This week we have been busy developing the new platform gallery. It is not quite ready to release yet so we decided to bundle it in with the next update. Although the gallery is not yet available, we did enable the new avatar feature from the profile settings page. (See details below) --- Platform Updates --- *NEW* Visit your Profile Settings and you will notice a new Avatar selector on the right. You can now upload your own avatar or select an avatar that is available from the new gallery. If you create avatars and add them to the gallery, they will become available for members to select from the profile settings page. This gives everyone who submits avatars instant exposure and real time use potential. If you hover your mouse over the avatar it will specify which game it is attributed to. - Avatars will now save to the proper size and fill the avatar area. - Disabled the daily achievement "Today's Discussion" to prevent spamming for credits. - Support for 10 new games have been added to the platform including Halo: The Master Chief Collection https://beta.gamemaps.com/halo-the-master-chief-collection/ Due to the extensive size of the gallery it will be released next week with additional updates. Thanks for supporting GameMaps!
GameMaps (System) 
Some of the subcategories rises a question for me. - Full Game / Freeware Full Game you mean only freeware games? Lets not allow pirated games on Gamemaps. - Demos / Shareware Some old demos may contain viruses or install additional programs that you don't want. I remember some of the old demos installed McAfee antivirus. - Books / Manuals There are some manuals that should probably not be allowed like Prima Games that are payed manuals. Although I don't think anyone would add them. And does Books section include books that are additional lore to games for example Star Wars? - Editors / Development Can you explain more about this category? - Music / Audio Is this section for direct .mp3 downloads? As far as I know this would be a pirated content. - Source Code What if the source code is a leaked version? - Trainers Many trainers contain viruses. Antivirus often detect them as false positive, but you never know what damage they can have on PC. Also trainers often are cheats so it would be good to not allow those. Or at least allow trainers that affects only single player. In Gallery just one subcategory. - Art If you mean fan art then it may be hard to tell if images are copyrighted or not. What if someone steal images from sites like Deviantart or content that was Patreon rewards?
Any content that is uploaded into these new features must not be illegal content. All of this content is optional to the visitors and they can download this content and provide their own risk assessment. All downloads should be scanned with an anti-virus software, even custom maps and mods before utilization. All content follows the DMCA principals and can also be disputed, removed and moderated. We aren't the only service on the internet that provides these file options... Look at IGN and GameSpot, even CNET offers this content as well... The gaming industry is large and vast, and this is often resourceful content for developers, modders and players. We have added additional staff and have also acquired legal content that will fill many of these new sections. A lot of this content is also provided directly from the game publisher and studios, for example 3D Realms makes their content free with open distribution rights. There is similar situations with ID software, Valve, Microsoft, Westwood Studios, Melbourne House etc... The content we add comes from the original source and if its user generated content it will be moderated like maps and mods. For example 3D Realms offers 13 games and are currently considered freeware for download and enjoyment. In addition they have released music, patches, demos, and other various content for public distribution. This is just an example from one game studio. - 3D Realms Distribution Example http://legacy.3drealms.com/downloads.html - Rockstar Game Manuals https://www.rockstargames.com/manuals - Game Manuals Databases http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php https://www.gamesdatabase.org/all_manuals Etc... Our plans for expansion and game support will be increased very rapidly in the weeks ahead. Our goal is to ensure everyone can contribute content (maps, mods, files, images, etc...) for any game made available to the PC and offer players the resources to enjoy this content all at once place. Regards
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Thanks for the explanation. For me Game Patches section is what I'm looking forward to. There is so many patches for older games that improve their functionality for example widescreen support.