Bi-Weekly Update 5/15

[Seaseme]

1) Update Overview:
-Community Developments:
a. Snapshot Tool
b. Defense and Accuracy Equation
-Professions!
-Core3 Object Distribution System updated
-Cell Movement on all planets

2) Body:
-Community Developments:
These last two weeks have been outstanding in terms of community involvement/contribution to the project. We have pulled two, out of the many, that stood out the most to us.

a. Snapshot Tool
The snapshot tool was created by Sytner for editing SWG world snapshot files. A world snapshot file contains data for all static objects being placed on a planet. This tool would be extremely useful for servers if they feel the need to modify/create new objects on planets. Do not confuse this with a terrain editor...development on that has been stalled due to the enormous amount of research required to create one. However, if the terrain editor finally see's the light of day (which I'm hoping it will), this tool will be a SWG map makers best friend.
See this thread for more details:
http://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10840

http://swgemu.com/images/snapshot_editor_ingame3.jpg

b. Defense and Accuracy Equation
We are still seeking help on determining the most accurate equations for ingame use. One, submitted and impressively displayed by Benjai is an excellent example of someone stepping up and contributing to the project. The detail that went into the discussion of this topic is far beyond the scope of the biweekly. You can find more about this here: http://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10910

-Professions!
We are getting to the point where detailed research on each profession is moving higher on the priority list. Every PreCu profession is being documented in the Profession Testing and Balance Forums (http://www.swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=71). We need this information to provide the community with a solid PreCU template that can be used or modified on community run servers.

Each profession now has a Representative (http://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10514) (well a few are without a Rep still, please PM TAfirehawk (http://www.swgemu.com/forums/member.php?u=41440) about filling any open position) that has a direct link to the SWGEmu Team. Their purpose is to coordinate testing and gather information on issues and summarize this to the Team. The hope is that the Representative Program will help get the "community voice" to the Team so changes can be made quickly and properly thus making the SWGEmu into the PreCU we all remember and love.

Help us TODAY with this research by focusing all of your profession specific info and bugs here:


Architect (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=49) Armorsmith (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=51) Artisan (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=46) Bio-Engineer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48)
Bounty Hunter (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27) Brawler (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28) Carbineer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29) Chef (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=50)
Combat Medic (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=58) Commando (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30) Creature Handler (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=63) Dancer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=65)
Doctor (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=55) Droid Engineer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54) Entertainer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64) Fencer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=31)
Image Designer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69) Marksman (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=32) Medic (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=72) Merchant (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=57)
Musician (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67) Pikeman (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=34) Pistoleer (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=33) Politician (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=73)
Ranger (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=75) Rifleman (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35) Scout (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=74) Smuggler (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=56)
Swordsman (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=36) Squad Leader (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=76) Tailor (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=52) Teras Kasi Artist (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=37)
Weaponsmith (http://swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=53)


-Core3 Object Distribution System updated
Oru has recently merged the engine3/core3 test branches with the main SVN branch, which contains a new distributed object creation/deployment system. Thank him on IRC for his continued hard work to perfect one of the most incredible technologies used in server software today.

-Cell Movement on all planets.
Today TA committed a change that will add Cell Movement to ALL planets. Cell Movement is the ability to move and update other players locations inside buildings and other structures. Since this is done, Kellina and LearningDisease have been adding the assorted dungeons on planets and those should hit TC here before too long.


3) Developer Perspective: ("Round Table")


Nothing major has happened over at my end, and you can blame the forums / 1and1 for that. As you all know, the forums went down at about 11pm pst last friday, and I ended up spending most of that night and into a big chunk of Saturday dealing with that. I was going around like crazy trying everything you could imagine to get things back to normal. 1and1's (our webhost) db size limit is to blame. They set a ridiculously low db size limit at 100mb, and our forums went to about 170mb before they shutdown access to our mysql server without warning.

1and1 has recently allowed customers to use mysql 5.0 (finally?) and our db was exported from a mysql 4.0 db. Most, if not all, web hosts now only provide mysql 5. Kyle had a spare mysql server available, so thanks to him the forums were saved! The db was able to slide into a mysql 5 server just fine (Yes its a big deal believe it or not. If mysql was managed by msft we'd be ****ed).

So yea...fun weekend. Pushed back a lot of the plans I had so I have nothing interesting. Lesson learned: Unless you are hosting an online flower shop, don't do business with 1and1.




The Blue Frog Jawas are finally live on TC! I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten from the community. I've listened to your suggestions and soon will be adding new features. You will have the ability to unlearn all your skills without having to delete every single box. I also am working with the profession reps to nail down exactly which professions and gear should be added to the Jawas.

I'd like to thank Saromus for getting me a packet capture log of the Blue Frogs from NGE TC. I'll be going through those packets to see about implementing a more traditional blue frog to go along with the Jawas.



TAfirehawk:

It is about time I introduce myself I suppose. I am the "Lead Tester" and "Profession Representative Group Leader"....wow, try and fit that on a business card ;) Please come and browse all the Profession Forums (http://www.swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=71) and leave ANY AND ALL info about PreCu as well as bugs/issues/etc about the current TC.

I am a former SWG Carbineer Correspondent from before the CU up to the NGE, so the SWGEmu Team asked me to be in charge of a "Corr Program" here. Of course I said YES and even though I am relatively new to the SWGEmu, my passion for SWG has and always will run very deep.

Coding is not my thing here, but please PM me about any of the open Rep positions....or anything else regarding the Prof Rep Program.


4) Closing:
We have heard complains about a lot of the update stuff not making it to the TC...and with good reason. The TC will rarely have the latest SVN build on it because we will not get into the cycle where things are thrown into the code and not throughly tested. The fact that we get a lot of potentially server breaking commits is a blessing and a curse. On one hand, we are adding to our feature set at an incredibly fast pace, on the other hand it means we are required to test the TC until we are absolutely 100% sure the build is stable. As outlined in the body above, I'd imagine Oru has been running the test branch of core3 on SVN for the past couple of weeks so please bear with us and still attempt to be as active as you can on the test center - even if you aren't having the time of your life. Idling is better than nothing!

** Other devs will be updating this post SHORTLY - Check back soon :) **


AND-- Everyone welcome Sytner to the dev team!

[Andewa]

First. Glad to see some of the content starting to fill in. Great work!

[PhantomLeader]

*damn*

Nice one, Seas :)

[Tow'lin]

Third?

And nice post progress!

Also, you can all PM if you're an architect or check the forums (link in sig) and post as much info as possible!

Regards,
Tow'lin Tow

[Elliotw]

W00t prof reps

nice progress i like that tool brings to mind endless possibilities

[goalieman392]

im so excited, and i just cant hide it

[Legoklas]

6th?
Nice nice, and the crafter section need some help, just take a look in the crafter forums ( Artisan, armorsmith etc etc )

[Saromus]

i feel <3'ed that im mentioned in the update

[DSK123]

Nice! Looking better and better everyday!

[Emerzon]

First off great job team... Sytner welcome to the team and great job with the snapshot tool...overall this is a great bi-weekly update!

[TAfirehawk]

And don't forget to visit those Prof Forums (http://www.swgemu.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=71)

Shameless plug, I know :)

[Morial Tomiras]

Yet again great job to every active member and to all those higher up position guys its a damn good thing you know how to do all this cool stuff. Im actually pretty jealous! SWGEmu for the inevtiable win.

Welcome Sytner

[Ekaika]

I fuggin love you guys.

Welcome to the team Sytner!

[CaloNord]

excellent

[TheA-froChild]

Woot!!!!!!!!!!

[Jkaura]

Very interesting tool and information. I'm not a developer or coder but its nice to have an insight and some amount of understanding to what you guys are creating/testing/developing.

Thats pretty sweet with the snapshot tool. Good going Synter and welcome!

Thanks for the update, I'll be sure to start look for pre-cu prof info in the time ahead.

[Kellina]

Woot WICKED AWESOME!!!!

[Tothix]

THATS GRRRRREAT!;)

[Legoklas]

Yet again great job to every active member and to all those higher up position guys its a damn good thing you know how to do all this cool stuff. Im actually pretty jealous! SWGEmu for the inevtiable win.

Welcome Sytner

Feel free gaze upon our glory ;)
Haha nah, we are really just regular joe's trying to get some fast info to the devs.
And iam ( and the others i hope ) are MORE than willingly to leave our position to someone who are better and can make more work alot faster.
Its not about power, ( or is it? :O ) its really about getting this hard ass coding game done :)

[Yolagon]

nice. looking good.

[eapeih]

sweet. Thanks for the update

[Antisnow]

whoot whoot

[Tolbat]

good news, thank you everyone for everything you do

[therealeddie]

I have a question regarding profession feedback.

Is the feedback the devs are looking for to re-create the professions as they were at Pub 13 OR to provide info towards balancing them? The forum title says "re-balance" thus the latter seems to be what you're asking for. What should our focus be?

[Seaseme]

to recreate at publish 13 is the goal, not to balance.

[MikeCool]

Good job you guys! Keep up the awesome work of teh emulator.

[TAfirehawk]

I have a question regarding profession feedback.

Is the feedback the devs are looking for to re-create the professions as they were at Pub 13 OR to provide info towards balancing them? The forum title says "re-balance" thus the latter seems to be what you're asking for. What should our focus be?

Seaseme answered this correct for the Devs. But I want to add that info past pre-CU will be gathered for people to customize their own servers.

ANY AND ALL info will be collected, but for right now it is just pre-CU that the SWGEmu Team will code.

[therealeddie]

sounds good. thanks.

[Serpentkaa]

Thanks for the great update!

[Hialot]

Interesting choice for lead tester. lol Had I know I would have applied

[Tabatron]

Oh my god, you can almost taste the finish line. :D

[TankGun]

I have said this before and I will say it again, with every passing day this Emu becomes better and better, more complete and closer to what the precu SWG once was.

[Kyle]

Stellar work guys, as always

[MrBlonde]

Welcome Sytner and great update. :)

[onik]

Thanks for the update guys, things are progressing great!

[Vrej]

Things are speeding up like crazy, every update brings more things at one time than the update before.

As another said before me, I can also almost taste it! Yeah! :rock:

[Ekaika]

Seaseme answered this correct for the Devs. But I want to add that info past pre-CU will be gathered for people to customize their own servers.

ANY AND ALL info will be collected

And this, ladies and gents, is where things really get interesting ;)

[nostyleguy]

gotta admit i wasn't expecting a bi-weekly update so promptly. Very good news. i personally can't wait to test some new dungeons on TC

[Aremathiea]

woot! excellent work! *dancin'*

[iamtheninja]

awesome work guys, this is really incredible, definitely looking forward to dungeons on tc.

Although Seaseme, what about Terian1414, and not pooping?

[Terian1414]

Great update. Seems Seaseme forgot to mention something though lol :P

[Zaff]

Great update. Thanks for the hard work. I guess I'm gonna have to break down and start leaving myself logged into TC idle or running a macro regularly. I'll start now....

[Xar]

This is wicked you guys, I cant wait to throw my life away once again haha

[_DM_]

soooooooooooooo great!

[Ashur]

awesome!!!!!!

[Hiddukel]

/bow4

you guys rock...

It's just awsome how is the Emu changing, growing...

[vorta]

coming along very nicely :D

[UmbrusUrsa]

Excilent work! I am always so impressed with the entire groups dedication to this project and the regular LEAPS in progress. Thank you all for these great efforts!
:)

[rhyeal]

Woot! 49th?

Anyway, great work to all the Devs and the Prof Reps. I only see what goes on with the Prof Reps, so I completely missed the SWG Snapshot tool. That is amazing!

And, like so many have said, don't forget to visit the profession forums! (See link in sig)

I am looking forward to all these changes and what the Dev team is currently working on. We are coming along at a very fast pace!

[goldcrud]

Awesome update you guys :) and grats on getting on the dev team Sytner.

[Grija]

<3 teh seaseme

[Tephros]

Good job.

[bongandbeer]

53th

[wookiesniper]

Amazing work guys! :cool:

[David]

Ramsey

[Alpha224]

What about jedi on the server?

[Seaseme]

What about jedi on the server?
Is jedi all people think about?

Anyhow, Jedi is disabled for now.

[Roidrage667]

Just awesome.

[imist]

Fantastic stuff! Keep up the world building! :D

Thanks to you all for all ya do!

[Rauce]

good job

[StormZ]

Good job guys! This is really starting to shape up well... hopefully you guys dont run into any major road blocks.

Keep up the good work, you guys are awesome!

[KroniK]

Woot! This makes me very excited!! I can't wait. Keep up the good work team. Thanks.

[praxi34]

Brilliant work yet again guys, lets hope the heightmap stuff can be put to rest soon so Ramsey can get some piece of mind! :)

[Sti1garWormrider]

great work as always guys.

[toro45]

Awesome, keep up the good work

[ti'aut]

Thanks for the update :) and a HUGE thank you to JarikRanger. I'd been beating my head into finding something for armorsmithing and he located an sl spread sheat that contains all info except Integrity (condition) on all armor except the three Ithorian armors. Amazing find and amazing team work, my hats off.:obiwan:

[dark one]

sweet

[Jazza]

Great job on the updates !

:D

[Ekowraith]

amazing

[n1nj4]

I love you all. :bow:

[Maxkaos]

Thanks guys!!!

[Xenomorph]

Great work, loads of progress being made :)

[Sixdd]

Yay! I can't wait to build my own droids and make them patrol my compound :D

Keep up the great work guys!

[Sitah corbantis]

I just want to open be saying i think the devs are doing and awsome job here. Thank you for creating and managing SWGEmu, i know it must be a massive undertaking to keep up with. I have 125% more faith in this dev team then i ever did in SOE and lets face it we all know how that turned out. so my words of advice to anyone playing and are board with out this and that is "be patient" this stuff takes time, i had to do codeing in college and let me tell you its a royal *****. Its good to see a group of people passionate about this project enough to spend the time and money to keep it going and give us old timers a piece of pre CU/NGE heaven. again thank you and keep up the great work!!!

your friend,
Sitah

[Ekowraith]

What would the difference between a terrain editor and a snapshot tool be?

[Ult]

Very professional posts Seaseme. In my opinion, you are up there with the best devs/admins who actually do this type of thing for a salary!

Big props to you and the other devs.

[Ramsey]

What would the difference between a terrain editor and a snapshot tool be?

A snapshot editor edits word snapshot files, which only contain static objects that are placed on the terrain. Like buildings/props. A terrain editor deals with the .trn files which control the actual _SHAPE_ of the terrain, flora, and other natural features.

[faceman7381]

Good job all, thx 4 the work! It is interesting to see how things build on each other and are tied together.

[TAfirehawk]

Interesting choice for lead tester. lol Had I know I would have applied

How did I miss this post....hmmmm.... :lightsaber:

BTW, I didn't answer any application....and everybody here is leading their own testing :p

[Seaseme]

Very professional posts Seaseme. In my opinion, you are up there with the best devs/admins who actually do this type of thing for a salary!

Big props to you and the other devs.
Thanks but I can't take credit :)

We usually just post a document in the moderator forums and the different developers contribute their own blurbs and such, I just repost it in the updates forum. It's very open :)

[bobius]

Seaseme, next time someone asks you if you're a God.. you say yes!

[Andewa]

Seaseme, next time someone asks you if you're a God.. you say yes!

YES!!! Been watching Spike TV? lol

[Ekowraith]

A snapshot editor edits word snapshot files, which only contain static objects that are placed on the terrain. Like buildings/props. A terrain editor deals with the .trn files which control the actual _SHAPE_ of the terrain, flora, and other natural features.

Really cool, thanks. I'm much more excited about the snapshot editor than I would be a terrain editor... but good luck!

Again, amazing work you guys. :) Keep it up.

[badfish]

Great update again, more progress is always great to see :)

[Rhotten]

sick @ss pic... im hoping that certain areas that were lacking will become complete with this new tool....

[Seaseme]

Seaseme, next time someone asks you if you're a God.. you say yes!
Heh. Ok!

[Krisegon]

Seaseme, next time someone asks you if you're a God.. you say yes!

nice Ghostbusters quote!

[Jednou]

An excellent update. Thumbs up !

[wfire]

Great stuff everyone. I always look forward to the update posts, and yes it is about time you introduced yourself TA. Anyway keep up the great work.

[ReactionXYZ]

Just remembered swgemu! Keep up the good work!

[Tech18]

Awesome!!!

[Jason2444]

Can we get a BALLIN?

[hisengal]

any chance you can add a crafting tool so we can start testing crafting

[Seaseme]

any chance you can add a crafting tool so we can start testing crafting
in a bit.

[ridethesmallbus1]

good answer

[VAIOMANIAC]

Wow great job incredible progress since the swgemu went open source
Keep up the great work

[hisengal]

in a bit.

great :D

[TankGun]

in a bit.
That is good to hear, as is all news of the Emu.

[Chorus13]

Great work! Can you say /AIRGUITAR!

/KOWTOW

[Cazmu]

yarp

[Kyle]

To answer the Crafting questions. Soon. Probably the update after next, but keep an eye out the next few days *crosses fingers*;

[praxi34]

W00t thx kyle for keeping us informed. Were all excited :)

[moxon1982]

any chance you can add a crafting tool so we can start testing crafting

I'd definatly enjoy testing the crafting system if its finally up for testing. I just opened a regular 14 days trial on SWG NGE just because I like the idea crafting works in SWG...

[hisengal]

I'd definatly enjoy testing the crafting system if its finally up for testing. I just opened a regular 14 days trial on SWG NGE just because I like the idea crafting works in SWG...

heh yeah but Swg nge sux.. i will never suport sony in nge... even tho its a trial :P

[Erro]

its kind of like how ive boycotted all sony products out of spite. Yup I got an Xox 360 rather than a PS3. I'd rather be ass raped by Microsoft than be molested by Sony.

[moxon1982]

heh yeah but Swg nge sux.. i will never suport sony in nge... even tho its a trial :P

Well I only played SWG for 6 weeks actively before the CU... the rest of my subscription of the second month I just tested CU a bit and didnt touch that game anymore. Maybe I didnt fall in love that much as you guys did. =)

[SCRIBBLEZ]

I have also boycotted any and all sony products, and as many lucas arts products as possible. i bought a xbox 360 instead of the ps3 as well. my new dvd player not by sony. my new laptop not by sony. i was once a loyal sony customer all i owned was by sony. i think i have 1 sony item left to replace in my house. and this boycot is throughout my entire family and friends. the parent company should have stepped in imo. this has cost them in the high thousands of dollars, just from the people i know.
so back to this bi-weekly update. id like to say ty kyle for the info to watch closely. and second u guys keep going like this will be great. my own guess is dec of 2009. i have played the test center and seen the wonderful work thats been done but know there is soo much still yet to be done as well. so keep it goin and ill keep watchin.