As far as I can tell there is no public API to access the map database, is there? QuakeInjector and QuaddictedTool are really convenient and I wouldn't mind if some day there was a similar tool for Slipseer. A proper REST API would make development quite a bit easier.
Public API
- Thread starter NaturalStupidity
- Start date
There is REST API and we can share it with trusted developers.
Current problem is that we don't store authors properly in DB.
There is no way to display author list from REST API.
Will need further development which might take significant amount of time.
From "philosophical" point of view, automated content loaders don't contribute much to community.
You download content anonymously through standalone app, play it and then can't even leave a comment, rating or review,
basically treating website as free archive/FTP server. It becomes a fast-food like service.
We think the biggest value of this website and alike is that community can interact, share ideas and opinions.
With interaction we can build stronger community. Loader makes whole experience extremely shallow.
We think people who contribute with their maps/mods/tools deserve attention and receiving a comment or a review is important to them.
Making content for Quake is our hobby, getting feedback is the biggest reward we can get.
Would be great if we could improve whole concept of loader, so everyone can benefit.
We can discuss ideas how to do it here.
If you're interested in API, show us your project and we'll contact you with details.
Current problem is that we don't store authors properly in DB.
There is no way to display author list from REST API.
Will need further development which might take significant amount of time.
From "philosophical" point of view, automated content loaders don't contribute much to community.
You download content anonymously through standalone app, play it and then can't even leave a comment, rating or review,
basically treating website as free archive/FTP server. It becomes a fast-food like service.
We think the biggest value of this website and alike is that community can interact, share ideas and opinions.
With interaction we can build stronger community. Loader makes whole experience extremely shallow.
We think people who contribute with their maps/mods/tools deserve attention and receiving a comment or a review is important to them.
Making content for Quake is our hobby, getting feedback is the biggest reward we can get.
Would be great if we could improve whole concept of loader, so everyone can benefit.
We can discuss ideas how to do it here.
If you're interested in API, show us your project and we'll contact you with details.
Thanks for taking the time to answer. I can see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure I agree. At least not 100%. Yes, a launcher would probably impact user engagement, but I'm uncertain if it would actually be significant.
Are you familiar with The Dark Mod? In case you are not: It's a Thief fan game that heavily relies on user-created missions. And it has an ingame download feature, which means there is absolutely no reason to ever engage with its community, if all you want to do is play the game. Despite that there's an official forum with a healthy amount of activity. And I think this is because the vast majority of all forum posts and reviews comes from a few dedicated users.
I highly doubt that those kinds of people would stop visiting Slipseer if there was a launcher. Obviously I can't be sure of that, because this is all hypothetical, so if you insist that it's a bad idea I can accept that and move on.
Regarding an expanded launcher that provides full comment, rating and review functionality: That's obviously not impossible to do, but would require a robust and secure API, because people would need to log in with their accounts. An easier solution would be to just link to each map's overview on Slipseer. Maybe include the rating and number of reviews. That might spark an interest to actually click on the link. I realize it's not quite the same, but maybe a decent enough compromise.
Oh, and I have nothing to show, because I haven't done anything yet since I wasn't sure if there even is an API.
Are you familiar with The Dark Mod? In case you are not: It's a Thief fan game that heavily relies on user-created missions. And it has an ingame download feature, which means there is absolutely no reason to ever engage with its community, if all you want to do is play the game. Despite that there's an official forum with a healthy amount of activity. And I think this is because the vast majority of all forum posts and reviews comes from a few dedicated users.
I highly doubt that those kinds of people would stop visiting Slipseer if there was a launcher. Obviously I can't be sure of that, because this is all hypothetical, so if you insist that it's a bad idea I can accept that and move on.
Regarding an expanded launcher that provides full comment, rating and review functionality: That's obviously not impossible to do, but would require a robust and secure API, because people would need to log in with their accounts. An easier solution would be to just link to each map's overview on Slipseer. Maybe include the rating and number of reviews. That might spark an interest to actually click on the link. I realize it's not quite the same, but maybe a decent enough compromise.
Oh, and I have nothing to show, because I haven't done anything yet since I wasn't sure if there even is an API.
Every app will have separate API key, so in case of malicious actions we can disable access for only one app, instead of cutting off all of them.
That's why I'm asking who has QuakeInjector-like project, so we can generate keys.
Quaddicted is good example. Only one person bothers to log-in and rate/comment stuff (Rotfish).
Which is sad to see, considering how much effort is put to archive all Quake content there.
In Xenforo 2.3 (which should be out sometime this year) there will be proper oAuth for API, so we could do log-in safely.
Anyway, as I mentioned before, we can give access to API, no problem.
Also we are working on Slipseer launcher. You'll be able to click button (applink) under "Download" to start map/mod through launcher app.
For accessibility, best option would be direct access to maps/mods through IW/QS etc, although will require a lot of work from engine devs.
Oh, I didn't know you are working on an official launcher. I wouldn't want to intrude, so it's probably for the best if I scrap my little idea.