Dependency Help

[Landon Parks 1]

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I think there should be a better way to organize all the dependencies for the lots on the STEX. 

I want to do a mass-download (a lot of lots), and to keep track of what dependency I have, what I don't, what I need, what I don't need with this lot... It's all VERY confusing. I think ST should make a master dependency package, that’s updated ever week or so with all available dependency packs.. So that mass downloader’s don’t have to wonder if they already got a dependency or if they need it for a lot...

Does anyone have any advice on how to better organize this, so that I can download these lots without worrying if I have this dependency or not? Should I just go and download ALL the dependencies I can find, or just take the chance at downloading the same one 5 times? 

I'm not bashing here or anything, just wonder what advice anyone has on helping to better organize the dependency problem.  

Thanks for any help,
Landon

[Silur 3,299]

You must hold in your mind - Simtropolis have about 9000 objects - no more....

And you can see many of this on SIMTROPOLIS - no more and show it ...

With PROPS you must read file READ.ME - this file show you all ... 

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Slapping everything into a huge one-stop mega pack that's updated regularly would be a complete horror szenario. Person X adds a new prop or texture, and everybody needs to download a huge dependency file once again.

Do you have the slightest idea about how much data you are speaking? In my plugins folder, textures and props are kept to a minimum, yet they amount to ~120 Megabytes. And that's only for my particular way of playing and my taste in buildings and lots. To cover all dependency packs that are rather popular among downloaders, you would have a file that's at least 250 Megabytes big. And now whenever a change is made, everybody needs to d/l these 250 MB again? And again? And again? In case of some people here, on 56k dialup or ISDN?

That aside, can you imagine just how much traffic load this would heap upon the SImtropolis file server? Remember these servers are paid for by the staff, and donations don't always cover all the expenses.

You would force all this on all others just because you want everything to be handed to you in a convenient package on a silver platter while all you need to do is spend 5 minutes of your precious time to read a readme, and probably to click a link to a dependency, download it, double-click and have it installed automatically. How much easier can it get?

Sorry, but what you request will never happen, and it should never happen. By the way, mass downloading is the easiest way to mess up your plugins. Go slowly, take it easy, make sure you got one thing working before you move on to the next, and you shouldn't run into serious problems.

[Andreas Roth 605]

Actually, there is a silver platter - and it's even silvery. If you don't want to download hundreds of lots, BATs and prop packs, donate some money to Simtropolis and receive the STEX DVD, where almost every important download has been included. It's always the same - either you invest your time, or you invest your money...