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ryos wrote: Wow, this is something I didn't expect to see resurrected, a year later.
Haha, yeah, I've been brining back some very old threads recently. :-) What can I say? I've been missing a long time!
I personally prefer automated systems... and wish that I could have figured out a fully automated system for the old old boards/fansite. But we do have people here who seem to be very good about taking on the manual labor, and if the mansion designers and players here think that the system works, I suppose there is no need to fix it. :-)
ryos, Maybe Vern will want something like this for his upcoming Space Shooter?
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Right, I will transmit some feedback about accessibility of custom mansions from my brother. These are certainly valid comments, inasmuch as they actually reflect the opinion of a real non-forum MM player: so, it is possible that others feel the same but, not being members (or brothers of members!) of the forum we don't get the feedback here.
Let's hope I won't distort too much his opinion. Bear in mind that I'm only the messenger here - I do not suggest any solution or improvement with respect to his comments. (On the other hand, if what I write is unclear, please let me know and I will try my best to shed some light.)
He finds it hard to find the place where custom mansions can be downloaded. I mean, not to find that place when you are on the forums (although, that too) but once you have just opened your internet browser and the first place you think of visiting is actionsoft.com.
Actually, the fact that you need to go and visit the forums is not user-friendly . The forums are not the most obvious place to look for custom levels - it is too confidential, more fan-oriented (not oriented towards the casual player). He would find a specially dedicated page more sensible, where you can get custom mansions (and with a link from the actionsoft page, say).
But, even once you are on the forum homepage, finding out where the CMs can be downloaded is too much trouble. The link to newest mansions on top is good, but where are the old mansions?
Also, information on each mansions is not sufficiently accessible. For example, while he did find the all-CMs-pack (by googling!), there was no readily available information on the author of each mansion. This is typically something he would have liked to see more obviously displayed: like books, or movies, it is often a guide as to what sort of atmosphere you can expect.
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Seen from the perspective of a casual player, I guess you're absolutely right.
Even if I felt until now (for us insiders) it is clear enough where to look for custom mansions, I absolutely believe what you say is true.
And I absolutely second the opinion on information about authors, difficulty etc..... this should be more visible !
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For us insiders, we even don't really need much more than the Latest Mansions feature 
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Toybox wrote:
(snip)
He finds it hard to find the place where custom mansions can be downloaded. I mean, not to find that place when you are on the forums (although, that too) but once you have just opened your internet browser and the first place you think of visiting is actionsoft.com.
Actually, the fact that you need to go and visit the forums is not user-friendly . The forums are not the most obvious place to look for custom levels - it is too confidential, more fan-oriented (not oriented towards the casual player). He would find a specially dedicated page more sensible, where you can get custom mansions (and with a link from the actionsoft page, say).
To address this problem we would need Vern's assistance. I see two solutions:
1. To make the link clearer and clearly state on Actionsoft's homepage that you can find MM custom mansions on the forum.
2. To keep the CM's on a separate page altogether, but clearly accessible from both AS homepage and the MM forums.
Toybox wrote: But, even once you are on the forum homepage, finding out where the CMs can be downloaded is too much trouble. The link to newest mansions on top is good, but where are the old mansions?
Also, information on each mansions is not sufficiently accessible. For example, while he did find the all-CMs-pack (by googling!), there was no readily available information on the author of each mansion. This is typically something he would have liked to see more obviously displayed: like books, or movies, it is often a guide as to what sort of atmosphere you can expect.
Now I cannot agree at all. The CM board is clearly marked Download your custom mansions here and once inside you can find the mansions sorted by name, by release date and by author. There are also information about the CM's difficulty at the download pages.
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brell wrote:
[quote author=Toybox link=1171513547/0#11 date=1205003427]But, even once you are on the forum homepage, finding out where the CMs can be downloaded is too much trouble. The link to newest mansions on top is good, but where are the old mansions?
Also, information on each mansions is not sufficiently accessible. For example, while he did find the all-CMs-pack (by googling!), there was no readily available information on the author of each mansion. This is typically something he would have liked to see more obviously displayed: like books, or movies, it is often a guide as to what sort of atmosphere you can expect.
Now I cannot agree at all. The CM board is clearly marked Download your custom mansions here and once inside you can find the mansions sorted by name, by release date and by author. There are also information about the CM's difficulty at the download pages.
Well, as I said I'm just relaying his opinion. Once you find the correct page with classification by author / date / name, all desired info is easy to get (and clearly displayed, in my opinion). However, see the caveat below.
What the reaction shows essentially is:
- if he had the problem (even due to lack of patience) it is possible that others have problems too. We might need more feedback, but that would be feedback from people who aren't registered on the forum and therefore difficult to obtain.
- while the page is fairly easy to access if you put your mind at it, some players won't really do it and will give up easily at the first difficulty. Surely we forum people know our way pretty well around here, but how does it feel for an outsider?
The promised caveat is that the CM download threads are located towards the middle of the boards and somewhat hidden among the conversations. Hidden, because they are not really highlighted (same colour, same font size, whatever), so you still need to do the effort of actually reading thread titles in order to find out the correct one.
To arrange this, would it be possible to include a link to https://actionsoft.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=22 as close to the top of the forum homepage as possible?
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Toybox wrote: [quote author=brell link=1171513547/0#14 date=1205062472]
[quote author=Toybox link=1171513547/0#11 date=1205003427]But, even once you are on the forum homepage, finding out where the CMs can be downloaded is too much trouble. The link to newest mansions on top is good, but where are the old mansions?
Also, information on each mansions is not sufficiently accessible. For example, while he did find the all-CMs-pack (by googling!), there was no readily available information on the author of each mansion. This is typically something he would have liked to see more obviously displayed: like books, or movies, it is often a guide as to what sort of atmosphere you can expect.
Now I cannot agree at all. The CM board is clearly marked Download your custom mansions here and once inside you can find the mansions sorted by name, by release date and by author. There are also information about the CM's difficulty at the download pages.
Well, as I said I'm just relaying his opinion. Once you find the correct page with classification by author / date / name, all desired info is easy to get (and clearly displayed, in my opinion). However, see the caveat below.
What the reaction shows essentially is:
- if he had the problem (even due to lack of patience) it is possible that others have problems too. We might need more feedback, but that would be feedback from people who aren't registered on the forum and therefore difficult to obtain.
- while the page is fairly easy to access if you put your mind at it, some players won't really do it and will give up easily at the first difficulty. Surely we forum people know our way pretty well around here, but how does it feel for an outsider?
The promised caveat is that the CM download threads are located towards the middle of the boards and somewhat hidden among the conversations. Hidden, because they are not really highlighted (same colour, same font size, whatever), so you still need to do the effort of actually reading thread titles in order to find out the correct one.
To arrange this, would it be possible to include a link to https://actionsoft.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=22 as close to the top of the forum homepage as possible?
Agree on the different color/size, link is now included in the news at the top of the forums.
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Thank you 
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Maybe it would also help to rename the download thread.
It now says: Lists of completed mansions , which is a bit misleading for the casual observer, I guess. What is a completed mansion ?
Is it one I finished playing ? Or what ? (the casual observer might think).
Why not call it: Lists of downloadable Custom Mansions or something to that effect ?!
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