How to get your Mod into the MG downloads section

[titi]

This is a guide how to get your mod into the MG download section:

1: Email us and ask if your mod can be in the download section. We want to ensure some quality for the mods in the download section, thats why. ( contact[at]megaglest.org ).
If you get an ok:
2: prepare your mod as described below
3: upload your mod somewhere where it can be directly downloaded! (like dropbox)
4: Generate and upload a screenshot/map shot/loading screen or whatever image too! This image should be 800x600 pixels and its filesize should not exceed 100 KB.
5: Use the --show-...-crc options to MegaGlest to calculate a CRC value for your mod ( start a terminal / command line, change into the MegaGlest directory and run MegaGlest with the --help option to see all available options )
Example:

Code: [Select]

$ ./megaglest --show-map-crc=renkontre
megaglest v3.6.0.3
Compiled using: GNUC: 40401 [64bit] on: Jan 24 2012 13:33:42
SVN: [Rev: 3080] - using STREFLOP
CRC value for map [renkontre] file [/home/tomreyn/.megaglest/maps/renkontre.mgm] is [142644594]
6: email us :
- the direct download URL of the mod
- the direct download URL of the image
- the CRC value
- A SHORT! description text for the download section. Currently only 255 chars are allowed. Line breaks (multiple lines) are okay.

How to prepare your mod:
Currently a mod can only be one of the following:
- a full tech tree
- a map
- a tileset
- a scenario.
Single factions cannot be handled. If you have a single faction it must be embedded in a new techtree to handle it! ( BUT you can use faction links now to let your faction play vs standard factions: https://forum.megaglest.org/index.php?topic=7955)

HINT: Before you package, please use MegaGlests command line options to verify your mod is in good shape (most are not by default). This will list unused and badly referenced files and much more. Please make sure you don't have file names with upper case characters (use lower case only, and make sure any refrences to these files, such as in XML files, also refer to the lower case variant of this file), spaces (underscores are fine) or special characters in them.
Example for japanese:

Code: [Select]

./start_megaglest --validate-techtrees=japanese

Maps:
Maps are very simple, just upload them the way they are...
( Example: http://www.soft-haus.com/glest/mods/maps/four_ways.gbm )

Scenarios:
7zip your scenario dir including the directory itself.

Techtrees:
7zip your tech directory including the directory itself, like this:

Code: [Select]

p7zip japaneseA prepared example is here:  http://mods.megaglest.org/mods/japanese.7z

Tilesets:
7zip your tilesets dir including the directory itself.

Edit (tomreyn): remove colon off subject line; add more specific instructions on map handling, improve some spelling

[ultifd]

Shouldn't the first step is to visit the license site and pick one, and then tell the MG team?

[titi]

As long as the hosting is done on someone elses server I don't care about licenses   
Its not my/our problem as we are not responsible in this case 

[Omega]

As long as the hosting is done on someone elses server I don't care about licenses   
Its not my/our problem as we are not responsible in this case 

Yeah, but those copyright lawyers are idiots. Look what they do to torrent sites. They don't host the files either, yet they waste their time harassing the sites.

[titi]

If its not too obvious I think we will not get into trouble. We are really not that well know .

[ultifd]

But we will, later!

[tomreyn]

Maybe something to add to the first post:

 MegaGlest mods which are added to the Game Mods menu are automatically eligible for (optional) free hosting at megaglest.org (just contact us). MegaGlest mods which are not ready to go into the Game Mods menu, yet, can still be mirrored on megaglest.org if they are not a pre-release version ("alpha", "beta" or similar) and licensing terms allow for mirroring them.

[megablob]

If its not too obvious I think we will not get into trouble. We are really not that well know .

well but it could rise some issues (and I also believe megaglest will become more popular fast ). if nothing else, you may lose some nice stuff because the author has abandoned it and you can't adapt it to the new versions, I don't think anybody would complain about using one or another license for their mods
like Wesnoth that requires that you use certain license to upload stuff.