Spaceport 2 - Ideas?

[Seth]

Hi, as far as i've read Spaceport 2 is being build but did anyone ever bother to ask users and/or mod developers what they'd actually like to have or which would be a "required" feature? Sorry if this has been asked before but i wasn't able to dig it up.

I'm sure some things are obvious but i'd expect that there are features which are easily missed. If it would be OK i'd suggest to collect features in this thread, if not i'd like a mod to delete it.

If possible we should have some structure for this. For now i'd suggest having headlines with a "feature name" followed by a description and some indication of the importance. Maybe like this:

Size 3 for headings and a (cool) smiley in the title to indicate that the feature would be important to you. Of course every feature is important but you should mark only those "must haves".

P.S. this is actually meant to be a thread were people post something! Be it approval, rejection or whatever!

Latest Update

A field which indicates at what point the last update to the description and/or download file(s) occurred. This might help to identify abandoned stuff.

Changelog for Mods

A simple changelog for the mod which would be an "additional tab" to the current description.

:cool:Multiple Versions

The option to download something different than the latest version of a mod. Maybe on an additional "tab" again so you get the latest version by just clicking download and do have the option to get a previous version from an additional dialog. This might include an option for a Modder to set a "recommended" version which would be downloaded instead of the latest version.

This might also include a way to link releases to KSP versions. So a dev is able to tell Spaceport that Version 1.1.2 of his mod is compatible with version 0.23 and 0.22.

:cool:Forum Link

A prominent link to the forum thread for comments and such.

Modpack Bundles

An option to have a (private) Modpack bundle. Which should allow a user to get a list of all the download links or a package containing the mods. If it's a single package it might either contain the zip files of the various mods or the mod files themselves. The latter would require a way to resolve collision issues like multiple versions of the same libraries bundled with different mods.

Rated Tags

Basically a mod can have tags but the users should be able to vote whenever or not they apply. With this it might be either that a author sets the tags and the community votes whenever or not they're applicable or the community could add tags through voting. I'm unsure whenever or not this should require a fixed list of tags available or the should be dynamic so that new mods/the community might introduce additional tags.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Seth

[JonBar]

I have an idea as well, how about Squad actually update us on the progress of this 'new' Spaceport. At this point I'm not sure whether it was even scrapped or still a WIP. The whole daily kerbal thing has become drab and seemingly as useful as mainstream media, just throwing random crap out there. I know people enjoy it, and that is their prerogative, but I actually like 'Useful' information. So yea, any word on the progress of Spaceport 2.0? I seriously doubt I will get a response as I've tried before to no avail.

Edit: In response to above, I believe Squad sent out a questionnaire on this subject of preference. It was basically a 'choose from this list' sort of poll as to what 'we' would like to see changed. Don't remember exactly when that was but that is about all I've seen or heard on the subject since. For some reason they don't seem to deem progress updates on Spaceport 2 important either. And according to Rob, the guy (I'm assuming) building the new Spaceport, said in a Devnote back in NOVEMBER that it was so close to finished he could smell it. 2 months later and nada, he must have a nose of a dog to smell it from that far away. That should conclude my little rant.

Edited January 21, 2014 by JonBar

[kiwiak]

I woudl like rss feed for mod updates.. and not only this, but also for sone "news" about mods, screens released by modders from work in progress versionms etc.

[Rowsdower]

Allow me to quote myself here:

Spaceport has not been forgotten. The team has been investigating a number of directions and options for it, including anything that may have been publicly released in the past. For the moment, though, there is no news on who, what, when, where or why. Just know that it hasn't been cancelled or anything like that.

[sjwt]

We need to look at some kind of QC on posts, if we are going to keep ships etc part of it, we need decent search options, including 'Mod name only' If I can't get Mechjeb as the first or second response to searching for Mechjeb we have issues!

I would consider a tier system for all searches and listings, the default would be Silver and higher.

Tier 1 -Gold *JEB APROVED* All the good stuff, well known mods - creators. This is where you find the cream the stuff that Squad says has made the grade.

Tier 2 -Silver *MOAR BOOSTERS* These uploads have been looked over, in a moderation style system and given a thumbs up as passing on meeting various criteria ie Not 1,000,000 tags, not just a part collection.

Tier 3 -Bronze *KRAKENS CHOICE* All others

Tags need to be looked at, way to many, and everyone adds all tags.. its useless, we do need a limited choice list.

[tanuki_chau]

Allow me to quote myself here:

What about something similar to a built in package manager ala notepad++'s system.

http://www.brotherstone.co.uk/npp/pm/

Essentially it's an XML style hosted on a central server. Data is synced. This has several benefits. Minimal modifications for mods to deploy. Centralized repository without the need to have a centralized data storage point. On top of that the mods would no longer have to be manually installed, and KSP would be able to enable and disable mods that aren't compatible after an update, as well as being able to update the mods when they become available. The best part is many MANY package managers are open source so the only code you would have to show is any changes you make to the code you used.

[Seth]

@JonBar keep your cool. I'd guess Squad has a lot on their hands on Spaceport 2 probably isn't their top priority, which would be understandable.

@swjt I'm not sure it's such a great idea. I do get why you're suggesting it but I'd expect people to come around a yell "favouritism" all over it. At least if you have all those stages with some not involving the community. Also this would inhibit new mods. "Casual" Players probably would only look at the gold tier and that would leave everything else in the dust. Sure some mods would easily break out of it if they're used by a well known Lets Player or something but that would be either look or money (depending on the character of the player).

Oh and some of those very famous mods are just a part collection.

@tanuki i like that idea. I don't really like the N++ updater but the idea of having a xml driven "mod repository" is rather nice but a simple interface like the N++ updater would be rather insufficient. The advantage for N++ is that they don't have thousands of updates/plugins. Especially since TextFX isn't maintained anymore. But expanding on this it might be possible to either have a simple interface with lots of filters or maybe have something like the steam workshop subscriptions. So you'd be able to navigate a site, click a link and add it to your "personal stash" of mods. On the other hand this might just be an enhancement to the service instead of an alternative if you do it this way.

[fronbow]

I would like to see SpacePort 2 more integrated with the forum, particularly for the feedback from users and also to cut down on redundant data that only needs to be in one place.

I'm surprised there isn't a mod for VBulletin that does something like this already; drupal's project page would be a suitable fit in my opinion and could be extended for additional features, and I'm pretty certain a bridge between VB and drupal could be created (if it's not already available). drupal also has a better way of dealing with file uploads than WordPress (I've developed for both platforms!).

I would also like to see some sort of version control or broadcast so that addon managers can do a better job of keeping installed mods up to date (curse do a really good job as far as WoW addons go!!)

Also, a dependency check to show mods/plugins that are required - rather than allowing mod authors to incorporate others' plugins, just have a way of either downloading the latest as part of the mod or showing links to the dependencies.

+1 for Modpack bundles - there's a lot of creative use of these on curse.

[gendalf]

require from mod dev to write which versions of KSP are compatible with which versions of mod