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Development update.. |
Faustus
Marshal
Palestar
Joined: May 29, 2001
Posts: 2748
From: Austin, Texas
|  Posted: 2002-07-19 10:46
Just giving everyone a heads up on what I'm working on currently...
Firstly, I've been giving alot of thought to the ideal of merging the scenerio and MV... or making parts of the MV appear as a scenerio in the server list. The ideal is simple, provide the entire MV for those who like to explore the backwater systems, etc... however, have certain conflicts always active in the MV to concenrate the players and provide a goal for the players to achieve in a certain star systems. This means, dynamically created scenerios based on real conditions in the MV. This ideal is very much still in the design phase, but I beleive this could be the final straw to move everyone over to the MV, provided I can find and slay the lag demon.
The above system is related to what I was already planning to work on, which was a central server for all the MV servers. This server would allow for multi-system missions, news postings on the web site, scenerio generation, and inter-server communications to make things faster, better, and more reliable.
Anyway, aside from the above new server... I'm pretty much ready to start the code the player built space stations and platforms. I've been thinking of adding satellites to this list as well, which would be much smaller and more focused on their roles. I will most likely begin implementation within the next week for this.
-Richard
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Deleted
Marshal
Joined:
Posts: 0
| Posted: 2002-07-19 12:13
Err? Oke I know what satelites are, I can kind of gess what role the will have. But I an't see how the will be controlled?
You just handed out the tip of the iceberg I gess. Mind letting us know how much more lies underwater or a bit more. How are the used, by what ships (I gess scouts) if any and minor things.
A well, I hope you reveal a bit more information.
Good luck in coding all this,
2nd rear admiral Wild Cat
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Gideon
Cadet
Joined: September 14, 2001
Posts: 4604
From: Oregon, USA
| Posted: 2002-07-19 14:03
I think satillites are an excellent idea. However, we will need some kind of serious cap on the number of them or we will just be creating more objects to bog down the servers with.
I think that merging the scenario and MV servers in that way will just encourage players to use scenarios more, not the MV. The reason that MV playership has increased recently is that there are things in the MV now that are not in scenarios. Namely the storage systems. Including more features that are unique to the MV and not present in scenarios is the way to migrate players to the MV.
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Faustus
Marshal
Palestar
Joined: May 29, 2001
Posts: 2748
From: Austin, Texas
| Posted: 2002-07-19 16:13
Oh god yes... there will be caps added for mines and all space bases, platforms, etc... just to keep the lag down somewhat...
I'm also planning some changes to the planets, such as making some changes to the update of the defenses bases... currently, all missile bases fire at the same time, which increases the lag..
-Richard
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Warpath81
Fleet Admiral
Joined: November 13, 2001
Posts: 431
| Posted: 2002-07-20 20:00
I think the biggest thing discouraging us about the mv is not necessarily normal lag, but the fact that larger battles are impossible to perform. A few days ago, the ICC tried to attack a significant UGTO force mounting to take the ICC home sys. The battle fell apart in minutes because of lag.
It seems that once we get 20 or 30 people in a battle, lag becomes insane. With a meta built around handling giant fleet movements, this really does have big consequences...What happens when it goes retail, we have an influx of 300-400 people on at a time (minimum), and all the servers get completely hosed. The stress tests right now have been extremely moderate, and a true stress, having 400+ players trying to play, would probably completely crush the current design scheme.
I'm sure your working on these issues, but with retail around the corner, having that many people show up almost over-night is very possible, and could be painfully fatal to the game for a time. Money I'm sure is an issues, and the revenue generated by those kind of numbers would probably help solve a few of the probems with increased bandwith available.....but then again, people probably won't stay when 400 people can take down everything.
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Shigernafy
Admiral
Joined: May 29, 2001
Posts: 5726
From: The Land of Taxation without Representation
| Posted: 2002-07-20 22:20
I think it could work out quite well... though I think Gideon has a point, in that if you make it so that the MV has nothing over scenario's, it may reduce the MV population.
However, I think that if there were a server, or a system or whatever within the MV that were the "insta-action" region of sorts, yet still have it connected to the MV, it may work out well - say the scenario isn't going well.. well, grab a few friends who are in there with you anyway, and head out to another system and try to cap it. That, in turn, may cause a message to get posted in the IA (insta action) area that such-and-such area is under assualt, and then the battle may move there. It'd keep things dynamic, and always provide a place to play.
The main concern I see here is with the Death Stars.. say the battle moves to another MV server, but all the planets are already fortified - everyone would get toasted if they don't stay in open space. But then, you don't want planets to be defenseless either.. its a tough situation.
But maybe I'm visualizing things wrong...
Though I think that, thought through enough, it may turn in to an exciting new game play mode.
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NightDragon
Cadet
Joined: May 26, 2002
Posts: 893
| Posted: 2002-07-21 11:52
yea the lag bog down problem should be fixed before retal, and the problem in the servers with the server kicking everyone out. i would like big epic battles with as little server lag as posable. because if you dont wany icc to be totaly useless one of there main ships is the Missle Dread and well it shoots alot of missles and only way to be totaly effective is to have at least 3-5 and thats a quite of lot of missles to be fireing all at once
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Arzon
Cadet
Joined: February 21, 2002
Posts: 19
From: Atlanta, GA
| Posted: 2002-07-21 13:49
Some random thoughts that popped into my head while reading the post. We all know, Faustus, that you like getting ideas in so I figured I'd post 'em.
Linking the MV and Scenerio
I'm mostly a scenerio player, been in the MV probably 3 times. There's alot going on in there, and it's hard to just jump in and know what to do, if you haven't really gotten involved before. Linking is the best thing that could happen, to bring the MV (the /real/ game draw) up to the primary purpose for playing the game. This, of course, is already known.
The MV could be setup such that it IS the only existing action, but, say.. you kick off the focus in one system... that system then becomes the map the scenerio servers run. At it's completion, planet ownership is then applied to the MC for that system. The course the scenario servers take, could be said to be a Sector Admiral that is directing the action of those under his command... tell us where to go. The MV could still be used as it is, but as a scenerio comes up... that system could be notified of an "incomming fleet" and thus be warned that the 'quiet' MV is about to become popular by having it carried over to a scenerio server. This lets the outcome of the scenerio servers actually matter in the MV, and those that may not want to get involved in the Pig Picture, can still take an active part in the progression of the game/storyline.
Satellites:
Planet bombing already was nearly nullfied by the update to the ground-based defence bases. Maybe these satellites could take over that job. Defense bases could be control devices for the orbiting sats... the sat themselves will have the weapons to defend the planet (maybe even customizing the loadout.. torp, missile, PCM for when you have a dictor up on-planet). If the sats orbit, it allows the planet to still have the potential to be attacked... take out the controling defbase, sat looses it's datalink and has to act on its own... maybe slowing down it's response time, or decreasing accuracy.
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Jim Starluck
Marshal
Templar Knights
Joined: October 22, 2001
Posts: 2232
From: Cincinnati, OH
| Posted: 2002-07-22 00:42
YES, YES, FOR THE LOVE OF DARKSPACE YES!!!
What's the best way to get people out of Scenario and into MV?
Make them the same thing, of course!
I LOVE IT!
Would also be VERY interesting to have the planetary defense shift from surface bases to orbiting satellites.
And as for the Space Platforms...
You will soon be seeing Admiral Jimmy's Deep-Space Fueling Corp., a string of depot-bases stretching from Kapetyn's star to Luyten. No ICC need ever worry about fuel again! 
And, of course, then there's the TK Headquarters at a top-secret installation somewhere in the Cygnus system. 
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Antra
Admiral
Agents
Joined: February 16, 2002
Posts: 657
From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
| Posted: 2002-07-23 13:24
Something to add to Arzon's post *poketheBorg*
PCMs are far, far too powerful. Against PLANETARY targets, I can see a 3x3 area wiped out. As it is, the splash damage is too much. Too big, rather. If satellites are subject to PCM damage, then they'll be wiped out in short order -- even by not bombing within 100gu.
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DOM700 [-IMO-]
Fleet Admiral
Joined: July 26, 2001
Posts: 3175
From: Eckental, Germany, Sol-System
| Posted: 2002-07-24 08:16
I can only say...Faustus make the servers that run the MV become a cluster, then lagg will decrease. 3 computers, 2 have no work and the other one has 50 people and 6 star systems to manage, thats not so good
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Creeper
Cadet
Joined: September 15, 2001
Posts: 243
From: New Orleans
| Posted: 2002-07-24 08:16
@ Faust - Me Like the idea
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