New "home"

[Feralidragon]

The ability to use prior assets/models/etc.. in the newer engines.. 2k4/ut3/udk?...

I just want to clarify that you can't use any UT asset into UDK (it's strictly forbidden).

[TheDane]

In fact, if you so wish, I can work out a fairly simple php script to automatize most of the process, if not all of it (texture identification per package and per author, website links and potentially even the generation of watermarked textures and the html/css in a certain way that makes it unfeasible for a normal user to just right click it and download it), but I will only be able to do it within a few days (after I bring closure to "something" else I have my hands full with currently). All I am going to need from you is a PM with your texture site structure (to know how I should detect and generate links) and just 1 or 2 packages you extracted the textures from (for testing purposes)..

That's a very generous offer from you, but I know you got your hands full already so I can't ask you to do this just now. I leave the texture resources in a state where it's up to the users to participate with input and support. The site did have a heavy use, I tracked individual downloading (right clicks) of total 45622 textures (there where 2856 different textures to choose from), so I would say it was a good amount of hits considdering it's up time? I don't know if a site-ripping tool would trigger a right click though, do you? Anyway, back on topic. You once spoke of a php script you already have made that where able to look into unreal packages? Is that one available and am I alowed to customize that script and use that as base for this project if it gets going?

If you want a closer look at the site I can send you the backup? It's 288 mb including textures, but I could send you a version with empty folders so you can see the structure and maybe check if you php script will be able to support it? But they are all just bmp files, so I expect that the new structure should instead contain the utx files and then have the php to extract the bmp selected from the utx package? So I guess there is no other way arround this but to recode it from scratch?

[Feralidragon]

As for site ripping, they generally simply check the html and download the images directly from the "src" attribute (and in case of CSS, they may get them from background-image as well for example), so they don't trigger anything.
But it's possible to do macros by simulating them using something like Selenium for example, but that's certainly not the case.

Anyway, as for the script, personally it would be quite straightforward for me to do it. I deal with php on a daily basis doing all kinds of stuff (scripts, pages, heavy backend processing, etc). I would just need to recheck how GD works relative something (the texture watermark/label) and know the structure to dynamically generate the pages as you wished so later on.

My idea on the script itself was basically the following:
1 - Create an associative array with the (original?) packages to be read: each element would be composed by another associative array with info about its developer (name, website, etc, all needed info);
2 - A basic html with placeholders would be created, to have things like: <img src="%texture_image%" alt="%texture_name%"> (where %texture_image% would be replaced by the url for example) (in this case however, I would probably place <div style="height:128px;width:128px;display:inline-block;background-image:"%texture_image%"></div> instead, since that way browsers can't simply right click to the image as with the img element)
3 - From there, the script would be quite simple: iterate over the data in 1, use my php class (UPackage) to open and extract each texture, and by each texture the a html page based in 2 would be generated with the info of the package, image url, link to the package itself, etc.

The only extra stuff I would try to include is, in each extraction, some kind of watermark or a label with the name of the texture (using GD), to make people to always download the original pack rather than the texture alone, and to make the whole thing look a lot more "legit" (if that's the right word) to perhaps make other developers take your site more seriously and submit their own textures there as well perhaps if a base of trust is built.

But all this is something I believe you could do as well without any major issues (although the GD part is a bit tricky though, but would worth the trouble imo), so if you prefer to do it yourself or do it all manually with the help of others, no problem.

As for the php package itself that I made to extract those, you can find it here:
http://www.ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4796

That class is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which is just the formal way to say that you can do whatever you want with it (modify it, build upon it, release derivatives, etc), so there's no problem in that regard either.
It should be bug-free after all the testing it went through back then, but if you use it and spot a problem, let me know please (I intend to use it myself later on for something else).

[UT99.org]

Just to confirm, this site requires admin to verify all signups? I never got an activation email.

And I'm not registering because "if there are issues, take them to the little forum I've created at my page (I had hoped I didn't have to do that, but I can't control this i see), click on the link in my signiatuere and you'll be right there ".

I prefer to discuss the author's work on the appropriate threads laid out to do so. The forum does contain other topics and as so I want to emphasize that others who register there are not doing so to rebel against ut99.org rules and policies in any way

[TheDane]

Just to confirm, this site requires admin to verify all signups? I never got an activation email.

And I'm not registering because "if there are issues, take them to the little forum I've created at my page (I had hoped I didn't have to do that, but I can't control this i see), click on the link in my signiatuere and you'll be right there ".

I prefer to discuss the author's work on the appropriate threads laid out to do so. The forum does contain other topics and as so I want to emphasize that others who register there are not doing so to rebel against ut99.org rules and policies in any way

Check your spam folder if the mail is there? I use hotmail not all inboxes will accept it by default. However, I just aproved your account. I didn't open my website to rebel against this website, you will see that if you go there and read it all. My site however has different rules from this site, doesn't most?

You are very welcome to join and take part, UT is our common ground, I focus on development and will help all who shares our common believes in any way I can. And at my place I can do things in my way and my speed

[UT99.org]

you should be able to keep the spambots out without manually approving accounts. Anyway, laughed my ass off reading your post at unrealadmin.org, scrolled down the thread and saw your name and thought oh man this is going to be funny, read it outloud for extra laughs