Post: #11

Okay, If I had to map out a plan, we should start going through NPC and vendor templates. with the current script pack a lot of errors occur when the vendors open up their buy/sell dialog. Then start checking NPCs to make sure their information is accurate as far as stats, skills, and as we go we can make sure loot is correct. Right now it seems like a lot of loot is just out of control incorrect. I've been working on some of these corrections lately.

I think for now we should focus on some previously incomplete content. say LBR to AOS. Just "once over" all the systems that should be there. If they don't work correctly or are not matching OSI we will correct it. If it's absent we will add it.

I can host this here, I already have up my standard server with the latest nightly i could get, or we can do Amazon, or whatever. It doesn't need to be a corporate server with 32 gb of ram and 16 processors honestly, We can always upgrade later on if that is what we need.

PS, I just got off a 12 hours shift so this wasn't my most meditated plan I think it's my general idea though, fix old things, add missing things, work forward from there. leave no stones unturned i guess.


Though step 1 of anything should be finding out who's going to work on this project with us.

Post: #12

Mobiles are all done on my end and I don''t use templates on mobiles, I do all of their loot in @Death triggers. The magic items are processed through a few functions which check certain information from the NPC profiles and run equations and begin compiling a list of intensities and amounts of attributes to apply to an item (up to seven) with chance for prefix/suffix naming. I sort of figured out how EA does loot and it is literally based on one SOLE property NPC's share.

Vendor templates are reworked on my end, but I would have to cut out everything custom and do naming by sphere standards (which is three retarded conventions that no one on the team wanted to get on board with fixing this issue in the packs). I use strict naming. Sphere uses strict, <type> name, name <type> in the definition names in scripts. Seems stupid and people keep feeding it. I am currently redoing every silly wall, floor, window, archway, stairs as we speak and doing better organized axis categories. This is just a work beast no one ever wanted to do because it means redoing the entire script pack. Which, I am not too far off on getting done.

We don't anything beyond a basic home computer or amazon hosting. Sphere doesn't need anything more powerful than that for 100 or so actives. As long as item counts are down in the vendor templates, it should be okay. Honestly, vendors just need an overhaul in the buy/sell and be done with the stupid templates. Templates are great for newbie starting and such and maybe static reward packs, but otherwise they are outdated. A SQL database call for a list of items would be easier and it would remove every item in play from vendors. Just increase and decrease items in the database for a vendor. Sphere would run way more smoothly. It just means redoing the dialogs and such and building the database.

This is why I get PM's for server work lol. Logical and functional coding. Those packs are a monstrosity.

Any developers left reading this who are solely working on sphere, focus on moving things from the hard code to soft code support for anything and everything possible when it comes to spells and skills. Adding functionality is nice, but try not to run too much in the core if possible beyond basics. I know this is where the fallout began with all of us, but that was the plan between Thomas, myself, and ShiryuX when we came on. The less the server has to parse, the better.

Also, Xun, since I know you will read this. Spawn bits need more than you did. Not tested yet, but they should be able to handled a weighed range in ONE ID in the SPAWN templates. It needs to be made so it can spawn groups of various NPC's at once and possibly multis/Items as well. This would allow for pirate ships and merchant ships to work a lot better. If not, I will just make a new spawn system and post it, then I am sure someone will want to be a poop head and just add it to the core. But that is my two cents on spawn bits.

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Also, not tested, but DEFNAME2 is still in the hardcode. It seems to only apply to items, either myself or someone still active should re-implement that into templates, spawns, mobiles, et cetera. It would make for naming to backwards compatible without calling on the lists to make for every server for it all to work if this pack ever went public. This also allows for other naming processes to be handled and everything would be handled from the definitions of the item. It would just need to be carried from original item to any new variants as it would have in a list. No need to parse a list if it is just in the definition itself and would be less resource intensive.

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Oh. Alignment should be readded (It might even still be in there, but I get errors when attempting to add it to creatures) for AI handling. Good never attacks players or pets, unless they are evil and will attack monsters if evil, or when struck by a player or pet. Neutral doesn't attack anything unless attacked first. Evil attacks anything that is a player/pet or is blue (possibly neutral?). I think it was removed in the R series due to some oversight and a developer not understanding its use. EA checks this property for AI. Their parsing is not entirely karma checked when it comes to AI attack as there are monsters with about -10,000 karma which are still neutral.

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Weight NEEDS to be RW at some point. They are now adding in attributes that can reduce weight I was reading. This might be something that finally needs to be done or to have an override on the weight property. Otherwise, we cannot keep up. GOLDINCREASE was a property I missed on items by the way and they added in Antique and a few others besides Brittle for negative attributes on items when generated. GoldIncrease I think is more of a hidden property and on players, but should be on Items/Mobiles alike, as I think that is part of how luck works. Refer to clilocs to confirm.

There was more stuff that needed to be done in the core, but I don't remember it all right now. I have been scripting for the past 6 hours and my brain is fried.

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And fix the WinServer downloads in the nightly (It was attempted with IE and Chrome and still gives the same error. Compiler isn't doing its job again.) It is busted. I can keep recompiling, but others cannot in all cases and it is kind of lazy that no one fixed that by now.

Post: #13

It's about 10pm here, Def tired as F though I wanted to come back and read/post before sleepy time. but It sounds like you're working on or have already redone some things I was prepping to start this weekend. Very awesome. Let's see who we can get together and see what kinda team we can arrange out of this. Figure out what we need to work on, get a plan mapped out, and determine some workloads we can all handle.

So whoever is interested in a development role in this should probably PM me or make it known in this thread. I'd like to get whoever is participating gathered in one place to hash out details at a single time. As it presents itself it looks like we're building towards the same exact direction.

Post: #14

If we get more people, I would probably help with quite a bit of the default packs. A lot of this has taken months of time to do and it would be really irritating for me to just hand out this work and my custom systems to a bunch of people who didn't contribute. Shame, I think I tried working with you back in the day too and you bailed on me. I think anyhow. You, ShiryuX, Pyromapes, and I think there was one other. Well, let's hope it works out this time. No matter what, I can hand over some base scripts if this gets launched. If it gets a good team I will just dump my entire UO:R/LBR code in and my AoS/ML/HS/SA code in I have been working on as time moves along with this. I can't afford to stop, as I need to get my server up. Helping others would just be the nice thing to do. Now, if the team is right, I'd be more than ready to work with the team and just have my server run on its own (Which it can do. It is fully automated to run events and all types of things. No staff needed.)

Post: #15

Set up the things and tell me where I can help
Just know that I can't spend much time on it right now.

Post: #16

I sent you a PM. I will help these guys a bit, but I am working on mine too. Might need you on mine as well, as I was discussing with you. The only people who code close to my own seem to be you and Xun.

Post: #17

Hey Khaos, I don't seem to have gotten your PM.

Also, I have a server up and running that is properly configured that should be good to go. I know this weekend, perhaps tomorrow (Friday 19) I will be able to do a proper amount of work and update everything I've been putting off. If everyone who is interested can tell me a good time to get together, we can bounce some ideas off each other. If this weekend is too soon maybe we can plan for the weekend of the 27th.

I plan on chewing through lots of work this weekend in my time off. whoever is with me feel free to come along. I'm doing this regardless though, It would be great to have some good partners to help out with this community project.

Post: #18

SENT!!!! ^_^

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So wishing there was a vote change option! Then there could be a quick switch to "F@#$ YOU" and then back. It makes me smile thinking about it!

Post: #19

Well, you have been PMed and I am still waiting on a reply from you.

Post: #20

Yes you are I just got up today. I will be right back at my PC as soon as I complete a couple errands, then I'll shoot you a PM in response. The week was long since we're changing out all the switches right now, it was an absolute mess. Hold fast! I'll get with you today with the game plan.