Community Map Pack :/

[{DIXT}kp]

when i try going to the link of the acmappack it keeps redirecting me is there anyone here who can help me get the maps ?

[jamz]

Don't bother. The maps are all (mostly?) from version 1.0 and may or may not work in the current/next release. Unfortunately, no-one has the time or inclination to maintain this behemoth right now.
If you're still interested, it's here

[flowtron]

I've fixed the link; sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for bringing this to our attention!

[VenteX]

* VenteX wants to maintain this but doesn't have the time or inclination.

[Viper]

* Viper looks into his hosting, he *may* be able to do it. Give him a week or two and he'll get back to you.

[flowtron]

Guys, there's nothing to maintain here.
There is not just one MediaPack - there can be as many as 2-per-week!!
Just as long as there's a permanent download location we can put into the distribution-tool anyone can prepare a MediaPack. The idea is that a single package reflects some form of theme - it doesn't have to, but that's the general idea - like 3 maps in a city-theme, or 20 textures for a ghetto-style (lots of grafitti) .. or 2 models of bicycles .. anything goes. Just read up on, and ask for further details, what the MediaPack is about.
HTH

[Ronald_Reagan]

If someone wants to release a mappack that works with the current version only, I have made notes about which ones would need updating. Way back when I made my map rot... I also made notes about which ones could be played without the extra textures and such XD

[Viper]

The difficulty here is the willingness of people who know what they're doing to release another's work. But I guess that's besides the point.

[hamolton]

I'll maintain it if ya'll want; sounds like a nice thing to do for the community. I would think the way to go is have 1 map pack, 1 small download media pack, and 1 big mediapack.
I really don't know.

[flowtron]

The discussion as we wrote the code took a similar path, hamolton. We decided the proper thing to do, would be, that the infrastructure-tool would provide you with the option to download single packages, combos (prepared or on-the-fly) and always the grand-deluxe-ALLinONE-package.
But since there's has only ever been one big map-MediaPack ..
.. the tool and code currently haven't progressed anymore towards optimum user-friendliness since it's been a feature that was neglected by the community. Just look at the feebleness of the documentation.

This thread is the first that a large number of people have started discussing the feature. A hopeful sign for progress, I dare to hope.
The engine can already read ZIPs, so it's logical that - at some point - the triggering of a MediaPack-header-field in the map just loaded, could be, that the engine does a HTTP-get (like the old masterserver retrieval) and thus downloads the mediapack. Then an on-the-fly unpacking and putting into the game-home-dir; running the package-config .. e voila .. you have the required media for the map.
For now it's a tedious job of extracting URL(s) from your log and then getting each one, for an instant download of the package - the engine gives you HOST?PACKAGE-ID=%d-urls - where these have individual entries for hoster-information (read: the URL where the file actually lies .. each package can come from one totally individual URL).

Anyway - what this really calls for now - IMHO - is to make the wiki-documentation clear & concise about how one would go about all this stuff.
I'd like to take questions - what are you unclear about, or see that others might find cumbersome.
State them here, I'll try to explain - if it works for you (read: G4W! (good for wiki!)) - then the wiki-team will have reference material to improve, improve, improve the documentation.

[hamolton]

I'm having trouble following you. Are you saying maps can be made so a media pack can be downloaded when a client wants to go to a server with custom content? Sounds like an Idea awesome enough to get to AC V. 2.0. I could imagine there being a universal consent of not having custom content over a meg[joke], therefore, all @camper maps would be 1.1 MB[/joke].
NO N00B goes looking for AC maps and mods online; I think them getting an in-game mod/media shop would be epic.
The second most common question at my AC parties was "where'd you get that awesome gun?".
The first? "How do you kick somebody?"

[hamolton]

I don't think I can bump here, but plz. I want an answer.
tl;dr: Are you saying maps can be made so a media pack can be downloaded when a client wants to go to a server with custom content?
BUMP

[flowtron]

mediapacks are already part of v1104.
mediapacks contain a number of files. these can be textures and/or models and/or maps and/or txt|cfg|..-files ... just one group or, if a map requires models - for example - then those too, but if these models already come in another mediapack then it won't be listed as a requirement.
you see, they build up on one another.
you have pak-#3207 and that's great .. then someone has done something that requires pak-#4410 and pak-#4412 .. you get the output, you download, you unpack, you restart the map .. (the latter bit was mainly out-of-the-game-doing-it-yourself) .. and then you can keep on playing.
If you then build a map with textures used that occur in pak-#4410 and pak-#3207 then those two will be in the header of your map .. if you see, we've currently omitted any textures from pak-#4412 .. the 3rd-party won't need it for that map.
Do you get it now?

1. A graphics dude creates a set of city-textures for the community -
   
2. boom, new ID 1101. 20(11) and it's the first - so %02d - 01 .. 1101.
   
3. Another dude - a collection of 5 maps ..
   • .. 2 ctf and 2 dm and one concept from his clan ..
     
   • .. 2 textures and a model inclusive -
     
4. boom, new ID 1102 .. released two days later.
   
5. Then -
   • nothing can happen more than twice a week with mediapacks -
     
   • someone has a pak for 3 models -
     
   they fit the city-theme ..
   
6. .. another guy has done a dozen or so textures also fitting the city-theme ..
   
7. .. someone makes a thread if there couldn't be a city-themed-mediapack.
   
8. Now the stones really got rollin' - eh?
   

[hamolton]

So what would managing mediapacks require?

[flowtron]

I re u 2 post #6.