileset, and scenario (or the recent ones at least) and compile them into one page for rating and download. Truly useful. The board will make it possible to let everyone rate the file(s), so that it reflects multiple people's opinions!

So long for now, and any help getting the links would be great!

[-Archmage-]

i think you should do the latest news about the mods, and try to stay with it

[Omega]

Hey, have you ever tried going offline for a week, then checking with 10-15 new topics that have 10+ posts? Lets add limiting parents and internet to form a time limit on how long you can stay online, and bam. Things fall (slightly) behind. Though as far as I know, no new factions have been completed.

Heres my list:
-Indians
-Norsemen
-Persian
-Dwarfs (not final)
-Elves (not final)
-Nihilirian
-SST:LD
-Dark Magic (not final)

Is there other released? I'm just counting those that are at least fairly much closer to being done (many models OR very active with stable release)

NOT READY:
-sun/moon
-Military
-elemental
-dinosaurs
-glest5051
-egypt
-robotech
-goblin
-waroftheages

*NOTE: Some of these could end up dead (or already be). Not known if all creators will be able to go from start to finish.

[modman]

There also is the farmer faction...it has been released, but not as a final version.

[Omega]

Ok, thanks. Can everyone please post their own ratings of all the factions that they have (on a scale of 0-5)?

Heres mine:
Norsemen - 4
Persian - 4.5
Indians - 4.5
Dwarfs - 4
Elves - 3
Nihilirian - 4
SST:LD - 1.5
DM - 3

*Don't critize my scores. Just post your own. I can rate the faction better if I can get multiple opinions. Developers, please do not give yourself higher ratings just to make your faction look better. Be honest!

On the guide, I may consider using PHP, and writing to a file all the scores that users can submit, and then having PHP average all of those numbers and display the appropriant picture. Can someone tell me how to average all the numbers in a file? If I read it, how can I split the numbers? Should I use a regular expression with [:blank:]? Any better way?

[modman]

You may want to check out the faction grades at the factions download center.

[titi]

I still don't like this ratings, but here is mine:

Norsemen - 4.5
Persian - 4.5
Indians - 5
Dwarfs - 3-5 ( still in development )
Elves - 3-5 ( still in development )
Nihilirian - 4
SST:LD - 3.5
DM - 2-4 ( still in development )

[Omega]

I grade harder, I guess. What do you mean by 3-5, 2-4, etc? Do you mean current-finished version ratings (kind of insecure).

I guess I will make it a PHP page, since that will be best. However, how can I trust people not to just give their own factions higher ratings... Oh well. I guess their can be two ratings (developer rating, user rating, just like download.com).

I still don't like this ratings

Which??? You don't like the ratings I gave the mega pack or something??? Mine reflect only the current releases, and are a bit leaned on balance. I consider that to be very important. And I guess I never did like SST:LD...

[-Archmage-]

you're missing my eleminion mod
v1.2 will be out very soon (this weekend)

[Omega]

Whats the difference between elements/eleminion??? Is there one? I didn't really check.

I'll try to download it sometime this weekend (do upload soon, please)

[-Archmage-]

elementals is one faction

eleminion is a tech tree v1.1 has two factions
but v1.2(coming soon) will have a third faction
when i'm done my roman faction i will get much more work done on these mods

[-Archmage-]

here it is:
click on the smiley

here's the link: http://startdownload.filefront.com/13620763//eccb12feb83ca729b0bfe5c2155ebcfcb6f97469b569bd834439af1897b390de5896e84cb714b5af//

why don't you download it this time

[Omega]

Very funny. !80 MB? Is this a joke? 7zip it for petes sake. Or at least a tarball or bz2! ANything other than the lame zip. Once you can get it under 100MB, I could download it from school maybe tuesday (monday we got badminton playoffs, wish me luck).

Might I ask one question? How does it get so large? Most factions are less than 50 MB if done properly, and my estimate for the completed military mod is about 20 MB.

Try to keep your animations under 10 frames (I rarely go over 5), and keep your poly count low. Also, 256 x 256 is an ideal texture size, though 512x512 is better for high definition. Over that is pretty pointless.

***USE 7ZIP TO MAKE THE SMALLEST POSSIBLE SIZE***

[-Archmage-]

omega
it's a tech
it has three factions
ok i'll 7zip it
just don't flip out

[-Archmage-]

here: ??? :'(
click on your favorite smiley

[Omega]

Ag, thank you. I hope to download it sometime this week from school.