Ask Developers and get answers!

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tux9th
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Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by tux9th »

Hi all!
I recently noticed that Developers have very little contact with the Community itself in game. Therefore I as an active Developer want to break the ice. I want to be there to receive your questions and answer them fully.

EDIT
This "event" is going to take place on Monday November 12th at 7pm (19:00) UTC (Server Time) It is going to be held in Tulimshar Bazar.

What is the purpose of this?


I want to shed light on:
  • who the Development Team is
  • how content is developed
  • how to contact the Dev-Team and who to contact in particular
  • how to get involved and help with the development
  • where to get information about active projects
After I explained all of this to the YOU can ask me questions and I will hopefully be able to answer them fully.

All of this will be logged and put up on here as well. So if you miss this you can read here what happened.

Yours
tuX9th
Last edited by tux9th on 09 Nov 2012, 00:15, edited 1 time in total.
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tux9th
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by tux9th »

Due to lags and the server beeing off I will postpone this till next week.
I'll notify you in this thread and in game.

sorry for the inconvinience
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o11c
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by o11c »

You should probably choose a friday/saturday so more people can make it.

(of course, my weekends are kind of busy these days...)

Also, you should never use "today" without specifying the date. I looked at the post date, but that is in my local time zone, so I would have to convert that to UTC, and then possibly to your timezone to figure out what day you mean.

(I *do* have a second clock, for UTC, on my KDE panel, so once I know the actual UTC time I can arrange to be there)
Former programmer for the TMWA server.
Doofus
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Doofus »

Might I suggest having three time slots if possible. tmw gets people in from East Asia, Europe and the Americas and eople are online differently for differnt regions. It would be good if devs from different regions could volunteer their time for each slot (otherwise it might be a big day for tux9th).
I imagine your target audience is more those that don't check the forums in which case some in game invites might help too.
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Jenalya
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Jenalya »

We're going to try this again on Monday November 12th, 7pm (19:00) UTC (Server Time) Tulimshar Bazaar. :)

It surely would be good to do this at different times and when many people are online, and if this is successful, we're going to make it a regular event.

If you have any specific topics you'd like to know about, you can also let us know about those in advance.
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tux9th
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by tux9th »

The first Dev-Talk was a great success. We plan on having more of those.
I hope that all of those present got all of their questions answered. If you weren't satisfied please just join in IRC (irc.themanaworld.org) and ask us more detailled.

For those who couldn't make it here is the log.
http://sagdas.net/mana/11-12-devtalk.txt

I also made a screenshot
http://sagdas.net/mana/11-12-devtalk.png

best regards
tux9th :)
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Nard »

I tried to make it a bit sorted (and shorter too but tried to keep the most Important :)

[19:01] Jenalya: I suppose we can start now :) Welcome everyone!
[19:02] Jenalya: we noticed that many players don't know much about developers and development, so this is event is for getting a better understanding between players and devs
[19:02] Jenalya: though devs are players too, of course ;)
[19:02] Ginaria: :O
[19:02] Bobisha: Of course...
[19:02] Travolta: they are not... gods?
[19:02] Jenalya: if this is successful, we'll try to hold this kind of event more often
[19:02] Bobisha: No... Only Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee are gods...
[19:03] Boomer the Kran: you forgot Lemmy
[19:03] Tinker Bell: shhhhh
[19:03] Bobisha: Okay


[19:03] Jenalya: well, maybe we can start telling a bit about us.. I'm playing since 2 and a half year now and i'm active in development since 2 years

[19:04] tux9th: I'm playing since Feb'12 and I am in development since July.
[19:04] tux9th: So I am pretty new to this project

[19:05] Travolta: I have a propose: Each dev also tells some of his most known alts, if he wants. In case some1 does't know
[19:05] Bobisha: I like that... That is a good possibility
[19:05] Boomer the Kran: and email and RL mail addresses
[19:05] tux9th: ahaha my most known alt is tux9 and Hermit Tux9th

[19:05] V0id: I started to play in 2009. and now in dev team (officially) since a month or so :p

[19:06] Jenalya: my known alt is Jenya, but i also have some incognito alts ;)
[
19:07] tux9th: Chicka either fell asleep or forgot that she's a dev too =)

[19:07] V0id: you probably all know my alt who played in Skyfall. and some other unknow alts :)
[19:07] Jenalya wonders if Chicka is asleep

* new mapz

[19:07] Tinker Bell: Question 1: 1st, may I say that the progres in game maps is very nice, TYVM, when may we expect more maps?

[19:08] tux9th: Well I think I'll take that one
[19:08] tux9th: Currently we have some teams working on maps, including me v0id and chicka
[19:08] tux9th: I am responsible for the latest maps which are next to Sagatha
[19:08] tux9th: This extension will be far larger once I am done and will include a new small town
[19:09] tux9th: V0id is currently working on is Illia Quest which is practically finished
[19:09] tux9th: It just requires testing
[19:09] tux9th: it also comes with 3 - 4 new maps
[19:09] Boomer the Kran: is that 007-1 quest on test?
[19:09] tux9th: Yes
[19:09] Boomer the Kran: that is hard
[19:09] V0id: yeah. we still need to adjust the difficulty of the final boss
[19:09] tux9th: V0id also is working on the Port-Town which will be even more east than what I recently added
[19:09] V0id: we hope to do that this week
[19:10] V0id: well it's actually Trade City:)
[19:10] tux9th: I am also working on a very small addition which will be located south to the beach
[19:10] V0id: this new Trade City will also add the Assassin set
[19:11] V0id: through a quest involving a guild of assassin (wow, original :p)
[19:11] tux9th: That's all about maps so far. It seems. I am also working on fixing most of the maps. So if you find any bugs or glitches please let me know

[19:12] Looser: is the assassin quest coming on the test server/is it already there?
[19:12] V0id: about the assassin quest: it will take some time before you see it here however. there is lot to do
[19:12] V0id: first create the new city, then only the quests after.

[19:18] tux9th: we can talk specifics later in IRC or here :). Mapping is my field of expertise

[19:08] Electron: I'm trying to get an acount on ManaMarket;but somehow I can't log in to the forum,does anyone have any ideas about what I am doing wrong?

[19:08] Bobisha: I think I have an idea... Maybe for warriors, there should be a focus skill availible that alows us to use the shields as a secondary weapon... The higher the focus skill level, the heavier the sheild that can be used and the more damage can be delt



* Joining Development team

[19:11] Ziqq: Question: How can someone get involved in dev work? Particularly development of the world (not the client software).

[19:11] Jenalya: maybe an additional information.. the devs around today are content devs. server and client is mostly done by other people - o11c is working on the server and Ablu and bjorn on the client

[19:12] tux9th: Okay I think the next important question to answer is how to get involved. I'll let Jenalya answer that one
[19:12] Jenalya: yeah, getting involved is an important question ;)
[19:12] Jenalya: most of our communication happens via IRC, that's a group chat protocol
[19:13] Jenalya: when you want to get involved, it's a good idea to join the irc channel #tmw-dev on irc.themanaworld.org
[19:15] Jenalya: development has several aspects, there is graphic creation, mapping, quest writing and scripting..
[19:16] Jenalya: when you want to develop, you should think about what ascpect you're interested in and where your skills are


[19:16] Ziqq: Is there much demand for scripting? I think for me that would be easiest to get into.
[19:17] Jenalya: Ziqq, we have some open tasks for scripting of different difficulty, but most active scripters come with their own ideas for quests and work on that

[19:16] ginosuper: Is mapping easy? Or does it involve programming/scripting?
[19:17] V0id: Mapping requires you know how to manipulate Tiled. it is a map editor
[19:17] V0id: then there are rules of mapping to understand.
[19:18] ginosuper: Hmm okay.

[19:14] Tinker Bell: question 2: I have created a new continant, it has a large town and many new maps including many quests, it is however a level-specific land, u must be level 85 to enter, is this OK? is it welcomed?
[19:15] Bobisha: Hmm... That might work... Assuming there is a good back stroy for it
[19:19] Travolta: I say: who needs those quests? More new huge maps! *wants to get lost in tmw*

[19:18] Jenalya: Tinker Bell: when you have your own ideas for new content, that's very welcome
[19:19] Jenalya: when you already created some content, you can provide that to the team in some form, e.g. in the forums or irc, and can get feedback
[19:20] Jenalya: if you want to get involved, but don't have a specific idea on what you'd like to work on, we can give you some update on active projects

[19:20] Jenalya: what is mostly needed at the moment are graphic artists who can create tilesets
[19:20] Jenalya: tilesets are the graphics maps are created with
[19:21] Ziqq: How long does generally take for features to make it into the main game once developped?
[19:21] Jenalya: Ziqq: when a project is mostly finished, we put it on our public testserver
[19:22] Jenalya: we announce what needs testing in the forum
[19:22] Jenalya: once the content is tested and eventually improved and fixed, it gets into the game
[19:22] Jenalya: how long that takes depends on the complexity of the content
[19:22] Ziqq: thanks for all of the info :)



[19:14] Bobisha: Is there anything being done to improve the brawling skill?
[19:15] Boomer the Kran: make it dependent on dex/agi/luck
[19:15] Bobisha: Is there anything being done to improve the brawling skill?
[19:15] V0id: Please all wait for the questions :) we will answer later :)
[19:15] Bobisha: Okay


[19:20] Boomer the Kran: I want a set of random doors.... never know which one you come out of
[19:20] Boomer the Kran: unless you have the hat


[19:22] Tinker Bell: my last question, before i go to work..... Many feel that TMW has a feeling of aimlessness, in other words, no end to the game, I think we could have a sort of "Part 2" a greater continat that u graduate too, does this make sence to anyone?
[19:22] Ziqq: That makes sense.
[19:23] Boomer the Kran: that's what was said as per "lvl 85 to enter"
[19:23] Anchises: I think that in order to have any sense of an ending, there needs to be a bit more of a story, personally
[19:23] Travolta: I don't like the idea of "elitism"
[19:24] Jenalya: hm, from my point of view, i'd like the content i create to be accessible to as most people as possible

[19:24] Boomer the Kran: how about a re-birthing, you start over at lvl 1, get new quests, new rewards, and level faster?

[19:24] Alfrenican: Are you mostly focused on testing to make sure that the content can be followed, or are you wanting people to see if they can break the game? (For example, if you change chars with storage open, it's still open for the new char...)
[19:25] Alfrenican: Boomer: starting a lvl 1 with all the quest items in your storage already levels pretty fast...

[19:25] Jenalya: currently we don't even have enough quests for the current levels, so i think that should be the main goal before going to add extra content you can only reach under certain circumstances
[19:25] 4144: Alfrenican this is client only bug
[19:25] Boomer the Kran: true Alf, but quests all need have new requirements
[19:25] Travolta: Boomer: its easy: just make sure Prsm will catch you botting, you'll get your lvl1 immediately ;)
[19:26] Boomer the Kran nevah has botted
[19:26] Jenalya: Alfrenican, the testing has several purposes - of course to make sure there are no possibilities of abuse, but also if the quest don't have bugs, is fun to play, well balanced, understandable, ..

[19:27] Sprinkles: well i think lvling is boring because when you complete all quests you just lvl killing stuffs, why not make more quests so we dont aimlessly kill stuffs to lvl
[19:27] Jenalya: Sprinkles, we're working on that, but creating quests that are fun takes time


[19:26] Electron: coald I please ask:how do I get a forum acount?
[19:26] Boomer the Kran: you go to forum and create a seperate from game account, Elect
[19:27] tux9th: Electron: Go to http://forums.themanaworld.org/ and then click on the Register Button on the top left

* Bosses

[19:15] the hitman: Bosses :3
[19:15] the hitman: lol
[19:27] the hitman: Could you add some bosses :D
[19:28] V0id: the hitman: we'll have one soon :)
[19:28] Boomer the Kran: there are bosses
[19:28] the hitman: YES!!!
[19:28] Boomer the Kran: bandit lord
[19:28] ginosuper: When will the Snake Lord come into game?
[19:28] the hitman: I mean more good ones
[19:28] the hitman: <.<


[19:28] Travolta: a minor question: when will be the next server restart?
[19:29] Jenalya: Travolta, as soon as possible, so when the admin Frost has time to do it


*Client, Server, Data Bases


[19:29] MarkU: is there any roadmap for client/server improvements? Android client?

[19:29] Alfrenican: Any work being done to enable sharing account database between the game and web pages? (For example, by letting them use a common database for authentication) That way, having a game account means having a forum account means having a wiki account, etc.
[19:29] Travolta: Alfrenican: having better chance to be hacked ;)
[19:30] Jenalya: Alfrenican, the game database currently is just a text file. o11c is working on the server, and one of his goals is to replace that with a proper database
[19:31] Alfrenican: Does that mean y'all'd appreciate it if someone made a patch to give the game LDAP and MySQL authentication modules?


* Magic

[19:13] Ginaria: I have another question: Is a team working on magic level 3?
[19:13] ginosuper: Oh that would be nice :o
[19:13] Travolta: totally support the question
[19:13] Bobisha: Me too
[19:14] Jenalya: i can say something about magic in a moment
[19:28] Jenalya: there was also a question about magic, i could come back to that now.
[19:30] Travolta: please tell us about magic, Jenalya
[19:30] Jenalya: ;)
[19:30] Boomer the Kran: aura spells, per type of weapon, please

[19:31] Jenalya: the next thing in regards to magic will be a quest that is a follow up to the candle helmet quest. it will introduce some new spells for the dark path of magic
[19:31] tux9th: The maps for this quest are already in the game.
[19:32] Jenalya: i postponed working on that magic quest to create the christmas event. that is almost ready, so i'll probably be able to get back to the magic quest soon
[19:33] Jenalya: the next step after the quest with the dark magic spells will be to work on level 3 magic
[19:33] Jenalya: but that'll be a big task, since some new spells will need to be made and balanced, new quests that introduce them, eventually new items...


[19:32] Boomer the Kran: sword spell increases attack of other swords. bow spell increases range or speed of archers. mages can do more as in heal all in close proximity divided by number of players
[19:32] Ziqq: Is player data backed up somewhere safe (away from server)?
[19:34] Jenalya: Ziqq, yes player data is backed up

[19:33] Travolta: Boomer: that's too complicated
[19:33] the hitman: You could add some like Bandages to use :D
[19:33] Boomer the Kran: shouldn't be much different than splash damage was


[19:34] Travolta: I'd be glad to help with testing new magic :)
[19:34] Ziqq: good to know :)
[19:34] the hitman: You could add some like Bandages to use :D

* Pets
[19:29] the hitman: Pets?!?!?!?
[19:34] MarkU: I would like pets too.
[19:34] the hitman: PETS FTW
[19:35] Jenalya: MarkU, pets would require changes on the server, and o11c already stated that he wants to work on many other things first
[19:36] 4144: MarkU pets was removed by old devs very long time ago. may be at almost project start. after server was changed many times


* TMW and Manaserv:

[19:36] Ziqq: There has been some talk of totally different server software, TMWServ, will content be easily ported to the new server if it happens?
[19:37] tux9th: Ziqq: Manaserv is not compartible with TMW-EA (what we're currently on)
[19:37] Jenalya: Ziqq, if we decide to port content to manaserv that'd be very very much work
[19:38] Ziqq: tux9th: so the maps etc would have to be created again from scratch?
[19:38] Looser: wasn't the old stuff on manaserver like tulimar?
[19:38] tux9th: Ziqq not so much the maps but all of the NPC-Dialogues. Talk to Ablu, Bjorn about that. I am not fully informed about that

[19:38] Jenalya: in the summer there was an competetion about creating graphics and an open source game with those graphics where some people from tmw and mana took part in
[19:38] Jenalya: where we created a small game (or rather a start of a game) with manaserv
[19:39] Jenalya: and it showed that there's still some work required on manaserv and the client to make it really well-usable
[19:39] Jenalya: so the current status is that we're going to stay with the tmwAthena server

[19:40] Alfrenican: The NPC-Dialogue code seems pretty basic to me - I would think at least some of it could be converted using some perl or python scripting...
[19:41] Boomer the Kran: no Alf, there's commands in eathena not in ms, and vice versa, would be a major rework of a lot of content
[19:40] Jenalya: if you're interested in manaserv development, you can get in contact with the manaserv developers in #mana on Freenode
[19:40] MarkU: How many devs are working on manaserv? which skills are needed for that work?
[19:41] Jenalya: MarkU, manaserv development means programming in c++
[19:41] Jenalya: the most active people there are Ablu and bjorn
[19:41] MarkU: excelent :)
[19:42] tux9th: and <PjotrOrial


[19:40] tux9th: Okay as more and more are leaving I want to get a very important message out again: If you want to get involved then just go for it! We don't bite. Just contact us on the forums, in game or in IRC.
[19:41] tux9th: Check the Wiki for Tutorials about Mapping, etc. If you don't understand it ask in IRC / Forum / in game!
[19:43] tux9th: we WILL get back to you

* Mapping

[19:43] Boomer the Kran: ima jack around with mapping..... is there link to Tiled and some sort of tutorials? I've made sidescrolling junk(mine anyways) before
[19:43] tux9th: http://www.mapeditor.org/
[19:43] tux9th: http://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Mapping_Tutorial
[19:44] tux9th: Boomer come on IRC and ask me. or write me a PM or in game if you have any questions. I am happy to help or review your work
[19:44] Boomer the Kran: ty too
[19:44] Boomer the Kran: ok, I'll pester you
[19:45] tux9th: Great! Looking forward!
[19:45] tux9th: You can also always check this page http://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/ ... _and_Teams
[19:45] tux9th: There you can find out what is going on and who works on what
[19:46] tux9th: So if you find any of these topics interesting you can get in touch with the right person

* Mobs

[19:44] ginosuper: Can I make new mobs myself?
[19:44] tux9th: If you're good with the graphics you can! For graphic development I'd talk to Nami. He is our Pixelartist atm
[19:45] ginosuper: Okay :)
[19:45] Jenalya: oh, and the current development data can be found in our git repositories. i've links to those in my forum signature
[19:46] Jenalya: i learned most development stuff by looking at already existing content data :)
[19:46] ginosuper: Which git contains the graphics?
[19:46] tux9th: client-data

[19:52] ginosuper: What about new mobs? :D
[19:52] Boomer the Kran: wouldn't be too hard really, have an external from server process that watches log for Parua "will start in....." and drop that to twitter through API
[19:52] ginosuper: Like dragons or something :P
[19:53] Alfrenican: With all the talk about encouraging exploration - any thoughts to travel discounts or guides about what areas you should be in at what level beyond the wiki walkthrough?

[19:53] Jenalya: ginosuper, new mobs require new graphics - and we're currently short on pixel artists - so if you're interested in creating new monsters, that'd be very welcome
[19:53] Jenalya: for information about pixeling, Nami can help
[19:54] ginosuper: I will contact him as soon as possible :)
[19:54] tux9th: He is currently avi on IRC =)

-Morphing

[19:54] Boomer the Kran: would current server be capable of mobs that morph? ie small dragon into dragon....old dragon into lich
[19:57] tux9th: Boomer: I don't know about morphing etc, V0id do you know something?
[19:57] FearCrua: all way above me right now though :)
[19:57] V0id: well, there isnt native morphing
[19:57] V0id: but if you look at the upcoming after-halloween event,
[19:57] Boomer the Kran: I think I know how morphing could work: mob spawns the next mob, then disappears
[19:57] V0id: there is something similar to morphing :)
[19:58] Boomer the Kran: punkin quest? I've done that. nice work
[19:58] V0id: yes. as you saw, when you kill a pumpkin..... *doesnt spoil*
[19:58] Boomer the Kran: right. get 12 then stop or suffer
[19:58] Boomer the Kran: made me lol
[19:59] V0id: oh, i mean after that boomer :)
[19:59] Boomer the Kran: ah yes at garden
[20:00] V0id: such emulation can only be done through a scenario however, not with a random mob you would find on some map
[20:00] Boomer the Kran: roflmao. let a maggot sit on top of you and take screeny, it's naughty


* Items


[20:07] LubomirR: Hello, would it be hard to add beards?
[20:08] Looser: there are beards ingame in a hat xD
[20:09] Jenalya: hm.. it might be possible to have beards as hairstyles, not sure
[20:09] tux9th: Maybe 4144 knows something :)
[20:09] Looser: please restrict that then to male chars....
[20:09] Jenalya: if you'd want it independently from the hair, it'd probably require server changes
[20:09] ChefChelios: i like hairy girls xD

[20:09] Travolta: how about bracelets (as gloves) ? I know I asked already...

[20:09] 4144: if have unused slot, it can contain any sprite/item
[20:10] Jenalya: Travolta, bracelets on the gloves slot would be possible, but i'm not sure if they'd be too tiny to see
[20:11] 4144: Jenalya if will be draw order problem with items, it will be only for mana

* Quests

[19:53] MarkU: what about linking quest in some sort to make like a story... for example, when you finish a quest, that NPC recomend other NPS that need help
[19:54] Jenalya: MarkU, some quests already do that
[19:54] Looser: like tulimshar quests...
[19:54] Travolta: somebody make a screenshot for the wiki :)
[19:55] tux9th: I already did at the beginning ;)
[19:55] Jenalya: Alfrenican, one of the open long term tasks is to add some npcs that talk about different areas of the world and hint where to go to
[19:55] MarkU: I meen in a story way....
[19:55] Anchises: Anchises wuz here
[19:57] Boomer the Kran: MarkU, have you read the all the stuff npcs say? it frequently links and with this sort of game you don't need full linearity because some ppl don't want to do certain quests

* twitter

[19:46] Travolta: hey, do you have a manaworld twitter ? :)
[19:48] Boomer the Kran: any chance o11c can get server multitthe Kran: amen on teh hatezorin of fb
[19:48] tux9th: I could set up twitter. and twitter from time to time. But we keep contact via the forums and IRC
[19:49] tux9th: best way to reach us or get information are these
[19:49] Jenalya: Boomer the Kran, i don't know what exactly o11c is working on with what priority, so best is to ask himself
[19:49] Boomer the Kran: how much work would it be to have server messages go to twitter? ie "server will restart in ...." or Parua
[19:51] Boomer the Kran: Parua on twitter would really bring in ppl for candor
[19:51] Travolta: lol
[19:51] ginosuper: xD

[19:50] Sprinkles: how about you guys make quests that gives a lot of exp points or items that helps lvling up?
[19:51] V0id: Sprinkles: there are already many useful items available through quests

[19:50] Travolta: what about lvl>99 ? :)
[19:52] Jenalya: Travolta, it is not planned to increase the maximum level - we already don't have enough content for the current levels, and it'd break some balancing aspects to allow higher levels

* Fun
[20:03] Travolta: its funny when somebody says something, and see what emotion appears over Entertainer :D


* Various unanswered requests:

[19:35] the hitman: Like i sead we could add bandages to use kinfa like food but faster
[19:36] Travolta: I personally would like to see bracelets in the game. that would look cute imo :)
[19:37] Boomer the Kran: capes
[19:37] the hitman: We could add something like stuns
[19:38] Boomer the Kran: my biggest wish: post office(send/recieve mail, including items/gp)

[19:36] Ginaria: Is there someone, who cares about advertising and merchandising (like plush Pinkies), because i noticed many gone and seems newbies dont stay?
[19:28] Looser: will there be new awsome hats? - to continue the neverending collecting :)


* Wiki
[19:35] tux9th: What my dear friend Nard asked me to do is: He struggles to make the Wiki nice and shiny and he really needs help especially with translation! If anyone of you is interested in helping this way talk to Nard! (PM on the Forums or in Game)

[20:04] tux9th: Once again: The Wiki is very short staffed. If you want to help please talk to Nard
[20:05] tux9th: Especially if you want to translate something in your mother language
[20:05] ChefChelios: na schatzi xD
[20:05] tux9th: Nard is currently the only one working on the wiki full time. and there is so much to do
[20:06] ginosuper: Could I help translating in Dutch?
[20:06] tux9th: :)
[20:06] tux9th: ginosuper. Of course!
[20:06] Boomer the Kran: he's a badass
[20:06] ginosuper: How do I do that? :P
[20:06] tux9th: Just register an account on the wiki
[20:06] tux9th: wait until you get approved
[20:06] tux9th: and then create a dutch version of whatever entry you want
[20:07] ginosuper: Okay
[20:07] tux9th: There are tutorials for that... *looking*
[20:10] tux9th: Ginosuper: I am not sure regarding how to ternslate, but if you see a bar with translation on top you can click on the "red" link and then start writing your post in the language
[20:10] tux9th: You might want to talk to nard about that :D I am not sure
[20:10] ginosuper: I'll see if I can contact him, I really want to be a help for you people :)
[20:11] tux9th: Write him a PM in the forums. He usually answers within 10hrs. Most of the time much faster
[20:11] Lizzy: WOW
[20:12] ginosuper: Okay
[20:12] V0id: you can send PeaNuts as well


[20:00] tux9th: Did we forget anything else? Did we not answer any question completely?



* Late server unavailability

[19:47] Looser: will the forum be splitted from the server that when server is down the players are informed?
[19:47] V0id: Looser: that is unlikely to happen, from what Platyna said, afaik
[20:15] Jenalya:You think to transfert the wiki on another place when the server is down, it is possible or not to do it?

[20:16] tux9th: Johanne: Its unlikely. Checke the forums. Platyna comment on that
[20:16] CRC Johanne: thanks
[20:17] tux9th: She also said that the offtime was due to DDoS if I understood correctly
[20:18] CRC Johanne: when is down for a short time it's ok but for a long time when we need the wiki
[20:19] tux9th: You can raise your concern in the forums but since Platyna owns all of this there is not much to do.
[20:19] Looser: when there is a twitter account it could be published there..
[20:19] tux9th: Well the problem is that most of the time we also do not know more than you do
[20:19] tux9th: we know that the server is offline but we don't know the reason so we cannot give you any information :P
[20:20] V0id: yes: we do not have access to the server itself. only admins do.

* Next event

[20:20] Brusselmans: Just one question "next event" ? and good job ☺ for all the guys/girls the on DEV team
[20:21] tux9th: Christmas is comming up so I would bet on the next event being christmas themed ;)

[20:14] Travolta: wow, 77 online. That's rare laately
[20:14] Jenalya: well, since many people left already, and there doesn't seem to be open questions anymore... thank you all for coming!
[20:14] Jenalya: i hope we we able to give you a better idea of what's going on in development, and maybe see you soon in irc ;)
[20:15] Travolta: though Chika was silent...
[20:23] tux9th: you're wellcome. Now you know who to ask
[20:23] tux9th: Have a good day / night / morning :) I'm off as well



*thanks for all of the info guys

[19:36] Tinker Bell: i have to go to work (boo) anyways, tyvm DEVS for this time, hope it happens more often :D
[19:42] Ziqq: thanks for all of the info guys, I'll come on IRC when I get a chance.
[19:42] tux9th: Great
[19:42] tux9th: If you join in IRC please don't leave after 5mins if you do not get an answer. Due to timezones etc. it might take a while till you get your answer.
[19:43] tux9th: This might be disappointing at first but we're also just human :)
[19:43] the hitman: I g2g thanks Dev team
[19:43] Alfrenican: Gasp! I thought becoming a dev meant you escaped all of those 'only human' type limitations!
[19:57] FearCrua: well, thanks folks. it's nice to play a game where devs actually appear for a chat.
[20:03] Looser: it is really nice that all these devs spent their time to do that for us
[20:03] /v\ARTO: ty dev team
[20:07] Boomer the Kran: dangit, I gtg(good news for all those tired of me). thanks all for your time ^.^
[20:10] Ginaria: see you all ♥ have a nice day ☺
[20:14] Alfrenican: Thank *you* all for coming. :D
[20:14] Travolta: ty for being here devs :)
[20:14] ginosuper: It was a great opportunity to know you all better :)
[20:15] ginosuper: Thank you for all the answered questions :)
[20:16] MarkU: thanks Devs!!!
[20:23] Brusselmans: You are welcome DEVs
[20:23] CRC Johanne: bye and thank you for infos :)
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Nard
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Nard »

Excuse me for being unavailable last Monday.
I will here answer for the wiki part.
There was just one question about the Dutch Translation:
There is actually no Dutch/Flemish page set, and only server administrators can change that because it requires php modification:

Code: Select all

<noinclude>This template contains translation links for user articles. This template is only for user articles. Development pages should not receive this.

Only use in the main namespace for now.
{{I18n}}
<!--ONLY SERVER ADMINS SHOULD EDIT THIS AS NAMESPACES NEED TO BE ADDED IN THE PHP CODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! --></noinclude>
<includeonly><div class ...
.
However request to change that has been made as soon as I was aware of it. I hope it will happen soon.

Thanks to the players and developers who read the wiki and give me feedback, a greater thanks to those who correct my faults and improve the style, to all translators, and to those who contributed with some wiki templates or even with a simple text. Thanks again too to Ali-G who made a great job there before me.

Nard
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o11c
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by o11c »

I couldn't come since we're working on the house (my sister is complaining about sleeping in the living room) so all my weekends are busy, and the rest of the week I have school and .

Here are some answers I would have given:
  • Unified forum/wiki/game login: would be nice (wesnoth does this), but not going to happen. If nothing else, imagine the difficulty of the transition (with name differences and possible name-collisions, people who may only have accounts on one of them ...)! (Maybe reopen the issue when it's time to create a whole new world - something that is not even roughly plotted yet).
  • Pets: not likely to happen, although peripherally, it would be nice if mobs could react more intelligently to players.
  • Brawling skill: It's easy enough to change the numbers, I haven't considered it high priority but it *is* easy so if there are balance testers ...
  • Magic level 3: there are sketched plans for being able to focus on a school of magic, rather than general magic level 3.
  • New quests: there is the logging lumber camp that is still sitting around with rough maps and script plans. It really needs graphics, although the most immediate task requires a mapper; the scripts will be easy enough.
  • Random doors: that's easy enough
  • Rebirth: is a good idea, but that's kind of like the time-travel quest, so maybe wait for that to be released before asking again.
  • An "end" to the game: that's what tmwa-Adventures is for; it is waiting for me to have a lot of free time.
  • Android client: not released or supported by us
  • Off-site backup: yes - besides whatever Platyna has, frost is also backing up to his server (hourly I think)
  • Future server: ManaServ (formerly known as TMWServ) is a conceptually-incompatible replacement that is sort-of ready (it would not be as simple as doing fancy regexen across the scripts); I am working on a fully-compatible (albeit with transitions) rewrite of the existing server. Regardless, it is desirable to *eventually* create a whole new world to fix historical balance problems.
  • Twitter notifications: would be possible with my planned new "bot" API, which is not yet started or even spec'ed.
  • Additional slots: would require protocol changes
Additionally, errors were encountered parsing the following statement:
[19:48] Boomer the Kran: any chance o11c can get server multitthe Kran: amen on teh hatezorin of fb
Former programmer for the TMWA server.
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v0id
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by v0id »

On Wednesday 5th December, 19h00 Server Time, the dev team will hold another Dev-Talk in Tulimshar bazaar.

The topic will be the same than the previous Dev-Talk: you will ask questions, you will get answers; also, current and future plans of our development will be discussed so you'll all know what's going on ;)

See you Wednesday then :)
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Jenalya
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Jenalya »

Here's the log of the Dev Talk today.
devtalk2012-12-5.txt
(31.89 KiB) Downloaded 120 times
Thanks to everyone who participated. :)
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Nard
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Nard »

As for last meeting here is most of the discussion, roughly sorted by topic:
  • [19:05] Global announcement from Jenalya: The Dev Talk at Tulimshar bazaar starts now. :)
    [19:05] Jenalya: Welcome everyone!
    [19:05] Ledmitz applause
    [19:05] Eudeman: jeeew
    [19:06] erecpile: :D
    [19:06] Jenalya: Hi Ablu! This time we also have a client developer around.
    [19:06] Jenalya: And Nami, who's a pixel artist.
    [19:06] V0id: hey Ablu :)
  • Christmas Event:
    [19:07] Jenalya: i think i'll start with the recent projects - i think all of you noticed that the Christmas Event started
    [19:07] Boomer the Kran: well done on xmas quest
    [19:08] Jenalya: there were some problems with too few spawns of Santa Slimes, we had second restart to fix that. If you like you can give me a quick feedback, if it was increased enough or if it's still too few
    [19:08] Ledmitz: yes and it ran smooth so far. no glitches that I know of.
    [19:08] Boomer the Kran: seems to be plenty now
    [19:08] Ablu: it was fine for me after update
    [19:08] Boomer the Kran: is that part of the recent lag increase?
    [19:08] kovu2296: to many for me i get lag spikes
    [19:09] Jenalya: the Santa Slimes? i don't think they cause server-wide lag
    [19:09] kovu2296: the reinseer slimes do when they respawn
    [19:09] Boomer the Kran: has anyone checked the cpu loads?
    [19:10] Ledmitz: I have always found the parent/child mobs a little laggy, but still worth it.
    [19:10] Yojimbo: i noticed it was quite high
    [19:10] Jenalya: i have had a look at the cpu loads, they looked normal, as far as i can tell. the char server and login server sometimes are on 100%, but that's seems to be usual
    [19:11] Travolta UA: botters will be happy for heaps of slimes :P
    [19:11] Ledmitz: wow.. I'd figure the map server to be the most laggy
    [19:12] mmmmna the clumsy one: My lags are better but the worst is when I cross into a new map. Used to be minutes, now is still several seconds.
    [19:14] pallor: lag
    [19:14] Eudeman: :D
    [19:14] Tinker Bell: will the new maps in nivalis stay, or go after event?
    [19:14] Jenalya: which new map do you mean? Santa's residence?
    [19:14] Tinker Bell: no, where the reinboo takes us
    [19:15] Boomer the Kran: you can walk there too Tink
    [19:15] Jenalya: that map isn't new, it was there and available since quite a while
    [19:15] Tinker Bell: true
    [19:15] Tinker Bell: ok ty
    [19:16] Jenalya: so, that map with the reinboos is a permanent one
    [19:15] Jenalya: originally it was reachable from the cindy caves, but it was changed to be connected from the caves below the snow field
  • Jenalya is now Administrator.
    [19:11] Jenalya: ah, that brings me to some other topic i wanted to mention - since a while I'm not only a dev, but also admin, you might have noticed the char "AdminJen", that's me
    [19:12] Jenalya: Frost was due to some real life issues not able to administrate the server for a while, I hope he'll come back very soon - but in the meanwhile i jumped in
    [19:12] jinks: hi adminjen
    [19:12] erecpile: good luck
    [19:12] Nami: yeah, the life of all your accounts is on Jen's hands!
    [19:13] Ledmitz: hehe
    [19:13] kovu2296: were doomed
    [19:13] Boomer the Kran: does mine feel all sticky?
    [19:13] Jenalya: this new task took and still takes quite some of my time I have for tmw, so unfortunately also from my time for development
    [19:14] Jenalya: that's i just wanted to mention, but I think we can start with the more development related topics now

    [19:14] kovu2296: devs can i suggest a quest that involes the entire server to team up and complete it
    [19:15] Nami: Kovu, if you have an idea for a quest, the best place may be the forums
    [19:15] kovu2296: right ho
    [19:15] Nami: you can post a more detailed idea there :)
  • Unreleased items:
    [19:16] Tinker Bell: i have a question regarding existing items that r not in game...
    [19:16] Tinker Bell: crown, gold armour etc, will they ever come in?

    [19:17] Jenalya: there are no specific plans for those you mentioned - but i think V0id plans to work on a quest for the assassin quest after his current project gets released
    [19:17] Tinker Bell: cool
    [19:17] V0id: there will be a new city where many new quests will be able to take place
    [19:17] Nami: Of course Tinker, it takes time to make a quest and we sometimes use the items we have already or make quest-specific items, but eventually, yes
    [19:17] Jenalya: *a quest for the assassin armor
    [19:17] cookie monster: i say we need a floder system in the bank storage
    [19:17] kovu2296: i was thinking of a weapon that can only be used with 99 stats
    [19:17] Ledmitz: I was wondering about an item that only 1 player can have at a time, but anyone can challenge for it

    [19:18] V0id: one of the first quests there will be about the assassin set
    [19:18] Tinker Bell: the new antlers that reinnboos drop, do they have, or WILL they have a use?

    [19:18] Ledmitz: A royal rumble of sorts
    [19:18] Eudeman: lol :D
    [19:18] cookie monster: add cookies pls

    [19:18] cookie monster: not the santa ones
    [19:18] Jenalya: the antlers dropped by reinboos are planned to be used in the barbarian village context, but that project is on hold because of unfinished tilesets :

    [20:20] veryape: is there plans to release all the unreleased stuff that is listed on the wiki?
  • Post office:
    [19:18] Boomer the Kran: I want a post office
    [19:18] Boomer the Kran: also messages in post office
    [19:18] Eudeman: a postOffice?!?!
    [19:18] Eudeman: thats a good idea
    [19:18] Boomer the Kran: post office - send/recieve items/gp
    [19:18] erecpile: yeah post office good
    [19:19] Tinker Bell: i love the post office idea, and ty for antler answer
    [19:19] Eudeman: postoffice <3 :D
    [19:19] Ledmitz: Aye for the P.O
    [19:19] Jenalya: the idea to have a post office sounds like something which will need server modifications.
    [19:19] Boomer the Kran been buggin devs for P.O. for long timne
    [19:19] 4144: post offices messages was with "auction bot"
    [19:19] Boomer the Kran points at 011c
    [19:20] Boomer the Kran: o11c*
    [19:20] Jenalya: since o11c is the only one working on the server code, this kind of projects are difficult to happen
  • High level maps/ Illia quest :
    [19:21] veryape: any plans for more highlevel areas here? would be good to mix the new players with more experienced players, right now it's always empty here and the games looks "dead" for new players, so some sort of incentive for older players to hang out here would be great imo
    [19:21] Ledmitz: Aye on the High lvl map
    [19:22] Jenalya: V0id is working on a quest intended for high level players, though it doesn't take place here in Tulimshar
    [19:22] Jenalya: V0id, would you like to talk about the illia quest?
    [19:22] V0id: sure
    [19:22] Nami: story time V0id ♪♫♫♪
    [19:22] V0id: you may have seen this quest mentionned in the forums
    [19:22] veryape: Jenalya: ok, i just think that a few high lvl players here would be good for the community, they might be able to help new players.. that's why i would like to have something here
    [19:23] V0id: it's about a team of 4 players having to complete several challenges
    [19:23] V0id: which will require cooperation
    [19:23] cookie monster: cool
    [19:23] Ledmitz: Very cool, yes
    [19:23] V0id: the quest has been on the testing server since september more or less
    [19:23] Boomer the Kran: best I could figure, 2 mages and 1 archer and 1 tank could do it well
    [19:24] V0id: where it has been tested with other testers, to adjust its difficulty, for everyone to enjoy it, while still being a hopefully hard challenge
    [19:25] Boomer the Kran: I've played it with the @alive command, takes forever still
    [19:25] V0id: right now, it's in a final state: we think it's ready but we sitll test it to do some small adjustments
    [19:26] V0id: you're welcome to come test it in groups of 4 players before it gets released. that release will happen within a week or 2.
    [19:26] cookie monster: and then u also need to figure out how to use it
    [19:26] Travolta UA: V0id, don't you think the high crit% of the upcoming bow will break balance in pvp ?
    [19:27] Boomer the Kran: you talking about banshee, trav?
    [19:27] V0id: Travolta UA: the new rewards are all powerful, but keep in mind not everyone will have them. or at least not before ages.
    [19:24] V0id: you will curse on me probably while doing it :)


    [19:19] kovu2296: can we also have a decent shop
    [19:19] kovu2296: market showing tux9th as using a bot
    [19:20] Travolta UA: lies !
    [19:21] cookie monster: TuX ShOLD BE A GM!!!
    [19:21] Ginaria: ignore the bot check
    [19:21] tux9th: I'm a bot
    [19:21] Nami: I believe tux is using a bot to log the server chat for the forums?
    [19:21] tux9th: I am not
    [19:21] Ledmitz: Nay on the jean shorts thing
    [19:21] tux9th: I'm for real lol
    [19:21] cookie monster: y?
    [19:21] Ginaria: tux, you can very well imitate a human
    [19:21] tux9th: this is about the dev team not me :) Please get back on topic.
    [19:21] cookie monster: u little penguin....
    [19:22] erecpile: prove your humanity XD

    [19:24] cookie monster: i call ape, grim and ginaria
    [19:25] erecpile: O_O

    [19:25] Travolta UA: cookie monster, it is good drop rate
    [19:25] cookie monster: too low
    [19:26] cookie monster: takes ages to get

    [19:26] Eudeman: I think the possibility to get spells and magic power should be better

    [19:28] cookie monster: add a easy way of getting cookies

    [19:27] erecpile: is there a way to find other players in game?
    [19:28] Boomer the Kran: erecpile: use manaplus, then click on the "ONL" button, or just go look on serverlist on website, then /w them

    [19:27] pallor: i have a question
    [19:27] pallor: why drop the Android client
  • Quest log :
    [19:27] mmmmna the clumsy one: Is there a way to determine which quests I've started but not completed?
    [19:28] Jenalya: mmmmna the clumsy one, unfortunately not, beside talking to the quest npc - there have been discussion about how to implement a quest log, but it never got over the brainstorming state
    [19:29] mmmmna the clumsy one: k
    [19:29] Ablu: it got over brainstorming
    [19:29] Ablu: and i started working on it
    [19:29] Ablu: but we had some issues with the ui code in the client
    [19:29] Ablu: which is a bit limiting at the moment
    [19:29] Ablu: so we have problems to provide a nice looking questlog
    [19:29] Eudeman: so what are the problems as far as a questlog is concerned
    [19:30] cookie monster: hard to remember the giant amout of quests a lvl 1 - 15
    [19:30] mmmmna the clumsy one: I know that much, but it seems I'm in the middle of more than 4 quests, just lost track due to real life.
    [19:30] kovu2296: i agree we need a quest log
    [19:30] Pjotr Orial: Eudeman: the quest log needs some design decisions and more important, somebody would need to update all the quests and such to provide quest log messagess I guess
    [19:30] Ledmitz: Agree with cookie on this 1. would be nice to see quests finished somewhere.. maybe even an npc
    [19:31] kovu2296: they need to chain link properly too
    [19:31] Ablu: questlog is definetly something that is on the todo list for client server. But with current client it is a bit messy to do
    [19:31] mmmmna the clumsy one: Ledmitz idea!
    [19:31] Boomer the Kran: that would be a lot of coding, but not as much as you'd think, use all the bytes stored by quests in users db
    [19:32] Boomer the Kran: I think
    [19:32] Jenalya: i had some idea of how to provide something similiar to a questlog, but only for a specific quest - i might try it out for the next quest i'm going to work on
    [19:32] Pjotr Orial: Boomer the Kran: not every quest state should be sent to client, i.e. think of the number of maggots required for green dye
    [19:32] Ledmitz: oh nice 1 Boomer.. or md5.. same idea
    [19:32] Travolta UA: we don't have that much quests, so quest log shouldn't have high priority IMO
    [19:32] Ablu: it is mainly about
    [19:32] Ablu: it is mainly about displaying the info in client. At the moment it is not even possible to do line breaks easily in the client code
    [19:33] Jenalya: i had the idea to have an item that can be used and which gives you a message depending on the quest state of a certain quest - so e.g. you'd get a magic note, and you can use it to get your current status of the quest
    [19:33] kovu2296: as if your going to do quest log the chain linking is going to confuse the hell out of you
    [19:34] 4144: Ablu for mana many things impossible
    [19:34] Travolta UA: anything is possible in Mana World :)

    [19:29] Nami: mmmmna the clumsy one: you could check out the wiki on the manaworld to see which quests you can do at which level, the most recent quests are not there though
    [19:29] mmmmna the clumsy one: ME??? ugh.



    [19:27] Ledmitz: You've had bad luck cookie, that's all.. so have I on other things

    [19:28] Piki: does the test server allow to log in with the same info as on this one? or does it requirea a separate account?
    [19:28] Eudeman: yes , good question
    [19:28] V0id: Piki: no.
    [19:28] V0id: separate account

    [19:29] Boomer the Kran: it's call a text editor mmmmm....
  • Orum quest :
    [19:32] cookie monster: i hink that you should still be able to see ppl in the smaall orum cave after u finished
    [19:34] Jenalya: cookie monster: the orum cave before and after you finished the quest are actually two different places you get warped to depending on the quest state
    [19:34] cookie monster: oh
    [19:35] cookie monster: but i cant help ppl to do the quest then
    [19:35] mmmmna the clumsy one: ahhh... stuff changes after certain quests!
    [19:35] Ledmitz: I appreciate that maps expand with quest status too
  • bug tracker
    [19:32] kovu2296: does mana world have a mantis bug tracker
    [19:33] Nardis: kovu yes
    [19:34] Nardis: kovu2299 :
    [19:34] Nardis: [@@http://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Reporting_Bugs |http://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Reporting_Bugs@@]


    [*]Maxlevel (lvl cap)

    [19:35] cookie monster: deleate the lvl cap pls
    [19:36] Ledmitz: LVL cap... agreed. raise to 120 at least.. manaplus can do it... hehe
    [19:36] Tinker Bell: lvl cap should be higher for sure
    [19:37] cookie monster: yay i raised a whole disscution :)
    [19:37] Jenalya: we're not going to raise the maximum level, that'd horribly break the balancing, which already is broken in some points
    [19:37] Ledmitz: and those that have stayed with their 99 for so long would be rewarded
    [19:37] Tinker Bell: jen, i have a comprimise if i may
    [19:38] Nami: maybe there should be a reward quest only doable at lvl 99 for those who get there with a nice reward?
    [19:38] mmmmna the clumsy one: Well, tty all later
    [19:38] Tinker Bell: simply raise it by 1, lvl 100 could be MUCH harder to get to, like 10kk ex = 1%, just something to do for 99s
    [19:38] Nardis: level 99 is a quest itself the longest one

    [19:39] Ledmitz: @Jenalya: What do you mean by level/balance? That it would increase too much at higher levels?
    [19:40] Jenalya: Ledmitz, quests, armor stats and monster stats are decided with the maximum of level 99 in mind, increasing that would make all those things unbalanced
    [19:41] kovu2296: please can we have better content for aecher like land of fire has
    [19:41] Nami: more maps and mobs are appearing as we do more quests
    [19:42] V0id: Ledmitz: adding more mobs and maps isnt the solution to adapt the balancing to a lvl cap lifting
    [19:42] Tinker Bell: omg i have an idea.... what if when u hit 99, u can have a choice, u can STAY a 99 or...
    [19:42] Tinker Bell: u can become lvl 1 again, but then u get some very special item
    [19:42] Nami: but as said, there is a long list of things to do/fix so getting new content out is hard and time consuming
    [19:42] Ledmitz: ...@Nami ... yes, but i mean a blace to lure higher than level 99's to. Why fight in the graveyard, if another map has mobs worth more exp and too tough for lower levels?
    [19:43] Jenalya: we already don't have enough content for the middle levels, so that's priority before even thinking about extending the level cap
    [19:43] Ledmitz: oh OK... good point Jenalya
    [19:44] Travolta UA: I like Tinker Bell's idea. The player can have some rare item after lvl99, then become lvl1 again
    [19:45] Tinker Bell: jen... at lvl 99 i can "trade" my levels for something like the gold armour, then i can train my char over again
    [19:48] Jenalya: about the idea of exchanging your level 99 against a rare item... it's interesting, though i see the problem that the "old" level 1 character can't do any of the quests you did during your first run
    [19:49] Jenalya: so it'd be like throwing away your character for the rare item
    [19:49] tux9th: you could easily reset all quest variables
    [19:49] Nami: so level 1-99 on pure grinding...we don;t wan everyone to commit suicide!
    [19:49] Travolta UA: yes, it's not worth that
    [19:49] Ledmitz: I like the lvl99/Item idea
    [19:49] veryape: what about getting the rare item for like -10 levels or something?
    [19:49] veryape: with a few things to choose from
    [19:50] Travolta UA: some old players ALREADY have many rare items, and many high-level chars. And newer players don't have either.
    [19:50] Tinker Bell: thats ok, jen, still would be our choice
    [19:51] Tinker Bell: but i have to go. tyvm for this meeting
  • Boss Points

    [19:40] Travolta UA: Do you plan doing something with unusable boss points from Candor? How about converting them to daily points?
    [19:45] Travolta UA: can I have an answer about Candor and boss points?
    [19:46] Ledmitz: Candor boss points... good point on priority
    [19:47] Jenalya: Travolta UA, i have some plans to use the boss points in tiered items in the barbarian village content - where you have an item which can be improved in crafting quests with the chance of breaking for each better form of the item
  • Medium lvl stuff :
    [19:30] cookie monster: add more quests for lvls 50-60
    [19:40] Jenalya: regarding challenges for high level players, V0id's illia quest is designed exactly for that purpose
  • I would like to help :

    [19:41] tux9th: I would really like to know how I could get involved in the project and help? I have no skills though... What now?
    [19:44] Ledmitz: I also have tried to contribute... but nothing happened. I have made songs and sounds.. both are quite lacking, no?
    [19:51] Ledmitz: attempt # 2 : I also have tried to contribute... but nothing happened. I have made songs and sounds.. both are quite lacking, no?
    [19:52] V0id: Ledmitz: I can't answer about that since that's not my area. but maybe Chicka-Maria could.
    [19:52] Nami: Yeah, Chicka is away on vacation I belive, she will be back in January but she checks the forums
    [19:52] V0id: She is away for a month though. poke her about that when she returns?
    [19:52] Ledmitz: January it is, then. TY V0id
    [19:53] Ginaria: Maria is on holidays
    [19:53] Ledmitz: brb
    [19:53] Jenalya: in the forums it can easily happen that a topic gets forgotten if there aren't regular updates on the topic, so I suggest to post again if you're waiting for more feedback
    [19:54] Jenalya: there were a lot of questions rather fast, so if we oversaw something, please don't hesitate to ask again
    [19:55] tux9th: I would really like to know how I could get involved in the project and help? I have no skills though... What now?
    [19:55] kovu2296: do what i do and just be a tester
    [19:55] Piki: log on to test server and provide feedback?
    [19:56] erecpile: that would be good
    [19:56] kovu2296: make sure the changes list works and report what you find
    [19:56] Nami: yep, testing quests which are released on the testserver then giving feed back on the forums or on our irc channel helps the developers a great deal, a way to contribute and play the game at same time :D
    [19:56] erecpile: XD
    [19:57] tux9th: okay. thanks :)
    [19:57] kovu2296: and get uber commands and items ofc :)
    [19:57] Nardis: tux9th : if you have no special skill, you can still write a few worlds as a feed back on forum. or on wiki
    [19:57] Nami: irc is #themanaworld @ irc.themanaworld.org
    [19:58] Piki: you could also learn how to program, there are free tutorials on the 'net :-D
    [19:58] Ablu: if you do not know what irc is just google it
    [19:59] Nardis: There is also a wiki :)

    [19:41] Ledmitz: not if you add more mobs and maps though... I know it is work. I just mean, even if it expanded slowly.

    [19:44] jinks: is the drop rate for mob raise when more than 1 ppl hit the same mobs?
    [19:44] Nami: jinks: no
    [19:44] jinks: ok thx
    [19:44] Nami: but exp changes
    [19:45] Jenalya: jinks, no the drop rates don't depend on the amount of players attacking
    [19:45] jinks: i c thx

    [19:44] kovu2296: we need more team building activites
    [19:45] kovu2296: ones that brings the server together
    [19:47] Nami: kovu, I belive that suggestion came up on the forums
    [19:47] kovu2296: really? darn i need to check forums more often
    [19:48] Nami: well, it was just somewhere in the middle of a discussion I remembered

    [19:46] kovu2296: can we also make seasonal items non tradable
    [19:47] V0id: kovu2296: it's not possible to prevent item exchanging
  • Guilds, language chat channel :
    [19:59] Boomer the Kran: I have technical suggestion which would require client code rewrites, but would save server's guildbot a lot of work
    [19:59] Boomer the Kran: instead of guildbot, implement IRC into client. then guilds take care of own services
    [19:59] tux9th: o11c is working on that but up until now there has been no progress
    [19:59] Boomer the Kran: and can always log their own chats
    [20:00] Nardis: Boomer: there is a guildchat in game it has just to be reenabled
    [20:00] Ablu: the client itself supports different channels
    [20:00] Ablu: only the server does not at the moment
    [20:00] Nardis: it is functional
    [20:00] Boomer the Kran: I have a "guild" tab. is that what you mean?
    [20:00] 4144: Boomer the Kran for this irc server must be dedicated only for game. and support game autorisation
    [20:01] 4144: you cant use any server for this without future problems
    [20:01] tux9th: [@@http://forums.themanaworld.org/viewtopi ... 41#p126441 |http://forums.themanaworld.org/viewtopi ... 41#p126441@@]
    [20:01] Nardis: Boomer: there is also a guild storage with 1000 slots
    [20:01] tux9th: boomer check this
    [20:01] Boomer the Kran: I mean the client supports IRC, then the individual guilds take care of their own chats, not on server at all
    [20:01] 4144: btw guild working fine. except anti manaplus trolling. it have some problems. it using many memory
    [20:02] 4144: if limit guild to some small number it should work fine
    [20:02] Nardis: when guild is enabled on server, manaplus uses the tabs you have and supports it
    [20:02] 4144: but not in mana client. it not support guilds
    [20:03] Ablu: it supports guilds for manaserv servers. it should not be hard to do it for tmwAthena based servers
    [20:03] Boomer the Kran: thanks for that link tuxxy
    [20:03] tux9th: np
    [20:04] Nardis: Freeyorp said that there shoumd be no problems if only a few guilds were available. He only fears guild number inflation in case everybody can found one
    [20:08] 4144: Ablu if simple to add to mana any feature. can you add ignore public chat messages if it start from some special chars?
    [20:08] 4144: this need for impliment multi language public chat
    [20:09] Boomer the Kran: twitter account for arenas, like for the pvp one and candor(via Parua)
    [20:11] Ablu: 4144: i do not know why we need to block some characters because of multilanguage chat?
    [20:12] 4144: because mana not support it and will not support it. and this protect mana players from spam
    [20:12] 4144: now mana ignore some whisper messages
    [20:12] 4144: i need same ignore for public chat
    [20:13] Ablu: you mean allowing the player to ignore a player entirely? Not only whispers? (not sure how this is related to multi language chat anyway...)
    [20:14] 4144: Ablu if mana will ignore some thing what it not support from public chat. mana player will not see it
    [20:14] Ablu: you can always start your client from console with the parameters -u -d /path/to/local/clientdata
    [20:14] 4144: Ablu i want impliment here features what mana will never support
    [20:14] Ablu: this allows you to easily test your own data on other servers
    [20:15] Ablu: 4144: do you mean further hacks that work via chat like the shops?
    [20:16] 4144: why hackas? if mana cant support features it not mean this is hacks. but yes like in whispers
    [20:16] Ablu: 4144: well lets not discuss this stuff here bot on irc. it is somehow off topic at the moment
    [20:16] 4144: it related to tmw. mana client limiting future features
    [20:18] Jenalya: 4144, since this event is for players asking questions about development, i think that topic might fit better into an irc discussion
    [20:18] 4144: ok :)
  • New projects
    [20:05] V0id: one more thing about active projects: probably at the same time than illia quest, will be released new sorcerer robes.
    [20:05] Nami: dont spoil all the surprises !_!
    [20:06] V0id: they are "new" as in: you can dye that red line to another color
    [20:06] Boomer the Kran: ah difference like red bowler hat (brown) and such?
    [20:07] V0id: something like that. but you cant change your bowler hat to a bowler hat (brown)
  • You are welcome to Join!
    [20:07] Jenalya: another topic I'd like to mention: if you have ideas about new quests, would like to help with mapping or creating new graphics, you're very welcome to do so
    [20:08] Jenalya: you can post in the forums about things you create or ideas you have, or join irc to discuss
    [20:08] tux9th: I don't know if you know but these three people with the DEV Caps are the ONLY active Developers besides Chicka-maria. They're trying to do the impossible and do it all alone but in fact they can't! They need a lot of help. Maybe some of you can help them!
    [20:09] tux9th: These three people are creating ALL of the latest content

    [20:08] Materazzi: i would like more pvp maps
    [20:08] Materazzi: the whole game have to be pvpable
  • Music :
    [20:07] Jenalya: or music
    [20:07] Ledmitz: Music!!!
    [20:08] Ledmitz: btw, I have a couple music patches made up for those that like in game music, but they'll never be posted
    [20:09] Travolta UA: Ledmitz, how to install the locally ? :)
    [20:10] Jenalya: Ledmitz, why don't you want to post them?
    [20:10] Ledmitz: @ Travota: select don't download music in client, then copy .zip files to local dir... just msg me if interested.. I really did it for me, but I like changing up... why not others?
    [20:12] Ledmitz: I have SOME of my own music posted already.. other tracks are copyright or already proposed... Chilling_Environment, for example. I had that set as music to the swamp before GY... not mine though
    [20:13] Ledmitz: I should add though that I cannot add new tracks to new maps, only rename music files for it to work
    [20:15] Nardis: Ledmitz : I suggest you post your music and we can ask 4144 to make a patch to mana plus to remap musicfiles
    [20:13] Ledmitz: unless I run my own server, which I tried and obviously have no resources for
    [20:17] Ledmitz: @Nardis if 4144 wants to and likes current tracks posted by me in the forum, then I will for sure make more. I like OverwhelmedUnderground and Dreary day the best. I have posted sfx to the forum too.
    [20:18] Jenalya: Ledmitz, Nardis, i think it's more constructive to work on getting new songs included in the game directly :)
    [20:19] Ledmitz: @Jenalya: Agreed, but I've had no luck so far
    [20:20] Nardis: sure, but I also think it is also nice if a player can choose the music among various propositions
    [20:20] Nardis: and music is dealt with by the client
    [20:20] Jenalya: music isn't really my field of expertise, but could you post in the relevant topics to bump them, and I'm going to suggest how to handle it further?
    [20:21] Jenalya: Ledmitz ^
    [20:22] Ledmitz: @Jenalya: TY bump.. I should do that. I don't use forums enough, really.
    [20:23] Jenalya: Ledmitz, as i said, topics in the forum can be forgotten easily if there isn't much activity - feel free to poke the devs if you have the feeling that happens
    [20:23] Ledmitz: We do appreciate you guys(Developers). TY... especially for this chat.
  • Graphics :
    [20:13] Nami: If you're interesting in the graphics side of developing then please contact me, I would be glad to help. It doesn't take much equipment but a creative and imaginitive mind :P
    [20:23] veryape: yeah, I'm impressed by you guys, only four of you doing this on your spare time
    [20:23] Ledmitz: I had no idea you were so few now
    [20:24] Piki: that few dev'ing an mmo... wow
    [20:24] Jenalya: the amount varies over time, but at the moment we're a bit short on people, especially on pixel artist
    [20:24] Nami: i'm the laziest of the all also so you should kick me up the backside
    [20:26] Nami: Since an artist can only dedicate themself to one project at a time the amount of content getting rleased is limited, since we have 1 artist...imagine :O
    [20:26] Nami: the more artists we have, the more content and projects can be worked on
    [20:24] Jenalya: many projects are blocked because of missing graphics, mostly tilesets
  • Where to put stuff, ask for help...?
    [20:24] Ledmitz: I would like to help make an XML for rage, then... but I would need advice on how to incorporate an "if" statement
    [20:24] Ledmitz: Sorry.... not Rage... Brawling

    [20:25] veryape: Jenalya: is there a site where you put up requests for stuff you feel that you would like to be helped with?
    [20:20] veryape: or is it just stuff that has been tested on the test server but for some reason didn't cut it?
    [20:25] Nardis: Forum veryape
    [20:26] Ledmitz: forums.themanaworld.org
    [20:26] veryape: Nardis: ok, should check it out, thx
    [20:21] V0id: veryape: some of the content is just waiting proper quests to be released
    [20:22] V0id: while it's possible in an hour to release items in a quest like "i give you X, you give me Y", there's not much point in doing that
    [20:22] veryape: V0id: agreed
    [20:22] V0id: as you see, we are only a very few for developping content, so, things are taking time :)

    [20:26] Jenalya: there's a page in the wiki, wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Projects_and_Teams
    [20:27] Jenalya: on that page there are the active projects listed as well as projects that have been started but put on hold for some reason

    [20:26] Nardis: you can also use wiki to write your ideas
    [20:27] Nardis: you have an Userpageand can add subpages
    [20:27] veryape: ok cool
    [20:27] Nardis: you can include text, graphics and maybe music with the proper addons

    [20:28] veryape: well i have to run, thanks for the chat and thanks for all your work that goes into developing! bye
    [20:29] tux9th: bye
  • Testing Illia again
    [20:31] V0id: then, for those interested,
    [20:31] V0id: i propose you join on the testing server to have some fun testing illia ☺
    [20:32] Jenalya: right!
    [20:32] V0id: if we are more than 4, we ll make rotations for everyone to be able to test
  • Bye
    [20:30] Jenalya: i have the impression there aren't any open questions at the moment (and also there are some dishes waiting to be washed in my kitchen), so I think we can close the event for today. ☺
    [20:30] Nardis: same here
    [20:31] Jenalya: thanks to everyone for coming, and if you have any more questions, are interested in development or have feedback, feel free to contact us in forums, in irc or game
"The language of everyday life is clogged with sentiment, and the science of human nature has not advanced so far that we can describe individual sentiment in a clear way." Lancelot Hogben, Mathematics for the Million.
“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness.
"If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy." Donald Knuth.
Ablu
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by Ablu »

If anyone is interested. I collected the questions during the talk to see which questions are still open.

I wrote this during the time of the event. So it only contains some rough topics + responses / dropped ideas:
(I did not cleaned it up. But if it helps somebody)
http://piratepad.net/ep/pad/view/ro.w48 ... jFq/latest

Regards
Ablu
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o11c
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by o11c »

the log wrote: <stuff about lag>
I'm not aware of any particular problems relating to master/slaves.
login-server and char-server having 100% is not *good*, but it might be usual. Perhaps it's while it's dumping the save file. (Dumping the save file is the most expensive thing currently done by the server - but in the *long* run the map-server will become most expensive again)
the log wrote: [19:17] Ledmitz: I was wondering about an item that only 1 player can have at a time, but anyone can challenge for it
Interesting idea ("artifact"s) but the server doesn't have the necessary infrastructure.
the log wrote: [19:18] Boomer the Kran: post office - send/recieve items/gp
*Theoretically* possible now via scripts, but to be done *right* would require a fair bit of work. And that's a feature, less important than cleanup.

Of course, there is the bot approach
the log wrote: [19:27] pallor: i have a question
[19:27] pallor: why drop the Android client
We don't have an Android client. A third party offered one, but has been ... difficult.
There's also an experimental manamobile client but I think it only supports manaserv, and I don't know how well at that.
the log wrote: <Quest log>
I had a prototype that just did the Tulimshar quests, without touching the server. It could be called from an NPC or an item.

The hard part is adding *all* the quests.
the log wrote: <bug tracker>
Yes, we have mantis, but we're thinking of switching to github.
the log wrote: [19:47] V0id: kovu2296: it's not possible to prevent item exchanging
Well, there's code *somewhere*, but it doesn't work.
the log wrote: <chat channels>
I have most of the necessary backend stuff lying in pieces, but it's still a fair bit of work to put it together.

It's inaccurate to say the client supports IRC - it just uses a couple commands with similar names.

I want to delete guilds *as they are* since there's a lot of mess due to guild storage, castles, etc. but I'm open to re-adding native guild support later.
the log wrote: <various features with 4144>
I don't think the server-side whisper-ignore list is worth keeping.

As for shops and such, I'm open to adding packets, even if the mana client doesn't support them in the foreseeable future - it's a lot easier to add packets to the server than to the client.

Though, there already *are* packets used to buy/sell from NPCs, and NPCs are really not that different than mobs or players.

Of course, this is lower priority than cleanup. But I *finally* have my new network backend ready, I just need to port the server to it (why hasn't sora finished the documentation part yet?). That leaves fixing the savefiles and little things like the magic rewrite and chat channels.
the log wrote: <music>
Wesnoth has a *huge* set of UMC Music (Book 1 through Book 8; 8 or more tracks per book - if you're browsing the addons page, the one without "book" in its name is just an old copy of book 1) in addition to their main music. And Wesnoth is also GPL.

Some of the UMC music is not great, but some is, and of course the mainline music is good.

the log wrote: helping in general
Graphics artists are the greatest need of course. The lumber camp is all planned out but lacks quite a bit of art, and we can't begin the Time Travel quest until after that.

Musicians and Scripters are somewhat low priority, for different reasons. (Music is not "essential" whereas scripting always gets hung up waiting for graphics and we have plenty of people who can do scripting)

These last days I *have* had a surprising number of people ask to help me with the server code, though nothing has been finished yet ... It's kind of hard for me to coordinate, being offline weeknights. Basically, if you want to help with server code, you need to be *available* during the weekend.
Former programmer for the TMWA server.
4144
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Re: Ask Developers and get answers!

Post by 4144 »

o11c wrote:
the log wrote: <various features with 4144>
I don't think the server-side whisper-ignore list is worth keeping.

As for shops and such, I'm open to adding packets, even if the mana client doesn't support them in the foreseeable future - it's a lot easier to add packets to the server than to the client.

Though, there already *are* packets used to buy/sell from NPCs, and NPCs are really not that different than mobs or players.

Of course, this is lower priority than cleanup. But I *finally* have my new network backend ready, I just need to port the server to it (why hasn't sora finished the documentation part yet?). That leaves fixing the savefiles and little things like the magic rewrite and chat channels.
Server side whisper ignore will free client connection from unneded spam. If player want ignore all whispers he/she can ignore it in client side.
But client will receive all whisper and silently ignore it. Sender will not know is message accepted by client or not.
With server side ignore client will receive nothing and sender will receive message what whisper was ignored.
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