Should Author Addons / Missions Be In .EXE Format?

[LCD]

LOL

The player, your customer, has every right in the world to be lazy. The simple truth is: If you're too lazy to create a self-extracting exe file to make life easier for your 'customers', do never, ever call them lazy, just because you're the one searching for excuses not to learn how self-extracting exe files are done.

I didnt say da player is lazy  ;D just said dat im lazy - nd i dont have ny probs wid da player beign lazy cuz im lazy wen im da player  ;D nywayz i dont call da player customer till he pays 4 getin da mision    ;D so i make misions 4 my own fun nd make em available 4 D/L if da player wanna play em he D/L da mision nd instal it if not he dont have 2   ;D

LCD OUT

[Chudley]

Well said LCD - ;D

Anyways I know you ain't lazy by the amount of missions and BETA reviews you get through.

[Sefe]

LCD, when you make missions only for your own fun, then why do you upload them? And I put the word 'customer' in qotes. I never meant that the player is a paying customer. If you read my reply carefully you'll find out that I talked about the wrong focus many mission makers have. They want to make life as easy as possible for themselves even if it comes with disadvantages for the player.

[Artak]

Ok I have a right to be lazy as a """""customer""""". Sure.

As a mission maker I don't have that option, because if I don't make an .exe, I'm being a lazy low life?

Mhpf.. maybe I think my missions should only be played by those who know how to unzip..

ahem, well anyways a good point with the bigger mods. I can mention the Homeland Security for exampe.
I had to download this .exe. It made A LOT of new files and a few new folders under my OFP + a desktop icon.

Now some may think of this as a good think and some as a bad. I for one don't care much about playing something that feels like Counter Strike with OFP engine.
Also let's say I've got four or five of these mods installed with this selfextractinf exe thingy. Pretty soon My OFP folder is filled with new files and folders.. makes me feel like I'm not in control anymore, and many games have ended in the recycle bin because of that.


So even if the author receives more appriciaton for his efforts to make the """customers""" life easier by learning how to make an .exe file I still vote no. In my opinion having these doesn't help the community in no way. It's just like switching from DOS to Windows - life may be a bit easier, but you're not in control anymore Artak tries to think of a better word but lacks the skill.

[Gameer_77]

Come on ppl! You think putting a file into a folder is work?

The poll speaks for itself. Besides, it's fun unzipping the files and placing them in the right directory. You could even make a game of it! ;D

 8)PEACE

[Sefe]

LCD, if you want to discuss thing with me, please use a language that I can understand.

[LCD]

* deleted dis massge nd wrote it again cuz dont wanna take valuable OFPEC resources  

hop now its in mor understandable language  ;D

@ sefe - I upload themisions from 2 reasons

1) I think thatif i have fun with the missions maybe someone else will enjoy them also  

2) I always want to see how good i am (OFPEC rating) so i post it to know

. If you read my reply carefully you'll find out that I talked about the wrong focus many mission makers have. They want to make life as easy as possible for themselves even if it comes with disadvantages for the player.

the only thing that i dont do until now is making the mission in EXE format and i will even do thatif the EXE format will be mre popular than it is now (as you see in the pool) - Iscript everything in the missions myself (im the 3 missions i made untill now i scripted everything alone exept a spy sat script that i only modified), I beta my mission on this forum and even give my breifings to other people to fix my english, so I think that not making a EXE is a litlle laziness that i can afford  

@ Chudley - I Beta a lot of mission becuse

1) i love making comments and find bugs, make me feel more involved in the missions

2) I hate plaing missions with bugs and know that they are considered as completed missions

3) The mission depot didnt release new mission for a longtime

LCD OUT

[edit]This is not exactly on topic but i wanted to make a point  [/edit]

[edit2]Is that more understandable sefe ?[/edit2]

[PsyWarrior]

IMO Should only be used for Mods or maybe campaigns that come with some addons. NOT for single missions and NOT for single addons.

==========
PsyWarrior
-------------
NCPD Chief
==========

P.S. progs like multimedia builder make EXE createon REALLY easy so there's no excuse for you modders out there. If it reduces the D/L size of a mod it can't be too bad. Missions aren't worth it though. :hmm:

[Sefe]

1) I think thatif i have fun with the missions maybe someone else will enjoy them also

This trace of altruism shows me that you are not only developing missions for yourself.

I think that not making a EXE is a litlle laziness that i can afford  

Maybe your missions would become even better if you would overcome that lazieness.

I for my part don't think that all those fears of addons/mission corrupting OFP or introducing virusses are justified. I don't know about you but I download self-installing applications all the time and I had no problems with virusses so far. I protect my system with a virus scanner that auto-updates itself about once or twice a week. When you surf the internet regularily, you always risk becoming the victim of a virus. But why should OFP missions/addons be a bigger risk than other self-extracting archieves? If you fear virusses you shouldn't download anything from the internet.

As for corrupted files, which difference does it make if you copy a corrupted file to the addon directory yourself or let the installer do that? If the file is corrupt it will mess up OFP in any case. And if the file is copied to a wrong directory, what bad can happen? The worst thing is that the mission/addon doesn't work.

Artak, your concern about losing control is typical for someone who knows how things are done. The reason that many people can't program their video recorders is that the engineers thought that if they would be able to program the VCR, the customers would be able, too. Have you ever thought that many players don't care about losing control? Maybe they have just basic computer knowledge, have never opened the mission editor and don't care where which file has to go. They just want to play another user-made OFP mission. It simply improves the quality of a mission/addon if those users don't have to bother about directories or read endless readme files. For them, the easiest way to play the mission is double click on the installer and then run OFP.

I'm sure no-one who has replied to this thread does need a self-extraccting archieve. But is that a reason to vote 'no'? The question in the poll wasn't "do you need an auto-installer for yourself?" but "do you think missions/addons should be packed in a self-installing exe?". To get the right answer for that question you don't have to ask yourself "do I need such an exe file?" but "do the players who want to install my mission benefit from a self-extracting archieve or does it come with more disadvantages for them?". And as soon as you question your own concerns about virusses or corrupting OFP about if an average OFP player without any editing experience would share them or if he rather wants to have the installation as easy as possible, you might get the opinion that your point of view isn't representative (because it's backened up by superior editing knowledge).

[edit2]Is that more understandable sefe ?[/edit2]

Yes.

[Skaven]

nice point of view Sefe  ;D

Well I thought as a customer point of view only, well, why should I install something with an .exe file, when I really don't know what it will to do my game  
And, since I don't know what it as done, if I don't like what I've installed, how am I gonna remove it  
I supose you've thought also on an uninstall feature?  
Which as you know it not only is though to make as also it's really dangerous to use

Chech this Ex:
Let's say I have an addon called TAGSeals.pbo, one day I decide to upgrade it and I rename it TAGSeal.pbo (no need to use other name, since it will duplicate things), well the player does use the setup.exe, and as you know it overights his old file, well, one day he decides, "on second thought this upgrade brings me a lot of things but I'm not gonna use them", "the best is to unistall it" (so an unistall feature as to be present also), well after unisnstalling, will it bring the old TAGSeals.pbo back  

I do understand that for better we should always change, and it's nice to have this kind of ideas, since that is excately what the forum is all about (to learn and improove), but will this really help the public in making their life easier, or will it make the public know even less about the game and it's engine ?
I mean is the idea of ofpec to make people's life easier making everything for them, or is it to bring people to our community and teach them how to work and understand the game  as easy as possible???

[LCD]

This trace of altruism shows me that you are not only developing missions for yourself

yeah making it for my freinds and every1 who like my missions style

i agree with Skaven

LCD OUT

[Gameer_77]

To be honest, i don't see the point in this.

Surely your able to read, right? And all readme's should have information on installing the addon/mission/campaign. If not, then i don't see them putting the effort into making a .EXE then, do you?

All it requires is drag and drop. If that is beyond you then i'd hate to see what kind of job you guys have.  :-X

The whole issue of viruses is stupid as the chances of getting a virus in a .EXE is just as likely as in a .zip.

1) I think thatif i have fun with the missions maybe someone else will enjoy them also

This trace of altruism shows me that you are not only developing missions for yourself.

He makes them for himself then, if he likes them, releases them  ;D

 8)PEACE

[LCD]

should i start a thread bout y mission editors make nd upload their misions  

LCD OUT

[Tomb]

*cough*

  well, I didn't want to quote it all.... you can read it "upstairs"   but I must say that
I basically agree on seffy's
agitation on behalf of the ofp gamers community! He's right, most ppl don't think
an inch beyond their own p3d/textures (and the 3 seconds of "fame"   ).

Still, Im too scared to ever, EVER play peek-a-booh with an EXE file  :help:
I'd rather eat my "lil' willy" with garniture and onions!!!!  :wow:

Thus:  :noo:

[Sefe]

I'd rather eat my "lil' willy" with garniture and onions!!!!  :wow:

You're a troubled, troubled person, Tomb...

And isn't it "Lil Tombie"?