Battlefront 2 Ultimate Pack

[Kingpin]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... 1468039481
Hey everyone, you all probably remember when this pack was first uploaded to Steam. The same creator re-uploaded it in December, and I just found it a few weeks ago. I talked to the other owner of the mod, Sam, who seems to have genuine good intentions. I told him about the issues that we modders have with our work being redistributed and such, and he was being very reasonable. I told him that I would try and let the modding community know about this, and if they have an objection, contact him through Steam and he will have the content removed. I was going to try and report the content, but after talking to him, he really seems like he is trying to do good for the community, without taking donations this time. If you see your work in here, feel free to contact the link below to ask him to remove it.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/carborunda

[Anakin]

Since he added - as far as I saw - a whole list with all credits, it'll be fine for me. Did he add this credit list to the download?? Cannot check it now since I'm mobile online.

Btw. what map is that last right picture??

[Kingpin]

Since he added - as far as I saw - a whole list with all credits, it'll be fine for me. Did he add this credit list to the download?? Cannot check it now since I'm mobile online.

Btw. what map is that last right picture??

The credits list is a word document that comes with the pack that can be accessed from the main menu. Also, that is Sereja's Nar Shadaa, ported from SWBF1.

[Anakin]

All right thanks. You said something about they modified your files. What do you mean by this?? I cannot download to check that by my self, since the link is temporary unavailable.

[MikeTheBeast55]

When it comes to the Battlefront 2 Ultimate Pack, last time it was uploaded to Steam, Guru contacted Steam and had them take it down. Since then the Ultimate Pack was uploaded to all different places such as Google Drive, Dropbox, MediaFire, think I might have seen it on ModDB for a short time and now Steam. No matter how many times you take it down, somebody is just going to reupload it anyway. As Anakin says, as long as the person gives credit to EVERYONE then I do not see it as much of a problem unless the modders wanted to be contacted first so it is allowed.

[AnthonyBF2]

When it comes to the Battlefront 2 Ultimate Pack, last time it was uploaded to Steam, Guru contacted Steam and had them take it down. Since then the Ultimate Pack was uploaded to all different places such as Google Drive, Dropbox, MediaFire, think I might have seen it on ModDB for a short time and now Steam. No matter how many times you take it down, somebody is just going to reupload it anyway. As Anakin says, as long as the person gives credit to EVERYONE then I do not see it as much of a problem unless the modders wanted to be contacted first so it is allowed.

I've been having ideas about inserting secret mod security. Any advanced modders are welcomed to PM me about it, I don't want to post it on the open forum for obvious reasons.

[Kingpin]

All right thanks. You said something about they modified your files. What do you mean by this?? I cannot download to check that by my self, since the link is temporary unavailable.

I noticed that in some instances, he ripped units/assets from one mod and moved them to another. One example of this was a BFX unit with Ultimate Clone Wars sides on one of Sereja's maps.

[AnthonyBF2]

I had an idea for some mod security that would not allow a mod to function if it was combined with something else or used in an improper manner. I'd need someone who's good with Lua code and mod tools to help me - privately of course. I won't speak about it openly.

[Kingpin]

I had an idea for some mod security that would not allow a mod to function if it was combined with something else or used in an improper manner. I'd need someone who's good with Lua code and mod tools to help me - privately of course. I won't speak about it openly.

I think it's a good idea, but that would make it so you could only use one mod in at a time. Plus, most mods that are being edited/ripped are the big ones already released, like BFX and convo pack.

[Teancum]

I realize some people might be frustrated, but given that there's a huge readme I'm cool with it personally. I mean we're talking a 10+ year old game. If this does something to keep the player base strong I say it's all good.

[Anakin]

I released my mod for free playing. So until they modify my mod, i'm fine. (actually i made it for my own use before modding, too. I took rep.lvl from a kashyyk map and put it in a bespin map, to get Kit for bespin)

About BFX, i think this is a special case. Arc_Trooper released the source. I used many of his lua as reference for my mod, too.

@Anthony: That's a kind of easy. For example my RC mod. The gc does not work without seeing my mod image at the start of the game. The most easiest thing to add proper credits:

modify v1.3 patch to prompt a list (like the original credits) at game's start.
Disable skip option
the list should be expandable through lua. Problem: it can be replaced, too.
I'm not sure but if the addmes are handled before the login screen, you can add your name for your map/mod to the list

finally there is at every start one list with all the names of the mod's authors.

But not sure if the addmes are handled before or after login. If it is handled after login, you could add a special code at the beginning of the addme, the script reads all addme.scripts and adds the information to the list.

Of cause you'd need your mod to only work with the new 1.3 patch, otherwise your credits won't be shown again

But as Teancum said: This is a very old games, there are not many new mods coming, so i think it does not worth.

[Kingpin]

All valid arguments Anakin.

[CdtFox]

One of my friend recently downloaded the pack and tell me that Ultimate battlefront by Xavious was modified with Dev's most recent assets such as CWA, HD clone pack 1.0...etc

For exemple the "501st Melee Specialist" has been replaced by Commander by Commander Keller's model:

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.c ... 9522B011C/

"Elite Shock Sniper" has been replaced by one of the ARC trooper from the CWA pack...

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.c ... 7A0BA68AF/

Since my mod is using a lot of CWA stuff many people asked me if this was a remake of the Ultimate Pack... (Why I've choosed this name...*insert cry here*...sry...XD)

I want to know if someone know something abot this changes.

[Maveritchell]

One of my friend recently downloaded the pack and tell me that Ultimate battlefront by Xavious was modified with Dev's most recent assets such as CWA, HD clone pack 1.0...etc

There are a handful of modifications that the "creator" made to the original mods (e.g. Ord Ibanna was removed because it's "an odd modification of Bespin: Platforms"). I've asked for any work I was involved in to be removed, and I expect that it's a request (why this should have to be a request in the first place is beyond me) that will be ignored. The response I got back was basically "well what's the point if it doesn't have the Conversion Pack in it" followed by silence, which underscores the whole issue of this thing in the first place.

The credits list is also woefully incomplete. It only lists a single creator name, which is a disservice to any project where many people were involved. When you control the installer, you can make sure that people see a full credits list, and when it's uploaded to a site like SWBFFiles, you see the full readme in plaintext, but here? Nothing.

And for what it's worth? The concept of an archive is great, and a real service to the community. It's great for users (especially new ones) to be able to see a full menu of what's out there and pick things for themselves. This doesn't do that, though, it says "Hey, do you like this thing, and maybe this one? Great! You're getting everything." It also does it in a way that obscures the work people did on their projects, and that's important! And - and I can't put too fine a point on this - it really bothers me that not once did anyone even try and ask for anything. Not even after we originally complained about it! You'd think that would set off a lightbulb that says "oh, hey, this is the thing the creators don't like, let's maybe try and fix that." But nope, nowhere in the intervening time period has anyone even thought about doing the bare minimum and reaching out to the people that actually made the stuff.

[Twilight_Warrior]

The best response, really, would be for someone here with a bit of free time on their hands to make something similar that properly credits all of the creators, but installs a bunch of popular mods through an installer that allows you to select which mods you want (in a checkbox-like fashion). Maybe even showing how many missions each mod adds, and displaying how close you are to hitting the max mission count. Something better than the Ultimate Pack that makes it obsolete.

For the real kicker, just straight up copy everything from the Ultimate Pack, custom modifications and all, but redistribute it through this new installer. Do not credit the guy until he says something.

[Kingpin]

One of my friend recently downloaded the pack and tell me that Ultimate battlefront by Xavious was modified with Dev's most recent assets such as CWA, HD clone pack 1.0...etc

There are a handful of modifications that the "creator" made to the original mods (e.g. Ord Ibanna was removed because it's "an odd modification of Bespin: Platforms"). I've asked for any work I was involved in to be removed, and I expect that it's a request (why this should have to be a request in the first place is beyond me) that will be ignored. The response I got back was basically "well what's the point if it doesn't have the Conversion Pack in it" followed by silence, which underscores the whole issue of this thing in the first place.
The credits list is also woefully incomplete. It only lists a single creator name, which is a disservice to any project where many people were involved. When you control the installer, you can make sure that people see a full credits list, and when it's uploaded to a site like SWBFFiles, you see the full readme in plaintext, but here? Nothing.

I can get in contact with the other creator again if you would like, especially if he does not remove the content.

[AnthonyBF2]

One of the reasons why I never released a few of my PC projects is because of this ultimate pack crap. I just can't stand the idea of my work being hijacked with or without permission. Someone on another thread about this said something along the lines of "People should come to the direct source for each mod so they know about each mod thoroughly" and that they were getting people contacting them asking for help about the wrong mods they didn't make. I can't agree with this more. I don't want to get every mod crammed into the game at once, I prefer to get them one by one from their sources so I know where to go in case of issues which helps the developers.

Hidden/Spoiler:

[Maveritchell]

For the real kicker, just straight up copy everything from the Ultimate Pack, custom modifications and all, but redistribute it through this new installer. Do not credit the guy until he says something.

You don't wanna do that, dude. That doesn't benefit anybody to fight fire with fire.

The installer that this guy made is a pretty decent manager, and I had suggested to him/them that they rework it into something similar to what you described. It's a good idea. Having a browse-able archive is really useful, and AlexSecura/Helkaan/Jaspo's lists are a great start that include even more than what's in this pack.

[Kingpin]

I think my biggest problem is that he is taking mods and changing them with other mods, like morphing Dev's mod with BFX and what not.

[Marth8880]

My biggest problem with the Ultimate Pack is the fact that they didn't include MEU in it.

(Though the reason could easily be because of its sheer complexity installation-wise and/or its size.)