Commandments for good activity building!

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"Commandments for good activity building!"

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Denny (90 posts)
Jul-10-01, 12:05 PM (EST) "Commandments for good activity building!" to my fellow activity builders: There have been a number of threads here about problems caused by downloading poorly conceived activities and the crash-type problems they have caused.
how about if we all list what we feel are the MUST-DO rules for creating good activities that wont cause the blues when sharing with our fellow simmers. here;s a few of mine to get it started:
1. upload the packaged file in a regular zipped file
2. every uploaded activity will have accompanying text files outlining any technical information regarding the activity and any necessary disclaimers.
3. when possible use "new". for services, consists, paths, and traffic. This would include changing the file name. most problems look to be caused by altering default files without changing the file name.
4. if we dont use new then we have to use "use as template". and change the name.well those are mine. how about the rest of you sdding to the list.
denny Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: Commandments for good activity ... cherisknight Jul-10-01 1 RE: Commandments for good activity ... Denny Jul-10-01 2 RE: Commandments for good activity ... cherisknight Jul-10-01 3 RE: Commandments for good activity ... Denny Jul-10-01 4 RE: Commandments for good activity ... Denny Jul-17-01 5 RE: Commandments for good activity ... Dokkensound Jul-17-01 6

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cherisknight (9 posts)
Jul-10-01, 03:38 PM (EST) 1. "RE: Commandments for good activity building!" Good start Denny!How about adding a version number to an activity so we can tell if we have the latest? Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Denny (90 posts)
Jul-10-01, 03:44 PM (EST) 2. "RE: Commandments for good activity building!" version of MSTS or the activity? Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
cherisknight (9 posts)
Jul-10-01, 11:25 PM (EST) 3. "RE: Commandments for good activity building!" I was thinking of a version number for the activity. I imagine that after a few people try out an activity, they'll suggest improvements. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Denny (90 posts)
Jul-10-01, 11:58 PM (EST) 4. "RE: Commandments for good activity building!" ur right. good idea! Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Denny (90 posts)
Jul-17-01, 09:28 AM (EST) 5. "RE: Commandments for good activity building!" i had to rescue this thread from page 2. hey you designers, come on there must be more things you can add to build error-free activities. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Dokkensound (33 posts)
Jul-17-01, 12:30 PM (EST) 6. "RE: Commandments for good activity building!" TEST,TEST,TEST!!!
Testing the activity several times is mucho impotant. You know as the designer what needs doing and what will happen but its important to step into the mind of the end user. He has no clue whats going to happen next. The popup windows provide only so much room for instructions so add these to your documentation. The player will probably take longer to complete activitys as he trys to solve the problems you've created so when you test GO SLOW and see how the AI traffic changes. Run it as fast as you can the next time to see whats different. I know its sometimes frustraiting to try and create something bulletproof but I feel that the more people we can keep hooked on MSTS the more market share we can create, and the more attention we get from MS and 3rd party developers. Who here wouldn't Love a smooth, functional,well documented, well supported Activity editor from a 3rd party. My first couple of days with this one gave me nightmares.
R. Easterday (DokkenSound)
"But these go to "11""
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