Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Unknown Target on December 21, 2010, 09:55:47 am
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Hey everyone. For those of you who don't frequent ModDB, I'd like to introduce Desura, a digital distribution system for mods and indie games;
http://www.desura.com/
I urge the Freespace community to please visit the thread here;
http://www.moddb.com/groups/desura/forum/thread/freespace-2
...and voice their support for getting Freespace added to this network, and, while that process is ongoing, begin submitting completed or semi completed Freespace mods to their network.
As I said on the other thread;
Also, the game is available on gog.com, so I'm assuming that it may be relatively easy to acquire the ability to sell the game on Desura.
I believe that this would benefit both communities greatly; Desura gets a legendary game, AND the sum total of ten years of modding development, and the Freespace and space simming community gets a much larger outlet.
Thoughts?
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Is this even compatible with the source licensing?
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Is this even compatible with the source licensing?
looking over things it looks to be a steam style store and content manager so I don't see a licensing issue so long as the appropriate people get paid (like with GoG) and FSO is available as a separate mod
http://www.desura.com/groups/desura/howto
Desura is a release platform and not meant for development. If your game or mod is more than a month or so away from completion then it will not be approved. Desura does however have features to help assist in beta testing. So if you are up to this stage feel free to shoot us an email.
Games must be up to par. We don’t expect you to have a AAA masterpiece up your sleeve (though if you do that’s great!). However we want Desura to deliver the best up and coming and current games/mods available. Ensure your game or mod is appealing, fun to play and stands out from the crowd. If you’re not sure, then take advantage of the ModDB and IndieDB communities and get advice on how to improve your project.
Given the nature of the community and the informal way of releases here I don't think this system would be the best route for the community to take, the publicity and I presume simplicity of installation would benefit the average newbie but I worry that there will be the risk of a situation where only major mods like BP will be distributable over the system.
Another issue I see is that new players might not find out how useful Hard-Light is, for example I have steam and though I have an account on their forums I hardly ever log in (usually only because I have a problem and want to see if it has been reported by anyone else) and I wonder how many of the user of this system would be the same.
any how that's my 2 pennies worth
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Desura has nothing to do with Steam - it's owned and run by ModDB.
headdie, there's nothing formal about the requirements for release - you can find a tutorial for it here;
http://www.moddb.com/groups/desura/tutorials/publishing-on-desura
And I don't see anything wrong with, as you admit yourself;
the publicity and I presume simplicity of installation would benefit the average newbie
- which will mean more content, people, and exposure for Freespace. Meanwhile, as to your concern of large mods monopolizing this - it's basically ModDB but with a really slick installer package. This means that virtually any mod can be submitted, the only requirements that ModDB has are that it has to have one team member and a web page, if I remember correctly.
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Right from the page you linked:
For free games this means making sure that the content is free of licensing issues (please check third party library's) and able to run from its own folder.
It does not give specifics about their license though.
Also there is this:
Our Checklist
The first few points which we judge a game or mod on are easy, i.e. is your game legal and working:
* Non-pornographic / illegal
* Own full rights (i.e. no copyrights of others breached)
* Bug free (mostly, release date is set)
The full rights part would most likely prevent any FS2 mod from releasing. The file formats (pof, tbl, vp, etc) are owned by interplay.
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Well if they're owned by Interplay, they're pretty screwed now because the source code has been out for ten years, with all of those model formats included.
The CONTENT of the models is all licensed and we can't distribute it, but we're free to distribute campaigns and whatnot.
Besides, it's not like ALL the Source mods on there somehow have rights to the Source assets they use. It really is a moot point.
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I honestly believe that HLP is the most anal mod community on the internet when it comes to legal bull****. :rolleyes:
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I think it's a case of the majority of us don't want to have interplay to set their legal ninjas on us if we can avoid it
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I think it's a case of the majority of us don't want to have interplay to set their legal ninjas on us if we can avoid it
I doubt they ould afford any legal ninjas ATM, to be honest.
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I think it's a case of the majority of us don't want to have interplay to set their legal ninjas on us if we can avoid it
Because they'd totally do that...now. For some reason. As opposed to the past ten years, like when we were distributing FS2 itself as abandonware. Or when GoG.com bought it and started selling it and linking to this site for mods.
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I think this could be one of the bigger moments in FS modding history, a proper distribution/update system has long been one of the biggest hurtles that FS modding has had. as long as the original FS gets put on this system this could be huge.
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Hey Guys,
My name is Mark and im the lead developer of Desura. The licencing issue is more directed at using IP owned by other company's (for example my mod GoldeneEye Source uses MGM Bond IP). Besides that it should be fine to host on Desura (and we are looking at adding all mods).
To get started send an email to support[at]desura[dot]com.
Ill be happy to answer any other questions you might have.
Mark
P.S. The "verification" on the forums is way over the top and it will prob cause people to leave and not register.
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The 'verification' is due to a recent case of heavy botspam and is probably a temporary measure.
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I had to register 2 accounts cause my first one didnt work. I run the GES forums on SMF (but havnt updated to RC4) and we dont get much bot spam. Maybe the bots forgot about RC2 :)
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We should definitely keep an eye on the verification issue.
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At any rate, regarding Desura, it is my personal opinion that if we can get FS2/FSO supported, we should. For one, it would make distributing the content we can currently deliver via the installer easier and more streamlined.
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I sent the requested email to desura support.
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Hey Lodle, glad to hear from someone on the Desura team. :)
So what could we as a community do to help get FS2 on Desura/mods launching from it? I know Freespace has some things about installing mods (I'm specifically talking about our "Select Mod" Launcher settings)...will any of that cause a problem? Or should we just start talking to the mods hosted here about getting their stuff on your service?
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Posted on that ModDB thread. :)
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Hey Lodle, glad to hear from someone on the Diaspora team. :)
So what could we as a community do to help get FS2 on Diaspora/mods launching from it? I know Freespace has some things about installing mods (I'm specifically talking about our "Select Mod" Launcher settings)...will any of that cause a problem? Or should we just start talking to the mods hosted here about getting their stuff on your service?
Think you meant Desura?
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Hey Lodle, glad to hear from someone on the Diaspora team. :)
So what could we as a community do to help get FS2 on Diaspora/mods launching from it? I know Freespace has some things about installing mods (I'm specifically talking about our "Select Mod" Launcher settings)...will any of that cause a problem? Or should we just start talking to the mods hosted here about getting their stuff on your service?
Think you meant Desura?
That's embarrassing. Corrected. :) Old habits and all.
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Desura have a multiplayer option for mods?
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Okay. So, with Battuta's help, we've started a dialogue with the Desura guys. Hopefully, we'll soon get FS2 on the list of games recognized by that thingie, and once that's done, we'll get FSO, the MVPs, and BP (Those being the ones that I can do) on there. That should offer a good option for those people who distrust/don't like the FSO installer.
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*Bump* How's it coming, if at all? :)
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*Bump* How's it coming, if at all? :)
I'm curious as well. Hopefully there is some good news.
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The_E and I are in touch with them. Hopefully we will have FSO, MediaVPs and BP set up soon.
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Basically, we're waiting on the Desura people to tell us that FS2 is officially supported. Then we can get on with the business of setting up the downloads.
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Is this another Steam / Impulse kinda thing ?
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Sort of, except it's focused mods and indie games and comes attached with ModDB's website as it's social and database background.
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I'm using my moderator powers so as to make sure this thread and issue receives constant attention until it's completed. If you have any concerns regarding this use of my power to further a personal issue, or at least with the issue that is currently being given special attention, please address it in this thread.
Battuta, The E, have you guys made any progress?
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We're waiting on the Desura guys to add FS2 as an offiicially supported program.
I'll pester them I guess.
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Any word from the Desura team?
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Space pilot senses tingling...
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Now that The_E is online more regularly I'll see if we can figure out what's going on.
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/me listens to crickets chirping
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I'm building a table platform for my keyboard, joystick and throttle that I can clip on to my coffee table so that I can finally fly stable(no more joystick on the couch)... today. Hows 'bout gettn' some chocolate in my peanut butter?
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Any news?
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Not a thing. The ball is sort of in our court, we need to sit down and figure out what to do next.
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Best to start talking to mod leaders about getting their stuff on the system. Also, don't they have to add support?
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I posted in the ModDB\Desura thread with my support as well.
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Any news? Anything?
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I just e-mailed my contact at Desura to ask if there's any news. :)
EDIT: It's on the list. They're working through a lot of games at the moment.
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I've been in contact with them as well. Gave them some info about how FSO modding works, which they assure me they're passing on to the devs. So fingers crossed, everybody.
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Will keep fingers crossed , ^^
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C'mon 7. Daddy needs a new set of targets...
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The_E and I have been playing tag team with these guys for a while, I've mostly passed things off to him. They've got instructions on how to set up mods and with luck we'll get some results soon(er).
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Just went over to the Desura forums to have a look see...
The topic is gone.
Why am I starting to think this is Interplay and not software management...
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...and now it's back. O.k....
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I think this would be awesome. Some of the best mods are hosted directly on Desura, including Crysis: Living Legends which is a fan-mod for the Battletech universe. By adding FSO, not only will FSO get publicity, we might also get the attention of other moders who want to stretch their reach to other game types. Hell, we might get a programmer or two.
My only issue is that you might have to have Desura just to load it up. I think FSO should remain standalone while still using Desura as a portal, as it has since it's been out.
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Bueller... Bueller...
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Anybody know where we're at?
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Time to start looking around for a torrent coder?
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Well whaduya know...
Go check the MODDB thread kids... and cross your fingers.