Use of custom objects (items)

[Whitestar]

I just downloaded and used HawkGer's Stadium Platform Enhancement: http://www.maniapark.com/ressource.php?id=1367

Included was a locator file. As I understand it that's what I use so that other players downloading the track can see those objects as well, right? Or how does that work?

If so, where do I place the locator file?

[index]

Hi,

here is someting i put together for Manialink/Website DDSTYLE on TMNF/TMUF:

What is a locator?

If you use a skin / mod on your track and want other people to "see" that mod, too, you have to put the MOD.zip-file online and use a locator.

You might ask: what is a locator? Well, that' s easy to explain:
The locator is a text file containing the URL to your skin (mod), so the MOD.zip-file has to be available via direct download on the internet.

In this example the MOD is called stadium2010, the name of the zip-file is stadium2010.zip, the locator-file is named stadium2010.zip.loc

For example the locator-file contains: http://www.example.com/d/ddstyle/mods/stadium2010.zip

If you downloaded some mods from a manialink, it's possible, that you already got some working locator-files. Just take a look into your Stadium\Mod-folder.

Another way maybe to choose a skin (mod) from an URL. You have to upload the MOD before and enter the specific URL while creating or changing your track.

So the locator file is in the same folder on your hard disk as the custom data, the filename has the additional filename extension ".loc".

Hope this helps!

[Whitestar]

Thanks

So when a user downloads my track the game checks whether a loc file is present, and if so it downloads the content automatically to the user's respective folder on his/her harddisk, so that it's installed and ready when the track opens? Just trying to understand exactly what happens.

[TGYoshi]

No, it doesn't work that way.

Locator-files are downloaded run-time and are optional (signs, music, mods..).
Objects are not optional and are instantly required. Because of that you have to create a title pack, include the objects in there, and then give the title pack to people who want to play your map, who have to install it first etc.
Simply said: It's a pain to share it, which basically destroys the want of it since nobody wants to install a title pack for this.
(or include the objects in the .map.gbx file, maybe soon(tm) =3)

[Whitestar]

Ouch! Ok, thanks for clearing that up.

[abgematzt]

I try to replay all post from this thread for myself. You - the community - can fix my post if i type mistakes or misunderstood something:

I download this pack too, build a map and would try to play this one online. After i create a Server ingame ( not dedicated), the game displays a screen with "cant download xxx". The xxx are all blocks i used from Hawk in my map from the Hawk Mod package.

The loc. file are in my package directory, but it doesn't works online again.

And now i read, that the package doesn't works online because the people must install the "hawk" mod before?
Seems to be that the target with " TM2S.. create your own blocks and use it" are a big fail because the idea to handle with custom blocks have a bad release. Reason: an offline function is a ... dead function. Isn't it?