rapiscan {l Wrote}:I think the key thing that needs to change is that local editing (and map cloning) should be apart of the map creation process by default. The map list already is completely inundated with tons of maps that people just cloned because they want to test something out. Having a huge list of assets (many of which are clones of each other with no real changes) is confusing in my opinion.
You should be able to get a listing of published maps in-game, and clone one locally and start playing around with it immediately. This will minimize the amount of interactions between client and master server, allowing for the user to get up and running right away. You only share it (upload it to the server) when you want to make it public.
Hmm, I didn't even think of that. Separating local running/storage from the server side, definitely a very good idea. While we are on the topic of pointless maps, we really need someone with access to the DB to go in and clean the asset list out. I bet 90% of it is all cruft, and that needs to be culled.
rapiscan {l Wrote}:There are a ton of refinements that can happen here, for example:
* You currently have to upload asset packs (e.g., textures and skyboxes) separately on the website when you upload your map, since they're not actually a part of the map but a dependency.
* We should make the upload process for all assets seamless with in the game.
Should be relatively easy, the upload_asset command can upload any asset at the moment, it just needs a propper binding/ui
rapiscan {l Wrote}:* We should be uploading as a binary diff of each file in an asset pack instead of the entire tarred pack.
** Consider some form of version control, but that's down the line.
Ooooh yes, I've been harping about this since I joined the project. I tried getting kripken and Bill/zot to work together on implementing
xus, which would give us all the features we need and more, but neither of them got the ball rolling (Kripken moving to a permissive license was a peace offering in this regard, Bill doesn't like the GPL :\ And still he made no move to help out, sigh)
rapiscan {l Wrote}:* Have texture config in a .json file that is bundled with the map, not configuration with textures themselves. That way you can modify textures imports and blending without having to upload the entire texture pack to syntensity in the web interface.
I'm sure we can up with a lot more improvements from those that do a lot of map editing, but I think the fundamental change that needs to happen here is that map editing happens local by default, and you only publish maps that you actually want to A.) share with the public B.) have multiple people work on (multiple owners).
The master server should be a tool that assists with editing, but right now it is mostly a hindrance. (Note: A lot of the feedback I have comes from GK as well, as I have been working with him on getting the Metallblech assets set up).
The rest I agree with as well, especially with the master server being more of a hinderance than a tool at the moment. But anyhow, we'll have to see who implements it. Bioselement has been working on something for months now, but it seems like that project is becoming more of a general purpose CMS for the Fedora project than anything else :\