Before we get to the guidelines, let me explain the purpose of each subforum.
Levels is for projects that contain new maps, or whose primary purpose is new maps. If you've created a new level that happens to contain one or two new weapons and maybe an extra monster, it still goes in Levels.
Gameplay Mods is for projects that DO NOT contain new maps. Game behavior tends to be changed, typically through use of DECORATE, ACS, ZScript, etc. If the project contains new maps, but they are not the primary purpose of the project (i.e. TEST maps, training courses, or things like DoomRPG's Outpost map), it is still a Gameplay Mod.
TCs and Other Projects is primarily for Total Conversion mods. A Total Conversion's main purpose is to contain both new levels AND significant gameplay changes, or else goes to great effort to avoid resembling the source game. Notable TCs include Massmouth 2, Adventures of Square, the WolfenDOOM series, and Doom: The Golden Souls. Standalone games that use a Doom-based engine may also go here. This category is also intended for projects that cannot otherwise fit into a category.
Resources is where you'd place things that other users may use in their projects, that are not projects that can be directly run by themselves. Sprites, textures, code snippets, editing examples, sound effect packs, and templates all belong here. It is also where you may request resources from other users. The Resources forum has its own guidelines that you should read before you post threads in there.
Graphics/Sound Patches is where high-res texture packs, music replacements, and HUD patches belong. In most cases, these won't contain major logic changes or gameplay alterations, but some do, so please mind the Readme files to avoid incompatibility with other mods.
Software and Ports should be self-explanatory; if you are working on a Doom port or a piece of software that somehow relates to Doom (map and lump editors, launchers, automated tools, and whatever else), those belong here. It must be Doom or Doom-engine-related!
And now, on with the Guidelines.
1) Before posting a new topic here, be sure you actually have a project in progress or release. For example, posting a new thread called "Mario TC" with the post "Hey i'm making a mario tc, more info soon!" isn't good enough. Be sure you've got plans for your project. Think about things like main features, help you could possibly want, suggestions you'd like. Or go take a few screenshots. People like screenshots. Just make sure you have a base for what you're going to be working on or no one is going to take interest. (Your title screen really doesn't count.)
2) Just to clarify from the above rule: you need to post something from your project! If a project thread is posted without screenshots, we'll give you some time to get them added, or else your project thread is going to get locked. Not everybody wants to download a large-ish WAD file and puzzle over what exactly is changed, so it helps to show people what it looks like without making them read a wall of text or download a file and be surprised. If the mod has already been released in the thread's first post, screenshots are merely suggested, not required. We can be more lenient for mods where a screenshot does not convey what the mod actually does, i.e. for music and sound patches or mutators.
3) When making a new topic, it's nice to let people know the actual progress of the project. If it's in progress, put WIP in the title. If it's finished put released. If you feel you need to, you can put a % of how much it's done, or a date it's going to be completed by (take care with that). Remember you can always edit the first post of your topic to change the title of the thread.
4) If you finish a project, be sure to edit the first post and post the link there or AT LEAST edit the title and tell us what page the download link is on. People don't feel like going through 10+ pages of progress and comments just to find the download link. Also it's nice to add screens and neat formatting on the first page too. After all no one is going to download your project if you just have a link to it. But if you have a few screens to show off what you're downloading, people will be all over it!
5) Remember, this is about YOUR project. Don't beg the community for help if you're just going to sit there and order people around. That's not how a project is built. Discuss your ideas before starting a project and asking for help. If people don't like your project idea they're probably not going to help you out, so it's best to find out first. Remember, people have their own opinions.
6) This isn't so much a project posting guideline as it is a guideline for those of you keeping track of projects. If a project thread hasn't been posted in for more than six months, it may not be such a good idea to bump it asking if it has been released yet. If it has been released, odds are that the author will update his topic with information about the release.
6b) In the event somebody DOES bump a year-old project thread, there may be a chance that a moderator will move said thread to the Abandoned/Dead Projects subforum at the bottom of the main page. If you, the author of said project, need the thread back, feel free to PM a moderator to request that it be moved back out. The post doing the bumping will most likely be moved to the Gallery of Useless Bumps.
7) This used to be a rule about not posting co-op bots made from DECORATE, but in light of some things that happened around April of 2017, I'm inclined to change it to this: The Projects forum is ONLY for projects that YOU HAVE MADE. Whether this is something you made from scratch, or a modification of someone else's mod (with permission, of course), if you can take MOST of the credit for a mod, then you can post it. Otherwise, don't put it in Projects. If it's not yours, you might consider putting in Cool Mods You Might Have Missed in the General forum instead.
7b) Since rule 7 isn't about co-op bots anymore, I feel I should also put in an addendum about honesty. Please make sure that your project thread is not in any way misleading or unclear. If someone has to ask what exactly your project is about, or what it does, then consider adding that information into the thread's first post using the Edit button. If your "awesome new TC" winds up being a Terry WAD, then you can expect your link to get nuked and a warning or ban issued. If you've just created a mod that contains DECORATE-based friendly monsters that look like Doomguys, don't call it a "co-op bot" because that term implies something very different that a DECORATE-based mod can't possibly be.
8) !! NEW !! for 2013: Randy has added project thumbnail support for the Projects section. Your thread will have a nice little thumbnail image in the thread list. By default, the thumbnail will be the first image posted to the thread, but this can be manipulated through BBCode like this:
Code: Select all
[thumb]http://imagebarf.gov/maisuperawesomesauceimage.gif[/thumb]9) Always give credit to everybody whose resources you have used in your .WAD. People do not appreciate having their works put in other's mods without credit to them. If you do not know who to credit, post the resources with missing credits, so that someone else, possibly the original author, can state who made it. (thanks, TheMightyHeracross)
10) The Projects forum is NOT just for ZDoom-specific projects! We'll accept threads for damn near anything Doom-engine-related, and that includes projects for Zandronum, PRBoom+, vanilla Doom, Heretic, Strife, Doom 64 or even Vavoom if you want to go that route. All we ask is that you make it clear what your project needs to run; people don't tend to guess correctly when faced with a project that "won't start." (Oh, and don't yell at people if their project isn't ZDoom-specific, because that argument ALWAYS comes up and we're all sick of it.)
11) And most importantly: do NOT include Doom2.wad in your project. If you absolutely must, use FreeDoom instead. See the official community rules for more info.
12) Do not release your project on a devbuild and expect it to work forever (by next release). If you want your project to last, release on the latest version of GZDoom only. Projects that use beta or in-development features may break. See this thread.
13) Projects for Zandronum or ZDaemon or Odamex or other multiplayer-centric ports which are hacks or source code changes to give an advantage against other players (i.e. wallhack or aimbot) are not allowed on this forum. We ARE a community for everyone, not just GZDoom, and us being outside the boundaries of the Zandronum community does not mean we are going to let you do something that would get you instantly banned, there. Multiplayer cheating is an issue taken very seriously, as it has ramifications that undermine the spirit of competition. (As an aside, we don't mind such things for strictly single-player or coop, so "aim assist" mods for GZDoom are usually just fine)
14) Do not put your project behind forced monetization links (i.e. adfly). Adding a Patreon or Paypal where people can subscribe or donate to your project is just fine, though, as is putting it on optional monetization (i.e. itch.io) sites. Extremely ad-heavy download hosts (i.e. Mediafire) are discouraged and Google Drive is encouraged instead. You usually will just get your links edited out if you use an adfly-like site, but in extreme cases (i.e. editing the links back in) you can get your links removed, a warning, a ban, or your edit permissions revoked.
.
