[ElGuillermo]

Hi !

(This may be the wrong place to ask. If so, please consider moving the post)

I've just (re)finished Blue Planet AoA and WiH, and realised how nice and polished these mods are comparing to others.

Now I don't want to get back in "prereleased and buggy, will maybe work at the third time install procedure if you (de)activate some exotic config-line parameter" hell.

As I tried to find my way in the wiki (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Campaign_List), I get totally lost... What should I install next ?
Is there some place I can find reviewes (I'm not talking about "W00t ! Excellent !" posts...) ?
YES : I'm fully aware I can browse the forum for hours weeks and get some nice advices written five years ago, based on a buggy nightly release of FSO running 3.6.10 mediavps.

SO...
There should be a place where you can get clear, detailed and objective remarks on most important campaigns/mods released...
I even imagine some sort of database driven search engine which will be capable of including/excluding results by criteria (released ? Voiced ? etc).
This could also be quickly fed by poll forms, where every person who've played the thing could give a ten seconds advice (Install procedure Easy/Hell ? Graphic quality ? Scenario originality ? etc).

I'm not a code guru, nor a professionnal webdesigner, but I may help some way and contribute to the Freespace universe giving it my humble PHP/MySQL skills.
I think this kind of tool could be a chance to help players getting cool mods, which may help the whole community demonstrate it produces QUALITY stuff and get more attention from skilled modmakers/graphists/coders.

If such a tool has to exist, I'd like to get YOUR advice about the features it should have.
And if you are a code guru/professionnal webdesigner, feel free to steal this idea and realise it before I get a chance to try

++EG

[Spoon]

Next up: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=70568.0
Vassago Dirge

[MatthTheGeek]

Well, a good plan is to play them all and make your own opinions !

Among must-play campaigns are Vassago's Dirge, Wings of Dawn, Derelict, Transcend, Windmills, Procyon Insurgency...

[Deadly in a Shadow]

Instead of looking into the campaign list, take a look at the "Missions and campaigns" board, there you find campaigns AND reviews about them.

[ElGuillermo]

OK, thanks for replying... I'll try these

But still : newcomers will have a hard time finding "cool" campaigns and will come asking for them just like I've done

btw... Can't wait for Blue planet WiH sequel... Great great mod, with inspired music, interesting plot and eye blowing models and effects.
The last WiH battle must be my all-time favorite. Dogfighting above Saturn's rings with massive ships and firepower all around... Thanks for that !

[Spoon]

OK, thanks for replying... I'll try these

But still : newcomers will have a hard time finding "cool" campaigns and will come asking for them just like I've done

btw... Can't wait for Blue planet WiH sequel... Great great mod, with inspired music, interesting plot and eye blowing models and effects.
The last WiH battle must be my all-time favorite. Dogfighting above Saturn's rings with massive ships and firepower all around... Thanks for that !

There's a Blue planet board: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?board=169.0
Where they would love to see your praises (its a good motivator for them  (: )

[LordPomposity]

SGWP2

[Lester]

If you're looking for a good laugh, be sure to try Deus Ex Machina, JAD and Ridiculous. They're all very fine parody campaigns, and Ridiculous even comes with voice acting!

[Droid803]

The thing with parody campaigns is that you need to have an idea about the modding scene first or a lot of the jokes won't be funny.

[mjn.mixael]

A searchable database sounds like an interesting idea... I might have motivation to work on something like that.

[WouterSmitssm]

just try revange

its too nice

[ElGuillermo]

A searchable database sounds like an interesting idea... I might have motivation to work on something like that.

Cool But the main idea is the poll/review system (quality, ease of use, etc). That could help a lot of newcomers...

[mjn.mixael]

Well, a poll/review system has been discussed over and over and over again. I won't be doing that. But I will try to make sure the database shows all features, release date and all that good stuff.

[Scotty]

Sorta like the wiki campaign list?

[swashmebuckle]

It would be awesome if the mods in the existing campaign list could be sorted by release date, dependencies, author, VA availability, etc.  I'd also dig it if a drop down section could be incorporated that would hook into the existing player comments--I bet that would encourage more users to contribute their two cents after finishing campaigns.  Anyway, it sounds like a lot of work to me, but I would definitely use it.

[mjn.mixael]

See, my system would be to create a database that works.

Then it would be up to campaign creators/players to contribute the data. I don't have time to look up everything for every campaign. I would probably restrict it too so that all data must be included.

[ElGuillermo]

I'll definitely be happy with such a tool

Now, as it turns some people get interested, we must list the needed rows (name, release date, type, voice acted, etc)...
Someone who come to find a "5 missions voiced campaign that uses FSO and mediavps 3.6.12" should find it in a minute.

[sardaukar86]

See, my system would be to create a database that works. Then it would be up to campaign creators/players to contribute the data

I like your approach; it stands the best chance of actually getting released for use! 

Out of curiosity, I wonder how one would approach this problem if one were not a coder?  Now, were you not available, I (and a few others too I suspect) might be able to crap out some sort of PHP thingie to do the job but it seems likely that this sort of problem has been solved before.  Is there some generic toolset for tabulating and linking data with provision for simple queries?

That said I offer only encouragement if you wish to build something for this job. I think it's a great idea to look into such a facility; it would provide a structured and managed single point of focus for all mission/campaign data and 'veteran comments'.

[Colonol Dekker]

If people used the rating system on Freespacemods more, after they'd finished a campign. Then we'd already have everything we need.

[Vidmaster]

PERSONAL CAMPAIGN REVIEWS ON THE FREESPACE WIKI