Template talk:Branch-navbox

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Alien Swarm Deferred should not be on this template

(using Template:Message) Alien Swarm Deferred just adds CSM, Volumetric lighting, Blinn–Phong reflection model and just adds code to Alien Swarm like Mapbase that adds code to Source 2013 --Utopic Tahu (talk) 11:59, 16 Jan 2024 (UTC)

Mapbase should not be on this template

(using Template:Message) Mapbase is a mod of Source 2013 Singleplayer, and is in fact not an engine branch. A actual third party engine branch would be the Titanfall branch or Strata Source, both of which make substantial changes to the engine (dx11, larger maps, 64 bit, etc.). Mapbase is a fork of Source 2013. It is not a branch, rather a mod. It does not belong on this list.
Please discuss any backlash on this edit here. I don't want to start any edit wars. --Equalizer5118 (talk) 6:27, 30 Dec 2023 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) I concur, it's a fork of game code only, not engine code; it is not a branch. --SirYodaJedi (talk) 17:09, 12 Jan 2024 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) if it ain't the thing what it's being purported as being, get it off the thing what it don't belong on --TF2CutContent (talk) 17:17 12 Jan 1969 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) Just fact: Mapbase is a base mod for Source SDK 2013 which expands and improves the toolset available to modders, augmenting other maps and mods for development purposes. Level designers would create their maps based off of this mod and larger mods with their own unique changes would draw from Mapbase's code and assets.
This has always been a mod, and inclusion in the list of branches is misleading... --NOUG4AT (talk) 17:25, 12 Jan 2024 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) I feel like it should still be here for clarity. While Mapbase doesn't make as many changes as something like Strata, it is, technically speaking and for all intents and purposes, a branch. It has it's own git commit which is completely separate from base Source's. Although it's used in a different way to create mods, since it's already a mod which is just intended to be built upon, that doesn't really change much about the development process. If you want to add custom entities, it's still the same as how you would do it in normal Source or any other branch, by programming. Although you could technically call any mod a branch, I feel what makes Mapbase different is that it doesn't have any "game" (ie. a campaign or multiplayer or whatever else). The only difference between Mapbase and something like Alien Swarm Deferred is that Mapbase isn't referred to as a branch, and that the early phases of development are already somewhat in place. So in conclusion, I feel like it should be kept because for anyone searching/looking for modified versions of Source, Mapbase is in practice just Source, but with new features, much like Strata or whatever else.
Honestly looking at the other responses, I'm probably objectively just wrong. --Wisdurm (talk) 17:32, 12 Jan 2024 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) If we consider the original repository, at least it is truly a mod rather than a separate engine. But the changes contained in it are indeed to some extent global, but we cannot put it on par with the Titanfall branch, where the engine is redesigned. Here, as is known, only a fork of Source 2013, but at the same time containing some improvements and details from other SDKs.[1]. Technically calling this a branch is incorrect because it is a mod. But this mod has many things that makes think. --NOUG4AT (talk) 0:50, 13 Jan 2024 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) It appears that the majority of users say that it is not an engine branch. As such, I am removing mapbase from the template for the (hopefully) final time. --Equalizer5118 (talk) 3:08, 14 Jan 2024 (UTC)

a solution

(using Template:Message) since people are now removing random other stuff from this, here's a fun solution: have this template be official branches only and add a third party branches box similar to the official/third party sdk tools template. c'mon guys, it's not rocket science, it's a wiki. there's examples of how to resolve this situation already on here --TF2CutContent (talk) 17:17 20 April 1942 (UTC)

(using Template:Message) First, it's not really a question of third party or not, it's what actually qualifies as an "engine branch". Taking Mapbase as an example above, Mapbase does not have access to base engine code, only the game code available in the public Source 2013 repo. Alien Swarm Deferred is the same, as it only has access to what was made available in the Alien Swarm SDK. These two modifications can only adjust existing entities or features and create new ones with the tools they have available in those repos, and cannot edit the base game code at all. In the words of the Mapbase MODDB page, "Mapbase is NOT an improved version of Hammer or an improved version of the engine itself. It is a fork of Source 2013 which acts as a regular sourcemod." However, Strata and the Titanfall branch do actually qualify as branches because they edit the base game executables and binaries. That's how they can do major things like add x64 support, DX11, Native Vulkan support, increase map limits, all that fancy stuff. It was never really a question of official or not, rather if it was actually an "engine branch"
Second, creating a "third party" version of this navbox wouldn't necessarily be that efficient either. Each official branch stems from the last one, while third party branches stem from different branches. For example, Titanfall is built off of Portal 2, while Strata is built off of CSGO. We cannot have a navbox that is structured like this one if we do have a third party one, because while Strata is built off a newer version of Source, that doesnt mean its a newer version of the TF branch, if that makes sense. We can have the current box structured like

Left 4 Dead engine branch → Portal 2 engine branch → CS:GO engine branch

because they actually build off each other (hence why Hammer++ for CSGO can work somewhat for Portal 2, as their branches are very similar due to CSGO being just a newer version of Portal 2). However, we cannot have something like

Titanfall branch → Strata Source

as Strata does not stem from the Titanfall branch. There would only be two third party branches if we did follow through with this, and that would not only look weird, but would also have to be structured like the {{portal games}} navbox and would look very odd. --Equalizer5118 (talk) 17:13, 16 Jan 2024 (UTC)