Assuming that there is no (more) doubt about the quality of the custom mansion, here is the step-by-step how I am handling the uploading.<br />
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PART A.<br />
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1° I go to the topic 'Board IDs' and choose an unused number. In the only post of this topic, I add the new mansion with its number.<br />
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2° Now I go to the YaBB Administration Center / Forum Controls / Boards with the Admin-tab. At the bottom I change 3 into 1 (for one mansion) and click on go. Then I complete the window as shown in the models 'Edit boards 1', 'Edit boards 2' and 'Edit boards 3' added below.<br />
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PART B.<br />
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1° I drag the unzipped mansionfile to my own Custom Mansion folder.<br />
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2° I check if the game really starts and play a few rooms to see if everything works neatly.<br />
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3° I check if all Preview PICTs were removed.<br />
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4° At File / Mansion Options I correct the name of the mansion for the maps. That name MUST be: exactly the same as the mansion name, plus the appendix 1.0. (Reminder: 1=first version and 0=no updates yet. The version-number only changes in cases of enlargements or other very drastical changes.)<br />
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5° With COMMAND+I, I see what the size is of the mansionfile.<br />
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PART C.<br />
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1° Now that the mansion is <blockquote>finalized</blockquote> for release, I go to Finder / File and duplicate the mansionfile.<br />
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2° I drag that file to my desktop and delete the word <blockquote> copy</blockquote> in the name.<br />
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3° I make a zipfile from the mansionfile at my desktop. With COMMAND+I, I check the size of this zipfile.<br />
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4° I open Terminal at Applications / Utilities and give the command: openssl sha . I may NOT forget the space after sha! I drag the zipfile to the cursor in Terminal and press enter to become the Checksum sha.<br />
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PART D.<br />
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1° Now I go to the board Custom Mansions Area / CMs Sub-forum and open a random topic and make a copy as a reminder of what I need to do for the new mansion.<br />
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2° Then I go one step back and start a new topic. The name for that new topic is the Checksum sha, that I copy from the Terminal.<br />
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3° I complete the new topic now and may not forget to add the zipfile from my desktop and to lock the topic.<br />
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4° When this topic is posted, I have a look at the http-address on top. It contains a number that I will need later to make the links from the 3 downloadlists. I always copy it somewhere.<br />
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PART E.<br />
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1° I go to Custom Mansions Area / List of Completed Mansions and start with <blockquote>Downloads sorted by mansionname</blockquote>. I open that post and click on modify.<br />
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2° The list is in alphabetical order, so I go to the right place. Now I make a copy of the one above or below and put that copy where the new mansion needs to be added. Then I change the names of the mansion and the designer AND the link-number (see C4).<br />
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3° Under the name of the mansion I add: First release on ...<br />
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4° I save the post.<br />
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5° I now go as well to <blockquote>Downloads sorted by date</blockquote> and <blockquote>Downloads sorted by designer</blockquote> and work in a similar way.<br />
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6° Then I go to YaBB Administration Center / Forum Controls / Boards. I click at the right of the board <blockquote>List of Completed Mansions</blockquote> and at the bottom on <blockquote>Go</blockquote>. At <blockquote>Description</blockquote> I change the date of the last change and at the bottom click on <blockquote>Save</blockquote>.<br />
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7° Finally I go to YaBB Administration Center / General Controls / Forum News and click on the tab 'Edit Forum News'. Add the correct announcement at the right place. (And if relevant remove old news.)
Freddy, perhaps you could put some instructions here on how to.<br />
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a) Upload a mansion to the custom mansions downloads<br />
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b) How to sort that list by authors etc.
I've never understood why we have to construct each side of vines, ladders and so on separately. It would be so much easier and faster if the whole thing (side to side) could be done in one click. I understand having to do tops and bottoms, separately.<br />
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Vern, could you explain please? I'm sure there's a logical explanation.<br />
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Thanks.
Okay, so this *is* related to Midnight Mansion, but I didn't know where else to put it.<br />
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Someone mentioned a while ago in some other forum post (I forget where) that I was probably right when I said that things are more complicated <blockquote>under the hood</blockquote> than they appear when you play the game. Today I was working on the new troll monster, that can both walk left/right AND climb ladders. And ladder climbing is pretty tricky.<br />
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So for those of you who are a little curious what the source code looks like, and to gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity of the game <blockquote>under the hood</blockquote>, here is some of the code (not even all of it!) that handles Jack climbing ladders.<br />
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Hmm, seems it's too long to post as a message, so I'm attaching the file. This is purely for your amusement.<br />
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I seem to remember ladders took me like 2+ weeks to get working initially, not to mention fixing bugs later. It was definitely one of the harder parts of Jack's movement.<br />
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This is also one of those things you might call <blockquote>ugly code.</blockquote>
I'm about a third of the way through my next mansion, tentatively called 'This Old Mansion.' It's larger than 'Arevn's Mansion', but has about the same level of difficulty. I know that some of my graphics have probably been inspired by other mansions, but I've played so many that I can't remember if this is the case, or who inspired me. If I've stepped on any toes, please let me know!<br />
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I'm including a preview to whet your appetite.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
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Arevn<br />
I must confess I have not played very many custom mansions, but I just tried Foggy Forest Mansion, and WOW, do I ever love it! GREAT use of artwork, and very fun level designs. I love all the secrets. So well designed.<br />
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The only thing I don't like is the dark room, where it seems you need to get the yellow key to proceeed. But I just keep falling off a ledge when I try to get to it. I don't like dark rooms where it's possible to die. I think that's cheap.<br />
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Anyway, this mansion is the type of mansion that would win, if I had a level design contest for the original game. Not that all mansions should be like this... if everything had artwork and secrets used like this, it would get old fast. Rather, what I like about this mansion is the creativity. It looks great and is a ton of fun to play.
Hey,<br />
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I'm a little concerned about the way the mansion repository works right now. For one thing, it's a lot of work for Freddy! I mean, even though I'm sure he doesn't mind, even the most devoted of volunteers burns out eventually. Circumstances change, and, even if it's a few years down the line, someone always needs to maintain that repository.<br />
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It's also inflexible for the users in that it doesn't store much information (only as much as Freddy maintains by hand). It seems impermanent as well; I mean, it's all stored by the forum software's upload facility, right? Well, what if you decide you want to change forum software?<br />
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Etc., etc. What I'm saying is, we need a dedicated mansion repository. For an example of what I'm thinking, have a look at Ambrosia Software's addon files repositories--they have one for each of their games. Under such a system, anyone can upload, but an administrator must approve an upload before it becomes available for download. Approving (or denying) a submission would be as easy as pushing a button.<br />
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What's more, we could store metadata such as description, version, author, date, download count, etc. We could even allow for user ratings. You get the idea.<br />
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This isn't just an idle suggestion; I'm willing to put my money (or time, at least) where my mouth is. I would volunteer to write the code (or help out at the least) needed to get this up and running. I'm working my way through school as a webmaster for a University department ( <a href="http://www.elc.byu.edu">http://www.elc.byu.edu</a> ), but I think I could steal a few hours of MM playing time to work on it. <br />
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What do others think?
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