Spaceport is a mess!!!

[h3half]

It's a mess. It doesn't look good. It makes Squad look amateur (when they're really not). You can't browse by category, because you get flooded with .craft files. You can't search, because you get flooded by .craft files. If we wanted .craft files we could just go to the Spacecraft Exchange, I don't see why .craft files even need to be on Spaceport. At the very least they should have their own category or users should have the option to omit all .craft files from a search.

[Moon Goddess]

Well slow down here....

I think it is important, very very important to have a place for people to upload their .craft files. No matter how n00b. And in an official place not 3rd party.

That said they really must be separate from mods, with their own sorting tags. SPH or VAB, Stock or Modded, Lander, Lifter, etc.

The mod section really needs to limit the amount of tags people can put. I'm tired of seeing mods that are tagged with every category and contains one part which is just a stock part with the rescale factor changed.

And finally it really needs a way to flag mods that we've downloaded before for quickly returning to them, and notification of updates.

[Talisar]

I agree that the spaceport is a mess right now. Having said that, however, I think it could be fairly easily made useful to most people by doing 3 things:

1. Limiting tags. Not necessarily only one per mod, but maybe 3 at the max?

2. Making it possible to exclude items from a search based on tags, in addition to searching for particular tags.

3. Moving .craft files to their own category (or requiring them to be tagged as a .craft file, if #2 were implemented)

Now I'm not certain how difficult any of these would be to implement, but I have seen other websites with just this type of system, so I have hope

[MR4Y]

How about an automatic system that as soon as the file is sent, it reads the file structure(So, you would need a new rule stating that all mods should have the exact same file structure) then tags the file correctly? This thing would have a copy of the vanilla game to compare as well, so mods that alter the main game will be tagged as such too.

Just a silly idea that works perfectly....on paper.

[-RanZ-]

I agree, spaceport would be a great tool but it needs some work.

[karolus10]

Main issue with space port mess, is that we don't had separate category for craft files ,so we must deal with both mods and vehicles putted into one group .

[llamatoes]

I think for craft files, on SpacePort, we have a sign in large friendly letters

HEY, YOU KNOW THERE IS A SPECIFIC SUB-FORUM FOR YOU TO POST YOUR CRAFT FILES, THE SPACEPORT IS MEANT FOR MODS, AT LEAST UNTIL IT THERE IS SEPARATE SECTION FOR CRAFTS.

ALSO, WOULD YOU MIND NOT TAGGING YOUR CREATION AS EVERYTHING

Edited May 21, 2013 by KasperVld
Removed font & color

[firerider521]

i think for craft files, on spaceport, we have a sign in large friendly letters

hey, you know there is a specific sub-forum for you to post your craft files, the spaceport is meant for mods, at least until it there is separate section for crafts.

Also, would you mind not tagging your creation as everything

ohgodcomicsans

Edited May 21, 2013 by KasperVld
Removed font & color

[llamatoes]

ohgodsorryiwasbeingironic

Edited May 21, 2013 by KasperVld
Removed font & color

[RoboRay]

I say, good Fellows, could you kindly refrain from using such offensive fonts? Cheerio!

Edited May 21, 2013 by RoboRay

[llamatoes]

Sorry. I was trying to be ironic

[KasperVld]

Please don't mess up a thread just because SpacePort is a mess, even if that thread is about SpacePort being a mess

[llamatoes]

Yo dawg...

[OneRedBlock]

You have my sword.

And my axe!

[comham]

Spaceport needs a proper screenshot gallery feature, a listing of file contents, and some mandatory, enforced layout of the mod description.

[Eric S]

I'm not in favor of removing .craft files from Spaceport, but absolutely agree to the rest of this, including having some way to search for mods only, not .craft files.

Maybe a little automated assist, like stripping certain flags off of .craft-only mods. I've seen a few where the uploader checks off every type of part they used, and that's just not right. Not sure what other automated checking could be done, but even minimal checking is better than what we've got now.

[CalculusWarrior]

I think that there should be at least four sections on SpacePort:

Unmodded .craft files,

.craft files that utilize mods, and you have the option of downloading the mods it comes with, and

Straight-up plugins, which could include parts

Modded parts, like giant engines, etc... which do not require plugins to use.

This would definitely save a lot of time and hassle. The current tagging system is broken, no matter which tab you click on at the top you get the same results, and is desperately in need of moderators.

I suppose Squad will get to it sooner or later, possibly after they release this update?

[zarakon]

I think that there should be at least four sections on SpacePort:

Unmodded .craft files,

.craft files that utilize mods, and you have the option of downloading the mods it comes with, and

Straight-up plugins, which could include parts

Modded parts, like giant engines, etc... which do not require plugins to use.

Also a section for scenarios!

Right now it's kind of annoying to put scenarios up there, because they don't fit any of the provided categories or tags

[Brabbit1987]

I feel .craft files should be removed from spaceport all together. There is no reason to have them there when you can share them on the forum. I mean can anyone here actually give me a good reason why they need to be on the spaceport? I really want to hear the reasoning to keep them there, cause I really can't think of any.

[comham]

I feel .craft files should be removed from spaceport all together. There is no reason to have them there when you can share them on the forum. I mean can anyone here actually give me a good reason why they need to be on the spaceport? I really want to hear the reasoning to keep them there, cause I really can't think of any.

Forums aren't designed for sharing/organising files, the spaceport is, at least on paper.

I don't ever use .craft files, the whole point of KSP to me is designing my own ships with everything that entails, but if I did I'd want a proper website for them. Forums suck.

[Bioman222]

I vote breaking down the SpacePort, then rebuilding it and having it so when a mod is made, it must be submitted to people to sort and organize. Craft files could be organized by Rover, Lander, Unmanned Lander, Station, Interplanetary-Multipart-Ship, launcher, ETC, and Mods could be first sorted by CFG edit, mod part, and plugin/plugin required parts, and then broken down by Science, Structural, Pods, Utility, Combustion, Aerodynamics, Command&Control, ETC.

[Scottiths]

Idea. would require starting over with spaceport though

When a new file is submitted it is tagged as "new file" and whatever the tags the author wants. you can filter off "new file" parts so you dont see them. The "new file" tag is not removed until there have been 25-50 people who have downloaded the file AND submitted a review of said file. IE: they pick the categories THEY think the craft should go in. After this trial the file is tagged with only those tags that the majority of people used.

This would prevent people from going and making a new accounts. Because that would be a LOT of work just to get a few downloads.

*edit*

Ninjaed by seconds! Great minds think alike

[Eric S]

Forums aren't designed for sharing/organising files, the spaceport is, at least on paper.

Moreover, from what I can tell, the forums don't actually allow for storage of the files. The only craft file that I uploaded to starport was done because someone else asked for it, and only after I tested the forums to make sure that the craft file was too large to post it there.

Really, that forum is a place to advertise craft files that are located elsewhere, and because of limitations on message sizes and attachments, that's all it can be.

[CaptinKornflake]

It really is quite annoying tho

[Brabbit1987]

Forums aren't designed for sharing/organising files, the spaceport is, at least on paper.

I don't ever use .craft files, the whole point of KSP to me is designing my own ships with everything that entails, but if I did I'd want a proper website for them. Forums suck.

Well then an entirely new section should be made. It really shouldn't be mixed in with mods.