7 replies to this topic

[Bercon]

Just out of curiosity, is there some reason all mods supported BWP are not distributed via single torrent? It would make it reliable and easy way to download all mods. Updating would be easy too since torrent doesn't download existing files, just checks that they match the ones in (new) torrent. Torrent also has error checking built in.

I for one ran into problems with 0 KB exes and missing files, because links were dead when installing BWP. Using torrent to distribute the files would eliminate both problems.

[the bigg]

There's been a lot of shouting about this issue when BWP was in its infancy; basically, some/most modders want people to download their mod from their web site, and not from a gigantic archive (both for control and updating reasons).

[Lollorian]

Page 212 of the BWP Guide

I. Mods, bugs, patches and fair play - how BWP works technically and legally.

Gamers and modders sometimes have different views regarding megamods:

Gamers want to download the whole bunch all in one go, preferably in just one gigantic file from a single website.

Modders however would rather gamers only download their mods from their authorized sites. They prefer you visit their homepages and have the opportunity to get additional information about their mods. They also want to ensure that gamers are downloading the correct version of their mod, not one that may have had unauthorised changes made to it.

BWP will satisfy both sides. With the link-list you can download the original mods from their respective authorised sites and install them with batch files. Then you will have the megamod ready to play on your computer. The required patches are inserted only on your computer. In order to not infringe on any copyrights, BWP includes no modified mods, only instructions on how to install the mod as well as complete solution proposals
(the patches and the batch files). If you alter the mods yourself in the privacy of your own home, it is solely by and for yourself and completely legitimate.

This is important information for those players who find a solution themselves, but are uneasy about making it public.

The best example is the BGT mod itself. It modifies the complete BG1 game. The modified game may not be distributed, but you can create this modification by yourself on your computer!

It would be unfair to the modders, not to inform them if an error is found. It is also unfair to the players, not to publish a solution due to concern for getting on the wrong side of the modder. Nothing is more frustrating for other players than to read that although a solution has been found to a problem, no patch is available or published.

Taking the honourable attitude ?Never touch someone other?s mod? may mean there will be no further development because it often takes months before an updated version appears, assuming the mod is still generally supported. Also, for any number of reasons, some modders are not interested in making their mod compatible with other mods (including BGT) if they have to add even one single line of code. Such a mod would
then not be playable at all.

BWP is working closely with the modders. Once we have a new bug fix, it will be installed with the BWP Fixpack and is immediately available to all players. At the same time, the modder will be informed about the patches made.

Many of the modders support their mods further and as a general rule include the patch with the mod?s next update. However, this can sometimes take several months. Until then the patch is able be used by all players and tested in combination with other mods. Once the correction in the original mod is done and the patch is no longer needed, we delete it again from the Fixpack. This is also helpful for the modders, because it means all
the found fixes are bundled up in one place instead of scattered over the whole net. The same is true for all text patches.

This is fair to both sides and has long been accepted. After all, the BWP with its wide dissemination and consistent structure is an enormous and best test platform for the modders.

Please have a read

[Creepin]

I've seen quite a number of pre-made megamod installs on our local torrent trackers and I'm pretty sure there might be some on TPB, but what's the point? Firstly, assembling such a huge thing is a difficult process and I won't trust some noname person to do it better than me. Of course, if considered-to-be-stable versions of megamod were to released by BWP gurus that would alleviate said issue, but even then what about mod selection? When I do it myself I could chose to not to install this mod, skip that component and add another over standard BWP. That would be impossible with pre-made install.

That being said, I'm sure that release of each BWP version as a pre-assembled megamod would be of great use for those who don't have knowledge or bravery enough to try to assemble one on their own.

Edited by Creepin, 13 May 2010 - 08:46 AM.

[the bigg]

That's still not going to happen, since then people will come screaming and demanding that their 2005-era one day NPC is removed from the compilation because they want to be able to control updates.

[Creepin]

Last time I checked making sure that everyone's happy about torrent release was the least of releaser's worries

However, I accept there's kind of problem here as releasing such torrent under the name of, say, Lollorian would attract to him too much screaming and shouting on forums, and releasing it under the name of, say, sdsdssdfa would mean nobody will have any reason to trust that it's assembled correctly.

Edited by Creepin, 13 May 2010 - 09:02 AM.

[Bercon]

Yeah I was afraid that modders want to keep their files under their own control, sometimes even with a good reason

I wasn't suggesting to make compiled version torrent. Heck, things seem to be updating so fast with BWP that it would be old before people get it downloaded. What I was thinking was making torrent out of "BiG World Downloads" folder. New torrent would ship with each BWP version with updated files, instead of updated links (current model), updated torrent (basically just a link too).

[Lollorian]

Lollorian would attract to him too much screaming and shouting on forums

That's true ... even now

Anyway, we've gotta get one thing clear here ...

1) Pre-modded packages are probably a strict no-no cause they'll contain the original game files (which would mean anyone without a legal copy of BGII could dl it and play ... which would prolly be bad ... for the modders, not the player )

2) The OP probably wants a common source for the mod packages, not a pre-installed megamod install (which, like theBigg said, is not worth it )

PS: The only working torrent I found contains BWP 6.0 and it's NOT hosted at TPB (it's a single ~4 GB .rar so you can't even choose what to download ... so much for convenience)

EDIT: Ooooohhh, sneaky ninja

Edited by Lollorian, 13 May 2010 - 09:29 AM.