[SUGGESTION] Xonotic needs a clearer website displaying mods

So this is a bit of a fork of this thread
It is saying the game isn't very beginner like. Well this is mirrored in the website, I could even continue it into this thread
Which goes onto say that there needs to be documentation. Well no, But all of these aspects need to be improved for newer players.

What I want to talk about is more to do with the modifications that are available on the site, Very hard to find for me. On the features it does list everything you need to know, But there has to be an extensions page. In the end It should look very similar to this: http://forums.xonotic.org/showthread.php?tid=3851 and the other link that is on that thread

Extensions Available

• Mods that affect gameplay
  
• Maps
  
• Nexuiz Maps
  
• Quake Maps
  
• HUDS
  
• Main Menu Themes
  
• Music Packs
  

Now all three suggestions (that I have listed above) are going improve the experience for beginners who come from big budget games. Or even Minecraft which has simple information easy to find.

If the documentation were to be improved, This would support people trying to install extensions, As tutorials would be readily available.
And for the in-game improvements will encourage people to play and get into it,

Please read all threads that I've listed and see what you think.
Discuss. And if you would like something else on the website to be improved, Drop it down below.

• What "mods" have you found to be available on the site?
  
• Why would we be hosting Quake or Nexuiz maps?
  
• What kind of gameplay mod are you thinking about? Server mods?
  
• We don't have music packs, official music should be contributed to the project directly. Same thing for HUD settings and menu themes.
  

I don't understand your motivation. Do you think we have a need for third party content, i.e. do you see an advantage in this over including the contributions directly into the game?

Also, do you want a curated selection of "mods", or just a repository where anyone can post anything without quality control?

I'm really confused there, I don't see much demand for mods and I especially don't know many people who are willing to contribute third party content (except of course for mappers). So why do you want to make a section on the site for "mods" if stays desperately empty?

• What "mods" have you found to be available on the site?
  
• Why would we be hosting Quake or Nexuiz maps?
  
• What kind of gameplay mod are you thinking about? Server mods?
  
• We don't have music packs, official music should be contributed to the project directly. Same thing for HUD settings and menu themes.
  

I don't understand your motivation. Do you think we have a need for third party content, i.e. do you see an advantage in this over including the contributions directly into the game?

Also, do you want a curated selection of "mods", or just a repository where anyone can post anything without quality control?

I'm really confused there, I don't see much demand for mods and I especially don't know many people who are willing to contribute third party content (except of course for mappers). So why do you want to make a section on the site for "mods" if stays desperately empty?

There are not really any mods, Just maps or extensions.

The reason is that the site has mentioned that you can play converted Quake maps and Nexuiz maps, It good to make them available too.

If you check out mods for most games they add stuff like items, character models. What ever you can think of

I can see where you are going with saying that HUD settings should be in game already. But it is good to have a list online


Third party content should be in the game for sure. But also available on the site somewhere. Anyway it is more slower being added to the game.
For every game there are mods and they don't have quality control, It is up to the community to rate them and report the bad ones. Just like it has been for a very long time.

The only advantage I see over putting them in the game, Is speed, And the creator has full control.

Lots of this stuff would be much better if we had Better documentation.
I would like to make a Menu Theme.

The reason is that the site has mentioned that you can play converted Quake maps and Nexuiz maps, It good to make them available too.

You can, but I don't think you should. Item placement certainly won't be balanced for Xonotic, and such a map might need to be fine-tuned. It's better to turn them into Xonotic maps. Anyway, that's beside the point.

If you check out mods for most games they add stuff like items, character models. What ever you can think of

Apart from Overkill, we don't have such things. And OK is not even available as a packaged download.

Anyway, players don't need to download mods, they only need to connect to a server that has such a mod. See Overkill. Unless you want modded single-player campaigns, there's no point in proposing mods to clients. It only matters to server admins.

I can see where you are going with saying that HUD settings should be in game already. But it is good to have a list online

I see your point, but that's too much of a pain to implement. We have a HUD settings thread, and that's a much simpler alternative. If you find us a web developer willing to make a HUD settings repository, tell us.

Third party content should be in the game for sure. But also available on the site somewhere. Anyway it is more slower being added to the game.
For every game there are mods and they don't have quality control, It is up to the community to rate them and report the bad ones. Just like it has been for a very long time.

We're already short on first-party content. I would rather encourage producers to work with the team. Don't forget we haven't reached 1.0 yet.

Your ideas would work if we had any content at all to put into them, and any community at all to maintain it. Right now it would be a huge waste of time to implement repositories and have no-one using them. You need to reconsider your priorities.

The only advantage I see over putting them in the game, Is speed, And the creator has full control.

Good point. I don't see any speedy delivery on anything other than maps, though.

Lots of this stuff would be much better if we had Better documentation.
I would like to make a Menu Theme.

We can't have tutorials for every single aspects of the game, that you could passively follow to get awesome results in the end. At one point we have to stop holding your hand and let you do things on your own.

I plan on writing some technical documentation on non-trivial topics to help people understand how packages work for example. The sort of thing people can't figure out without reading the source code or asking someone who knows. With that newly acquired knowledge, all you need to do is look a bit under Xonotic's hood, have a look at the assets, and find out that menu themes are stored in their own separate directories in gfx/menu/. You only need to follow the exact same file structure. It's just a bunch of images and a self-explanatory definition text file. How complicated is that? (By the way, that link is only there to show you the files. Don't use those to make a mod, use the ones in your original data pk3.)

So please, if you feel that there is a lack of documentation in making menu themes, AND you incidentally also want to make one yourself, try it, ask questions when you need to, and document your experience. You'll become an expert in menu theme editing in no time, have your new menu theme to enjoy, AND will have contributed documentation to Xonotic. That's how it should work.

There's a map repository web app in development iirc. Probably what you are looking for except solely for maps.

You probably meant this: http://beta.xonotic.org/autobuild-bsp/

Though not every mapper uses the git repository and map compile server, so there are many maps missing. For those have a look at the Xonotic - Map Releases & Reviews forum.

You have to be careful as the versions of the maps downloaded at the links above might differ from those uploaded to the servers. But for offline or testing purposes that´s all ok.

You probably meant this: http://beta.xonotic.org/autobuild-bsp/

Though not every mapper uses the git repository and map compile server, so there are many maps missing. For those have a look at the Xonotic - Map Releases & Reviews forum.

You have to be careful as the versions of the maps downloaded at the links above might differ from those uploaded to the servers. But for offline or testing purposes that´s all ok.

It still should tell me if they are in the game or not

You probably meant this: http://beta.xonotic.org/autobuild-bsp/

Nope, I meant this: https://github.com/antzucaro/deposito

It still should tell me if they are in the game or not

Can you elaborate? I don't see what you mean.

You probably meant this: http://beta.xonotic.org/autobuild-bsp/

Though not every mapper uses the git repository and map compile server, so there are many maps missing. For those have a look at the Xonotic - Map Releases & Reviews forum.

You have to be careful as the versions of the maps downloaded at the links above might differ from those uploaded to the servers. But for offline or testing purposes that´s all ok.

That's not a map repository, it's the compile server page. It's meant for maps developed in git, that aim for inclusion in Xonotic. It works fine because the server itself manages the files, takes the screenshots, etc. An actual repository would have humans submitting the files, and you would need one hell of a lot of error tracking to avoid messes and abuse.

machine - I've tabled work on deposito for the time being. I don't know when I'll pick it back up. There's more pressing needs at the moment!

Anyway, back on topic. I don't see any consensus (not just here - on the forums as a whole and IRC as well) as to what information needs to be conveyed. Also, MrBougo cut right to the point here - third party content is something we stay away from. We have to be very careful about the legalities involved in the different maps, music, and even mods. To date we've maintained that separation pretty well.

Sorry, I kinda guessed the project was inactive looking at the commit history but thought I might share it to show there's actually some similar work as OP descrives being done.

It still should tell me if they are in the game or not

Can you elaborate? I don't see what you mean.

Go to the official map repo which is on the main website under features.
It has maps there which are in the game, I'm looking for new stuff and it is kinda hard sorting through ones that are in the game by default and ones which are on the site.

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OK guys what I'm suggesting would look very similar to this: http://forums.xonotic.org/showthread.php?tid=3851
And the link on that thread

I dont think you can explain properly what you want and what you do not understand here.

Things never had to be complicated, people jumped on a server (be it a vanilla server or modded by someone) and played a few maps (standard maps which you WILL NOT happen to download anywhere but on the autobuild-bsp server). Your client will then download every map you dont have yet. Additional maps can be found here on the forums (download links are attached in the posts) or in some extra archives (servers usually use their very own archieves to give the clients the possiblity to download remaining maps).

Both additional mods and maps are not really what the casual player has to care about (Actually, the casual players NEVER had to care about such stuff); server admins/owners usually configure everything for the players so they can enjoy whatever the server offers (be it a mod or tons of custom maps).

EDIT:
In case you still search for a possiblity to download additional maps, have a look here:
http://maps.nexuizninjaz.com/
http://forums.xonotic.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=13

Servers who have even more custom maps might have their own ftp (you can download by just joining the game or getting the ftp's link). You will find tons of maps in those links though.
Everything else has been stated in the posts above.

Go to the official map repo which is on the main website under features.
It has maps there which are in the game, I'm looking for new stuff and it is kinda hard sorting through ones that are in the game by default and ones which are on the site.

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OK guys what I'm suggesting would look very similar to this: http://forums.xonotic.org/showthread.php?tid=3851
And the link on that thread

That is not a map repository. It's the compiling server, which has compiled development versions of all the maps in the game. Those might be versions that are more recent than the ones in 0.7, so they are not in the game.

This is made for testers and other people who run the development version. It's not made for users. You're free to use it, but don't ask to make it more user-friendly.