Hey, would you guys be interested in a quality controlled Source map site? - Developers

As the title says, I'm interested in creating a website for awesome maps built for the Source engine. This idea arose when I was surfing through Gamebanana for some maps that were interesting/neat. The lack of quality control makes it really tough to actually enjoy the site for the content it brings with it. Apparently there's been site like this before that didn't work out too well, but I'm really in it to be more of an archive for maps that are worthwhile and to provide some good mappers here some hosting space. Let me know what you think.

It's a great idea. Not like garrysmod.org that has some great content buried under a sea of wire addons made by 13-year olds. Quick and easy access to great content sounds good to me.

Basically a Hammer Me Hard v2, sounds good

Yeah, sounds great. Go for it.

I'd use it. I would submit to it if I could ever actually finish a map, but hey.

Would be awesome, would the maps go through a approval process?

Yeah, and that would basically be me running the map and making sure it isn't crap. I'll post some guidelines and make sure that people have a full understanding of why their map ends up rejected.

please do this i'm always stressing about finding new, decent maps for my server

I too would be interested, I enjoy trying new maps but I never really get around to it because I don't want to spend an hour or two of sifting around through lego-block maps before I find something I want to download.

Please do, I thought workshop would help with this problem but it appears the crap drowns out the good most of the time.

Yes. PLEASE. A suggestion for the domain name: sourcemaps.net

This would be great, good maps need a place to shine where they aren't drowning in a sea of blocky, fullbright abominations that should never, ever have seen a release.

Sounds like an idea but how would that even work? Like who gets to decide which maps are crap or not?

[QUOTE=HighdefGE;41875289]Sounds like an idea but how would that even work? Like who gets to decide which maps are crap or not?[/QUOTE] Him and some trusted people from the mapping section? Just a suggestion.

How about a voting system? Mappers who have been proven to make good maps can vote to have the map taken down? And it would take about 5-10 votes for it to auto-delete, and 2-4 votes to get a mods attention?

I remember the days searching for a load of maps and going "That looks good" only to find every single map[B] fucking SUCKS[/B]

Yeah, have a section for good maps and another sections for ones pending approval. Maybe you could write a review of it stating the pros and cons, and if or not it should be in the "good maps" section.

That would be a good idea, or at least have tickboxes. Something like -----------------------------------------------------------1- 2- 3- 4- 5 6 7 8 9 10 Lighting--------------------------------------------------[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Layout----------------------------------------------------[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Optimization---------------------------------------------[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Detail-----------------------------------------------------[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Textures-------------------------------------------------[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Model Placement----------------------------------------[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Theme-------------------------------------------------- [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

While I'd be interested, content screening sites like this usually don't last long because the people operating them get bored of doing the screening. Good luck though, I'd like to see it happen.

I like this idea too. Also please use good preview images. Though I don't think in-depth reviews would really be necessary. At most make a short and simple summary, and then the map rating. I'm sure people would rather just play the map than read about it. They're all supposed to be good maps anyways. To someone looking for a map, they'll just want to know 'Is it fun to play or not fun to play?'.

[QUOTE=Zanarias;41875590]While I'd be interested, content screening sites like this usually don't last long because the people operating them get bored of doing the screening. Good luck though, I'd like to see it happen.[/QUOTE] sfmbox seems to still be going strong.

[QUOTE=Ninja Duck;41875807]I like this idea too. Also please use good preview images. Though I don't think in-depth reviews would really be necessary. At most make a short and simple summary, and then the map rating. I'm sure people would rather just play the map than read about it. They're all supposed to be good maps anyways. To someone looking for a map, they'll just want to know 'Is it fun to play or not fun to play?'.[/QUOTE] I think the in-depth reviews are only for maps that have not been accepted into the "Confirmed Maps List".

[QUOTE=cloudcakes30;41875965]I think the in-depth reviews are only for maps that have not been accepted into the "Confirmed Maps List".[/QUOTE] Yeah this would work.

I agree on this topic, but you must be willing to commit for years to come, or perhaps get a committee together to create a special section in gamebanana ( Beautiful Maps Only ) that combines all maps in their perspective category that are worth downloading. Bemos Here is a real world example to troll people and gain attention: [url]http://www.beautifulpeople.com/[/url]

Sounds really good. I've actually recently been thinking about the same thing. Setting up a Source based site with quality controlled Source maps and resources. Sort of like [url=http://mfgg.net]this site[/url] but with Source things instead of Mario fangames. I'd love to see this get launched.

I support this greatly I suggest this sort of setup for the site however: -User uploads the map -Map stays in a "Public" section of the site by default, where it is still listed on the site and downloadable -Admins/Mods get a notification about the new submission, one or more download it and review it, and then give it an official rating -Rating dictates which part of the site it goes to, a "Recommended" listing where all the good maps are shown, or the "Public" listing which would be a mix of un-rated or poorly rated maps.

There should also be a 'Hall of Shame' section for the worst of the worst, like blocky fullbright maps and lazy jump scare 'horror' maps. These maps wouldn't be downloadable (and in fact would be purged from the site upon rejection) but there would be screenshots and a write up of why it's in there. When people upload maps they should be reminded that they should check the Hall of Shame first to see if their map is really, really worth uploading, because if your map is in any way similar to stuff in the hall of shame, you should not be uploading it. Also, you really, really need a rule that says "Do not upload maps you did not create yourself or did not collaborate on." Cut out the reuploaders who upload solely for e-peen points when they see their download count right there.

[QUOTE=Kuro.;41877173]There should also be a 'Hall of Shame' section for the worst of the worst, like blocky fullbright maps and lazy jump scare 'horror' maps. These maps wouldn't be downloadable (and in fact would be purged from the site upon rejection) but there would be screenshots and a write up of why it's in there. When people upload maps they should be reminded that they should check the Hall of Shame first to see if their map is really, really worth uploading, because if your map is in any way similar to stuff in the hall of shame, you should not be uploading it. Also, you really, really need a rule that says "Do not upload maps you did not create yourself or did not collaborate on." Cut out the reuploaders who upload solely for e-peen points when they see their download count right there.[/QUOTE] I can see people mass adding these kinds of maps and it become a big flood of "lol fullbright dev brick box" jokes.

The admin should be able to lockdown uploads or require all uploads to be reviewed before they become visible in the event of a coordinated flood attack. This is basic stuff for any site that accepts user-submitted content, always have a way to deal with 12 year old troll wannabes that think crapflooding a site is the height of comedy.

[url]http://www.dotbsp.com/[/url] So I'm starting on it. And I'm taking what you're saying into consideration Kuro. I'm not sure how submissions are going to work but I'll worry about that later. I have some general ideas in my head in regards to uploading and stuff. [editline]18th August 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=NOCTURNATIX;41876411]I agree on this topic, but you must be willing to commit for years to come, or perhaps get a committee together to create a special section in gamebanana ( Beautiful Maps Only ) that combines all maps in their perspective category that are worth downloading. Bemos Here is a real world example to troll people and gain attention: [url]http://www.beautifulpeople.com/[/url][/QUOTE] Uh, I have no idea what you're trying to tell me, but I don't really need to commit to anything for one - it's just a site I'm making because I want to work on a website. I needed an excuse to make a new website, and I've recently had plenty of problems trying to find worthwhile maps. I also really enjoy [url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1295011]this thread[/url], and the idea of quality control for map submissions seems pretty neat. I'm also not going to turn it into a circlejerk between Facepunch or anything like that, nor make it a "troll site", so I don't get what that link is a reference to. [editline]18th August 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=paulisdead18;41877209]I can see people mass adding these kinds of maps and it become a big flood of "lol fullbright dev brick box" jokes.[/QUOTE] They have to get reviewed before they're put on the site for public access, so it'll simply be a waste of time for me. No biggie. [editline]18th August 2013[/editline] Oh, the picture of the back of my brother's head is from my music site and I'll get rid of it as soon as I find a much more appropriate background.