ModBlog Group News

6 comments by Greg on Jun 27th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

Thanks for your patience - We have now completed maintenance on our EU fileserver. We are hoping that the changes made will make a dramatic difference to download speeds for our European members and guests.

Please let us know your feedback on speeds you get when downloading from "eu10.dl.moddb.com".

Thanks!

11 comments by Greg on Jun 26th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

It looks like our EU server provider has changed their upstreams and for some reason we are no longer getting the 1Gbps out of our EU mirror we were previously.

We are investigating this - and for a short period of time your downloads may be re-routed via our US mirror, and or Filefront.

Once we have resolved the speed issues, we will update the blog right here to let you know.

30 comments by INtense! on Jun 23rd, 2009 digg this super bookmark

For years now the Mod DB download system has allowed you to blindly choose any mirror. The problem with this was during the quiet periods the system was under utilized and during the busy periods it was over utilized. Not any more! The new system automatically picks the mirror closest to you and sends you your download (and displays an ad yay!) for you to watch while you wait for your file.

This means less clicks, no queues and hopefully not overloading or underloading our servers. Also ISPS CONTACT US if you would like to provide a mirror and have a big ad shown every download. Our system is fully automated, can target IP ranges and will promote your brand while helping our community and site a great deal. We need mirrors because if our systems are overloaded we send people to filefront for their files which we want to avoid, as we want to get the mod files out as quick as possible.

19 comments by INtense! on Jun 11th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

All the Aussies out there with a WAIX connected ISP (all good ISPs except Telstra / Optus), can now expect super fast download speeds thanks to our new Australian WAIX enabled download mirror. This happens as part of our continued efforts to roll out a super fast download infrastructure for everyone worldwide.

If you work for an ISP and can mirror 1,000gig+ of files and provide a 100mbit+ (faster the better) connection, we want to hear from you. Our system is:

• Fully automated (can target certain countries / users only)
• Will promote your company on every download page and when a user initates a download
• Supports ModDB and game developers
• We can provide the hardware if required

33 comments by INtense! on May 8th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

Game development is a difficult beast at the best of times. Sharing ideas, files, code, tracking bugs, milestones and releases with people in your team across the world isn't easy. At Mod DB we believe Trac is a great solution for many of these problems, with its agile and best-practice focus. It rolls subversion a wiki and bug tracker into one to create a brilliant web-based management system for even the most complex projects. With Trac you can unify your teams development efforts and ensure everyone knows what everyone else is working on.

We have just launched our own Trac page for the Desura Web Engine (code that powers ModDB.com) and are now using it to document future site functionality (roadmap) and trac bugs and feature requests from staff and you our community. We highly encourage you to report bugs and feature requests here should you have something in mind. We also hope that via this page you can finally see what the future of ModDB.com holds.

Also whilst Sourceforge and Google Code exists for the open source world, no such site exists for the game development world. We believe trac is perfectly suited for game development with a wiki that allows you to document gameplay, embed concept images, code and link it through to bugs, etc. Because of this we are currently considering rolling this functionality out for development teams. You would have complete control, trac is linked into the ModDB user system and you can make access as private or public as you want. We can provide unlimited space, bandwidth and all the tools your team needs, so you can focus on the important stuff, getting your game built!

If this interests you please get in touch. At this stage the cost of rolling out a server makes this a difficult proposition, but if the interest is there and some are willing to pay we can definately make it happen.

6 comments by Greg on May 1st, 2009 digg this super bookmark

We are currently in the process of undertaking major updates to ModDB's backend systems, including a Kernel upgrade to all of our core servers. This means that from 2:30PM GMT to 4:30PM GMT the site will operate at a slower speed than usual, followed by 5-10 minutes of downtime at around 4:30PM GMT.

Once this work is complete, users should notice significantly faster image rendering speeds, and general site performance should be snappier!

Thanks for your continued support!

45 comments by INtense! on Apr 17th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

Our primary aim at Mod DB is to make it as easy as possible to find great mods and indie games, without having to scour the net and jump through hoops to get them. We absolutely hate it when we see great game content hosted by sites like Rapidshare. Sites which make you wait and push ads which tarnish the hard work you put into presenting your mod (or game) as professionally as possible.

Following Filefronts shock announcement 3 weeks ago (yes yes we know they are back), we decided to take immediate steps to make sharing and getting great content from Mod DB as easily as possible. We have taken the first step toward achieving that aim today by providing a dedicated download mirror to all guests and visitors, by serving your file straight away and doesn't ask you to sacrifice a kitten in the process. So to all our members and anonymous guests enjoy, we hope we have made your day and have enabled you to play and share even more great game content that we have come to expect from all the developers on ModDB.

30 comments by INtense! on Apr 1st, 2009 digg this super bookmark

Thanks to the great guys over at Splitreason, we have just opened our own Mod DB shop with high-quality well priced Mod DB gear. So if you want to be the coolest kid in town and have all the girls chasing after you, we highly recommend you stop developing games swing by our shopfront and grab the latest and greatest t-shirts we have on offer. Splitreason can deliver these shirts practically anywhere in the world, so provided you don't live in Antartica - you have no excuse not to stock up on shirts.

Many have asked for a way to get gear and support the Mod DB at the same time, so we hope this helps kill two birds with the one stone*! So far we only have 2 shirts both with huge Mod DB logos on them, but we hope to flesh out our shop with some cool witty tops (i.e. "[insert name here]: Source" or "I made a zombie game") with your help. To achieve this we will kick off a competition in a couple of days with some prizes up for grabs, so if making a shirt is your thing - get a head start and start designing now. START SHOPPING!

^{*No birds were harmed in the making of this store}

41 comments by INtense! on Mar 29th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

With Filefront to close tomorrow - a huge void has formed leaving many indie developers and modders without a place to host and serve their files to the millions of gamers that want them. The development teams are doing amazing work and deserve to have their content spread far and wide and we aim to help them with this endeavour by making our download system better than it already is... with your help.

If you work at an ISP or a file download site, we would love to talk to you. Here is what we are after:

• USA or Europe located servers are preferable (will consider elsewhere)
• Direct downloading of files from ModDB
• Expect 5TB+ monthly downloads
• 100mbit pipe minimum
• 1TB space minimum
• Private FTP access

In return, we can offer:

• Your ISP / company / site will be promoted on all download pages
• Free promotional opportunities during events and news on the site
• Acknowledgement as a supporter of indie game developers

Please contact us to discuss any of this. We are open to all offers (free or otherwise). Thanks for supporting the ModDB!

4 comments by Greg on Mar 21st, 2009 digg this super bookmark

After the changes were implemented during the roll out of the new job board, the videos system dropped offline due to a bug with the code that handles our CDN/Mirror selector.

We have now implemented a fix to resolve this coding issue, and videos/audio should be streaming/playing once again from our US, European and Australian CDN's.

Thanks for your patience!