What do about disappearing downloads?

Greg · 05-10-2007, 04:45 AM

I'm puzzling over an issue that is becoming increasingly frustrating. Three times tonight, I've wanted to download a sim that required downloading something from another site, and that site required a mesh from another site.

In all three cases, the third site was either closed or the download had been deleted from MTS2 by its creator.

The basic problem is that when a site disappears or an artist moves, all the stuff that links to it remains on line so it shows up as broken stuff in your game.

This is becoming such a common problem that I'm at the point of suggesting that webmasters simply not allow content that requires downloads from other sites. Is there a better solution to this conundrum?

Remember the ol' Master Mesh List for The Sims 1? Maybe we need something like that--a central database where folks can list all the meshes and other custom content, with a link to where to get and notes about whether you need a subscription or something. We definitely need a good utility to manage all these things in your game.

Miros1 · 05-10-2007, 06:12 AM

I had a variant of that myself as a creator: I'd skinned a mesh, and when I went to verify the link to get the mesh... the site was gone! The quick and dirty solution was to simply add the original zip for the mesh to the attachments for the skin with a note that the mesh was only there until the creator got it back online. Fortunately, I had the original zip, complete with read me, but most people don't keep them.

BTW, Delphy's Download Organizer is a major step in the right direction. I'm thinking about writing a "report generator" that will use the data file generated by DDO to create a list of meshes and corresponding textures.

The somewhat simplistic script I was working on for a Master Mesh List where people could submit mesh pictures and information was unfortunately also a victim of the php-eating booboo during site backup that destroyed the egroup posting scripts. I probably have another copy of it on the puter that won't boot. Yet another reason to get that thing running again.

Greg · 05-10-2007, 07:26 AM

Yeah, the DDO is a major help in figuring out what the heck I've done to myself already.

I don't generally keep the zip files around after I've installed something, simply because (a) they take up so much space, (b) I'm running out of disk space, and (c) my CD burner isn't working.

Well, all that, and because I usually just open the zip file instead of saving it. Recently I've taken to downloading zips, intending to install the stuff, but I'm investing so much time in chasing bad downloads that now I'm reluctant install anything new. Rats.

Miros1 · 05-10-2007, 01:15 PM

Silly question, what meshes were you looking for? I might have them...

Greg · 05-10-2007, 04:52 PM

Silly answer: Erm... I dunno. I'll have go back and look. It think the last one came up when I was trying to assemble all the stuff that's needed for Sera's version of Angelina Jolie on MTS2.

Zirconia Wolf · 05-10-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

In all three cases, the third site was either closed or the download had been deleted from MTS2 by its creator.

This is my #1 pet peeve about downloading new objects! It's really annoying to find something that you want only to find that- suprise!- it's only a recolor of something somebody else designed, & that somebody else has long sinced abandoned their site and the Sims game all together. This is made even worse by the incredibly slow page-load time on MTS2. You finally get the friggen page up & realize you now have to hunt for 1 (or more) off-site items/meshes, which may or may not still be available.

I realize that life goes on & all that, but it still seems rude not to let somebody take over/have permission to distribute a mesh you created once you decide you're tired of the Sims. (I save all my ZIP/RAR files on my F drive "just in case" now. )

-ZW

SuSim · 06-04-2007, 02:21 AM

Have you heard of the grave yard?

sims2graveyard

Greg · 06-04-2007, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuSim

Have you heard of the grave yard?

sims2graveyard

Only recently. I'm not familiar enough with the site to form an opinion, but off hand I'd say as long as they aren't stealing copyrighted content, it's a really good idea.

shorty943 · 06-05-2007, 04:00 AM

Just gotta get yourself a new Burner Greg.
I suppose I am at an advantage in that my machine is purely an entertainment toy, with a total of 7 IDE disks and a 120Gb SATA disk dedicated fro the Sims. One 40Gb portable disk is all Sims 2 downloads archived. With a further 24 or more Gig burned to CD and DVD.
Tell me what you need, I might have it, if the originating site or creator are offline some how, I may be able to "ahem" slip a copy to you.

Sita · 06-11-2007, 02:20 AM

I got to the point where I refused to make any clothes or recolours on meshes I didn't have full rights to, even for my own use.

I could say some things about IPR but I won't cos it might offend...

Greg · 06-11-2007, 02:38 AM

Yeah, I really need to get a working CD burner in this machine. That wouldn't solve the problem of not being able to get to the stuff in the first place but at least it would be a good way to back up the stuff I do have.

shorty943 · 06-12-2007, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sita

I got to the point where I refused to make any clothes or recolours on meshes I didn't have full rights to, even for my own use.

I could say some things about IPR but I won't cos it might offend...

Sita.

IPR? Beats me.

I have Warlokk's permission to use his meshes, but my attempts at "creativeity" leave a lot to be desired yet.

Hell, I'm having trouble getting photo's from my own collection, lined up to make decent recolours of paintings and posters, so I can give some thing authentic back to the community.
But, I'll get there.

Greg.

I just don't get it. You seem to be in IT, at least in some way. Here I am a hobbyist pensioner.
You don't have a functional burner, I have a total of 3, spread over 2 machine ......

Oh. Right.
Now I get it.
I have spent a good deal of my life time fixing other peoples machines and vehicles.
Mine, is in the shed with the hood up right now.

Miros1 · 06-12-2007, 12:18 PM

Um, Shorty... Greg's an aerospace engineer, i.e. rocket scientist.

shorty943 · 06-19-2007, 04:25 AM

Really. Oh, puts my steamship stuff in the archive doesn't it. Aerospace Hmm.
See me drool like Homer.

One man I do envy, is an Adelaide contemporary of mine. Dr. Andy Thomas.
He went to a city school, I went to a country school.

I've been a nut on science fiction, any thing NASA, you name it, since I was still a school kid, watching the first moon landings. I was even fortunate enough to be out in the Pacific for one of the Apollo returns. Too far away to see much, pity.

Wow. Don't know what to say, Greg. Honoured to have spoken to you. A bit ashamed, of my some what irreverent native attitude now.
You sir, embarked on a career path, I dared not even dream aloud of. All my life I have dreamed of being part of that. How ever small, just to be part of something so exiting, so exploratory.
My deep respect to you Greg, and I do appologize, if you think I may have been a little irreverent. We do tend to the cheecky side we Aussie's.

And my offer still stands. I have dozens of CD's and DVD's, of backed up RAR and ZIP files of everything I have downloaded over some 4 or 5 years. If for what ever reason a creators work has been lost, I just might have it, if I can help keep it alive I will.
One thing I have noticed, is people are selling CD's of custom content on ebay. (See me frown here.)
I will post a CD or DVD, to any one any where, if you ask. Send me a post card to say you got it safely. Fair?

Miros1 · 06-19-2007, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shorty943

<snip>Wow. Don't know what to say, Greg. Honoured to have spoken to you. A bit ashamed, of my some what irreverent native attitude now.
You sir, embarked on a career path, I dared not even dream aloud of. All my life I have dreamed of being part of that. How ever small, just to be part of something so exiting, so exploratory.
My deep respect to you Greg, and I do appologize, if you think I may have been a little irreverent. We do tend to the cheecky side we Aussie's.<snip>

Actually, Greg hangs out with us because we point out his feet of clay and keep him humble... so cheeky is good!

shorty943 · 06-19-2007, 01:17 PM

Okay.

Greg · 07-11-2007, 12:13 PM

Don't listen to her, Shorty.

05-10-2007, 06:12 AM	#2
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	I had a variant of that myself as a creator: I'd skinned a mesh, and when I went to verify the link to get the mesh... the site was gone! The quick and dirty solution was to simply add the original zip for the mesh to the attachments for the skin with a note that the mesh was only there until the creator got it back online. Fortunately, I had the original zip, complete with read me, but most people don't keep them. BTW, Delphy's Download Organizer is a major step in the right direction. I'm thinking about writing a "report generator" that will use the data file generated by DDO to create a list of meshes and corresponding textures. The somewhat simplistic script I was working on for a Master Mesh List where people could submit mesh pictures and information was unfortunately also a victim of the php-eating booboo during site backup that destroyed the egroup posting scripts. I probably have another copy of it on the puter that won't boot. Yet another reason to get that thing running again. Last edited by Miros1 : 05-10-2007 at 06:24 AM.

06-19-2007, 04:25 AM	#14
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Really. Oh, puts my steamship stuff in the archive doesn't it. Aerospace Hmm. See me drool like Homer. One man I do envy, is an Adelaide contemporary of mine. Dr. Andy Thomas. He went to a city school, I went to a country school. I've been a nut on science fiction, any thing NASA, you name it, since I was still a school kid, watching the first moon landings. I was even fortunate enough to be out in the Pacific for one of the Apollo returns. Too far away to see much, pity. Wow. Don't know what to say, Greg. Honoured to have spoken to you. A bit ashamed, of my some what irreverent native attitude now. You sir, embarked on a career path, I dared not even dream aloud of. All my life I have dreamed of being part of that. How ever small, just to be part of something so exiting, so exploratory. My deep respect to you Greg, and I do appologize, if you think I may have been a little irreverent. We do tend to the cheecky side we Aussie's. And my offer still stands. I have dozens of CD's and DVD's, of backed up RAR and ZIP files of everything I have downloaded over some 4 or 5 years. If for what ever reason a creators work has been lost, I just might have it, if I can help keep it alive I will. One thing I have noticed, is people are selling CD's of custom content on ebay. (See me frown here.) I will post a CD or DVD, to any one any where, if you ask. Send me a post card to say you got it safely. Fair? Last edited by shorty943 : 06-19-2007 at 04:35 AM.

07-11-2007, 12:13 PM	#17
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Don't listen to her, Shorty. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

05-10-2007, 04:45 AM	#1
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	What do about disappearing downloads? I'm puzzling over an issue that is becoming increasingly frustrating. Three times tonight, I've wanted to download a sim that required downloading something from another site, and that site required a mesh from another site. In all three cases, the third site was either closed or the download had been deleted from MTS2 by its creator. The basic problem is that when a site disappears or an artist moves, all the stuff that links to it remains on line so it shows up as broken stuff in your game. This is becoming such a common problem that I'm at the point of suggesting that webmasters simply not allow content that requires downloads from other sites. Is there a better solution to this conundrum? Remember the ol' Master Mesh List for The Sims 1? Maybe we need something like that--a central database where folks can list all the meshes and other custom content, with a link to where to get and notes about whether you need a subscription or something. We definitely need a good utility to manage all these things in your game.

05-10-2007, 07:26 AM	#3
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah, the DDO is a major help in figuring out what the heck I've done to myself already. I don't generally keep the zip files around after I've installed something, simply because (a) they take up so much space, (b) I'm running out of disk space, and (c) my CD burner isn't working. Well, all that, and because I usually just open the zip file instead of saving it. Recently I've taken to downloading zips, intending to install the stuff, but I'm investing so much time in chasing bad downloads that now I'm reluctant install anything new. Rats.

05-10-2007, 01:15 PM	#4
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Silly question, what meshes were you looking for? I might have them...

05-10-2007, 04:52 PM	#5
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Silly answer: Erm... I dunno. I'll have go back and look. It think the last one came up when I was trying to assemble all the stuff that's needed for Sera's version of Angelina Jolie on MTS2.

06-04-2007, 02:21 AM	#7
SuSim Rising Sun Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2	Have you heard of the grave yard? sims2graveyard

06-05-2007, 04:00 AM	#9
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Just gotta get yourself a new Burner Greg. I suppose I am at an advantage in that my machine is purely an entertainment toy, with a total of 7 IDE disks and a 120Gb SATA disk dedicated fro the Sims. One 40Gb portable disk is all Sims 2 downloads archived. With a further 24 or more Gig burned to CD and DVD. Tell me what you need, I might have it, if the originating site or creator are offline some how, I may be able to "ahem" slip a copy to you.

06-11-2007, 02:20 AM	#10
Sita Solar Max Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: England Posts: 371	I got to the point where I refused to make any clothes or recolours on meshes I didn't have full rights to, even for my own use. I could say some things about IPR but I won't cos it might offend...

06-11-2007, 02:38 AM	#11
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah, I really need to get a working CD burner in this machine. That wouldn't solve the problem of not being able to get to the stuff in the first place but at least it would be a good way to back up the stuff I do have.

06-12-2007, 12:18 PM	#13
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Um, Shorty... Greg's an aerospace engineer, i.e. rocket scientist.

06-19-2007, 01:17 PM	#16
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Okay.