GoH: Why did I separate this add-on in to smaller parts?

So why did I separate 'Get Over Here! - Suite' in to 15 smaller downloads?

Short Answer: I don't want to sit here for hours on end uploading or attempting to upload a large file that has been timing out due to size when I only modify small amounts of code.

Longer Answer: This is in 'beta' to begin with so it is constantly being built, changed, edited, fixed, hotfixed, and so on. Revisions are constantly going up as it is being built. I remember one day we had about five revisions uploaded and that was just that day.

I am creating this for no profit, out of the goodness of my heart, for you guys. To be completely honest, I don't need this addon at all. My eyes are set on Star Wars Old Republic as World of Warcraft has really lost interest for me. However, there are a few great people out there who really want this thing done and completed so I am doing my very best to do that. I am also doing my best to accomedate as many requests and suggestions as humanly possible. I have a full time job, and when I get home from work I tamper around with this thing to get as many things done as possible. I am not a coding expert, far from it - even if it seems like I am. I am learning, always learning. Sometimes I spend literally HOURS searching the net for information on how something may work or if something is possible and try to get it to work. That's really the fun for me, the challenge in coding it. I don't get paid for this, nor have I recieved one single dollar in donations (and that includes version 1, version 2, as well as version 3; currently up to version 4). Now I don't need the money, I have a fantastic full time job that pays well. I only mention the donations as I find it funny how some people PM me with demands or whine about downloading four additional files when I'm the poor sucker who is doing all the work here. Rant over. Let's get to other reasons why this has to become split into separate parts.

The main reason is quite literally file size. Let's face it, this mod is and began as an audio mod. For those of us who like me, would rather rely on something screaming at you than try to read text on the screen. That said, it has grown to incorporate other requests such as text alerts and emotes and so on. The audio files aren't small and yes everything is compressed and zipped prior to uploading to Curse (you can't not do that, they won't accept it otherwise). If you use the Curse Client, then you do not see it being automatically unzipped and installed for you. So the file size of the ZIPPED version is large and was getting to a point where it would not only time out for me uploading the thing, but time out for people downloading it.

It was fine for you you may say... well not all of us live right next to the Curse servers or even in the same country. I myself have the absolute FASTEST broadband available in Australia but it is still not fast enough nor is it the best available in the world. In fact, our ISP companies (as well as many others in other countries) will CAP our download and upload speeds differently. For example, my upload speed is like 1/10th my download speed so it literally takes me HOURS to upload anything large. NOW imagine if you will, you have just modified a couple of lines of code and added one ability to the addon. Then you have zipped it up and waited for hours for it to upload only to find out it failed and you have to do it again.

Now imagine doing that at least FOUR to FIVE times per upload of the same file. Literally spending most of the night attempting to get it uploaded for you guys and that is before it is even approved by Curse, let alone attempted to be downloaded by you guys.

So it was getting to the point that it was absolutely ridiculous. So since it is in beta and there are elements of the addon that I won't be touching for a while, I split it into parts.

For example, the images part, there are a lot of images and it is a larger file. It is needed, for without it you can't see jack. It is now separate. You download it once and it probably won't get updated for a while. Every now and then there might be something new and then it'll need an update but generally speaking the images section of this addon is complete and only needs to be grabbed once. Why should it be bundled together with the code part which is going to be constantly changing? That would mean each and every update you have to re-download the same exact images over and over and over again, and they are LARGE in file size. So that is one example.

Also note that down the track when this is finished, having the Images part separate will allow for other users to edit them and upload their own GoH Theme, changing the look of the program without modifying any of the functionality. WIN:WIN situation right there.

The same is true for the sound files.

Why upload the same Death Knight files and download the same Death Knight files upon each and every update of the code?

There is no need... they are done, and nothing is going to change in them that often as the Death Knight section is pretty much finished.

Sure, if someone requests something else to be added to that section and I do that, then you'll have to grab the Death Knight sounds section again, but that won't be every update.

So you can see, or at least I hope you can see more clearly now why this really has to end up being a separated kind of addon.

In fact, later on, people may want to edit the mp3 files and create sound packs of their own for GoH. So they'll be able to do that much more easily with it being like this.

So all this work I am doing for you guys and to make things easier to update and faster to download. You can choose to NOT install 10 files if you want to or you can install everything. If everything is installed, you'll only have to update little parts of it at a time as I won't be updating every file each night and quite often it would be just a couple of them.

For example, eventually I'll work on the rogue section. Then you'll see that the Rogue Sounds and the Main Code Program have been updated and only have to update those two things as I work on that - the rest can stay as it is and not get re-downloaded. Easy Peasy.

And all this work is on my head and my time, all I ask from you guys is what? To install five files to get the add-on to work. That really isn't too much to ask, especially if you want to use this addon and like it.

I hope the above explains more the bigger picture here. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the add-on! =)