Topic: SFB OP Mod '03b - New and Improved!

[Bonk]

Quote:
Very cool, works like a charm.  Tried out the Tholians and the Andromedans.  

Thanks for checking it out Mace - good to hear it worked well, Im sure the D2 server will turn up some more issues... I'm hunting for "predamaged" ships (know theres a few), missing strings (know theres a bunch), bad BPVs, years, arcs etc..  

[Bonk]

To login to the SFB-OP-TEST the following install sequence is now required:
1) SFB Mod v0.3b
2)  SFB OP 03b - D2 development update
3)  Latest EEK 2.1 mission pack

Many improvements, much smoothness...    

Snazzy new compatible webmap too:  SFB-OP-TEST Webmap

[Karnak]

It's really cool to fly Tholian again (from SG3) and the new Andros.  Great work all!!  

[Maxillius]

any chance you could get anyone else to host your mod, like, perhaps, NOT LAMESPY?

There is no way there are 350 people d/ling your mod, let alone 350 people on 3 servers, and I don't feel like waiting an hour only to be bumped when I'm 2nd in line.

[Bonk]

Quote:
any chance you could get anyone else to host your mod, like, perhaps, NOT LAMESPY?

There is no way there are 350 people d/ling your mod, let alone 350 people on 3 servers, and I don't feel like waiting an hour only to be bumped when I'm 2nd in line.  

I totally sympathise with your frustration with fileplanet, it used to drive me nuts downloading stuff till I figured out there is usually no wait at 4-6am EST. (but lately there has been...) Of course there is not 350 people waiting to download my mod, the queue is for all files on the server you selected.

Heres a little trick I use on fileplanet to keep from getting bumped and to advance my place in line faster... the pane at the left of your fileplanet download window is set to refresh every 1 minutes... I find if you right click and manually refresh the page more frequently your place in line will advance a little faster... not much help really, I know...

I selected fileplanet because they are the only ones who have the bandwidth and will host for free (its a pretty good deal really) except for the dang wait and all the ads they push at you while claiming not to have the bandwidth available to send your file... what irks me the most is waiting for a ~250KB file for like 2 hours while they push megabyte after megabyte of advertising at you...  arrg!  ... so I understand.

SFB_OP_04 will be considerably smaller because of the new compression in the nullsoft installer system. I may even be able to place it on a 50MB freehost... not sure yet.

Tell ya what - I'll take a little time tonight to try and find a freehost that will take a 100MB file. Castrin used to mirror it but I think he can't afford that kind of bandwith lately as his server is pretty busy nowadays.

Sorry for your troubles at fileplanet, I can relate. Thanks for showing an interest in the mod, I'll do my best to make it more available.
   

[Bonk]

OK, after much searching, I found another download site that ought to be good for about 35 days or 15GB:

To login to the SFB-OP-TEST the following install sequence is now required:

1) SFB Mod v0.3b or  <link removed - see below...>

2)  SFB OP 03b - D2 development update  

3)  Latest EEK 2.1 mission pack


Webmap:  SFB-OP-TEST Webmap      

[Bonk]

My ISP is down for some time (buried in snow, many lines down...) Hopefully I'll be back online within a few days. Till then my D2 servers will be offline.   The power is flicking on and off unpredictably... time for a UPS when I can scrape up the dough... I hate to think whats been happening to the millions in instrumentation I work with....    

[Bonk]

Update: My ISP is back up already, I'm really impressed. Their line crews must be tough!
The power seems to have stabilised, so my D2 servers are back up for testing.
(The instrumentation at work is ok for the most part... phew!)

Just gotta lay in some supplies to play on RDSL this weekend, the liquor store is still closed though!    

Edit: Spoke too soon, power is still flickering and I can't see my servers anymore...  

[Bonk]

OK, I think I'm back online to stay this time... unless the plows take out any lines... <crosses fingers>  

[Bonk]

I've just compiled tested and submitted SFB OP 04 to fileplanet, the file size alone merited the new version. (plus all the fixes) I'll start a new thread when its posted there, but until then it can be found here:

 SFB OP Mod v04 (temporary link 1)
             or here:
 SFB OP Mod v04 (temporary link 2)

NOTE: uninstall previous versions of SFB OP (or other shiplist mods), then uninstall/reinstall  EEK 2.1 - because SFB OP 03b contained conflicting missions... the new installer only includes shiplist, fighterlist, shipnames, strings, textures and models - NO missions or campaign scripts to avoid future conflicts... the new installer also does not include stock files but rather backs up your current files under \SFB_OP_04_backup in your OP installation folder and offers the choice to keep custom files in another folder on uninstall for the manual swappers. This installer is pretty wild.... installs to 512MB on disk but is only a 45.3MB download !!!!    

Sorry if you just downloaded the larger file and update but I just had to do this. (SFB_OP_04 is actually the same as the latest development update linked above, so no need to download again if you want to check out the current test server, there will likely continue to be small deveopment updates as I work toward the next version anyway... ) I figure the smaller download will probably get me more feedback as I know there a still a few rough spots that will only really show up on a test server.