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100+ sloppy dependencies starting to become a mixed bag on here for downloading.

NutellaBrah

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Still tried to use Hub for getting scenes on here casually; some of the things I ran into:

1. Some dependencies are now in the hundreds. I literally have to click 100 download buttons for a scene.

2. Some dont exist on here, but are included in the dependencies. So you have to literally do a google search dozens of times for unlinked files

3. Some of the dependency files are behind pay walls even if the main scene is listed under free scenes. So you can sit there downloading like half the files till you see one of them is linked to a locked patreon post. I once kept scrolling down and scrolling and Patreon kept reloading posts that i was going past. And i was looking a duplicate version for what seemed like 5 minutes before I realized version 2 was the same as the version they were asking for. Patreon in general is terrible because you cant search the whole timeline without tons of scrolling. When compounded to dozens of files this becomes ridiculous.

4. Its not clear if some, all, or none of the dependencies' dependencies need to be there. If a file has a dependency and that file also has a dependency.txt list, will that main scene still work? Who knows what part its actually dependent on. So it might say 30 dependencies, but then you click one of the 30 dependencies and they have their own 15 other dependencies. Just confusing and daunting from a casual user perspective.

5. Small but infuriating thing when downloading lots of dependencies; a mini window will pop up on some bundles showing a group and you once again have to click on download yet again on the file, when it could just be linked to directly to that file? Why have a "download xyz" button and then have to yet again choose xyz from a group of 3 or 4 items?? Like just link directly to it lol. Its small but these things start to make it annoying over time of doing it which makes people less likely to want to engage. Theres probably some technical reason but it just starts to cause anxiety.

I understand that each creator needs credit and control over their stuff but I cant comprehend how this much bloat is sustainable in the future. Did... did somone think it through? Its only gonna get more and more bloat of work just, to get, one, scene.

We really need to have a more comprehensive delivery and allow each scene delivery to include their main var and then also a "download all dependencies" bundle that just plain includes every single file that person decided to use in their scene so we dont have to hunt everything down. If you cant deliver that then its gonna make getting everything loaded up proparly an inconsistent hassle.

Its only gonna get worse i dont see how this is even sustainable its becoming a huge cluster of chaos exponentially growing with bloat.

It was fine when it was a handful of files but now its insane. I can only explain it from my point of view that its becoming daunting to try these scenes. Give me a download all button or something i dont know. But the way it is right now is too much for mainstream casuals like me. And if your dependencies have dependencies, every item on the download all list should include every sub-dependency like as if its part of the main file. And people shouldnt list their scenes in the free area if one of their extended dependencies isnt free.

Part of a good scene now to me is not including any non hub files in your scene or i wont download it. If theres too many files, I wont have time. If theres weird dependencies upon dependencies i will just get the basic files and hope it works if not im not gonna hunt around.

I was told to use the in game downloader but its not clear if both places have the same scenes. And some scenes are totally on external sites. Some on there, a bunch on here... Some on patreon. Its just so sloppy.

I dont have many ideas for solutions. Maybe a large communal curated giant HUB hosted bundle that is a collection of everyones releveant contributions for the month updated each month so we can have a large content pack that everyone with free assets agrees to allow in there. Then people can download that as a baseline and just add in incidental var files. And by the next month they are automatically included in the bundle again and so on and so forth so all of our asset folders are fully up to date and in sync. And download buttons for files that are in the bundle could be designated as "included in HUB asset bundle".

similar to the officially included VAM content but more inclusive and unoffical so everyone can add their legit assets to it.
 
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I only get scenes and assets from the Hub I don't trust reddit or any random download button for that matter. The auto download filled in most of them for me the only files I left out are clothes/hair if they are pay walled I usually load one of my commissioned looks into them anyway. I haven't ran into a scene on here that required a google for the rest, I could see a free scene having optional paid dependencies that link you to the correct Patreon but if a paid scene has another creator's paid scene as a requirement I would be upset.
 
I only get scenes and assets from the Hub I don't trust reddit or any random download button for that matter. The auto download filled in most of them for me the only files I left out are clothes/hair if they are pay walled I usually load one of my commissioned looks into them anyway. I haven't ran into a scene on here that required a google for the rest, I could see a free scene having optional paid dependencies that link you to the correct Patreon but if a paid scene has another creator's paid scene as a requirement I would be upset.

By Auto download you mean in VAM browser i assume contextually?

What i mean by google is it says MISSING and not found on HUB.

The rub on that too is often times i will google it and first link is actually back to HUB to the files page, and then the button in top right corner says go to download which sends to patreon.

When the go to download link could have been where the download button usually is. Little stuff like that that add up.

For example today I clicked resources, flicked free, clicked scenes, and just scrolled down the page opening scenes with lots of stars and thumbs up and emojis to find the interesting stuff out there from recent weeks. Clicking through those at least 3 different scenes so far had them missing with external downloads and all have at least 20 dependencies. One had like 10 unlinked files. Some buttons were dead or just said "settings changed" instead of downloading and then had to click the main page link to get it. (happened like 4-5 times)

I really need to wrap my head around the in VAM browser i guess to see how it can cover these areas better but it kinda pre-released as coming soon and I never actually realized that thats the new way till Meshed said so but then I think HUB is still relevant for casual browsing but i will check on it and see how it is and what is and isnt on there. I mean we had the reddit, the old VAM directory, the patreons, the HUB, the in game browser, the various other more fringe sources and all of it is kinda confusing in the sense of wanting one main place to go that has it all with relatively easy downloads.

Will report back after trying the vam browser.
 
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Ok just used the VAM Browser finally lol.

I always thought that part of the menu was just a literal browser to look on HUB.

but yeah it’s wayyyyy easier that way. Auto download all with all your files interconnected. That’s what I was after.

I guess in the past I was keeping up to date because I was always manually updating VAM and by extension always keeping up to date reading patch notes. With this I didn’t even notice it’s on like that now.

Are the scene libraries on there the same as on here? Or is there some that are only on here?
 
Ok just used the VAM Browser finally lol.

I always thought that part of the menu was just a literal browser to look on HUB.

but yeah it’s wayyyyy easier that way. Auto download all with all your files interconnected. That’s what I was after.

I guess in the past I was keeping up to date because I was always manually updating VAM and by extension always keeping up to date reading patch notes. With this I didn’t even notice it’s on like that now.

Are the scene libraries on there the same as on here? Or is there some that are only on here?
From what I hear the in game VAM browser has all the approved by Meshed files, they are 100% safe. I think most files on the web browser VAM hub are safe too but this will be the preferred method in VAM 2, don't quote me on that I'm just a casual user.
 
From what I hear the in game VAM browser has all the approved by Meshed files, they are 100% safe. I think most files on the web browser VAM hub are safe too but this will be the preferred method in VAM 2, don't quote me on that I'm just a casual user.

I just want to toss a cautionary note here. That is not completely accurate and you need to be careful with any content you pull down and ensure you take every measure to secure your machine and your network. The files posted to the Hub do not go through a review process. I am sure they would be pulled down if something malicious was reported but only after they have been up for a while. Meshed and team do a good job securing the app but nothing is 100% secure. It is entirely probable there are vulnerabilities in the code somewhere. Presumably even a simple custom look could exploit a buffer overflow in the app. I am personally fairly careful what scripts and scenes I pull down.

That being said, there are several very good content creators that post to Patreon. Their stuff is no more or less dangerous than what is on the Hub when initially posted. Of course over time that dynamic changes as Meshed and team have control over the Hub content and can force the removal of anything in question.

NutellaBrah, yes, the dependency struggle is real!! Many newer members like myself struggle with it because there are intricacies and nuances that can only be learned over time. It gets easier each time. For example, I modified one of my scenes yesterday and just by removing one morph and a clothing item I was able to reduce the dependency count by about 90. Fortunately there are many helpful and patient people in this community that are willing to help educate us.
 
For example today I clicked resources, flicked free, clicked scenes, and just scrolled down the page opening scenes with lots of stars and thumbs up and emojis to find the interesting stuff out there from recent weeks. Clicking through those at least 3 different scenes so far had them missing with external downloads and all have at least 20 dependencies. One had like 10 unlinked files. Some buttons were dead or just said "settings changed" instead of downloading and then had to click the main page link to get it. (happened like 4-5 times)
Just look for the green "Hub-Hosted VAR" tag. The Hub browser within VAM is filtered on that by default.

Personally, I don't download resources with 100+ dependencies. Most likely they are not well made on that aspect and will cause annoying errors.
 
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NutellaBrah, yes, the dependency struggle is real!! Many newer members like myself struggle with it because there are intricacies and nuances that can only be learned over time. It gets easier each time. For example, I modified one of my scenes yesterday and just by removing one morph and a clothing item I was able to reduce the dependency count by about 90. Fortunately there are many helpful and patient people in this community that are willing to help educate us.

Thank you for investing the time to improve your work in a way that is rarely appreciated in the community.

I've just spend some "unhappy time" throwing all of the content of one particular content creator off my installation and then throwing out any .var that links to any of their creations. Not because that creator's stuff is bad - it's pretty good, actually. Not because the stuff of those other creators is bad. And not because I don't know how to repair a badly packaged .var.

Because my life is too short for that shit.

Maybe a healthy way to encourage creators to clean up their .vars is to leave positive ratings with those who do improve their work in this fashion. Certainly feels more constructive than venting at a hapless newbie creator providing their work for free.
 
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