Rules for Model Submission
IMPORTANT: Okay, folks. I've been getting more unviewable models lately than usual (and I'm not talking about the parts update problems that plague all of our models) and so it's time to set down some rules. I'm sorry to have to do this but sorting through people's files trying to figure out how it's supposed to work is taking up too much time. I am therefore setting these down to standardise the models I post here. It's simple, if your model doesn't meet these requirements than I can't post it. It's not a reflection on your talents as a designer, it's just I have to put this kind of filter up so I don't spend weeks emailing back and forth with people days after they sent the original zip file to get them to send one that'll be viewable. There are currently 2 models from people sitting on my desktop that I'm still trying to figure out what to do with because of their problems with these rules:
1) Files should
be sent in a .ZIP file only, I will not accept or even download
models that are not (it ends up really messing with my email if
they're in raw DAT format and I also have to spend some of MY
time zipping it all up for the page).
2) For goodness' sake, double check your ZIP
files! Make sure all the files you want to be in there are
and that there aren't any files you don't need to be there. Just
the other day somebody sent me a model that had half parts from
their model and a large group of files for an entirely different
model. This also involves the next two rules...
3) If your model is made up of more than one DAT
file then you need to include a model that has all the submodels
within it; for instance, in my models this file is almost always
labeled with a _x.dat at the end (atlas_x.dat for example) or
with just the mechs name.dat (as in atlas.dat). This is so the
person viewing it knows right away which one to look at to see
the whole model and doesn't have to sort through a dozen files
(or once they've put it in their models folder, hundreds of
files).
4) Please do your best to give your subparts and
files as unique of names as possible. The problem I'm refering to
is if you name the legs of your Atlas IIC the same file name as
the legs of my Atlas, then when I (or anyone who has the DAT of
my Atlas) install your model it will overwrite the legs of the
original Atlas. This is a kind of difficult rule to insure so I
won't totally ignore your file if you don't do it exactly. Just
please try and do your best to follow it as a courtesy to those
who download your model.
5) If your model is unviewable in MLCAD I can't
post it. This includes most models from Leocad which seems to
convert to DAT format extremely poorly. I get models every once
in a while where bricks seem to be randomly placed around with
several DAT files covering random parts and sections and every
time I later discover they were done originally on Leocad. Leocad
views MLCAD files fine from what I understand but MLCAD does not
view Leocad files very well and MLCAD is the standard by which I
work here.
If your model isn't on the page and you sent it weeks ago one of these is probably why, I'm doing my best to contact everyone who sends one in and has a problem.