Fallout 3 Mod File Names

[AceGoober]

Hello Everyone.

 

I'm a practically a lifelong computer technician who is heavily into gaming of all genre. Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games which is played almost on a daily basis. My mod folder for Fallout 3 is currently 10.3GB in size and growing weekly.

 

As many of you can imagine, there are a multitude of files in that folder. Finding a mod I want to play is rather difficult since many files are named something else besides the mod name as originally posted. :wallbash:

 

I don't want to come off negative here but proper naming conventions is one of my pet peeves. If an author of a mod doesn't name the downloadable archived files in a manner which makes it less frustrating for a potential user / rater to find the file after downloading then I will not endorse the mod regardless of the content contained within.

 

Spamming the submitters post or forums with 'Rename the file to reflect the title of the mod' would be in violation of the TOS of this site and would put undo additional work on the moderators. This will not happen with me. Instead, I refuse to download mods who's names are different than the title posted. As such, I've not posted as much as I could have in support of the modding community which I greatly appreciate.

 

To those who have named their files to reflect the mod name, :thanks: , I greatly appreciate the ease of being able to locate the mod each person has worked hard on and has namef their files accordingly to the mod produced. :smile:

 

Thank you for listening.

 

Steven White

aka AceGoober

[BadPenney]

If an author of a mod doesn't name the downloadable archived files in a manner which makes it less frustrating for a potential user / rater to find the file after downloading then I will not endorse the mod regardless of the content contained within.

I know the feeling. I myself refuse to eat anything that is not served on blue willow china at precisely room temperature. I keep a digital thermometer with me at all times, for that reason.

 

Since the file page and fomod for my mod are titled "Return to Shady Sands" and the actual plugin file is called "ShadySands.esp" then I suppose that you will refuse to download it. This is a black day, indeed.

 

BadPenney

 

Alias

BadHalfPenney

 

A.K.A.

Can you spare a cutter, brother?

[Baelkin]

Pity, I think you are cutting yourself off from a lot of good mods for a, at least from my perspective, pretty retarded reason but I guess it's your loss.

[AceGoober]

Baelkin, I see and understand the point you are making, but, how does the attempted association contribuite to the overall welfare of the author of the mod and this forum?

 

Please take no offense, I'm only wanting to understand your point of view.

[Baelkin]

If the modder is worth anything, they'll provide a readme to go with the mod in which the files included are listed along with precise uninstallation instructions. If a modder doesn't do this, then it might be a little troublesome removing the mod in which case your complaint has some merit, but I think simply going "it doesn't conform to *my* naming standards so I don't want it" is doing oneself a disfavour.

[AceGoober]

I understand and respect. But I must ask...how does title of mod relate to name of file if each are different?

[jackpack]

me too baelkin.

 

you can tell the op thats hes missing out by doing what he is with out puting negative remarks lik that.

 

said things only discourage other people from posting in forums & start things no-one hear wants so lets get back to the mod talk :thumbsup:

[AceGoober]

Sure, I may be missing great mods users have incorporated to Fallout 3. That does not give the submitter of said mod to confuse the downloader of said mod a right to make it difficult to for said user to associate the said file for which they (the user) is expected to rate.

 

If the user can't find the file to implement due to difference of title, how can they rate the mod in question? This the challenge not only I myself face, but many members on this forum face.

[Baelkin]

I understand and respect. But I must ask...how does title of mod relate to name of file if each are different?

 

My simple answer is they don't relate and they do not have to relate. The name of a file does not need to be related to the content advertised by a mod for the mod to function and provide the content advertised.

 

Here's my not so simple answer:

 

The title of a mod and the name of the file that provides the content of said mod can be two completely different things, and unrelated (ie. Mod A content is provided by a file called B instead of by file A as you'd expect) without it having an impact on the content provided by said mod. As long as the mod works and provides the content advertised on the mod download page there is no specific need to maintain a relation between the two other than making it easier to manage the files for the modder and the user of said mod.

 

On the other hand the content provided by a mod and the content advertised on the download page have to be related regardless of the names of the files provided, as it is not the filename but the content of the mod that determines whether there is a relation between the two or not. In a situation where a mod claims to provide service A but provides service B, the two are clearly non-related despite service B being provided by a file called A.

 

Lastly, some mods use modular packages where the filenames are different from the mod name itself due to the fact that the mod makes use of other mods to function, or is built by a collection of smaller modules tied together. For example, you download a mod called "Z" but mod Z is packaged with mods "Y" and "X", which it needs to run, but aren't specifically an integral part of mod Z. This means that mod Y and X are named differently from mod Z, but they are still part of mod Z regardless of what they are called and thus do not relate to the name of mod Z in any way, however they are still part of mod Z.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do agree that modders should strive to use descriptive names in their files and it can be a bother to uninstall mods without descriptive names, however I think that should take a backseat to actually trying out mods and finding some you enjoy regardless of naming conventions.

 

I mean, you can always redownload the archive, unzip it in a different location and use that to hunt down the files you can't find.

[BadPenney]

Sure, I may be missing great mods users have incorporated to Fallout 3. That does not give the submitter of said mod to confuse the downloader of said mod a right to make it difficult to for said user to associate the said file for which they (the user) is expected to rate.

 

If the user can't find the file to implement due to difference of title, how can they rate the mod in question? This the challenge not only I myself face, but many members on this forum face.

It's like lawyers and politicians talking in here.

 

First of all, you don't have to rate a mod that you download. Yes, some people like to have their mods rated and have them in this or that list, but then some people think it is important to have their names listed for most miles ridden backwards on a bicycle.

 

If you download a mod and you can't find the file, then either the file has extemely bad documentation (named "readme" like a million other mods with no listing of pertinent file names), the name of the file is totally unrelated ( Mod name "Villa Fantastico", file name "x10.esp"), and/or you are computer illiterate. Since you are "practically a lifelong computer technician" I can't believe that you would be unable to find a file that you had just downloaded.

 

Your position is based on something besides the fluffery that you have been throwing out since your initial post. It is a pet peeve. "Baelkin, I see and understand the point you are making, but, how does the attempted association contribuite to the overall welfare of the author of the mod and this forum?" That is pure scritti politti.

 

If you have a personal gripe, enough said. It is not a bad point to make, either. The threat of shunning anyone who doesn't conform to your suggestion adds no weight to it though, in fact it is more likely to bring out resistence to your suggestion. Maybe you can see that happening already.