The Dink Network

Rcbanks posted a topic about there being a lack of good (if any)new d-mods so, how about a community d-mod...
Most people on the DN will contribute with their best fields (e.g. me-status bars).
So, whaddya think?

I think it will fail miserably.

It has been tried before, but it has never worked in the past...

The concept has "fail" written all over it.

I think your idea is well-intentioned, but I'm going to have to agree with the general consensus, here, if for different reasons. It's just a matter of "too many cooks" spoiling the "broth", as it were.

Any time you have a project that is creative in nature, it becomes invariably more difficult when you add more authors, because those authors will disagree about the direction it is going to take. At least that's the way my mind/personality works. Collaborations do work sometimes, but those are best left to 2-3 authors who are already good friends, in my honest opinion.

As for file contributions, there's already a section of this site dedicated to user-made files. You should check it out. Anything you find there, you can do what you want with. That's the main kind of collaboration that gets done here.

Also, anything made by the "community" would take forever, just due to the sheer nature of trying co-ordinate everybody all at once.

Too many logistical problems, but a nice thought.

I'd suggest making your own D-mod. There are plenty of nice sprites/graphics here to take advantage of.

-rcbanks

If there's going to be a community Dmod, someone has to take initiative and start working, then introducing it to the community when he has something substantial to show. That way people are willing to contribute a lot better, plus the chances of it getting finished become bigger.

True, but who gets the final say as to what "it" is?

Everyone gets a say, but you need to know your limits. Ultimately everyone wants to have some things different and it's not always possible to comply to all wishes, so in the meantime some decisions will definitely have to be made by someone.

That's what I'm saying. Who gets to determine what the final version is? And who gets to say, "Enough, no more changes."?

Who is this mysterious "someone" if it's a community project? That's the sticking point. I don't think we're all going to agree on who the leader is.

-rcbanks

When more than a few people work on something one will usually become a leader without the need to formally appoint one. It propably doesn't work half as well in the internet as it does in real life though, so it would be best if the project had a clear lead from the start (In Davince's example, the one who takes the initiative seems like an obvious choice).

Perhaps. But obvious to some, is going to be non-obvious to others. Do what you like. No one is trying stop you. I foresee messiness. That's all.

-rcbanks

You could make a D-mod where most of the graphics were substituted with things that others have made and put on the site. That's the easiest way I can think of doing what you want without having everyone arguing and confused.

Even if you did do a community project I doubt many people would take part, most people are busy or not scripters.

Well you'll need a clear leader from the start if you ask me. This person should have made at least one good DMOD before so we know that he knows what it's like to make a DMOD. The problem is that this doesn't necessarily mean that he is a good leader.

It also needs to be clear who does what and when. And there's your second problem: If one member quits or fails to deliver, what will you do? Often the entire project will be halted and people start staring at each other if there isn't a leader.

Furthermore there is the problem that your DMOD is probably going to have only a single mapfile. So someone is going to be responsible for making sure that everybody knows who is working on the map and that the map available for the members is up to date.

And I'm sure there are enough scripters and other talented people. You just need to take the right people in your team, and that means being selective.

On the other hand I have thought about it, and to me it seems that the new private message forums are ideal for these kinds of projects...

Agreed (on all of it)...

Messiness comes more quickly if you start out with a huge team, all kinds of tasks and let everyone do everything. I learned that recently.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that I would like to get involved in a community dmod. I don't want to make something that doesn't look like myself, nor do I think it's a working concept.

Working with people you don't know over the internet would still be a pain, even if there were no leadership problems.