Jenna WSI wrote...
Thanks AD, we don't intend to mod the tileset haks (yet!) so that seems like the best bet. I just wanted to know if the method of retaining the original name was used by the community or not.
Yes, that was the intention of having community projects with their own names etc, so that a prospective player would NOT have to redownload content from all the different PW's each time they wanted to join a server. If the PW owner sticks with the names of the original haks, then the player will likely already have the file, and won't have to download that portion of any custom content they need for that specific PW.
Those PW's that insist on repackaging things into a single hak, or two, to make their management a little easier, are forcing the players to have multiple copies of the same content for no real gain at all to the builders ease of usage of that content. It does mean that prospective players should be pointed to the correct content locations on the vault, but by doing that, the player can gain an updated version of a tileset in particular, that won't hurt or affect the PW owner. Where is the PW owner has incorporated said tileset into their own custom hak, then that PW owner must update that hak, and the player has to re-download the entire updated hak from the PW again, just to grab a single tileset change. IE, the compartmentalizing makes it easier to update content without afffecting multiple downloads all over the place.
Anyway, as a player, I keep hundreds of haks in my hak folder. They do NOT affect ANY gameplay for any module that does not use them, they just get ignored. However, I can play any PW that uses that content, without having to constantlly re-download copies of things.
From a PW owner viewpoint (I am not one) I have heard arguments for both types... those that use CC as it was originally released on the vault, and from those that insist on repackaging it into their own hak system on the off chance that they MIGHT make a change sometime in the far future. Seldom does that actual change occur, but it does make it easier to send a set of files to the player if they only have to grab one or two files from the vault, vs the potential dozens. Counter arguments are as mentioned above. It is likely that most players will already have said content, and making them have a duplicate in another hak by a different name but otherwise identical, is just an enormous waste of space on their HD and a waste of download bandwidth duplicating something they already have.
Basically, I am saying don't repackage unless you are making a change to the content. If all you are doing is editing a 2da or tlk reference, just place the changed 2da in a top hak, and there would be no need to duplicate the rest of the content. If adding content, again, use a top hak, and place the additions in that hak, but leave the originals alone. That will make YOUR download smaller, and allow the original to exist in original form without having to duplicate it.
