Kitty Corp Meow Mix Forums

OK, this was originally meant to be a more broad critique of the community, and I may still do that at some point, but for now I want to throw out some ideas about the Vault.

It seems to me that the way the Vault is organized is increasingly outdated in terms of the types of hacks available.

I propose that the vault be completely recategorized. This would likely take a lot of work, but I'll give some ideas for how it could be implemented at the end.

The categories would go like this:

1: Completely new character movesets
      This section would hold any character that has been added to Brawl with a custom moveset. Movesets are the focus of this section, but downloads can and mostly should include the vetex/model they work best with and other things like CSPs and such.

      It would be organized alphabetically by NEW CHARACTER NAME instead of by the character replaced.

2: Modified Movesets for Existing Characters
       This section would contain movesets for characters that are already in Brawl that have been modified. Basically, any PSAs that are not completely new characters would go here.

       This section should be organized by the character whose moveset has been modified.

3: New Character Vertexes/models
       This section would contain any vertex or model import hacks that change a character into a DIFFERENT
CHARACTER.

      This section should be organized by the ORIGINAL BRAWL CHARACTER that the hack replaces.

4: Original Brawl Character Vertexes/models
       This section would hold things like recolors for existing characters and things like taking off Mario's hat or Dr. Mario. Basically, if there's a model hack that doesn't change the character into someone else, it just edits something about the character, it goes here.

5: New Stages
       Stage hacks that change more than just the texture go here.

       This section should be organized alphabetically by the NEW STAGE NAME instead of the stage it replaces.

6: Original Brawl Stage textures/model hacks
       This is for stage texture/model hacks that only change the stage's appearance.

       This section should be organized by ORIGINAL STAGE that the hack will replace.

7: Then, of course, there's music, sfx, and misc, but that can all stay the same as far as I'm concerned. Haven't really thought about it.

    I really do think this will make it easier for people to find the hacks they're looking for. Some people want vertexes/textures for characters or stages that don't change anything but appearances. That kind of thing should be organized by the character/stage to be replaced. However, all new stuff that changes stages or characters into something/someone else should have their own area organized alphabetically.

   SO, now that you know my ideas, here is my basic suggestion for implementation. Going forward, it would work pretty much like putting a post in the right area of a forum. You pick where it should go, but the mods can move it if you're wrong.

   The real problem lies in the bountiful hacks already available. How do we organize them? A mass message should go out requesting that anyone with a hack that needs to be put in a specific area (anything besides music and misc) come in and edit its details appropriately. There can be a grace period applied, and anyone who does not categorize their hack within that timeframe will have that hack temporarily moved to a lost and found section. (This might also be a good way to weed out old hacks...)

   I know the Vault is really having some more important troubles right now, and the people who designed the original gallery might not be interested in such a sweeping undertaking, but I really think this would help.

...

Thoughts?

I'm not interested in such a sweeping undertaking --- but I know it must be done --- just not by me (no time).

I need someone who knows HTML help out. (PHP and SQL is a plus, but I've designed the vault to be mostly dynamic...)

Each new category of hack requires the following:
-New option in the submission page (mostly HTML, some PHP for editing)
-New option in the search page (just HTML)
-New menus (Image work / html, I actually used an online image map generator to help out with the current one's html)

Might I ask for an "Animation" section/option/check box? the majority of my work falls under only Animations and there's no selection for it. I'm sure it'd diverse the selections more and note more interesting topics like Psa/Animation instead of Psa/Other or som'in

Animations would probably fit under the "modified movesets for existing characters" section. However, a checkbox specifically for animation edits might be nice.

Also, I completely forgot about item hacks and other things like CSPs, but CSPs and such should go under the "texture hacks for existing characters" section, or the new character vertex section, depending on what the CSP is for.

I wish I had time to help out with the site, as I know a good deal of HTML and I learn extremely quickly, so I could probably learn enough PHP by reverse engineering the existing site to help, but I'm swamped with real life stuff, so I'm relegated to just making suggestions. :(.

Pretty much everyone I know that knows HTML is also busy with life....
I know a little HTML from working on wordpress for awhile but I'm not sure if it'd be enough to help out.
But yeah I'd love to see brawlvault updated, hopefully you guys can find someone that'll help you out.