A plea to release your code…
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I think it is a gesture of goodwill to the community to include source code, and a dis-service to not release it and then refuse to provide fixes or updates.
But then who am I?
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Yah… release my code, I made a modification (and one bugfix) in your (Cannon) DAM (or DSAM? Sorry idk) but I have no idea how to contact you
Can you give me some contact data, please?
EMail? ICQ? MSN? IRC? Jabber? PMs wont work in this /&§)% form (The forum, not the people or the content ;)) -
After im uploaded my project to google code, i don’t believe there are so many people got the code for fixing and add new features….
After talking with a lot of google code users, a conclusion is out: Many people will copy your code to hes project and forgot credit you, specially for application can be compile to BIN.
BUT that’s not mainly problem of us, our problem is: ONLY FEW PEOPLE LIKE TO MODDING EXISTED STUFFS.
SO, WHERE is the NEW VERSION of Freelancer Mod Manager?
EDITED
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NeXoSE wrote:
Most of them will copy your code to hes project and forgot credit you, specially for application can be compile to BIN.
They will, I know that is not very nice but I think its better to have a stolen sourcecode and at least one improvement in the program instead of I go way from FL and the people have to fight with the bugs and are said because there are no new features which are needed by everybody.
Some day when I code a tool it would be enough for me to know that this one is mine and the people use it, like it and are happy about it.
Just my view of this. -
StarTrader wrote:
I think it is a gesture of goodwill to the community to include source code, and a dis-service to not release it and then refuse to provide fixes or updates.But then who am I?
This reads all wrong
Any tool anyone makes is a gift to the community.
If they are kind enough to release the source code then great, but personally I would only do so after i left the community for good.I applaud the original sentiment of the post, as well as those who do release source code - but careful those non codes of you who make it sound like those who don’t are bad or something.
Sometimes people get so caught up with what is best for them that they appear to be ungrateful with what they have got
(i know its not true, but some posts did make me pause for a few seconds ) -
It’s not that, Chips.
As you hint, I’m not a coder, but you know as well as everyone else that when a tool is buggy (so many are) and the fix is so simple, how frustrating it is that the author is not contactable and there is no source either.
At least with the source available there should be a copy with someone that can be used by a good coder to fix the problem.
We (not me, our coders) have been re-inventing and going backwards with some utilties that would be of great benefit to modders, because of the loss of the knowledge the original authors had gained.
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+1, ST
many tools from earlier days, such as the milkshape plugins, the ale editor and the thorn decompiler have essential bugs just due to that we didn’t know the format properly. now our coders can fix these bugs but have mostly no access neither to the sources nor contact to the authors. -
Actually if you know of someone able to fix any errors in the source for the ale editor, let me know. The code is available but only to those whom I know can code.
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i agree as well it also lets othere add to it maby enhance it
but i got told to remove some stuff cos it was to sensative
to be released also a few otheres have been told the same
like i say alot of the stuff ive built is good
and can be adapted to say the plugin version
as for now its only BSG and WTS that use it
and im sure f!r would say the software good
but like i say i had to do it my self but it would be nice
to share it basicly to make it better -
In general…
Often many people cry “Let us have it”.
And there may be a tournament of "No!"s and "Yes!"s.
And finally it is given even if reluctantly.
And it is put into dark dungeons and never looked at again.
Get my meaning?
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Strange call from Cannon when he is pro
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I think I just have a slightly different, limited and warped perception of the Freelancer community compared to everyone else
My perception is that some folks share selflessly and generously with what they do (mainly regarding tools). One name out of several that instantly springs to mind is Adoxa. I only ever see a continuous stream of posts - and he remains above all the nagging, arguments and everything else. Nothing but admiration for his work ethic, sharing and the manner with which he conducts himself. I don’t think he gets enough thanks or recognition - but I hate fawning, and I doubt he enjoys long drawn out adulation either
Then there is everyone else
Now if everyone was like Adoxa, everything would be “open source” or something
However, it appears that lots stand around waiting, whilst a few do. It is entirely unfair of me to believe that many who ask for such things couldn’t actually do anything with it once they had it - instead they hope others will do it all for them and therefore released source code would speed up the process of getting what they want…
Maybe it’s my perception that over the years there has been a drastic decline in voluntary sharing of knowledge, with most mods almost becoming “closed”. I guess people see tutorial writing as a waste of time, but I did immediately think “people want Source code so things aren’t forgotten and may be improved, but do not write tutorials upon how to achieve things - so these aspects of Freelancer modding may be forgotten and never improved”.
I guess I am cynical and very short sighted/unfair. I perceive some people want something, but don’t give… (I am not singling out any individuals here, or elsewhere, it is just a general perception of the Freelancer community in general that has built up over the years!).
As a genuine contribution to the thread though - why don’t people post what they would wish to see open source? Some of us may have contact details for some folks beyond the means others have… additionally, a list of tools that may need improving could signify to those who like making tools where they may wish to turn their hand if they take fancy. For example, I don’t even know which tools have bugs that you are talking about
I am nothing even on the scale of Adoxa, w0dk4, or any of the other tool makers/programmers so probably can’t do anything - but others out there may but just not be aware there is a need!! -
im gonna release my Freelancer .Net namespace in some time.
still need to check out hosting solutions and tidy the code a bit.
its a WIP currently supports:
un/signed CRC
un/signed Hash
FLS1 conversion, encode/decode player name
BINI conversion
INI file and reader classi also have a SUR file class but due to my lack of knowledge about the bits section i havent come up with a tool yet. (other than a GUI version of surdump)
CMP/MAT are on my list as well.
i think this will be a nice framework and i could use my sys calc and npc gen sources as example usages. -
Great man. Thanks for getting ready to do that.Tthe forge here is a good place to dump stuff if you are looking for somewhere to host it.
Just as an example of duplication of effort, I’ll point out there are already .net implementations in C++ and C# of most of the things you’re thinking about releasing. Don’t be discouraged by this though, there’s plenty of benefit by having multiple implementations.
For example, the newer UTFEditor on the forge contains a fairly complete CMP and model implementation + viewer (it also contains a broken sur decoder because the bits field is a bit messed up). If Adoxa ever manages to find time amongst his millions of requests, he may even finish the sexy new version of it.
The DS Account Manager contains hash, crc, infocard decoding, FLS1 decoding, bini encoding/decoding, etc…
There’s an implementation of a freelancer account ID generator program somewhere that shows you how account IDs are hashed (it’s just MD5 with some silliness).
The FLDev source contains similar things.
With out wodka, motah and more recently adoxa to show me how to start by sharing their code, I’d never have got into client hooking. (I also am amused that if it takes me a month to hook something client side, adoxa will do the same thing in a day XD)
I do feel mildly irked when somebody takes code I’ve written and improves it and doesn’t share the results but I get over it. I figure that if I share and only 1 person out of 3 shares back, I’ll still be ahead of trying to do everything myself. In my view the only way for us to advance is to improve our sharing of knowledge.
I remember that releasing code publicly for the first time was slightly daunting - people would get to see the badly written code - but it is worth it.
Please don’t take my first post the wrong way, if you don’t want to share your source but only the binary, this is absolutely okay. It is your stuff and your call. I’m only making a suggestion to remind people if they hadn’t thought about doing it.
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yes, im aware that these things exist in various forms.
some of the sources i used as references when building my library.
but mainly ive rewritten every line of code, having all in managed C++, learning by doing.
as you said having similar implementations doesnt hurt.
i will have a look at the forge, and the new utf editor sounds interesting too.
