So, wild hair up my ass and all that, while searching the forums for certain texture packs, trying to find out if my favorites were updated to 1.2_02 or not, it struck me. Forums are pretty inelegant for a repository of files with so much information involved. So I started a repository system build in Python/Django with a MySQL backend for users to upload their texture packs to, and opening up a world of possibilities when it comes to searching, updating, and keeping up-to-date with texture packs. I think we can all agree, after all, Minecraft won't be going anywhere any time soon. So here's a list of features I'm hoping to implement:
[*:2xmjiutn]Fully searchable
[*:2xmjiutn]Tagging
[*:2xmjiutn]Automatic updates*
[*:2xmjiutn]Easy artist controls
[*:2xmjiutn]Anything else anyone can come up with
*The automatic updates is what excites me the most. Just imagine, every texture pack made in one place, and every time one is updated, MinePack sends out an email to users with that texture pack on their watchlist that lets them know what updates were made.
So, having said all that, here's a screenshot of what I have so far. Keep in mind I work from the ground up, so only small bits of work have been done to the actual frontend. The database backend and most of the admin backend is done, it's mostly presentation and getting the user system finished up before the site becomes actually workable.
Now, finally, if there's anyone out there who knows Python and has used the Django framework, please PM me if you would like to help out a bit. Sure, building a python-powered site isn't terribly hard, but that doesn't mean I can't use a little help :smile.gif:
Also, if you're a texture pack artist, PM me and I'll get you first access to the site's "beta" to help us test population of the DB with real data.
Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm excited to think this could be a useful tool, but I know not everyone will be too impressed. Having said that, if you simply think it sucks, or you have no intention of using it, et cetera, please just click away from this thread. I don't really care if you don't want to use it, I just care about those with thoughts on how it could be useful.
tl;dr dualmoon got wild hair up her ass and is making a texture pack download site. join in if you know python/django or you're a texture pack artist.
Addendum
So far the site is progressing wonderfully. I will soon be ready to start taking some initial data from artists. To prepare for this, if you are interested in having your texture pack featured, I need the following:
1x 80x80 gif icon. This is probably basically an avatar for your texture pack. You could pick a rendered view of a 3D block with your favorite texture from the pack on it embossed with a letter that has some significance, or anything else you can think of. This will be featured at the bottom of the site as part of a display of the latest four texture packs uploaded, as well as a couple of other places.
2x 470x470 png images that feature the main meat and potatoes of your pack. These will be used for the detail view of your pack. We'll add the ability to have more pictures later.
1x 260x130 png image that should ideally be a stylized crop of one of your 470x470 images. This will be displayed on the Gallery page, the place for the visually inclined to go to peruse pictures of texture packs. My thought is that you take one of your 470x470 images, crop it, decrease saturation, greyscale it, then add some pretty text that sells a few key points. Of course, this isn't required, just as long as the 260x130 was taken from one of your 470x470 images.
These files would preferably go into a "minepack" folder in the root level of your zip file. the 80x80 should be named 80.gif, the two 470x470s should be 4701.png and 4702.png, and the 260x130 should be 260.png
In the future, we will add support for an xml info file within the texture pack's zip that will auto-populate the various informational fields when you upload a pack, but this still needs work as the specification isn't ready.
At some point in the future we will also create helper apps that automatically install texture packs to their required directory, assuming they are 16x. Preferably we can work with Prelithe (who created Minecrafter) to create an all-in-one texture loader with auto-patching that we can plug in to. (Prelithe has recently made Minecrafter's source code available as he no longer has the time to work with it, perhaps someone else will be able to pick up where he left off. I still use Minecrafter to this day.)
This is what, the fifth such site for listing texture packs?
>_>
If you -really- want to make something that will get people's attention. (especially pack creators) make something that somehow links to the forums here. I want to only have to post an update one place and it will cross-post it everywhere else for me.
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Tis far better to be a witty fool than a foolish wit.
If you -really- want to make something that will get people's attention. (especially pack creators) make something that somehow links to the forums here. I want to only have to post an update one place and it will cross-post it everywhere else for me.
I think the idea is that the forums are a lousy place to find texture packs. The purpose is to replace the forums as such. Given the fact that texture packs have their own subforum, maybe not entirely necessary, though I love the idea of not having to come here for updates. It would be great to find a tool like this for mods, I know there is a one stop mod thread, but that is nowhere near complete and for whatever reason there is no single player mods subforum. Sometimes I just want to browse a list of mods.
If you somehow put out a site that is the ease-equivalent to skindex for texturepacks, I'd support it fully. You're right, having to navigate the forum here (or anywhere) is a pain in the ass, slow, clumsy and honestly I need a better way to sort and filter texturepacks.
A tagging system (+minimalist, +16x16, +no re-used textures) would be fantastic and a filtering system (sort by 'downloads', '1.2_02 compliant') would seal it for me.
If you somehow put out a site that is the ease-equivalent to skindex for texturepacks, I'd support it fully. You're right, having to navigate the forum here (or anywhere) is a pain in the ass, slow, clumsy and honestly I need a better way to sort and filter texturepacks.
A tagging system (+minimalist, +16x16, +no re-used textures) would be fantastic and a filtering system (sort by 'downloads', '1.2_02 compliant') would seal it for me.
Luckily for you this is already exactly what is in mind. Some of those features are already in place, including tagging, and texture size. I'm still trying to find the best way to elegantly add the ability to search by version, but it's in the works. I'm glad you posted though, as I'm realizing some more metadata for the packs that needs to be implemented. Anyway, back to work!
this idea :smile.gif: also maybe do it so it also split up in 2? 1 for mods and 1 for tex packs? (and maybe 1 for maps idk)
and... im making own tex pack so would it be added? (link in sig)
A couple of people have mentioned a mods DB. Because of that, I'm already working on getting that added in, but it's not top priority yet. Also, yes. It will be a social site that allows any artist to register and upload their packs (ideally). Ofc, there would be some sort of verification. Once a staff member approves at least, for example, one texture pack that works fully for an artist, they get some sort of badge that marks them a verified artist. Something like that. I don't just want the ability to create an account and upload random files for no reason. Validation is necessary for the long life of such a site. I have a couple of people who have expressed interest in working on the site, so if I can get in proper contact with them then we should have some sort of presentable app working soon.
Added some information for texture pack artists to prepare for the possible initial database population. Check it out if you're interested in founding the site with us!
Great idea in my opinion! It would be soo much easier to find texture packs than here on the forums. Also, will there be some form of top 10 or similar so that you can see what the most popular texture packs are?
Great idea in my opinion! It would be soo much easier to find texture packs than here on the forums. Also, will there be some form of top 10 or similar so that you can see what the most popular texture packs are?
There will! Gallery mode will have two modes of operation. A simple best-to-worst based on downloads or ratings, and a all-random mode that lets you see packs you might never have seen. Nearly no text, mostly just image appetizers. You'll (eventually) have the ability to mark packs as seen as well, so you don't get packs you already know about in the all-random mode. You'll of course also be able to search, sort, and drilldown in the main texture packs view.
Minepack Preview
So I finally got around to deploying the current codebase I have. That means I can show off current progress to the public. So here it is: a preview site showing what I've got so far. A few of my favorite things about it are:
[*:3sntmoc1]Overall design
[*:3sntmoc1]texture pack detail view
[*:3sntmoc1]404 page
[*:3sntmoc1]ability to richly edit descriptions when adding a texture pack
There's no ability to create accounts or log in yet, that's on the agenda, but I just thought you might like to see what I have, and I could certainly use the feedback. :smile.gif:
Day off work today...was sick :<...but that means time to work on the site. Lots done. News section is almost entirely finished. Working on getting the actual main texture pack list built. User system still needs a lot of work as it remains almost entirely unimplemented. In the mean time, if at all possible, I need a few actual texture packs with the site images I talked about in the OP. So if you're a texture pack artist with a little time, pack up your texture pack with those four images mentioned at the end of my OP and toss me a PM so I can use it to do some initial population of the database. Feel free to post an HTML description over at http://jsfiddle.net/, since you will be able to use (nearly) full HTML in texture pack descriptions. That means lists, text coloring, text sizing, etc. I'll pull the current codebase every once in a while to minepack.tk (actual link in the OP), so keep your eyes peeled and please feel free to give me some feedback on the progress so far.
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[*:2xmjiutn]Fully searchable
[*:2xmjiutn]Tagging
[*:2xmjiutn]Automatic updates*
[*:2xmjiutn]Easy artist controls
[*:2xmjiutn]Anything else anyone can come up with
*The automatic updates is what excites me the most. Just imagine, every texture pack made in one place, and every time one is updated, MinePack sends out an email to users with that texture pack on their watchlist that lets them know what updates were made.
So, having said all that, here's a screenshot of what I have so far. Keep in mind I work from the ground up, so only small bits of work have been done to the actual frontend. The database backend and most of the admin backend is done, it's mostly presentation and getting the user system finished up before the site becomes actually workable.
Now, finally, if there's anyone out there who knows Python and has used the Django framework, please PM me if you would like to help out a bit. Sure, building a python-powered site isn't terribly hard, but that doesn't mean I can't use a little help :smile.gif:
Also, if you're a texture pack artist, PM me and I'll get you first access to the site's "beta" to help us test population of the DB with real data.
Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm excited to think this could be a useful tool, but I know not everyone will be too impressed. Having said that, if you simply think it sucks, or you have no intention of using it, et cetera, please just click away from this thread. I don't really care if you don't want to use it, I just care about those with thoughts on how it could be useful.
tl;dr dualmoon got wild hair up her ass and is making a texture pack download site. join in if you know python/django or you're a texture pack artist.
Addendum
So far the site is progressing wonderfully. I will soon be ready to start taking some initial data from artists. To prepare for this, if you are interested in having your texture pack featured, I need the following:
1x 80x80 gif icon. This is probably basically an avatar for your texture pack. You could pick a rendered view of a 3D block with your favorite texture from the pack on it embossed with a letter that has some significance, or anything else you can think of. This will be featured at the bottom of the site as part of a display of the latest four texture packs uploaded, as well as a couple of other places.
2x 470x470 png images that feature the main meat and potatoes of your pack. These will be used for the detail view of your pack. We'll add the ability to have more pictures later.
1x 260x130 png image that should ideally be a stylized crop of one of your 470x470 images. This will be displayed on the Gallery page, the place for the visually inclined to go to peruse pictures of texture packs. My thought is that you take one of your 470x470 images, crop it, decrease saturation, greyscale it, then add some pretty text that sells a few key points. Of course, this isn't required, just as long as the 260x130 was taken from one of your 470x470 images.
These files would preferably go into a "minepack" folder in the root level of your zip file. the 80x80 should be named 80.gif, the two 470x470s should be 4701.png and 4702.png, and the 260x130 should be 260.png
In the future, we will add support for an xml info file within the texture pack's zip that will auto-populate the various informational fields when you upload a pack, but this still needs work as the specification isn't ready.
At some point in the future we will also create helper apps that automatically install texture packs to their required directory, assuming they are 16x. Preferably we can work with Prelithe (who created Minecrafter) to create an all-in-one texture loader with auto-patching that we can plug in to. (Prelithe has recently made Minecrafter's source code available as he no longer has the time to work with it, perhaps someone else will be able to pick up where he left off. I still use Minecrafter to this day.)
http://minepack.tk/ -- preview D:
pm me with an email address, and i'll send out an invite as soon as we're ready for artists!
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Curse Premium>_>
If you -really- want to make something that will get people's attention. (especially pack creators) make something that somehow links to the forums here. I want to only have to post an update one place and it will cross-post it everywhere else for me.
I think the idea is that the forums are a lousy place to find texture packs. The purpose is to replace the forums as such. Given the fact that texture packs have their own subforum, maybe not entirely necessary, though I love the idea of not having to come here for updates. It would be great to find a tool like this for mods, I know there is a one stop mod thread, but that is nowhere near complete and for whatever reason there is no single player mods subforum. Sometimes I just want to browse a list of mods.
A tagging system (+minimalist, +16x16, +no re-used textures) would be fantastic and a filtering system (sort by 'downloads', '1.2_02 compliant') would seal it for me.
Luckily for you this is already exactly what is in mind. Some of those features are already in place, including tagging, and texture size. I'm still trying to find the best way to elegantly add the ability to search by version, but it's in the works. I'm glad you posted though, as I'm realizing some more metadata for the packs that needs to be implemented. Anyway, back to work!
A couple of people have mentioned a mods DB. Because of that, I'm already working on getting that added in, but it's not top priority yet. Also, yes. It will be a social site that allows any artist to register and upload their packs (ideally). Ofc, there would be some sort of verification. Once a staff member approves at least, for example, one texture pack that works fully for an artist, they get some sort of badge that marks them a verified artist. Something like that. I don't just want the ability to create an account and upload random files for no reason. Validation is necessary for the long life of such a site. I have a couple of people who have expressed interest in working on the site, so if I can get in proper contact with them then we should have some sort of presentable app working soon.
There will! Gallery mode will have two modes of operation. A simple best-to-worst based on downloads or ratings, and a all-random mode that lets you see packs you might never have seen. Nearly no text, mostly just image appetizers. You'll (eventually) have the ability to mark packs as seen as well, so you don't get packs you already know about in the all-random mode. You'll of course also be able to search, sort, and drilldown in the main texture packs view.
So I finally got around to deploying the current codebase I have. That means I can show off current progress to the public. So here it is: a preview site showing what I've got so far. A few of my favorite things about it are:
[*:3sntmoc1]Overall design
[*:3sntmoc1]texture pack detail view
[*:3sntmoc1]404 page
[*:3sntmoc1]ability to richly edit descriptions when adding a texture pack
There's no ability to create accounts or log in yet, that's on the agenda, but I just thought you might like to see what I have, and I could certainly use the feedback. :smile.gif: