Direct file Path instead of Image URL

[HungryHedgehog]

So i want to include my own artwork (yes some people make there own and not take stuff from google images) but i can't import it via a path to the file.
It would be a bit stupid to upload it just to download it again, could you PLEASE inculde an option that let's you simply select files that are already on your Computer?

[TheLimeyDragon]

Are you only planning of playing the games locally? If not, they have to be URLs so that everyone else can grab the image.

[HungryHedgehog]

Why? When i host it they can simply download the images from me.

[TheLimeyDragon]

Unless you directly give them the image files and tell them the location to save them, they won't be able to download them from you if you've used local paths to the images. The save/game files are simply text files.

For images the files are saying: "look here for the image: locationofthefile".

If you use local paths then images on their computers will look in those locations but will error as they dont have the images.

[HungryHedgehog]

yes then the game can pull it from the location and provided it as a download? where is the problem? The game allready downloads the linked images and there is no big difference between a path on a computer or a link to a webserver where that image can be found.
You would basically turn your computer into a server (like you would do with a website for example)

[TheLimeyDragon]

Unless you have a webserver on your computer where you're placing the files. Then people will not be able to download the images from YOUR computer.

Example.

You create a new game.
Someone joins the game they obtain the .json file which is the only thing they obtain from you.

The .json file contains something like this in it:

"CustomDeck": {
        "1": {
          "FaceURL": "www.website.com/game/Front.jpg",
          "BackURL": "www.website.com/game/Back.jpg{Unique}"
        }

so their computer now downloads the images from that location.

Now lets say you manually change it to a local path and it works (This would also be problematic as Windows/OSX/Linux are different when it comes to paths.)

"CustomDeck": {
        "1": {
          "FaceURL": "tabletop/images/Front.jpg",
          "BackURL": "tabletop/images/Back.jpg"
        }

The location is not pointed to a location on YOUR computer, the location is pointed to relative address on THEIR computer. The file is telling the game to look for the files on their machine.

[HungryHedgehog]

So where is the problem? Just don't use json then, just let the game provide the images for the others to download. The client computer asks the host if there are any mods on this server, the host looks in their mod dump and provides the mods i don't see the problem here that is how servers normally work. You join a server that has a mod running and the host provides the stuff you need to download. Here you just outsource it you tell the client to search for the stuff on the internet and give it a link where to find it. So this game wouldn't even work in a closed network because it can't get the files.

I used the webserver as an example because you have stored your .jpgs or whatever on your local machine. The client then sends a http request and then downloads the jpg from YOUR machine. So i don't get where the problem in actually server hosted images is.

[TheLimeyDragon]

Your initial question was to add the ability to link to a file on a local location so that you wouldn't have to upload and redownload it again.

The answer is because people wont be able to download the files from your machine as that's not how the game has been made. You're now asking for the ability for people to grab files from your machine directly, which is a different issue.

[HungryHedgehog]

i asked for the ability to host the stuff myself, it is not a different issue.

[em]

Originally posted by StarIsolator:

I'd prefer to have some option to download ALL the files locally so I can then upload everything to my own servers. I loaded a mod yesterday that had no less than 60 different domain names in the JSON file. Most of which failed to load and the mod was useless. There should be an easy way I can grab all the models and texures locally and (if I want) upload them somewhere else where I know they won't start failing.

I may be confused by your saying "grab the assets locally", but you do download all assets to a local location. As long as you don't have mod caching turned off, once it downloads them once, they're on your computer, at which point you can upload the files wherever you like and edit the json or the change things in the game, so they point at your reupped files, then share that with friends or whomever.

[em]

Originally posted by StarIsolator:

Yeah, true, but the files are all in the same directory as all other mods, and with unhelpful filenames it's no easy task to find and upload what's needed for a single mod.

If you have a good idea of what's in the mod, turn on icons in Windows Explorer. I can tell, at a glance, using large icons, what mods most of my art is for. Some of them I need to look at in the preview pane for a little better look.

Or, open the json file. I would assume (although I haven't looked) that because the json file has to point to a file on your computer, it would have the name of the file on the computer as well.

[HungryHedgehog]

guys the images are linked to the mods within the mods discription there is no need to manually search for the images, the same way that there is no need to manually search for the .json.
I think you don't understand that there is no difference between telling the client to look in the internet (where it gets an ip and a list of sub pages in english: a path or telling the client to address a port on a private computer to ask for the stuff there it's exactly the same because both are webservers, nearly any computer that is connected to the itnernet an capable of recieving and sending files can be turned into a webserver.

But i see that it would be to hard to implement a system that is used by nearly every server based game out there.

[Skates]

Let me put it as simply as possible:

Your hard drive is not a network-accessible path. Imagine if anyone on the internet could just connect to your hard drive and view every single one of your files? That would an absolutely rediculous security breach.

Now, you COULD set up a webserver on your computer to serve the files to client machines, assuming you have a static IP, the bandwith, etc. but you'd still have to place the files in the right place, and not just on a local storage on your machine.

The reason using host machine files is bad is because it relies on people having the assets downloaded as part of the mod. By requiring only a JSON file for the mod on the workshop and having the assets stored in the cloud remotely, it allows anyone to download the game and play with easy access to the required assets. This is why hosting the images/models remotely is a vastly superior solution.

[HungryHedgehog]

the images are in one place, the current mod location which is either in documents or the installation location x-x
When the game loads a mod it loads it's files into a cache whitch can send the files to the clients. The Server provides the files for the clients. The client does not need to know where the file is located, jsut the game has to know. Then the Server sends the files via TCP to the client. that is how game server no servers in general work i don't know where you see the problem. The client does not need to know where the files are located!

Simple Example:
Host opens a Sever in the game; This creates one or more sockets which listen on one or more ports (those ports are defined by the game and are allways the same).
Now a client wants to log in, the client computer sends a request to the port/s which is directed to the individual process responsible for the interaction.
The host sends a notification to the client. the connection is established.
Now the client ask the server if there are any mods isntalled on the server.
The server looks up the list of mods which is active in the current session and sends this list
to the client.
The client checks if the server has a mod isntalled that it has not.
If there is a mod missing the client sends a request to the server.
The server searches its mod folder for the files and sends via a tcp connection to the client.
repeat until done

That's how game servers work, they don't send you around the internet downloading files from filehosting sites, which can change their conntent at ANY TIME which will result in a broken mod.
The current version even downloads the files, those are not temporary links or something the stuff is on your pc, but if you want to use it again you will have to create another link EVEN IF the file is ALREADY ON YOUR DRIVE. When the filehosting service deletes the image changes the file or the client can't connect to it your mod will be broken. in the worst case scenario you have a different filehost for each individual mod, figurine etc. you'll have no control over that stuff.

please stop arguing about something you seem to have no understanding about, it doesn't help.

END OF ARGUMENT!

[TheLimeyDragon]

The game doesn't send any files from the server to the clients and not all game servers do either. A lot of servers just relay co-ordinates/numbers/stats/etc. I might be wrong but even the .json file isn't sent as such. The client just copies the current table's settings and only generates the file if someone saves their game/table.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally posted by DeadHedgehog:

That's how game servers work, they don't send you around the internet downloading files from filehosting sites, which can change their conntent at ANY TIME which will result in a broken mod.

That may be how it should be done, but currently TTS does not work that way. Seriously.

No one is trying to fool you. No one who tells you that TTS simply provides links to URLs is lying or naive. TTS is just made to behave like that.

Incidentially, you can link to a file on your own harddrive using something like "file:///c:/TTS/SwordDice.png" (without the ") but you should not be surprised if others who play with you get errors and lack images/custom models. Mostly because you could actually link to a location they do not have privileges to access/create on their computer (especially if you link to something in your Documents folder).