Purgator on 22/1/2020 at 13:42
Good to see this tradition still going! Thanks for this JF.
fortuni on 22/1/2020 at 14:25
Accurate initial release dates can be a nightmare to pinpoint as a lot of missions are re-released after an update and most d/l sites then list the release date for the updated release rather than the original release date, I know this is what Lord Soth usually does on Taffers Paradise, and Datefate is not a lot better I'm afraid as well as that Ricebug regularly included missions in his walkthrough folders according to the later release date.
Similarly going by the read me files can also be misleading as authors sometimes write the read me file weeks before the mission is actually released due to beta testing delays, so the only accurate way of establishing the correct release date for the initial release is to trawl through the forum for each mission.
Couple of things that could help you include a 'FM's by date doc' I have on file, the original compiler I can't remember, but you can find it (
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1916ewWRj0v6zcpmzPx9KPq7sDCJyVnsV) here , sadly it only goes up to April 2014
I also found quite a few anomalies in release dates when compiling the updated T2 lootlists, for example the read me file of a number of TCrap missions stated their release date being different the the actual release date of Dec 2006 and one of the other contests was delayed for a few months but only a few authors amended their read me files.
I've only redone the lootlists up to 2006 so far but have tried to be as accurate as possible when recording the initial release date, you can find them (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148764) here
PinkDot on 22/1/2020 at 17:43
May I suggest adding a 'Total' count to the graph as well? This would be a sum of FMs released for all the games in a year. This would reflect overall activity of the entire community.
And seconding somebody's else suggestion on the individual missions count in addition to the current FM archives count (missions or campaigns), would better reflect the volume of work done. (and entertainment received ;) :) )
JarlFrank on 23/1/2020 at 12:19
Quote Posted by Brethren
One other thing I found - 2017 should only have 21 T2 missions. Taffers Paradise has The Korrigans (2006) and Roofs of Gold (2015) mistakenly listed as 2017 missions.
Btw, not doing this to be a jerk! I just always figure I'm missing stuff on Southquarter so I was comparing my numbers to Taffers Paradise. While comparing, I actually discovered that I had forgotten to include Compulsory Egress in my database (oops) until today. So it goes both ways.
Thanks Brethren, I changed 2017 to 21 and added one more FM to 2006 and 2015.
Quote Posted by vegetables
Taffer's Paradise is missing The Upward Spiral and TSR-1000, both T1 missions by Spoonman, so 2018 and 2019 should both have 1 more T1 mission.
Added one more FM to 2018 and 2019.
Quote Posted by Galaer
Taffer's Paradise is also missing This FM haz no sense! and A Visit for the Knights. Both downloads I found on ttlg.de. Other missing FMs are also there. It has even Haplo's Portal demo from 2019. So I think it's better site to check.
Added This FM haz no sense! and A Visit for the Knights to their respective years.
Quote Posted by Tannar
Thanks, Jarl! Great to see this continue!
I've always thought it less than an accurate depiction of community activity to count multi-mission campaigns as a single data entry. It makes it seem as if production is lower than it actually is. In recent years, we've seen many large campaigns.
That would be a little difficult though, as I'd have to look at all multi-mission releases across 20 years... :D
The big and commonly known multi-mission releases would be easy to analyze (Seven Sisters, Godbreaker, etc), but there also also plenty of lesser-known releases with 2 missions or more. Moreover, some FMs have the first mission be a camvator intro and only the second mission have real gameplay. Would we count the camvator sequence as its own mission, since it's its own .mis file?
It's a bit tricky, and for this statistic counting releases is more convenient for sure.
Changed the TDM releases based on the TDM site, thanks Goldwell. Also adjusted all the other years based on the TDM website, although that might have reduced the overall amount of releases compared to Taffer's Paradise? 2011 has 21 releases on Paradise, but only 13 on thedarkmod.com. That's a huge discrepancy.
Quote Posted by Lord Soth
Fixed the date issues with those two missions now. What Polish-only missions are missing from taffers, drop me the names of those missions and ill see about adding them.
Just checked your site again and the Polish missions are there. I assumed they were missing because they have an English flag in the language tab.
Quote Posted by PinkDot
May I suggest adding a 'Total' count to the graph as well? This would be a sum of FMs released for all the games in a year. This would reflect overall activity of the entire community.
Yep. Added.
Lord Soth on 23/1/2020 at 12:58
What missions are those, i'll fix them in the language tab. If i am not sure about the language, then i tend to just stick the English flag next to it be default.
JarlFrank on 23/1/2020 at 14:22
Quote Posted by Lord Soth
What missions are those, i'll fix them in the language tab. If i am not sure about the language, then i tend to just stick the English flag next to it be default.
I know those two are Polish for sure:
Podroz do Krainy Biedakow(Polish) Kapitan Smith 2007.11.19 N/A 27.9 T2
Mistrz: Efekty Specjalne Bukary 2002.05.16 N/A 1.9 T2
Anfortas on 25/1/2020 at 11:38
Thank you JarlFrank for posting this. It's very interesting to see the impact the anniversary contest had on the number of T1 and T2 missions. Hopefully T2 FMs will again return to their steady value of about 20 Missions per year after the T2 anniversary contest.
I did not know that site still existed, I have always thought it went offline a few years ago. Thanks for bringing it to my attention :)
bbb on 27/1/2020 at 15:03
Nice job Jarlfrank, thanks for your hard work. Much appreciated by the community.
I always loved seeing this graph each year. It does tell a sad story on one hand that the number of missions continues to decline each year but a good story that new missions continue after 20 years.
bbb
R Soul on 27/1/2020 at 21:20
Quote Posted by JarlFrank
Would we count the camvator sequence as its own mission, since it's its own .mis file?
My opinion is 'no', because there's no gameplay. Camvators are easier alternatives to movies.
The graph suggests NewDark gave a boost to FM releases, perhaps because some people were struggling against the original engine and all of a sudden it was like a pressure valve being opened. The previous trend then continues, which may be because the increased capabilities of NewDark have removed limits that, while frustrating at times, also helped authors focus, in a similar way that contests do.