I guess it's about time to show some presence here, now that I've made myself a bit more comfortable with this place (it's been about time, really
)...
We had some discussions within the SFBT about bringing our creations to the English-speaking community, and SC4Devotion seems to attract quite a few "devoted" players of our favorite game lately. The SC4D LEX is up and running again, hopefully with a bright future - and this future will include the latest SFBT BATs, lots and mods as well! We learned quite some new things over the last few months, including the possibility to make our work truly bilingual.
As of now, all SFBT creations will feature a bilingual installer where you can select an English or a German version, and the lots contain both English and German language strings, which will be shown depending on what language you have selected when installing your game. Unfortunately, we can't provide other translations as well, but other language installations will show the English language strings by default.
All older SFBT creations will be updated gradually and uploaded to the SC4D LEX, starting with the SFBT Essentials, which will be needed for virtually any SFBT download. If possible, the readme files will link to external dependencies that have been uploaded to the SC4D LEX, the remaining ones might point to other fansites, such as Simtropolis or Pegasus Productions.
As you might now, one of the SFBT policies is to keep the dependencies on a minimum level, mainly using the resources the SFBT Essentials provide. Therefore, it's necessary to update the Essentials download now and then, usually about every six months or so. For our regular followers, we're also planning a special updater that will update the files in your SFBT folder, so there's no need to download every BAT and lot once again. If you used the file paths that were suggested by the installers, you will be able to update your entire collection with a few clicks.
We're still sorting out a few things at the moment, but you can expect the first uploads soon. Those will include the well-known BATs and lots, a batch of "classics" from our beginnings (some of them never released before) that have been brushed up to the current standards, and also a few brand new items, fresh from the SFBT labs. I'll try to showcase them as good as possible, but remember that making "pretty pictures" for the showcase also means less time to develop, so one or another goodie might slip into the LEX unannounced.
