The *must be done* hacks thread list
 

You know, when you're searching over the forums to find some good hacks, probably you would like to see all the hacks that can fits your needs. This is impossible, but I think this thread could be like a "I would like to see... a modification that will let users to do this, this, this, etc". Or.. more specifically, you could use this thread to post your opinions on determinate hacks that should be done... hacks that must be done for the benefits of all the vb.org community itself. Oh, excuse me for my bad english.. I'm italian.

For example, here my essential hack list:

Registration form on non-vB page (a good descripted hack or a good tutorial)
Latest threads on a non-vB page
Latest users on a non-vB page
..and all the other issues related to non-vB pages.


You?

There is already a complete forum for such requests: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=112

... each user here have specific requests for a good hack, so a single thread will never be enough...

1. Any form of RPG or battle system ever

It seems about 3.6 time, no one ever made any of these for free, or tried to port them over from the earlier versions. How is it even remotely fair that there's only one product on the market for something that likely has massive demand, and even that costs money? Did people get bored of the effort of maintaining complex modifications around 3.6 (or even 3.5) era?.

2. Any form of video gallery

The beta video gallery modification for 3.6 seems brilliant, just that's there no info on whether it works on 3.7 or signs of it being updated recently, and the 3.7 exclusive mods are nearly completely featureless in comparison. Just needs comments, categories and various source sites to get videos from.

3. A decent, stand alone shop system for points systems. There has been like, 10 points systems for 3.6-3.7, but zero shops other than IShop? Currently waiting for vB Commerce and Customiser (which will seemingly be excellent), but it would be nice if people actually released things like the shop stand alone, because many people want to use a different points sytem to the shop system, and many may not even another points system or a shop with the mod they chose to install.

4. Any kind of iBPro Casino conversion. Don't want it personally, just that it's been asked for about 10 million times and never really got made by anyone, with numerous developers saying they'd make it and then backing out or vanishing about a few months later.

5. vB Garage update. Same as above, I don't want it, a lot of people do, no one seems prepared to actually code it for them.

The problem with coders not prepared is not the point... if you go to a real commercial coder and ask for these conversions they will be done, in exchange of money... the problem is not the availability but the releases... commercial coders do not like to release their tools for free, so they do not want to do these conversions. -- i'm one of them... that's why i have my site and my own way to release things.

However, there are equivalents on other forum software, and I really want every person who has a forum to pick vBulletin for the mods and community rather than Invision or the like (I've already recommended it to just about everyone who's ever wanted to set up a forum).

I wonder if I could pay someone to release it for the community? Because it's really, really annoying to have vBulletin with less mods than it's competitors who have these useful features...

Such a system takes more than a single programmer. You need a graphics designer to make pictures of all the items and what-not. I've rarely run into a graphics designer that'll do work like that for free unless they already have a personal interest in the project.

Aside from that "RPG hacks" aren't really that popular anyway. There are a handful of "big" forums that put them to good use..everyone else has trouble getting enough users to play. I personally have no interest in playing a "web based rpg" and from what I can see most of the other users that visit forums with them installed feel the same way.

Why do you care what software other people are using? ;) I made the same mistake back when I used UBB but in time I saw the error of my ways and converted to vBulletin. There will come a time when I move on to something else although it probably won't be IPB. At any rate if someone needs something not included in vBulletin they should probably be looking elsewhere. There is no point in buying a car and trying to modify it to be a truck when you can just buy a truck in the first place.

My team of morons is always ready to answer paid requests... the big problem is not coding, it is releasing... most of the other forum softwares have paid teams that are hired to release these engines... when i was on IPB, i was hired for 500 000 lines of coding, whatever the engine i coded... i generated some of the things that are missing on vB even today... but i was not handling the release or the profits of these tools... on vB, the guys want to control the money made by their work... that is different.

personally, i would take all these requests and code them if i can get paid seriously... 50$ for 10000 lines of code is absolutely out of question... and who would be crazy enough to pay long-term contracts for that kind of work ?!

Images? I can get those in about a day or two, since at my own forum, I have like 10 moods suggested daily by members and had to actually stop accepting smilies because I couldn't cope with the amount.

Hint: Ask at most gaming forums or the like, or maybe a site like the Spriter's Resource, and you can often use them with credit to the author.

I'm still debating it. But I know there'd be some interest, and plenty of people wanted a battle system type thing when the topic came up.

Probably because apart from that, vBulletin offers the best features.

Then, why not help vB to be a truck instead of switching to another software that is already a truck?
I think we could/should help vB in order to be.. more that a simple truck. :)

I don't think any coder would see it that way... Jelsoft is a commercial company built to make profit... if we "help" it being bigger, and we receive not a single line of credit at the end, why would we?!...

If Jelsoft hire coders to build these tools, no problem with that vision... if they just wait for us to make their profit grow, forget it... most freelancers will continue to release their work on their side with their own profits in their own hands.

This is not only about Jelsoft, but all the companies that have fan communities... IPB have the same kind of situation, but when a great coder bring great tools, they buy the coder's work instead of (being inspired by) the ideas... on phpBB, the entire project is non-profit, so it's part of the individuals to release their own engines... for sharing.. but most of the phpBB releases lately were to copy vB features... so that does not count.

This is not a bad question. I can ask you, then.. why not?
Need I really a line of credits for my works, or do I just need passion?

I don't think passion has anything to do with it. Basketball players have a passion for the game, so does that mean they should not be payed? Politicians are passionate about politics, does that mean they should not be paid.

Also I am very passionate about coding/programming and even when Im not coding for someone else Im working on my own projects that I release free(Non-VB). The difference being is that Im working for free on something that I WANT to work on, not something someone else wants me to work on.

Within this thread we don't want to force coders to develope those modifications for free. They could be also commenrcial ones. Why not? But I think they should be done, at least the ones that could really help users to extend their forums. You know, if possible. If not, peace.

I really need a sotw mod for my site that I will be opening soon.

vBMA is doing this :)

Are they making such images from scratch or grabbing them off some website? If they are in fact doing it themselves do they create images when they feel like it or do they work with other people?

Most people like that (read: usually kids/young adults) may be skilled but more often then not they are horrible people to work with. I can't even begin to remember how many "image designers" I've gone through over the years. Most of them get very excited about a project, claim they'll stick with it then two weeks later are no where to be found or have an excuse for why something hasn't been completed yet.

It's just too hard to get people to work on a time table for free and considering most designers think a "skin" with a handful of custom images (and no xhtml modifications) is worth $500 = $1,000... well it's no wonder why people like me don't deal with them anymore and just end up struggling to learn photoshop for themselves.

Let me fix that for you;

"Probably because apart from that, vBulletin offers the best features for me."

vBulletin is not right for everyone. There are plenty of forums on the net that would be just as popular if the discussion(s) were conducted via a mailing list or old school BBS. I'd bet $200 that less than 1% of the message boards on the internet need/require a "battle system" and out of that 1% most of them are probably looking for something customized for their own forum. This is why you don't see too many people jumping at the chance to write such a hack, the number of programmers interested in such a project is small and the target audience is small.

Now if we could write "RPGs" for the web that worked like WoW or Starcraft it might be a different story. But until that time comes most people are simply not interested.

Another thing before I wrap this up: Myspace has recently added a bunch of web based games to their site and from what I can see they are catching on over there. Most of them are just the same game with a unique name and different items and it all looks like it would be simple to replicate. However what you can never replicate is the user base at myspace.com. Basically what I'm getting at here is people interested in such games are already playing them elsewhere...so what good does an identical application hosted on thousands of vBulletin forums really do? Are people willing to sign up at "somelamesite.com" because you have an RPG game? Are your existing members really interested in such an application or is your time better spent improving your content and participating in discussions on your forum? For most forums it ain't worth the effort and the "Battle arena" ends up begin a not-often used feature that must be debugged every time you update vBulletin.

Most of them are making them themselves, and a certain user made about half my forum's images for free. And a few other neat things that I won't mention.

I'll have you know that's horribly stereotypical and single minded. Besides, your problem is you had crappy image designers, not that people under a certain age are bad.

Then those designers who have made or used images (Photoplog designers, vB Credits designers, ibP Arcade designers, iShop designers should help those that are designing said mods and possibly make images for them in return for I don't know... integration in each other's modifications.

I disagree. I know many, many people who couldn't live without even the default features of modern software, such as quick reply and such like.

Let them customise things like items, enemies, characters and locations along with said stats and most of those would jump at the chance of one. Why else is that Battle System made by the arcade creators a popular mod? Heck, I know free forum hosts that offer the facility, so there must be demand somewhere.

There are supposedly RPG and game making programs and tutorials out now, although the last experience I've seen in this regard is helping with people's single player games and ROM hacks,

My forum's arcade is pretty darn popular. I've had people register to play arcade games, and others use it because specialist arcade sites are blocked in schools and such like. Heck, I know a lot of gaming forums which have found the arcade features successful, and a lot of the gaming sites I visit have added the arcade modification as a result.

If they can sign up for arcades, yes they are willing to register for RPG games. I hear from forums like The Admin Zone that while not recommended as a side effect, that you do get tons of people register for the function, and what not. Besides, majority does not equal right. I think that if it was available, the site's it is successful on would in terms of everything be worth it's development. Besides, I've never really seen an unused feature personally, and I know content is king. But without major features and add ons to interest possible mentions and retain some of the past ones, a pure forum will get dull over time.

ha, I've never used any of the hacks in the first 3 post :D

The need or use for them depends on the kind of site you run, so it makes sense you haven't (and that they're not available kinda changes things as well).

Well what about a mod that can only let you change something in a user's postbit like for a gfx site they can have their class in their postbit like novice, intermediate, semi-pro, etc, without the member being able to change it.

Thats built in its called user ranks.