I found a broken / inactive link on the "games main page" and after searching through the boards, I've noticed there is no "Broken Links" thread - People just post a new thread once they find a broken link. I figured we might just as well have a single topic for it, as it will eliminate exclusive threads naming only one problem, which could have already been fixed.
So here's my broken link:
- > Emily Enough: Imprisoned (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=602).
I'm not really sure how you guys fix these. I've noticed that AGS doesn't actually host all of the games. I did see Emily Enough: Imprisoned on Planet Freeplay (http://www.planetfreeplay.com/game/Emily-Enough:-Imprisoned/), though.
We usually deal with broken links and such in the AGS Rating Panel board, which is under restricted access (non-panel members can't view it). We tag those entries that we find in the database as being broken, and the number of rogue broken links in the database was relatively few until Bicycle-for-Slugs (a semi-official back-up server thingy) bit the dust. Any entries in the database which linked to BforS will now return a 404 error, which means a lot of previously working links can now be considered broken.
We still don't know if BforS will resume normal operation, so the situation is currently up in the air.
Not overly related, but why is it so many AGSers, or rather, EX ags-ers are "removing" their games and stuff? WHY? Why are people becomming so ashamed of their hard work?
It's sad.
I try to find as many (alternative) links to AGS games as possible. On this (http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/ags-index-f/) page you can find an index with the download links. Whenever one isn't working, I try to find an alternative or host the game for a few days.
I know that Peder Johnsen (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?action=profile;u=6627) is working on AGS Archives (http://www.agsarchives.com/) but I don't know the status of it. I'm also not sure how it will be organised on that host. If someone can come up with a solid 15Gb of space, you can host all games.
I'm not sure if we could find someone to donate that much space (and bandwidth), but it's worth keeping in mind.
Any download that links to aafiles.bicycle-for-slugs.org can be considered broken until further notice.
There's nothing we can do about dead links that you can't do (ie, try to contact the game author via email or pm) aside from marking the game as having a bad link. It's the responsibility of the game author to keep his/her links updated, really.
That reminds me, I need to update the link to my game's [rather old] demo once I get around to re-uploading the file.
I think we ought to consider using http://archive.org to mirror all things AGS, in addition to the AGS archive.
Perhaps if this discussion reaches a consensus the games page should be modified to inform a game submitter of the conclusions reached here and perhaps provide an option to automatically submit the game to the AGS archive, archive.org, or whatever else we come up with.
I would also like to propose an offline source vault where game authors could submit their original source for preservation by CJ or some other AGS authority. The idea here is that at some future date such games would be upgradeable to work on the tech of the day. There would of course have to be rules and it would probably require a lot of debate and thinking to work out what the rules ought to be, etc, etc. Perhaps it's too much trouble?
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Not overly related, but why is it so many AGSers, or rather, EX ags-ers are "removing" their games and stuff? WHY? Why are people becomming so ashamed of their hard work?
Also, I don't think it's a case of people removing their stuff; It's more of a case of maintaining the web space. many people hosted their stuff on free website services that no longer exist. Others may have bought web space to host their stuff but are no longer interested in keeping/paying for web presence.
Well, I don't mind being that offline vault, although I'm not an AGS authority. At the moment I do have an offline
copy of the BforS host and I'm hunting actively for the missing games. I must admit that my focus is on the games, not the demo's, rpg's and non-adventures. But if someone wants to store his game/rpg/non-adventure with me, he/she's welcome.
Speaking of that site http://archive.org: when you search for the bfors site there, you can download the complete history, including the binairies.... So everthing is mirrored already. :D