Mercenaries Guild

Warning: Incoherent and rambling.

MG now has a new download system. I figured I should write a bit about what it does and how it works, as not all of its coolness is immediately apparent.
This is probably going to be a reasonably technical post, if you just want to know how to set a server up look at http://tremulous.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=77919#77919

The old system involved a single folder, base, which contained all the maps and mods. For servers running TJW's mod or domination, symlinks were made. There are also folders such as tremex that only contain the mod files.
The problem were:

1. Organisational mess, many hundreds of files in one place.
2. Servers that don't use base or another folder we have symlinked couldn't use mg.net for downloads.
3. If there is a folder a mod writer or server owner can upload mods to, then users cant dowload maps.
4. People who download all the maps also end up with a load of mods in there base folder.

The new system fixes all these issues via the creation of a new sub domain, downloads.mercenariesguild.net. In this domain there is a folder for maps, and a folder for each mod. The mod folders only contain files for there respective mods, and and the maps folder will only contain maps.
When the client looks for a file, the server first checks if there's a mod with that name; and will send the file if one exists in that folder. If the file doesn't exist, or there is no folder for that mod then the file is looked for in the maps directory.
This is better than the old system because:

1. Any server can download maps regardless of what mod they run.
2. If a mod has specific files on the server, it can still download maps
3. Server owners / mod writers can have ftp access to there mods folder, with out being able to mess with other mods and while still being able to have maps download.
4. People can sync there base folder with the maps folder and not get any mods or other files.

In the future it is planned to allow mappers to upload files. This is still a work in progress but is a somewhat desirable feature, so will hopefully happen reasonably soon.