Mod Reference DBs ?

[HoneyBadger]

At this time it's pure speculation on my part, because I have neither the time nor the will to do the majority of the heavy lifting required (atleast I'm honest?), but since we've got (atleast obsolete) databases for every aspect of the game that I can think of-admittedly, there's only so much mental energy I can spare to think up database possibilities-that it might be nice to have one or some comparative mod nation databases. This would not only be a good thing for balancing them against vanilla nations (a goal for many mod-makers), it would also likely be very helpful for people wanting to create new mods, if they can look ahead of time to see what's already 'gone gold' as it were. It would also help somewhat to legitimize mod nations, since nothing invokes 'it's here to stay' like bureaucracy

Edi's been our database powerhouse, but I don't know that he'd be willing to tackle such a thing. So if anybody would be interested, it would be nice to have such a body of work. Again, it's just idle speculation, but I thought I'd mention it.

I clarified the thread title and removed the Utility tag since there is no actual utility attached to this thread. ~Edi

[Aezeal]

I'm pretty sure Edi won't be interested, he's got a lot to do I hear so if anyone is interested to start this don't hold back

[Edi]

I have zero interest in doing mod nation databases. Anyone who wants can make a copy of the Dom3 DB, rename it and then just alter the BaseU table to get a mod DB. Adding new units, weapons etc is as easy as putting new rows into the BaseU, BaseW and BaseA tables and then just using click-and-drag to extend the formulas downward in the display pages.

[Sombre]

I can't really see the benefit.

[Ironhawk]

Originally Posted by Sombre

I can't really see the benefit.

The benefit is pretty clear. Having an up to date DB for whatever mod you were playing would be awesome. However its FAR too much work and has basically no chance of ever happening.

[Sombre]

Originally Posted by Ironhawk

The benefit is pretty clear. Having an up to date DB for whatever mod you were playing would be awesome. However its FAR too much work and has basically no chance of ever happening.

I have never thought 'dang I wish I had a database of all these mod unit stats'. So I don't see the point. If I want to know something that isn't evident through descriptions, recruit menus etc, then I might look in the .dm file. A 10 second find and glance later I know what I wanted to.

So I don't see the point.

Even if a database were useful for looking mod bits up, it would need to be religiously updated and it would be wasting time that could be used on say,.. modding.

[Edratman]

Not only do I agree 100% with Sombre, I can't see anyone tackling the task.

I get this at home, almost nightly. Whenever a statement is prefaced by "We need to do something .....", it means she's contributing the thought, all I have to supply is the money, time and effort.

[lch]

Modders who wish to include things from another mod or do similar stuff will just look in the *.dm file, players will just use the ingame recruit screen for information. So there won't be a target audience for this, I think. The one thing that would be quite interesting to the public and very helpful would be a reference table for items in the Conceptual Balance mod, which has already been done, and a similar list for the spells.

[Gandalf Parker]

I could do see doing it in linux. Its really easy to setup automated DBing from text files. Then all you would have to do is download each new mod and run the script.

I was thinking of something along the same line. I did a quck check of mods awhile back to get some idea of which ones get lots of downloads. Nearly all of them did but some more than others. I noticed that having a graphic page of all the images seemed to help the numbers so I was thinking of an automation for that (which also could be done). Maybe do both at once and interface it to a wiki for comments.

That puts us closer but unfortunately still without someone motivated enough to do it. Sorry.

Gandalf Parker

[HoneyBadger]

Aside from the fact that I have *almost* 0 interest in doing it myself, and no time that I'm willing to allow to it, I also lack any real database creation skills. So I'm not even the best person for the job. Aside from that, I've already done all the hard work of thinking up the idea in the first place If it's one that doesn't find a home, I can live with that.

But I don't agree with the statement that there wouldn't be any benefit to it. Part of the problem with seeing the good that might come of it is that mod nations are automatically given lower priority than "vanilla" nations.

I don't see why: they all (or almost all) work--or can be made to work, it's all free content, it's a part of the game that we've done ourselves to add to the overall experience, and this would be a *VERY* big step towards getting mod nations balanced for Multi-Player games.

Especially if they can be set side-by-side with the vanilla nations.

And I'm pretty sure lots of people see the benefits of having databases on the nations that ship with the game.

I absolutely agree with Gandalf (and have said what amounts to it, on several occasions), that mod nations that display their graphics in their respective threads excite people more than nations which do not, are automatically more popular, and gather praise for their developers like a big fishing net of acclamation.

Sombre, you of all people ought to support atleast this idea, since showing off your graphics is a tactic that you've employed, and which has been one of the many innovations which has elevated you to mod-making godhood.

If other great and popular mod-makers, like Amos and Foodstamp, would do the same thing-or have it done for them-I think their mods would be even more admired than they already are.