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Poll: What should be done? (22 member(s) have cast votes) Should useless, repetitive plugins (such as all the money cheats) be deleted? Yes (15 votes [68.18%]) Percentage of vote: 68.18% No (3 votes [13.64%]) Percentage of vote: 13.64% Sometimes (4 votes [18.18%]) Percentage of vote: 18.18%
The addons page is a mess.
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Disclaimer: Most of the files available here were not created by Ambrosia Software, Inc. and we make no warranty (expressed or implied) about their functionality or usefulness. While we have done our best to ensure their quality and integrity, download them at your own risk. We've provided them here merely as a convenience to our customers.
But is it really worth keeping some of those things?
A lot of older addons are in .bin or .hqx format. They are Bad Things. It wouldn't matter so much except that some of them are the plugins that are recommended (Polycon is the only one of those I've played - I didn't realize that there was a preconverted Windows version). So whenever you give out to newcomers that list, consider which are compressed in bad form. Please volunteer to reupload them in correct format.
Some guidelines I came up with: Always put a version in the filename, even if you think you'll never need it. (unless you will only ever have one version out) Always name your plugin the same name, only changing the version number. Never upload a plug with the same name as someone else's (unless it's a new version of the same thing - if so, did the original author grant permission for redistribution?) If you are releasing a teaser, clearly say so in the first few words of the description. (not in the filename, as this caused confusion with anathema) If you are releasing a patch, clearly say so in the filename. Only create patches if the original plugin is more than one megabyte. Never say "the latest version of nova" - always use the version number. (may no longer be applicable)
Here are the multiple versions that I've found. It is possible that some of these are intended to be kept in multiple forms. In future, submitted plugins should specify what they are intended to replace. Some of these might be patches. Some of them might be things other people made with the same name.
plugins 3D_Shield_105.hqx 1.05 plugins 3D_Shield_Bubbles.hqx 1.04 plugins 3DShieldBubbles107.hqx 1.06 plugins AACPaintStationPrime.sit.hqx 1 plugins AACPaintStationPrime104.sit.hqx 1.04 guides AddShips.txt.sit 1 guides AddShips2.0.sit 2 plugins Arpia_v1.1_for_Mac.sit.hqx 1.1 plugins Arpia_v1.1_for_PC.zip 1.1 guides Arpia_Walkthrough.rtf.zip 1.1 plugins arpia.html 2 guides Asteroid_Farming_Guide_1.02.Bin 1.02 guides Asteroid_Farming_Guide_1.03.zip 1.03 plugins Balance.sit.Bin 1 plugins Balance2.0.sit.Bin 2 plugins Battlestar_Galactica_v1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Battlestar_Galactica_v1.2.zip 1.2 plugins Battlestar_GalacticaV1.3.1.zip 1.31 plugins Battlestar_GalacticaV1.3.zip 1.3 cheats BEST PILOTS.sit.Bin ? cheats BestPilots.sit.Bin ? plugins Better_Start_2.0.zip 2 cheats Better_Start.zip 1 cheats Big Money Cheat.sit.bin 1 cheats BigMoneyCheat1.1.sit.bin 1.1 plugins Black_Hole_Pirates_v0.1.sitx 0.1 plugins blackholepirates.sitx ? guides Boolean_v2.sit.hqx 2 guides Boolean.sit.hqx 1 plugins ChooseThread.sit 1 plugins ChooseThread2.sit 2 plugins Colosseum_TC_Teaser.zip 1 plugins Dark_Kestrel_v1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Dark_Kestrel.sit 1 cheats Disablo_Beam 1 cheats Disablo_Beam_2.0 2 plugins Dodge_This_1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Dodge_This.zip 1 plugins Don_Quixote_Plug_v1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Don_Quixote_Plug.zip 1 plugins Doomsday.sit.hqx 1 plugins Doomsday1dot5.sit.hqx 1.5 guides EV Nova Map.pdf 1 plugins EV_Enhancer_1.0.1.sit.hqx 1.01 plugins EV_Enhancer_1.0.2.zip 1.02 plugins EV_Enhancer.sit.hqx 1 plugins EVGraphics.hqx 1 guides EVN Starmap 0.1.pdf 0.1 plugins EVN_Azdara.zip 1 plugins EVN_Azdara1.1.zip 1.1 guides EVN_Bits_Bible_0.1.0.sea.hqx 0.1 guides evn_bits_bible.sit.hqx 1 utilities EVN_Plugin_Repair_Kit.hqx ? utilities EVN_Plugin_Repair_Kit.sit.bin ? utilities EVN_Stuffit_Repair_Kit.sit.bin ? utilities EVNEW_1.0.4.zip 1.04 utilities EVNEW.zip 1 guides EVNovaMap.jpg.hqx ? guides evnovamap.jpg.sea.hqx ? guides EVNovaMapWithGates.pdf ? utilities EVNovaPluginManager1.2.sit 1.2 utilities EVNPluginManager1.3.sit 1.3 guides EVNStarmap 1.0.pdf 1 plugins EVWarpedT1.Zip 1 plugins EVWarpedTeaser1.zip 1 cheats Experienced_Space-Farer_v1.1.zip 1.1 cheats Experienced_Space-Farer.zip 1 plugins Firestorm_1.0.0.hqx 1 plugins Firestorm_1.0.5.hqx 1.05 plugins ForeverSigma 0.0.1a1.sit.hqx 0.011 plugins ForeverSigma 0.0.1a2.sit.hqx 0.012 plugins Forget_about__Barry1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Forget_about_Barry.zip 1 plugins Galv_Pirate__Fix_1.sit.hqx ? plugins Galvenic_Pirates__v2.sit.hqx 2 plugins Galvenic_Pirates_1.sit.hqx 0.1 plugins Galvenic_Pirates.sit.hqx 1 plugins GameEnhancements1.0.sit.hqx 1 plugins GameEnhancements1.1.sit.hqx 1.1 plugins GameEnhancements1.2.sit.hqx 1.2 plugins Gefjon Fix.sit.Bin ? plugins GefjonFix_1-1-0b1.sit.hqx 1.1 plugins GefjonFix_2.0.2.sit.hqx 2.02 plugins GefjonFix_2.0.3.sit.hqx 2.03 plugins GefjonFix_2.0.4.sit.hqx 2.04 plugins GefjonFix_2.sit.hqx 2 plugins HeartOfGold.sit.Bin 1 plugins HeartOfGold1-1.sit.Bin 1.1 plugins HeavyWeaponWarshipPack.zip 1 plugins HeavyWeaponWarshipPackII.zip 2 plugins Hit_This_1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Hit_This.zip 1 plugins Horse_of_Many_Colours_v2.1.zip 2.1 plugins Horse_of_Many_Colours_v2.2.zip 2.2 plugins Illegal_Drugs 1 cheats Illegal_Drugs_2 2 plugins JR_Balance_1_01.hqx 1.01 plugins KamikazeVipers.sit ? plugins Khamikazi Viper.sea.bin ? plugins Khamikazi.sea.bin ? plugins Krypt_Expansion_2.0.zip 2 plugins Krypt_Expansion_3.0.zip 3 utilities LaSEr101.sit.bin 1.01 utilities LaSEr102.sit 1.02 utilities LaSEr102.sit.bin 1.02 plugins LibertyCenter100.hqx 1 plugins LibertyCenter101.hqx 1.01 plugins LicensesAsRanks.sit.hqx ? plugins LicensesAsRanks101.sit.hqx 1.01 plugins LWD_1.1.sit 1.1 plugins LWD.sit ? utilities MacPluginConvertor.sit 1 utilities MacPluginConvertor101.sit 1.01 utilities MacPluginConvertor200.sit 2 plugins Maelstrom.sit.hqx 1 plugins Maelstrom1.1.sit.hqx 1.1 plugins Mark V v1.0c.sit 1.0c plugins MarkIVPlugin.sit 1 plugins MarkV_v1.0b.sit.bin 1.0b utilities MissionComputer331-9.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer331-X.dmg ~ utilities MissionComputer332-9.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer332-X.dmg ~ utilities MissionComputer9-200.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer9-220.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer9-301.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer9-302.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer9-310.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer9-320.sit ~ utilities MissionComputer9-333.sit ~ utilities MissionComputerX-200.dmg.sit ~ utilities MissionComputerX-220.sit ~ utilities MissionComputerX-301.dmg ~ utilities MissionComputerX-302.dmg ~ utilities MissionComputerX-310.dmg ~ utilities MissionComputerX-320.dmg ~ utilities MissionComputerX-333.dmg ~ plugins MissionPack1.0.1.hqx 1.01 plugins MissionPack1.0.hqx 1 plugins MissionStringSelector.sit.hqx 1 plugins missionstringselector2.sit.hqx 2 plugins MissionStringSelector3.sit.hqx 3 plugins More_Additions_v2.sit.hqx 2 plugins More_Additions.sit.hqx 1 cheats Mr.Ts_Paint_and_more.sea 1.1 plugins Mr.Ts_Paint.sea 1 plugins MultipleStrings.sit.hqx 1.1 plugins MultipleStrings1.1.sit.hqx 1.11 plugins MultipleStrings1.1.zip 1.11 plugins Myprsplug.sit.Bin 1 plugins Myprsplug1.0.1.sit.Bin 1.01 plugins NewBalance_1_0.hqx 1 plugins NewBalance.zip 1 plugins NewShipandWeapons.sit 1 plugins NewShips1.0.2.sit 1.02 plugins Nova_mod-EVO_Helper_v2.hqx 2 plugins Nova_mod-Override_Booster.sit 1 utilities NovaCalc_Classic.sit.hqx 1 utilities NovaCalc2_Classic.sit.hqx 2 plugins obarskyware.sea.Bin 1 plugins obarskywarev1.1.sea.Bin 1.1 plugins outfits_enabler_v1.1.sit 1.1 plugins Outfits_enabler.sit 1 plugins outfitsenablerv1.1_win.zip 1.1 cheats pH-Ultradrive 1.1.sit.hqx 1.1 cheats pHultradrive.sit.hqx 1 utilities PilotConverter2.sit.hqx 2 utilities PilotConverter3.0.sit.hqx 3 cheats Pirate_Hunter_.sit ? cheats Pirate_Hunter_II_folder_.sit 2 cheats Pirate_Hunter.sit ? plugins Planet_Rico.hqx 1.05 plugins PlanetRico.sitx.bin 1.08 plugins PlugPackV16.sit 16 plugins PlugPackV18.zip 18 plugins Polaris_Mining1.0.sit.hqx 1 plugins Polaris_Mining1.1.sit.hqx 1.1 cheats PolarisTech.zip 1 cheats PolarisTech2.zip 2 cheats PolarisTech3Fixed.zip 3 cheats PolarisTech3MacWin.zip 3 plugins Proto Carrier.hqx 1 plugins ProtoCarrierv101.hqx 1.01 plugins Reset_Missions_v10pub.hqx 10 plugins Reset_Missions_v9.hqx 9 plugins Reset_Missions.hqx 1.06 plugins Reset_Missions.sit 7 plugins ResetPilot101.hqx 1.01 plugins Return_of_the_Forklift_-_Updated.sit.sit 1.06 cheats Return_of_the_Forklift.sit.hqx 1 plugins RewardShips.sit.hqx 1 plugins RewardShipsV2.0.sit.hqx 2 plugins RewardShipsV3.0.sit.hqx 3 plugins RewardShipsV3.1.1.sit.hqx 3.11 plugins RewardShipsV3.1.sit.hqx 3.1 plugins RONIN.hqx 1 plugins RONIN1.1.hqx 1.1 plugins RONINv1.1.1.hqx 1.11 cheats Salvo_Weapons.zip 1 plugins Salvo_Weapons1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Scatter_Weapons_1.1.zip 1 plugins Scatter_Weapons.zip 1.1 plugins Ship_Hangar_for_EVO_Update.zip 1.1 plugins Ship_Hangar_for_EVO.zip 1 plugins ShipsUpgrade.sit.Bin ? plugins ShipUpgrade.sit.Bin ? plugins ShipVariants1.0.4.sit.hqx 1.04 plugins ShipVariants1.0.6.sit.hqx 1.06 plugins ShipVariants105.sit.hqx 1.05 plugins Sigma_Extras_1.5.sit 1.5 plugins Sigma_Extras.sit 1 cheats skippercheat1.sit 1 cheats skippercheat2.1.sit 2.1 cheats skippercheat2.sit 2 cheats skippercheat2V1.sit 2.1 plugins Slayer_1.1.sit.hqx 1.1 plugins Slayer.sit.hqx 1 plugins Sol_Research_Labs_v1_0_2.sit 1.02 plugins Sol_Research_Labs_v2.sit.hqx 2 plugins Sol_Research_Labs.sit 1 cheats Sotanax1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Sotanax1.2B.zip 1.2 utilities SpaceObjectFinderv1.sit.bin 1 utilities SpaceObjectFinderv2.sit.Bin 2 plugins SpaceSniperAlliance_OSX.zip ? plugins SpaceSniperAlliance1.C254D.bin 1.1 plugins SpeederUpper1.0.0.sit.bin 1 plugins SpeederUpper1.0.1.sit.bin 1.01 utilities SpinApp.hqx 1 utilities SpinApp.zip 1 utilities SpinApp2.zip 2 utilities SpinApp3.zip 3 utilities SpinApp4.zip 4 utilities SpinApp5.zip 5 utilities SpinApp6.1.zip 6 utilities SpinAppv2.hqx 1.2 plugins Spinning_Weapons_1.1.zip 1.1 plugins Spinning_Weapons.zip 1 cheats SuperCheats.sit 1 cheats SuperCheats2.0.sit 2 cheats SuperCheats2.1.sit 2.1 cheats SuperCheats2.2.sit 2.2 cheats SuperCheats2.3.sit 2.3 cheats SuperCheats2.4.sit 2.4 cheats SuperCheats2.5.sit 2.5 cheats SuperCheats2.6.sit 2.6 cheats SuperCheats2.7.sit 2.7 guides survival_guide.sit 1 guides survival_guide2.sit 2 utilities TCMapMaker.sit ? utilities TCMapMaker13.sit 13 plugins The_Challenge103.sit 1.03 plugins TheChallenge.sea.Bin ? plugins TheChallenge101.sea.bin 1.01 plugins TheChallenge102.sea.bin 1.02 plugins Turreted_CPL_v1.sit 1 plugins Turreted_CPL.sit ? cheats Various_Advanced_Devices_2.sit.hqx 2 cheats Various_Advanced_Devices_3.sit.hqx 3 plugins Various_Advanced_Devices.sit.hqx 1 plugins Vellos_Weapons.sitx 1 plugins VellosWeaponsBETA.sitx 0.01 utilities ViewRLE_1.0.0.sitx 1 utilities ViewRLE.sitx 1.01 plugins World-of-the-Wraith-1.5.sit.hqx 1.5 plugins WorldOfTheWraith-1.0.2.sit.hqx 1.02 plugins WorldOfTheWraith-1.6.sit.hqx 1.63
My personal belief is that the plugs should stay, but that the add-ons page would benefit vastly from a major overhaul. Or maybe just a search function.
I'm all for deleting pathetic duplicate cheats and obsolete plugs. I would even be willing to recompress bad archives but the problem there is the previous rating and download count will be lost and of course they will appear to be new plugs.
A couple of disagreements with your guidelines though: - Omitting the version from the filename allows people to link to the plug without fear that the link will become outdated when a new version is uploaded. Before uploading a new version you can simply ask the mods to delete the previous version. My practice is to put the version at the very start of the description. Example: EV Override for Nova. This link will always go to the latest version - One megabyte is tiny. I would say only create a patch if the original archive is more than 10 MB. Other than that they seem pretty reasonable.
A major overhaul to the addons pages is definitely needed. I've talked about this before but I might as well talk about it again here: My idea of a good addons system is one that is tied to the forums. Members upload plugs and other users can see who uploaded them and may easily contact the owner. The owner can update the plug and modify the description as necessary. Only members can rate plugs (preventing abuse by one person rating from many different IPs) and perhaps even be able to add comments.
Probably a good idea to put the version at the description's start.
As for the compressing/decompressing, I'm unsure as to how to do that. I think I may be able to, but I would take more time working on plugs than that.
The maximum size a single resource fork can be is 16MB. That limits the size of an individual plug-in file.
@nonconventionally-creative, on Jun 8 2008, 12:07 AM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
A lot of older addons are in .bin or .hqx format. They are Bad Things.
MacBinary and BinHex are no longer the best choices for encoding a plug-in, but at one point they were , and using anything else would have been a mistake. It's one thing to ask current developers to post their plug-ins in the manner open to the most users, but quite another to delete older ones solely because they are in a format which is no longer fashionable.
Here are the multiple versions that I've found. It is possible that some of these are intended to be kept in multiple forms.
I prefer to keep older versions around, as there's always the possibility that some people might prefer aspects of the older version, or be unable to run the new one. MissionComputer's system requirements, for example, have risen several times.
I agree with the need to clean and organize the addons page. Its kinda late now to do much about it considering how much of a mess its become, but for future projects, there is a better system. It just requires that all add-ons page mods get some discretion over what and what not to upload, so that the "free money" cheat plugs and such don't flood it. There are many good ideas and plug in that directory, its just such a mess to go through that finding anything good without already knowing the name is almost impossible.
Anyone here who playes redline should go look at the way the redline community organize our plugs. There's a guy (leonatix) who graciously donated some of his money to pay for a long-term web hosting plan (legacyoflies.com). As a result, he has control over what gets uploaded, can remove old versions when new ones get made, and the page doesn't get flooded with "pimped"/cheat versions of already-made cars. Plugins are usually hosted somewhere off-site until all the bugs are worked out, and then the final few versions get uploaded to legacy. There is even an automatic plugin updater to keep your plugin folder updated and organized.
Something modeled after Macupdate.com might be nice.
@lnsu, on Jun 8 2008, 10:47 AM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
It just requires that all add-ons page mods get some discretion over what and what not to upload, so that the "free money" cheat plugs and such don't flood it.
This particular issue has less to do with discretion than with finding people who have nothing better to do with their time than to try every plug-in that someone uploads. Cheats tend to receive the least attention, but I wouldn't be entirely averse to a policy of rejecting them outright if there was community consensus behind it.
As a result, he has control over what gets uploaded, can remove old versions when new ones get made, and the page doesn't get flooded with "pimped"/cheat versions of already-made cars.
Again, we could delete old versions if we thought that a good idea, and derivative works are accepted only if they have the original creator's permission (which I for one wouldn't go to the trouble of checking if the only thing added was a cheat).
I'm for the older versions of my plugs to be removed, specifically Dodge This, Hit This, Salvo Weapons, Spinning Weapons, and the Colosseum Teaser.
@david-arthur, on Jun 9 2008, 12:07 AM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
MacBinary and BinHex are no longer the best choices for encoding a plug-in, but at one point they were , and using anything else would have been a mistake.
That was a long time ago, before Nova came out. Admittedly, some people may have had very old versions of StuffIt which still required this but probably very few.
@archon, on Jun 7 2008, 09:38 PM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
Well, there is this, which should work as long as Google isn't out of date. Or you can just delete the number after "page=" in the url and use the find function built into your browser.
@guy, on Jun 7 2008, 10:25 PM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
I would even be willing to recompress bad archives but the problem there is the previous rating and download count will be lost and of course they will appear to be new plugs.
I hadn't thought much of that problem
Omitting the version from the filename allows people to link to the plug without fear that the link will become outdated when a new version is uploaded. Before uploading a new version you can simply ask the mods to delete the previous version. My practice is to put the version at the very start of the description. Example: EV Override for Nova. This link will always go to the latest version
I did think of that. It does seem better to put the version in the beginning of the description like king_of_manticores said.
@king_of_manticores, on Jun 7 2008, 10:56 PM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
One megabyte is tiny. I would say only create a patch if the original archive is more than 10 MB.
I'm remembering my dialup days. But my 1 MB limit was arbitrary.
Well, the simplest thing to do would just be decompress to remove the extra .bin or .hqx extension, and then reupload. This would make the ones that were in .hqx format 25% smaller. More complex would be if such decompression were to allow less files to be used. This happened with the PC conversion of Polycon.
Decompressing is always pretty trivial and compressing is also trivial with Plugin Archiver. Zip will of course always produce larger files than sit but I don't think that's really a big deal. Nonconventionally Creative, if by 'less files' you mean less segments of the plug uploaded to the addons then this is mainly dependent on the quality of the uploader's connection. People with slower connections seem to have problems uploading large archives but it is certainly possible to do so.
(edit) If we're going to the trouble of completely decompressing and recompressing, another nice easy thing to do would be to convert any plain text files to rtf for compatibility.
This post has been edited by Guy : 09 June 2008 - 01:54 AM
@guy, on Jun 8 2008, 11:52 PM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
About formats, every .zip I've seen is smaller than its .sit counterpart (and .sitx files are even larger). About uploader's connection speed, those with faster upload speeds should reupload the bigger files. Test your connection speed. Not that it's in kilobits per second rather than kilobytes.
Good idea about changing the txt's to rtf's. Also, the readme should not be compressed on its own (I downloaded one plug where the readme was compressed using .bin inside the .sit).
About Plugin Archiver, that looks good for Mac, but plugin compression is nastier from a Windows standpoint.
IMO, .rez is a much more robust format and should be used until the plugin needs to be tested on a mac or published. I do all my developmental plugin transferring in .rez
Same here. It's easier to convert a .rez to a .txt because the user doesn't have to do the extra movements to expand the stuffit archive to preserve the resource forks.
@nonconventionally-creative, on Jun 10 2008, 10:44 AM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
About formats, every .zip I've seen is smaller than its .sit counterpart (and .sitx files are even larger).
That's backwards :huh:. I suggest you take another look.
Nastier? On windows the plug-ins are all .rez so you just zip it up and you're done. (edit) If you're talking about a windows user wanting recompress a .sit file then the only awkward part is extracting it properly. Don't convert the .bin files but just zip them straight back up again and you're done.
@lnsu, on Jun 10 2008, 01:00 PM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
Well we are talking about publishing here.
This post has been edited by Guy : 10 June 2008 - 04:25 AM
@guy, on Jun 10 2008, 02:17 AM, said in Cleaning up the addons page:
I did immediately before posting. Twice. Perhaps the .zip compression algorithm you're using is set to low quality, or the .sit to high. I was using the defaults in Stuffit on a single file. At least the .sitx being larger makes sense, since it's aimed at compressing multiple files of specfic types.
Actually, I was talking opening a Mac plugin for use on windows. Do you have any idea how many gestures it takes to extract that .bin? Especially, when doing multiple files? First, if it's improperly compressed with .sit.bin, you have to decompress that. With the .sit file, one has to right-click, choose Stuffit->Expand Mac Archive -> MacBinary Fork Encoding, then click through the shareware nag, click "Same as Original" and finally drag the bin onto the plugin converter. Then drag the file to the plugins folder.
Whereas on a Mac (assuming the converter is as it should be) you simply extract the zip and drag the rez onto the converter, and drop them in. It's that simple.
Actually, I just realized that it is possible to do the MacBinary Expansion on multiple files. However, it still prompts you for a new path each time (which requires one extra click).
Conversely, Mac users have to find and download the convertor on their own, Mac Nova comes with none. Or, for those without a convertor such as myself, they have to open it in Mission Computer and save it in Mac format. I mean, that latter one requires me to double click Mission Computer, select Open Plug-in, click Save As, name the plug, and then drop it into the plug-ins folder! That's five gestures (and six clicks plus possible keystrokes)!
JTH, for MC, at least in OSX, just right click(ctrl+click if you have a one button mouse) on the plug and you should find that you can open it in Mission Computer directly from the context menu you get, compressing steps one and two.