ModBlog Group News

4 comments by INtense! on May 8th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

One area of the site which has troubled ModDB members for a long time is the comment system. Unlike the forums and other areas of the site, when you post a comment it is final, un-editable and un-removeable. For the mod teams, groups and members who don't want spammy comments or want to edit their comments because of grammer or other issues - this is a problem. Until now!

The latest code deployment gives profile owners and members control over their comments. Profile owners can now delete any comment thread they want. Deleted comments will be hidden from guests and members (admins will still be able to view the comments and undelete them should they choose to do so). Members will also be able to edit their comment for up to 5 minutes after posting it. After that the comment is locked down (this applies to everyone, admins included - so that people don't edit their comments and change the course of a discussion).

The next change is polls in the forum system which you can see demoed here. With the forum system soon to open up to all mod, game and group profile owners - the ability to poll members should assist a great deal when you want to find out exactly what your "community" wants.

Finally heaps of little fixes and the ability to preview news, articles, private messages and more before posting them.

9 comments by INtense! on Apr 29th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

Ok I'm going to say now that we have hopefully fixed 99% of the weird text-formatting issues. Unfortunately while fixing these issues - a lot of existing news and content posted on Mod DB from December 2007 onwards has been modified and doesn't look quite like you may have originally intended. We've done our best to getting all posts looking good, but we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you browse through your news and content via your personal profile (i.e. heres mine) and fix up any text which doesn't look quiet right.

The new text editor should be simple and easy to use *fingers crossed* and whilst there still are issues with spacing, linebreaks and pasting in content - these issues only occur in certain browsers due to various (hard to avoid) javascript quirks. As always contact us if you have questions or a bug to report.

21 comments by INtense! on Apr 23rd, 2008 digg this super bookmark

After a few weeks work, the brand spanking new Mod DB forums have just been rolled out along with plenty of other changes which should benefit many of the sites visitors. Here is a quick rundown of the new forum features:

• New categories. We have opened a number of new forums covering coding, modelling, mapping, 2d art etc - so you can discuss detailed development stuff and show off your work
• In-place searching. Don't jump back and forth finding threads and posts. The Mod DB forums allow you to search where you are and what you want
• Favorites. In a few weeks Mod DB forums will be available to all mod teams, games, groups and more for them to include in their profiles and their own site should they wish. Best of all you can favorite the boards which interest you and quickly access them when browsing any forum on the site
• Track threads read. Mod DB now lets you know exactly which threads you have and haven't read, how many new posts their are and takes you straight to them.
• WYSIWYG editor. You can now quickly format your posts, adding quotes, the all new spoiler tag, code, images and videos (from your Mod DB galleries) and tons more quickly and easily
• AJAX features. Edit your post without leaving the page, preview your post - everything is quick and AJAXified
• New design. It's simple, its easy, its hot

There is plenty more to come, but the key change which we hope will make a massive difference on this site as we focus more on assisting mod teams with the development process, is the introduction of the new [-code-] tag, which supports 39 programming languages from html and c++ right through to unrealscript. I have included an unrealscript demo below:

We hope the introduction of the code tag leads to far more detailed tutorials and coding development on the site, as you can guarantee it will be highlighted, indented and easy to read. So if you were thinking of adding a tutorial, nows the time.

72 comments by stenchy on Apr 4th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

In the world of digital distribution on the PC platform, Steam is king. With over 15 million users and growing, Steam provides gamers with a robust selection of games they can pull down off the internet without leaving their chair. Add to this achievement awards, integrated server browsers, friend lists along with other community features and you have a service that has yet to be rivaled in the PC domain. With both independent and AAA developers clamouring to hop on-board the Steam train (yes, I went there), it seems Steam is the end all and be all of digitally distributed games (and possibly other entertainment as well) on the PC. It's hard to think of the PC game world without Steam, but what about beyond it? Here's a couple of options that could prove to be contenders in the near future:

Impulse

Impulse is Stardock's (Sins of the Solar Empire, Galactic Civilizations II) new digital distribution platform currently in beta. Impulse will not only serve as a digital hub for PC games but also serve desktop enhancements and other Windows utility programs, effectively collating all of Stardock's products into one place. Those who want to test drive the new digital storefront can do so by downloading the latest beta preview of Impulse. Given Stardock's success on the aforementioned titles — both without the use of aggravating DRM technologies — and keen business acumen contrary to the cries of many other developers, it will be interesting to see how they integrate their own Secure Software Delivery technology.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse is another digital distribution platform in beta that's the brainchild of Vancouver-based Hothead Games and the guys behind the popular webcomic Penny Arcade. While partnering together in the development of their game, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, they realized the need for their own platform to distribution their game on, says Mike Krahulik (Gabe) of Penny Arcade,

We developed Greenhouse along with Hothead originally because we needed a way to deliver our game to you guys. What we needed was a platform agnostic digital [distribution] portal. Once it was done we realised that it could actually be super useful to other independent developers. At first Greenhouse will be the place to get our game but eventually we'd like to use it as a way of promoting great independent games that might otherwise slide under the radar.

Precipice will be the first game featured on the service and all other subsequent games are to be hand-picked Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade. This service could prove to give small, independent developers a commercial foothold while at the same time promoting the the diversity and creative flair that independent projects exhibit.

Overall, it's great to have a service like Steam spearheading the movement to digital distribution for PC games. It's my hope though, that some healthy competition is introduced to keep the guys at Valve honest because as great as Steam is - if no one else comes along - it's only a matter of time until they want a bigger piece of the pie (*ahem*).

54 comments by INtense! on Apr 1st, 2008 digg this super bookmark

Our indie game and mod development mantra "creativity is KEY" is something we have held close to our heart at ModDB.com for many years now, but have never officially discussed. In 2008 we are hell bent on changing this as we set out to celebrate innovation in mod and indie game titles. We are seeking titles that push the boundaries and try something different - commemorating the rise of sims mods and the growing popularity of anime themed titles.

We cannot hide our love of the companion cube and everything it and Portal stands for (simplicity, creativity and fun) any longer. This title begun its days as the basic indie game Nebacular Drop only to become something so much more. We won't shoot you companion cube.

This is why we have decided to mix things up in 2008 and celebrate what we are now officially naming YOMIL "Year of Mod & Indie Love". To show we are serious, we have ditched the sites default *boring red* theme and replaced it with something much more pink and nice. If the new theme looks messed up - do a CTRL-F5 to refresh your browsers cache. Enjoy ~ Mod DB crew.

11 comments by stenchy on Mar 28th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

I'm taking the time to post this excerpt from the latest ModDB newsletter (what, you mean you haven't subscribed yet?) to highlight some of the great work put into recent media releases. While these posts aren't perfect, they definitely set the standard for the kind of content that is effective in attracting attention. Mod teams looking to achieve the same effect should take into account not only the quality of the media, but the accompanying text and overall formatting as well.

18 comments by stenchy on Mar 17th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

In our next episode, we'll break away from the Half Life 2 modding scene for a bit and will be spending some time with the developers of the popular Company of Heroes/Opposing Fronts mod: Europe in Ruins. Here's an excerpt from the Editor's Choice 2007 awards for those who aren't familiar with the mod:

Europe in Ruins

(Company of Heroes, Multiplayer)
Company of Heroes won many awards for being the best of the RTS breed in 2006. While it was officially declared that Company of Heroes Online would only be delivered to China, (any word if it made it there yet?) fans took matters into their own hands and started Europe in Ruins. Europe in Ruins adds persistence to the army you control as you fight battles that decide an overall outcome. Veteran units that stay alive stay with your forces can be summoned in future battles. This places even more value on your units and strategies through discouraging hopelessly desperate rushes. While still early in development, Europe in Ruins now supports the expansion pack for Company of Heroes, Opposing Forces, and plans to include war-maps to track the progress of your side's campaign. For RTS nuts looking to add life to an already amazing game, Europe in Ruins should be a top choice.

We're still experimenting with the flow and structure of the Modcast to find how to best present these interviews and our discussions to all of you guys. This next episode will hopefully be a bit more focused and shorter in length.

Also, if you have any questions for the developers of Europe in Ruins, post them in the comments and we'll try to get to them during the interview. Stay tuned!

2 comments by INtense! on Mar 12th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

A bit of a random update this one covering a few different things. First up, do you run a community site outside of the Mod DB or have you created a Mod DB profile on another site? If so let us know, so we can let our community know, because as I always say there is no such thing as too much modding. Four sites which currently feature Mod DB which I encourage you all to check out are:

• Mod DB on PWNED
• Mod DB on Facebook
• Mod DB on Steam
• Mod DB on Wikipedia

Secondly now that Mod DB v4 is well and truly here with a new look, we decided it was time to freshen up our link image kit for game sites and mod sites that want to link to the Mod DB. Link your mod profile, your downloads, anything you want - help us spread the word of modding to the entire game community and receive cake*

Finally userbars plague forum systems, slow loading times and waste valuable space but we still love them so we decided to craft a game developers userbar kit which has custom userbars for sound techs, modders, coders, artists and more. Check em out and slap them in your forum sigs.

*You may, or may not receive cake

43 comments by jacksonj04 on Mar 9th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

Archiving mods isn't something we like doing. We dislike banning mods even more. However, Knights of the Force has finally reached the point where - despite numerous chances at redemption and erring on the side of goodwill - we have decided to add it to our small list of "Don't touch this with a very long stick" mods.

As some of you may be aware, KotF has long had a reputation of being a sham mod with no original content, never delivering what was promised when it was promised. This was compounded by allegations of attempting to charge for the mod, misappropriation of donations and various other stuff. Mod DB's policy of not getting involved with the politics of individual mods was rolled out time and time again in response to various users asking (And in some cases demanding) that we ban the mod, TimFx, and anybody else who happened to say that perhaps the mod might be legitimate.

Months passed and it all faded away, only to be brought back to the forefront a couple of days ago with the advent of Knights of the Force 2.0 (Part 1). We duly downloaded the file, read the readme, noticed the mentions of the virus alert, checked the checksums and decided that at least one part of the mod was as described - there was no virus in cmdow.exe. The rest of the mod looked to be vaguely correct to our non-Jedi-Academy-playing eyes, so we tentatively authed the download.

Two days later, we've been getting allegations of trojans of varying degrees, pointless file bulking, distribution of LucasArts' original content, non-attribution of some content and various other stuff. Some of this is verified, other is scaremongering. Either way this adds up to what is, in the eyes of some of Mod DB's core staff, a simple verdict:

Pull it. We've given enough chances for the mod's reputation to be restored.

For legal reasons and to avoid the subsequent headaches I'm not going to make or repeat specific accusations against the mod or say which of the above we believe to be true, but suffice to say we believe it has broken several of Mod DB's terms of use, and just goes against the spirit of the entire modding community. We have pulled the 2.0 (Part 1) download completely and banned the mod, although you may find the changes haven't rippled out to you by the time you read this.

Any questions you have we'll do our best to answer in here if you post a comment, or if you'd rather not say something publically then fire me a PM.

1 comment by INtense! on Mar 7th, 2008 digg this super bookmark

So I have finally begun working on the Mod DB v4 forums, 2 months after I estimated they'd be done. I cannot begin to describe how much work there is to do behind the scenes on a daily basis, with events like MOTY taking up a ton of time (infact I'm still working on the event now). Plus it takes me a good three hours to respond to my emails daily, meaning development time is limited. But rest assured they are coming, so if you have feedback or suggestions, please PM me.

In other news, a number of fixes/changes have been deployed over the past 2 days which I will list now:

• Fixed upload system bug with filenames > 40chars
• Optimized many site SQL queries lowering load time significantly (yay!)
• Fixed video audio encoding incorrectly (unfortunately WMA3 still screws up videos, so if you are uploading a movie to ModDB, make sure the audio is encoded in MP3 if possible!)
• All video galleries RSS is in podcast format for you to subscribe to using apps like iTunes
• Last updated date of mods/games will be updated when news is auth'd or images are added to the gallery. This should make the mod and games listing much more accurate.
• Link spamming has been cleaned up significantly.
• Stats on the sidemenu have been fixed when browsing content i.e. downloads.
• Archived news will now trigger a modwatch update.
• Comments can now be previewed.
• Page 2 of your friends list actually works.

If you want to keep ontop of everything happening on ModDB.com, watch this blog!