[hob nado]

First of all: Congratulations. You're releasing something.

Now, down to business - when you put together a game, PLEASE prefix your filenames with the acronym of your game, for easy reference and organization, and to keep them all together. Even if it's something you didn't make, like a MOD or a SAM (the content of the files will reveal that, or you can cite it in a text file) - it really helps, for organizational purposes, both yours and the player of your game.

[Terryn]

Also, might I add....

Including a text file is a near-MUST, whether it simply has the author name/nick and game name or if it's more comprehensive (I'll give Luke big credit for that; he wrote good accompanying text files). It helps to put your name/nick somewhere in the game too. Trust me, I've been wrangling with sorting MZX files lately and having to dig around for gamename/authorname is a royal pain.

[Exophase]

I thought this deserved pinning. I don't have much to add at the moment, but I will later.

- Exo

[Pyro1588]

one other thing: make sure that the zip is structured properly. my computer has a lot of trouble creating a stable zip file, so be sure and test-extract it.

[weasel]

I oughta make a text file template for MZX authors, like the ones they provide for Doom and Quake modders.

[Micah]

If you can fit the name of your game into 8 chars, do you just name the .mzx file after the game?

[Pyro1588]

that's the best way to go.

[Padz]

Remember to put all of the damn files in(unlike what i did!)

there is nothing more anoying than getting a game that your really looking forward to and then BAM! palette missing here charset gone there.

many a time ive gone through my entire game to find all the file to zip up and theres allways one you miss.

once i put every file in checked, double checked and then after zipping realised i forgot the damn world file!?!

[ShloobeR]

LeDgEnD, on Sep 26 2003, 03:46 PM, said:

Remember to put all of the damn files in(unlike what i did!)

there is nothing more anoying than getting a game that your really looking forward to and then BAM! palette missing here charset gone there.

many a time ive gone through my entire game to find all the file to zip up and theres allways one you miss.

once i put every file in checked, double checked and then after zipping realised i forgot the damn world file!?!

Yeh Nogozone Demo had that problem horribly

[Koji]

Thats a big proble... I mean that's like sending someone a program without the EXS's (BAD example as MZX files aren't executables...)

[Pyro1588]

heh heh
that is really funny

[Dr Lancer-X]

To solve all the problems Tix and Terr pointed out, include the game path when archiving the file... that way, they can't get mixed up.

~ Lancer-X

[Mr. Apol]

Terryn, on Sep 24 2003, 08:20 PM, said:

I'll give Luke big credit for that; he wrote good accompanying text files.

Yeah, he did. I've been doing my text files for my games like that. At least he set ONE good example. :P

[axii]

one thing to remember is making the readme file named something other than "readme.txt" how many readme.txt's can you have in a directory? oh yeah one..
another thing is if your game has more than a few files, (and if it does I hope you already do this...) try to zip the directory not just the files, for easier sorting.

[Pyro1588]

*cough*topic revival*cough*

[Risu2112]

Pyro1588, on Dec 23 2003, 05:57 PM, said:

*cough*topic revival*cough*

... it's pinned, as long as it is, it can't die. =P

[Nanobot]

I suggest naming the text file the same as the ZIP. And unless there are different releases of the same game/whatever or if the game spans multiple MZX files, I suggest naming the ZIP file the same as the MZX game file.

[RoSS]

Dunno about you guys, but I extract every zip into its own folder, even if it's just a world file. Things are a lot more organized like that. Plus, files with the same name (i.e. readme's, save files, etc) don't get mixed up.

[Exophase]

The only problem with that is I end up with like 30 copies of certain mods and sams :\

- Exo

[weasel]

Exophase, on Dec 28 2003, 03:01 AM, said:

The only problem with that is I end up with like 30 copies of certain mods and sams :\

- Exo

That's not a heck of a lot of space. The average game usually contains a little under a meg worth of MOD's and sound files, and the only way that'll add up to much is if you have over 100 games in your directory...and with a good hard drive (at least 10 gigs), that's barely a scratch.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Exo: You probably wouldn't want to play games that rip frequently used music, anyway.. after all, if it gives any indication of the quality of the game..

[Elig]

Having a few copies of certain mods and sams is better than overwritting a mod or sam with a different one with the same generic name (Aka; Bang.sam, etc.) Atleast its better IMO anyway

[Xeirxes]

Bang.sam is usually a bang sound, so I don't even bother with it. I mean, let's say you name your sound "flush". Does it matter what noise it is, as long as it's of a toilet flushing?
Well, it doesn't, at least in my opinion.

[Koji]

But the quality of the flush may change.

And that my friend, makes ALL the difference!

[weasel]

Koji, on Dec 29 2003, 03:42 AM, said:

But the quality of the flush may change.

And that my friend, makes ALL the difference!

And that is why I am here! I provide only the BEST flushing sounds!

[Xeirxes]

That's true. I guess it would be good practice to, when extracting a zip, make sure that the files you overwrite are smaller than the ones in the zip.

[KKairos]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet, but you might want to beta-test your games BEFORE you release them. Lack of beta-testing has led to many a subpar DoZ for me.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Xerxes; from now on I'm appending like a minute of silence to all the .SAMs I release. =p

[ZzCrook]

I have a habit of pressing Alt+T to test after every little thing I do. Most of the time it prevents any bugs... but the occasional one sneaks through.

[Pyro1588]

rayne: come on. one topic i can understand. two? i mean, are we just going around reviving pinned threads for the heck of it?
edit:

i couldn't find a decent "oh no not again" pic, so this is the best i can do.

This post has been edited by Pyro1588: 24 August 2004 - 10:07 PM