D-Mod Check List
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- Author(s): Jveenhof
- Categories: Development, Tutorial
- Downloads: 39
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Seemingly almost all of the playable Dink modules come with a list in either the readme file or dmod.diz explaining things about it such as whether or not there is a new map file or if new scripts are present or if there's any nudity. I have never understood what the purpose of such a list is, as to see it I must download and install the archive in order to view the file containing the list, which means it won't influence my decision to download because I have already done so.
The information it contains such as the amount of nudity and swear words has never influenced my decision regarding whether or not I should press the "Play" button in DFarc either. It's not like I am going to decide against playing something if it is devoid of new MIDI files, nor will I hit the uninstall button if there are no new wav files, and I probably won't shriek with horror if there's no new Hard.dat either. The estimated time to finish is rarely right, and one can just save and resume later if they have to go out to dinner at a restaurant or similar.
The genesis of this useless drivel does not involve Jveenhof however, he merely perpetuated it. It appears to be the fault of RTSoft as they included it with The Search for Milli Vanilli as well as Mystery Island. It's also included with The Scar of David meaning that early D-Mod authors considered it a good thing to do. Obviously things were a lot different back then and nobody really knew what a D-Mod would consist of, but anyone who has been around in the last ten years generally expects a D-Mod to contain a new map file and some scripts at the very least meaning that the inclusion of such information is nothing more than an outlet for gloating (Hey I wrote 356 .c files for this thing!). Map screen, music and script counts don't indicate quality or longevity of the game and aren't much use to the end user.
Almost everything else in this file is now either outdated or simply useless information. This is not the author's fault as things were a little bit different at the time of upload, but even so the recommendations regarding testing, adding a readme and deleting unused resources are just so incredibly obvious things that I don't consider them useful. Making dir.ff and .d files is also no longer recommended as the bz2 file format of .DMOD packages provides better compression than either of those two, and it's unlikely that you've written anything particularly ground-breaking that requires protection. "Zipping it up" is simply not done and the inbuilt packager in DFarc is what's used now.
I gave this a one because the information regarding testing and deleting of files may be useful to someone, however for the rest I would recommend that you put important details such as whether or not your game may be finished in dmod.diz, with other information such as copyright status and development facts in a readme. If the user is really interested they can quite easily go and have a look for themselves to determine how many scripts and music files there are.
The information it contains such as the amount of nudity and swear words has never influenced my decision regarding whether or not I should press the "Play" button in DFarc either. It's not like I am going to decide against playing something if it is devoid of new MIDI files, nor will I hit the uninstall button if there are no new wav files, and I probably won't shriek with horror if there's no new Hard.dat either. The estimated time to finish is rarely right, and one can just save and resume later if they have to go out to dinner at a restaurant or similar.
The genesis of this useless drivel does not involve Jveenhof however, he merely perpetuated it. It appears to be the fault of RTSoft as they included it with The Search for Milli Vanilli as well as Mystery Island. It's also included with The Scar of David meaning that early D-Mod authors considered it a good thing to do. Obviously things were a lot different back then and nobody really knew what a D-Mod would consist of, but anyone who has been around in the last ten years generally expects a D-Mod to contain a new map file and some scripts at the very least meaning that the inclusion of such information is nothing more than an outlet for gloating (Hey I wrote 356 .c files for this thing!). Map screen, music and script counts don't indicate quality or longevity of the game and aren't much use to the end user.
Almost everything else in this file is now either outdated or simply useless information. This is not the author's fault as things were a little bit different at the time of upload, but even so the recommendations regarding testing, adding a readme and deleting unused resources are just so incredibly obvious things that I don't consider them useful. Making dir.ff and .d files is also no longer recommended as the bz2 file format of .DMOD packages provides better compression than either of those two, and it's unlikely that you've written anything particularly ground-breaking that requires protection. "Zipping it up" is simply not done and the inbuilt packager in DFarc is what's used now.
I gave this a one because the information regarding testing and deleting of files may be useful to someone, however for the rest I would recommend that you put important details such as whether or not your game may be finished in dmod.diz, with other information such as copyright status and development facts in a readme. If the user is really interested they can quite easily go and have a look for themselves to determine how many scripts and music files there are.
D-Mod Check List by Jveenhof
A checklist every D-Mod author should go through before releasing their D-Mod. Definately very helpful. Better for slightly experienced D-Mod authors of newbies. This allows an author to try to perfect their D-Mod no matter how good it actually is. This may be completly ignored but recommended for newer authors. It's relatively easy to understand.
An even 8 points
A checklist every D-Mod author should go through before releasing their D-Mod. Definately very helpful. Better for slightly experienced D-Mod authors of newbies. This allows an author to try to perfect their D-Mod no matter how good it actually is. This may be completly ignored but recommended for newer authors. It's relatively easy to understand.
An even 8 points
This is a list to go through before you release your D-mod.
Although advanced scripters may know everything the author points out, the file is indeed useful for newbies.
Some things are quite obvious, but there are also some good tips. If the author would extend this file by giving some detailed information on how to do certain things (for example, what is a beta tester and where do I find one, how do I zip and where do I find such a program) and explain some terms (like, for example, gfx and dmod.diz) which newbies might not be familiar with, it would be even better.
Although advanced scripters may know everything the author points out, the file is indeed useful for newbies.
Some things are quite obvious, but there are also some good tips. If the author would extend this file by giving some detailed information on how to do certain things (for example, what is a beta tester and where do I find one, how do I zip and where do I find such a program) and explain some terms (like, for example, gfx and dmod.diz) which newbies might not be familiar with, it would be even better.
A handy set of points to follow. Sort of straight forward, and good to have it as a guide for the new DMOD author. The only thing I think it should mention is to use ffcreate2 and to check that you've changed all graphics to the Dink palette if you do use ffcreate ( 1 or 2) as if you don't it'll stuff up.
Oh and I think it's advisable to not only unzip the newly zipped up DMOD but try and play it thru from start to finish - esp if you have .d and dir.ff files.
A few typos, but these can be forgiven as the author's first language is not English
8.5 out of 10
Oh and I think it's advisable to not only unzip the newly zipped up DMOD but try and play it thru from start to finish - esp if you have .d and dir.ff files.
A few typos, but these can be forgiven as the author's first language is not English
8.5 out of 10
Basically this is not a truly tutorial, more like a reminder or just as the title said: a checklist. In principle, there is no apparent error in this file, but there is no enlighting fact, either. Most of the dmod authors, if not all, should have known everything in this file. However since sometimes we did forget some trivial things, so a check list might not be a total useless file.
