Thank you for your kind words all! I only wish I could have done better sooner...
I'm not quite sure what I should do with the map, as I can't seem to come across a game full of players. I suppose what I shall attempt to do is reduce the overall "weight" of the map by reducing the number of files associated with it and the size of those that will remain.
On the cutting block are:
Kriegstadt_Sounds.uax (so no more air raid siren and such...)
Kriegstadt_T.utx (contains the PaK gun textures, can use the AHz texture pack instead, but will be losing the darker camo for the PaK43)
Although for this beta I increased the resolution for a few uniforms to 2048x2048, I may find myself reducing them back to 1024x1024 for the sake of a smaller download. It's not as though players look closely anyway...
I may - furthermore - remove the Soviet Greatcoats. This would be an upset for me, but it would reduce the number of PlayerRecordClass extensions by 5, reduce the size of the texture archive, and maybe alleviate some of the TK problems. Not a decision I would be happy to make.
Many files I would already expect players to have (those being the AHz vehicle pack files).
Assuming players have the AHz pack and I make a handful of reductions, we have gone from 49 files and ~70.2MB to 36 files and 37.5MB, not counting the cutbacks made to the uniforms.
I may also remove the SHK_IS2 animation package (so no hull MG for the IS2, although historical record supports that it never had one to begin with). Removing that .ukx would reduce the overall uz2 package by 1.85MB, but it would require me to rethink the role of the IS2 in the map as it is again reduced to a 2 man vehicle as opposed to something of an upgunned T-34. I may leave it in, or reduce the total number of Soviet tankers (up to 32 players they have a total of 4 tank crewmen, at >33 they have a total of 5, so a pairing of IS2 and SU76 becomes invalid!). Not worth the loss, maybe...
The Beta 3 EH-M43_Tex.utx was 10.0MB not in uz2 and the current EH-M43Uniforms_T is 16.6MB not in uz2 (5.17MB in uz2). However, Beta 3 had 2048x2048 greatcoats, so reducing everything to 1024x1024 will yield a yet smaller package...
So, dearest RO Forum friends, what do you make of this predicament?