Forum Mod Bakery Docs

Rules and Guidelines (Last Updated: 21 June 2017)

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Introduction


What is Donut Team and why do these rules exist?

Donut Team is a mod sharing website and publisher. We have created numerous mods and tools to further the development of other’s. These rules exist to keep harmony among community members.

Terms of Service

All members must abide by the Terms of Service located at donutteam.com/about/terms/
When using Discord, you must also abide by Discord’s Terms of Service: discordapp.com/tos

Contacting Donut Team

You can reach us publicly on Donut Team’s official forum or chat: donutteam.com/forum/

Otherwise you can privately email us:
  • Official Support - support@donutteam.com
  • Jake Andreøli - jake@donutteam.com
  • Loren Goodwin - loren@donutteam.com
  • Kenny Giles - kenny@donutteam.com

Punishments

All punishments (suspensions, terminations, etc.) are determined based on what staff members believe is appropriate based on our guidelines and severity of the offense.

Report activity that violates our guidelines

If you believe another user is violating the rules, please do not attempt to start an argument with the user in question. Instead, please notify a staff member or community manager of the possible violation so we may take the appropriate course of action.

Community Members: Rules and Guidelines


Do not engage in illegal activities of any sort

Engaging in illegal activities will result in immediate account termination. Donut Team is based in the United States meaning United States laws must be adhered to at all times. This includes Copyright law and Computer Misuse law (Malware, Virus, etc.)

Such offenses include but are not limited to:
  • Sharing Malware.
  • Sharing Viruses.
  • Discussing piracy and/or linking to illicit downloads or torrents.
  • Sharing pornography.

Do not behave in a malicious or inappropriate manner

Do not behave in a manner that can cause distress, harm or inconvenience to other users.

This includes but is not limited to:
  • Discrimination of any sort.
  • Bullying.
  • Sharing offensive material.
  • Breaching the privacy of others.
  • Accessing other user’s accounts.

Depending on the extent of the behaviour, this can result in account termination.

Do not flame or provoke other users

Do not create a post, send a message or otherwise communicate something to flame or provoke another user or group of users.

This includes but is not limited to:
  • “X vs X” topics.
  • Insulting someone.
  • Discussing potentially sensitive subjects such as politics or religion.

Do not post personal information

Please do not share personal information about yourself unless it is something you’d consider public knowledge. This guideline is to protect Community Members who may disclose private information to someone untrustworthy.

Remember: Once it’s on the internet, it’s there forever. No exceptions.

Things you should never share with anyone are, but is not limited to:
  • Your personal phone number
  • Your home, work or school address
  • Your government appointed identification card and/or social security number.

Use of foul language

We ask that you keep usage of foul language to a minimum when communicating with other users. We understand that using the F-bomb can be fun, but please limit its usage and do not use swearing as a way to offend. Offensive language is never acceptable under any circumstances.

Advertising Guidelines

You may share content that you've created, even if it pertains to topics other than modding as long as your content is posted in the correct location. However, please do not try to derail an existing topic or discussion in order to promote yourself.

Additionally, be prepared to accept feedback on anything that you post from other users. If you can not accept both positive and negative feedback, please refrain from posting your content.

It is not acceptable in any case to share other Discord servers you have created through our forum or Discord without the consent of a staff member.

Do not post spam messages

Do not post irrelevant replies to forum threads or discussions in the Discord server.

Forum: Double posting guidelines

Do not double post unless you are extending the information you were giving previously. If you are adding additional information, consider editing your previous post. Multiple posts in a row that do not add to the conversation will be removed.

Forum: Bumping old threads guidelines

Unless you're extending the conversation or asking a new question on a thread from weeks ago, do not continue posting on it.

Discord: Nickname guidelines

Our Discord server does not allow custom nicknames unless otherwise specified by a staff member. If you would like to request a nickname change, please tag an active staff member.

Discord: Voice channel guidelines

In addition to all other applicable rules, when using a voice channel in our Discord server please keep all voice channel related text/links in private messages in the #voice-channel-posts channel. Please keep in mind our voice channels are less moderated as we can not be in these channels at all time.

These guidelines were last updated on 21 June 2017.



Mod Creators: Rules and Guidelines

All Rules and Guidelines mentioned in the “Community Members: Rules and Guidelines” section apply unless otherwise noted.

Ask for help

If you have a problem with your mod, ask for help. Understand none of us are mind readers and may not be able to help in all circumstances. Donut Team succeeds when our Mod Creators succeed, so we want to do our very best.

Other resources available:
  • Radical’s files: A great place to start is by looking into the MFK, CON or P3D files shipped with all copies of The Simpsons: Hit & Run. You can look at how Radical does something,
  • Donut Team Open Sourced Mods: Donut Team provides open source, also known as “Decompilable” mods. These mods can be opened and viewed to get an idea of how we accomplished something.
  • Donut Team’s Official Documentation: We’re working on documenting how The Simpsons: Hit & Run works when you do certain things. You can find this here: docs.donutteam.com/

Do not release low quality mods

Refrain from releasing broken or low quality mods. This is defined as having several game breaking bugs or other obvious problems that the author did not acknowledge prior to release.

For example, releasing a beta/test build of your mod where obvious known issues are already documented is okay.

Releasing a mod with little to no explanation and glaring, obvious bugs or crashes is not.

Do things the intended way

We ask all Mod Creators to do things the proper way, referring to using the correct tools, hacks and methods to accomplish their end goal.

Examples include, but are not limited to:
  • Distributing your mod in the Mod Launcher format. Overwriting game files is not acceptable.
  • Replacing base game content in a mod when there are ways to make your added content unique (such as cars or characters).
  • Replacing music but not editing the appropriate RMS files.

We understand some users may not know the correct way to go about certain tasks, please follow the “Ask for help” section.

Do not rehost unauthorised files

We advise all Donut Team members not to rehost any files distributed by Donut Team or in the Donut Team community. In the past, Community Members have used rehosted files and shared them in off-site posts. If you are trying to share a file (mod, tool, etc.) with someone on a non-Donut Team official site/server, you should always link back to the original post or download page.

Important: The only official source to get Donut Team software is from donutteam.com



Community Managers: Rules and Guidelines

All Rules and Guidelines mentioned in the “Community Members: Rules and Guidelines” and the “Mod Creators: Rules and Guidelines” section apply unless otherwise noted.

Purpose of Community Managers

Donut Team Community Managers act to help Community Members. They also hold important roles such as testing unreleased products, moderating the Forum and Donut Team chat and in some cases: managing community events (such as Community Speedrunning).

Community Managers are expected to keep moderation logs private except for under the following circumstances:
  • The user affected requests information about why a particular action was taken against them.
  • An executive staff member instructs you otherwise.

Failing to abide by these guidelines will result in immediate removal from your position.

Voluntary Leave of Community Managers

All Community Managers are allowed to voluntarily leave at anytime.

Process of Voluntary Removal:
  1. Disclose their intent to leave privately to Donut Team Staff Members. Please understand we may not formally remove them until we can have a private discussion.
  2. Decide whether they’d like an announcement made or not; we would like to publicly acknowledge your work within our team, however we do understand if they’d like to keep matters private.
  3. Delete/destroy any data given to them as a Community Manager, including but not limited to:
    1. Private staff discussion.
    2. Unreleased builds of Donut Team-related tools.
    3. Private/internal Donut Team documents.
    4. Private accounts (links, usernames, ect) held by Donut Team Staff Members.

Impeachment of Community Managers

In the event a community manager is deemed incompetent and must be removed from their position involuntarily, a similar process is followed except the announcement will be at the discretion of the other staff members.

Process of Community Manager Impeachment:
  1. At least 75% of Donut Team Staff Members agree to begin the impeachment process.
  2. The Community Manager is stripped of their status of working at Donut Team
  3. The Community Manager is then needed to delete/destroy any data given to them as a Community Manager. Failure to do so may result in further disciplinary actions, including but not limited to:
    1. Account termination.
    2. Legal action.

These guidelines were last updated on 14 May 2017.



Staff Members: Rules and Guidelines

All Rules and Guidelines mentioned in the “Community Members: Rules and Guidelines”, “Mod Creators: Rules and Guidelines” and the “Community Managers: Rules and Guidelines” sections apply unless otherwise noted.

Purpose of Donut Team Staff Members

Donut Team Staff Members have various roles depending on each individual’s talent. Some staff members create 3D models, script missions, program websites and tools and handle public relations. All staff members are expected to pay attention to the forum and Donut Team chat and moderate if necessary.

Staff members are expected to maintain the secrecy of any information about any projects they are apart of unless specifically directed to disclose information by an executive staff member on the project. Failing to abide by these guidelines will result in immediate removal from your position.

Voluntary Leave of Donut Team Staff Members

All Donut Team Staff Members are allowed to voluntarily leave at anytime.

Process of Voluntary Removal:
  1. Disclose their intent to leave privately to Donut Team Staff Members. Please understand we may not formally remove them until we can have a private discussion.
  2. Decide whether they’d like an announcement made or not; we would like to publicly acknowledge your work within our team, however we do understand if they’d like to keep matters private.
  3. Delete/destroy any data given to them as a Donut Team Staff Member, including but not limited to:
    1. Private staff discussion.
    2. Unreleased builds of Donut Team-related tools.
    3. Private/internal Donut Team documents.

Impeachment of Donut Team Staff Member

In the event a Donut Team Staff Member is deemed incompetent and must be removed from their position involuntarily, a similar process is followed except the announcement will be at the discretion of the other staff members.

Process of Donut Team Staff Member Impeachment:
  1. All Donut Team Executive Staff Members agree to impeachment.
  2. The Donut Team Staff Member is stripped of their status of working at Donut Team
  3. The Donut Team Staff Member is then needed to delete/destroy any data given to them as a Donut Team Staff Member. Failure to do so may result in further disciplinary actions, including but not limited to:
    1. Account termination.
    2. Legal action.

These guidelines were last updated on 14 May 2017.



Executive Staff Members: Rules and Guidelines

Donut Team Executive Staff Members are the exact same as a Donut Team Staff Members, though hold a higher title for handling staff member impeachments.

Donut Team Executive Staff Members can not be impeached, however can be removed in extreme circumstances. The removal process requires all staff members (except the one being removed) to agree on removal. Upon removal, the same process of impeachment will take place.

These guidelines were last updated on 5 May 2017.
The forum rules have been updated as of 17 April 2016.
So we're still not allowed to defame cats as stated in the Terms of Service?
[deleted user]
7 yrs ago (Statistics)
Well I have to read the rules, I think my post created a new rule! Sorry about that, I will not talk about it, thank you for editing my post and not shaming me with the post!

cheers,

hipporeno
@SomeBot
Correct. Defaming cats is wrong and therefore is against the rules. :P

@hipporeno
I have sent you a skype message explaining everything. If you want to talk about it in private, you know how to reach me.
Personally, I don't think that torrents should be banned. By themselves, torrents are just handy P2P sharing, not always illegal.
Well yes, but I've only used that for huge files in high demand. Take Pokemon Omicrom/Zeta for example (Free PC Game): Youtubers were lets playing it and the game files were large, so torrenting would be a viable option.

Here, even if a file is in high demand, most uploads shared here aren't big enough for a torrent to be a viable option, so they just aren't needed anyways.
@NeatSquid We were referring to torrents being used for piracy. You may share your creations through a torrent, however we strongly recommend for availability and convince reasons that you upload to another source such as Dropbox, Mega, or Mediafire
Hipporeno, I think I remember that, and I can say I have a small part in that rule too.

As Homer Simpson once said "See? Because of me, now they have a warning!" (Said when Kent Brockman said the cure for "Lottery Fever" was to buy two tickets, and a fast speaking disclaimer then said "Warning: Tickets should not be taken internally").
The rules have been updated as of 5 May 2017.