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News posted 11th January, 2005 by David Newton (DavidN)
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 Hello again, it's an update from me and my shiny head. There have been a few downloads with problems recently, so I thought I'd avoid studying for my impending exam for a while and give a couple of pointers for new people on what to do when submitting a file.
- Keep your filenames (including the extensions) lowercase. It may not matter in Windows, but many servers run on systems that are case sensitive to file names. If a file name only has lowercase letters then you get rid of any confusion.
- Similarly, don't put spaces in filenames. It causes nothing but trouble, to be honest.
- This one's been said a lot, but here it is again: Unless your game really needs it, which is a rare case indeed, don't put it in an installer - just create a ZIP file with the EXE and any essential files inside (for example, GAM is also needed if you're a TGF user). In fact, I prefer it if the ZIP file contains a single folder that has the files and any subfolders you need inside - that way, 'installing' it is simply a matter of dragging it to another folder window.
- Choose a host that allows people a decent transfer rate and won't run out of bandwidth if a couple of people download your game. Search the articles for host recommendations.
- Once you've got it online, do make sure that your download works. Before hitting Submit on the New Download form, copy and paste the URL you've provided in to your address bar and try and download it yourself - that way you can tell if you have the wrong link or if it's somehow been corrupted.
- Don't forget about screenshots. If you really can't find a provider that allows remote linking, provide the URLs to them in the download text.
Downloads have to be approved by an admin before they show up in the list, to make sure things work. If there is a problem with a download then an admin will make a comment on the download page - check back using the User Admin link on the left if it's been a day or so since you submitted something and nothing's happened. Non-working downloads are usually deleted within a couple of days to clear up the list.
If you want your download to get on the front page, provide a decent amount of screenshots and a full and detailed description. Impress us!
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