[QUOTE=Locki;411320]I’m now convinced we need to release an SDK. Let me see if we can find a way to speed it up.
It’s great to have user generated content (just for fun), but it’s also important to provide the tools for the next influx of game developers to learn on.[/QUOTE]
Woo hoo! Kick ass! This is great news assuming that it’ll be feasibly possible to release an SDK for DB.
This is how I would do it:
Create a subforum called ‘Maps’ which has the following:
Maps-WIP. Maps that are either still in the concept stage or are busy being worked on where people can show their progress.
Maps: Ready for testing and approval; Maps that are ready to be tested either on a few special servers that run custom maps and where people can leave feedback if they played it. etc. There maps can be iterated on until they’re fit to be counted to ranked.
Maps: Approved maps: A sticky thread which has the list of all the approved Maps. Then moved frm the Ready from testing forum the approved maps’s topic is moved there so admins can easily check which maps are allowed and how they look like. The topics should in general also follow a standard lay-out (Map name, player count, objectives. Map of the lay-out etc)
I feel like that mods that change the gameplay in a significent way shouldn’t count to earning points and stuff. Unless it are things that really would add to the game and could be implemented in the base game.
I know that if the SDK will be released at launch there will be a flood of people trying to make their own maps and that good maps could get pushed to the bottom of the forum. However I do think that maps that look the most interesting will attract attention. And map makers should perhaps be allowed to bump their thread once a day if the map is updated.
Sounds like a good review system. And while SD would need to have a certification process and the right to alter/remove maps whenever they please (if they are later shown to exploit this or that) I think the time they’d spend on such a process would be offset by the sheer variety community maps would bring to the game and so increase the userbase. The playerbase of course could vote on the most popular “unofficial” maps which would prompt the SD review. Even if they did one or two maps a month that would give a very large pool of maps on top of the official ones.
I think you’re brushing off this stage too easily. You have to start from the standpoint that users can’t be trusted. So that means somebody from SD has to test every map or some kind of automated system.
Best way would be if maps could be decompiled again so you can quickly check if it’s got some kind of bug / glitch in it that would screw over the whole system.
[QUOTE=stealth6;424382]I think you’re brushing off this stage too easily. You have to start from the standpoint that users can’t be trusted. So that means somebody from SD has to test every map or some kind of automated system.
Best way would be if maps could be decompiled again so you can quickly check if it’s got some kind of bug / glitch in it that would screw over the whole system.[/QUOTE]
In the system I see it those maps would be tested anyway by SD so I don’t see the problem there. Having spent quite some time in the custom section of UT3’s custom map forum it seemed to work fairly effective actually. Where the more wellmade maps were usually at the top.
Testing of all custom maps probably couldn’t be done alone by SD - there will be no resources for that, because after release most of the team would be working on next games. What could be done is a partially dedicated dev or two who would join weekly a test server (like Scrupus’s Nirvana for ETQW was) and play some of those maps together with players or selected players. All the glitches then would be found much quicker by combined effort. Loads of fun as a bonus guaranteed for all and the dev himself.
But this is just running ahead of the real problem, which is, no kit - no maps. First kit, then all ze rest 
Don’t forget that DB is a service not a fire and forget retail product with a few updates. If SD wants the game to stay relevant and fresh they’re going to need to continually provide content and updates (see TF2). Allocating some of those resources to checking custom content isn’t beyond reasonable if that content is going to bring in and keep new players that produce revenue for SD.
Having a Greenlight/Workshop style system to allow people to promote candidates would remove the need for SD to focus on a massive amount of content. We’d be the filter, they’d be the final stamp of approval.
Sorry, just reading posts from people that participated in QW custom comunity.
Everything else ignored. Its a lot to ignore!!!
[QUOTE=Donnovan;424482]Sorry, just reading posts from people that participated in QW custom comunity.
Everything else ignored. Its a lot to ignore!!![/QUOTE]
This is only not a very irrelevant post but also a very idiotic one. And on top of that quite insulting
[QUOTE=Ashog;424419]Testing of all custom maps probably couldn’t be done alone by SD - there will be no resources for that, because after release most of the team would be working on next games. What could be done is a partially dedicated dev or two who would join weekly a test server (like Scrupus’s Nirvana for ETQW was) and play some of those maps together with players or selected players. All the glitches then would be found much quicker by combined effort. Loads of fun as a bonus guaranteed for all and the dev himself.
But this is just running ahead of the real problem, which is, no kit - no maps. First kit, then all ze rest ;)[/QUOTE]
Unlike Quake Wars or Brink being it a free to play game it’s neccecary for a long substained success that SD keeps on updating the game. A part of the team then working on other projects most likely. It’s not a create a game, patch the game and then forget kind of situation. Is it a lot of work for SD to check the maps? Of course but that’s why I feel like they only should pay attention to the maps which get the most responses.
And isn’t that kind of also my idea of having Ready for Testing being put on special test servers for those maps?
No global stats, release a level editor. job done.
mods, well thats something different altogether.
The community are best placed to test community made maps in my opinion. I’m not sure about the approval stuff, once a map has been approved or whatever then generally that means work stops on that map, and a map is never truly finished. Custom maps should be made as accessible as possible and hassle free to install and run. The community will then judge which maps they want to play. What SD could do to help though is bring back something like the Snap to Grid articles that highlight notable releases, this could be pushed through the launcher if were to include a sort of news/announcement system.
An approval system for maps would most likely come along with requirements and such to ensure maps largely follow the stock ones if they are to be added to the base game, this would hurt creativity in my opinion, there would be likely be no maps like baserace, golden dunk, hoggin, battlestrogg and such, maps that were a fun deviation from the base game, no one’s going to bother if they’re automatically doomed to be just played on test servers.
Also there could be a like / dislike rating system maybe to see what maps are popular and a download counter ?
Maybe things like sorting by download count, unique visits, rating, …
Approving maps could take lots of time for SD and they would probably have to monitor each map with ECHO
to see how good it is balanced so there are no imbalanced maps approved.This could end up taking a long process.
Ofcourse then there would be less crappy maps though
I would hope that the community would have access to Echo for balancing maps (mappers and players) so the burden wouldn’t have to be on SD for every map released.
[QUOTE=Pytox;424559]Also there could be a like / dislike rating system maybe to see what maps are popular and a download counter ?
Maybe things like sorting by download count, unique visits, rating, …[/QUOTE]
http://et.splatterladder.com/?mod=maplist 
Seiniyta, yes you are right about sustained support that is necessary from SD part.
And perhaps testing on special server was also initially your idea - I might have missed it from the previous posts, but this means that we think alike.
What I also meant that this server(s) would help allocate the burden of testing largely from SD side to the community, which would only require 1-2 regular SD testers to take part in the testing from time to time (weekly/biweekly?). Especially because testing in Echo works only if the servers are filled and matches fully played - that requires us, community, to be involved too. Also, some bugs/gameplay deficiencies cannot be detected while testing map in editor at SD’s or checking the code somehow or running alone thru a map in tester’s room. They need actual playing with 2 teams. This also hints at community test servers, as I doubt SD would have 2 tester teams regularly available for custom map testing.
But I am concerned about what Chris said - too high gameplay/design restrictions would harm the variability and creativity of maps, virtually wiping out a possibility to play quite peculiar maps having totally new gameplay - see Chris example of his Hoggin map where basically the map represented a circle with a spawn in the middle for GDF, whereas Strogg had multiple Hogs spawning on the outer edges of map. Even after the map was released, the gameplay on it evolved dramatically becasue community realised it was much more fun to spawn mostly as Strogg and drive around the map on Hogs only, trying to teamkill eachother with ram attack. The unwritten winner then would be the one who had most teamkills with Hog by the end of map. Oh dear, what fun it was!.. see my vid below (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIM0QgGhhl4&hd=1)
I was lying about ignore posts. Sorry. Thanks for writing about custom! I just wish SD can handle it, because it will explode like a bomb! KKKKKKK!
Here a dedicated movie to Hoggin Map match: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umNG-QkIydU
Hoggin is focused in hog to hog kill, but this movie show a foot GDF (with high ping!) trying to survive in the madness!
SD are’nt going to review any maps. it would be quicker to just make their own.
Ive got 2 designs down already.If i cant make these to maps ill just Freak out. cue the vid.
[video=youtube_share;H8mh_zI0Blo]http://youtu.be/H8mh_zI0Blo[/video]
We need a montage. 
and my fav QW custom.
[video=youtube_share;00gdKyE4YHg]http://youtu.be/00gdKyE4YHg[/video]
my maps are my children. Please dont make me abort them. ;(
They can crowd-source it, like Blizzard does. The custom games serve to separate the quality from the mediocre bull****, then the quality is promoted to a market position where people can buy custom content, this provides revenue to the developers as well as the modders. It keeps the entire community healthy.
Not sure about that. They’d need to check for exploits, probably take some kind of ownership with updates going through a review process. This is off course after a lot of the noise has been filtered by the community. Work yes, but it’s work that supports the longevity of their service, there is an ROI.
From my understanding the issues with custom maps are security and stats.
For both I’d suggest a 3 tier system
Tier 1 - Official Maps and Stats
Tier 2 - Office Custom maps with their own Stats - Probably a separate purchasing system to avoid expoiting in-game currency
(Tier 1 and 2 Stats can be combined or separated. I’d even suggest giving stats on a per map basis)
Tier 3 - Custom maps. No stats, no progression/coins etc.
Custom maps go in at Tier 3. Most popular map of the month is picked, reviewed and released as Tier 2 a month later. Maybe make it every two months and you still get 6 custom maps over the year.
Can’t sell custom maps or even mods. Leave the monetisation to cosmetic and additional services. Keep the game consistent and expansive to all. You don’t open a clothing store, create a new section within it and then charge people to get into it to buy your stuff.