Boobless_ed
Will this do?
Fellow train geeks, nerds, fans and lovers,
Following the closure of the last topic on this, I thought I would try to start a new discussion.
The problem, as iterated many times over, is that although we have a central download station, assets for routes are scattered across the great divide of different websites and hosts, - and to top it off - on an equally great scatter of of languages, adding an unintentional but unavoidable barrier.
People will download a route, only to find that they have to trawl through hordes of sites trying to find the rest of the assets to make the route run as intended, and having to learn five languages in the process!
I'm sure you will have all noticed that the sheer amount of topics started on the issue indicates that that is a serious nuisance to nearly everyone around.
Most of these topics seem to get closed. They are often misinterpreted, and are all filled with personal complaints and stories about the issue, and inevitably lead to flames and rash arguments.
While sharing personal problems with the matter at hand is a great thing, especially in determining the exact problem, I think we've had enough complaining to show that this is a fair issue, and that we know all of the problems faced!
It is often fruitless at the best of times finding assets. Although I've been around for a long time, I have only recently found about about the potential of the "Trainz Asset Repair Database", which can be found at www.trainzhaven.com.
On this amazing website, finding many (but not all) non DLS assets is a relatively easy task, in comparison to manually tracking down every missing item.
If I may say so however, I don't believe it is perfect. I never used it previous to last night, as I thought it was simply for working out what assets from 04 needed changes to work in 06!
So perhaps a secondary point to discuss here is how to make this great database more readily know?
A silly suggestion, but perhaps a new, 'marketing' inspired name for this website? Nevertheless, it needs MUCH more coverage.
But getting back to the main point of this, as you can see, I am starting an open conversation on these matters, and hopefully they will remain complaint free. As I said, we've all shared our irritations, and we know something needs to be done.
Before I leave it up to the next respondents however, I will state a few facts about the issue:
* The download station, by Auran, has nothing to do with assets released on external websites
* The download station serves its purpose quite fine. This point does have certain contention, as it hasn't been significantly changed for many years and perhaps contains bugs, but this doesn't change what the download station is: An optional and central place for people to upload content.
* It is not the fault of content creators that files are scattered. It is the up to the sole discretion of the creator where he uploads his files. Everyone who has assets exclusive to non DLS sites has their reasons, and none of us have the right to argue that.
* The matter is certainly messier than my living room at the moment (though will less empty scotch bottles!) , but we can certainly find a way to address the issues.
* People will not enjoy a route if they must spend more time searching for assets than actually playing the route!
* We must assume - until corrected by Auran - that the Download station is here to stay in its current form, unless we can get together a tangible proposal for change that Auran can take seriously
* The current system is flawed, but that does not mean that it isn't fair.
And with that all said, let the this topical forum commence. I truly hope it leads to a solution!
- Post Script -
On the last thread that was closed, Alan from Auran mentioned he did in fact have thoughts on this matter, however due to the way the topic ended, he did not see it as a fitting place to share these. Alan, would you be willing to share your thoughts here, assuming that this topic starts a positive response?
- Post Post Script -
Is this thread in the right place?? :hehe:
Thank you all for hopefully reading this 'soapbox' attempt at clearing up a popular problem, and I hope that we can all share whatever positive input, no matter how small.
Peace all! and vote Green!
Following the closure of the last topic on this, I thought I would try to start a new discussion.
The problem, as iterated many times over, is that although we have a central download station, assets for routes are scattered across the great divide of different websites and hosts, - and to top it off - on an equally great scatter of of languages, adding an unintentional but unavoidable barrier.
People will download a route, only to find that they have to trawl through hordes of sites trying to find the rest of the assets to make the route run as intended, and having to learn five languages in the process!
I'm sure you will have all noticed that the sheer amount of topics started on the issue indicates that that is a serious nuisance to nearly everyone around.
Most of these topics seem to get closed. They are often misinterpreted, and are all filled with personal complaints and stories about the issue, and inevitably lead to flames and rash arguments.
While sharing personal problems with the matter at hand is a great thing, especially in determining the exact problem, I think we've had enough complaining to show that this is a fair issue, and that we know all of the problems faced!
It is often fruitless at the best of times finding assets. Although I've been around for a long time, I have only recently found about about the potential of the "Trainz Asset Repair Database", which can be found at www.trainzhaven.com.
On this amazing website, finding many (but not all) non DLS assets is a relatively easy task, in comparison to manually tracking down every missing item.
If I may say so however, I don't believe it is perfect. I never used it previous to last night, as I thought it was simply for working out what assets from 04 needed changes to work in 06!
So perhaps a secondary point to discuss here is how to make this great database more readily know?
A silly suggestion, but perhaps a new, 'marketing' inspired name for this website? Nevertheless, it needs MUCH more coverage.
But getting back to the main point of this, as you can see, I am starting an open conversation on these matters, and hopefully they will remain complaint free. As I said, we've all shared our irritations, and we know something needs to be done.
Before I leave it up to the next respondents however, I will state a few facts about the issue:
* The download station, by Auran, has nothing to do with assets released on external websites
* The download station serves its purpose quite fine. This point does have certain contention, as it hasn't been significantly changed for many years and perhaps contains bugs, but this doesn't change what the download station is: An optional and central place for people to upload content.
* It is not the fault of content creators that files are scattered. It is the up to the sole discretion of the creator where he uploads his files. Everyone who has assets exclusive to non DLS sites has their reasons, and none of us have the right to argue that.
* The matter is certainly messier than my living room at the moment (though will less empty scotch bottles!) , but we can certainly find a way to address the issues.
* People will not enjoy a route if they must spend more time searching for assets than actually playing the route!
* We must assume - until corrected by Auran - that the Download station is here to stay in its current form, unless we can get together a tangible proposal for change that Auran can take seriously
* The current system is flawed, but that does not mean that it isn't fair.
And with that all said, let the this topical forum commence. I truly hope it leads to a solution!
- Post Script -
On the last thread that was closed, Alan from Auran mentioned he did in fact have thoughts on this matter, however due to the way the topic ended, he did not see it as a fitting place to share these. Alan, would you be willing to share your thoughts here, assuming that this topic starts a positive response?
- Post Post Script -
Is this thread in the right place?? :hehe:
Thank you all for hopefully reading this 'soapbox' attempt at clearing up a popular problem, and I hope that we can all share whatever positive input, no matter how small.
Peace all! and vote Green!