Sound: The preferred file type is .ogg files although MP3 will work usually.  Keep the file size under 950KB.  Put the file in C:\Users\Your Name\Documents\32nd America's Cup\MediaTracker\Sounds\

 

Images: The preferred file type is .dds although .jpg will work.  Keep the file size under 100KB. Put the file in C:\Users\Your Name\Documents\32nd America's Cup\MediaTracker\Images\

 

Download/upload:  The sound and image files are uploaded from your PC to the other players during the race and they go into each player's cache folder and are accessed from there.  So usually no-one will see or hear your files the 1st time they sail on a maps you are hosting.  The number of players that will download the files successfully during the race depends on your intenet upload speed and their download speed. It also depends on the number of files you have used in the map.  It's just like skins.  So maybe all skippers, or none at all, will be able to see/hear the files during the 2nd time they enter this map with you.  If no-one ever hears or sees your files, it may be that you dont have a good connection speed for upload.  You can check yours here: http://www.speedtest.net/

 

Locator Files: Just like skins, they can be used to help get the files into the other players' cache folder more quickly.   This gets round the limitations of the upload speed and I find that sometimes it is so fast that players do hear & see the files during the 1st time on the map.  These locator files are used just like the ones for skins.

The locator file is created with Notepad. You put your image or sound file on the web (you need to have a suitable webspace) and then type the URL of that file in the locator file & save it in the same folder as the media file it relates to. The locator file contains only a single line of text, which is the URL of the place where you have put a copy of the Image or Sound file. So for example it might read read ' http:/ /mywebsite.com/sounds/clip.ogg '

You should test the URL by putting it in the address bar of your browser & making sure your PC can download it from that address.

So in summary:

* Image files go here :
C:\Users\Your Name\Documents\Your Game version\MediaTracker\Images\

* Image Locator files go in the same folder.

* Sound files go here :
C:\Users\Your Name\Documents\Your game version\MediaTracker\Sounds\

* Sound Locator files go in the same folder

If the Image file is called pic.jpg, then the locator file is called pic.jpg.loc
If the Sound file is called clip.ogg, then the locator file is called clip.ogg.loc

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Other information about intros.

Colour FX Track: Using this track to change the colour balance of the intro can create some great effects. Unfortunately some players enter the race with the same change in colour balance as existed in the intro which can make the game unplayable for them. So I have stopped using this effect until I find a solution.

Player Disconnections: If the races have 'big' intros, then sometimes players disconnect from your server when you select to go to the next race. This seems to be caused by the player escaping from the intro before the host. So to prevent this, the host needs to escape from the intro as soon as possible. It's a pity to miss the beautiful intro and its information but sometimes it's needed!