Talad (Leader/Founder)
Eonwind (Rules)
Zunna (Rules/Settings)
Mordaan (Settings)
Venalan (Settings Lead)
Uadjet (GM Lead)
Emaline (GM Team)
Gag says: Mylady.
Dorbaine says: HI all, willbe afk in meeting so I can read logs later.
Gag says: I wonder if it will happen with so little audience
Eonwindd Says: we can have the meeting anyway, in my opinion
Migg says: Happy new Cycle everyone!
Mordaan smiles "To you as well."Migg says: Or more appropriately, Happy New Year!
Eonwindd Says: happy new year
Talad Says: Hi all
Talad Says: and happy new year
Talad Says: Hello everyone, and welcome to the "Meet the developers" event. It's an OOC meeting, where you can ask questions about the game, give comments or ideas.
Migg says: Perhaps you need to make an announcement the meeting is starting?
Migg says: and hi!
Talad Says: If you want to speak, you can walk to the stand in front of us. Please form a queue there in case there are other people. One question each, then you can queue again.
Talad Says: if there are no questions, we can update you a bit on what we are doing
Migg raises a hand
Talad Says: yes
Migg says: I have a question
Migg says: As you may know, my character and his spouse are having a baby
Migg says: I noticed Yonda often talks of kid's toys but sells none
Migg says: there are the wooden yulbar
Migg says: and something figurine
Migg says: Can these models also be sold as wooden yulbar toy, and whatever wooden figurine?
Migg says: I may have missed a third toy-like model, not sure
Gag says: I remember I made an icon or two, long ago, for such possible quest items ...
Migg says: They are quest items, but there are no toys to buy
Gag says: One was a tiny Iron Temple.
Eonwindd Says: I'm checking right now, and there is indeed an icon, but there is no 3d item
Migg says: Yes, no model, but even as icons they would be nice to have
Migg says: spare us the need to lose the questlines
Mordaan Says: can't have an item without both
Migg says: I mean, these use the bag model
Mordaan Says: ah
Migg says: Wouldn't mind that
Mordaan Says: I don't see why not from a settings standpoint.
Mordaan Says: Makes the quest item less unique, but those aren't worth much anyway.
Migg says: I guess Yonda would be the most appropriate as a seller
Mordaan looks over at EonwinddMigg says: if the items have a different description, will they not be distinct from the quest items?
Migg says: I meant name
Eonwindd Says: I agree, if settings agree, why not
Migg says: Thanks a lot!
Mordaan Says: Yes, we can also make a different item using any icon or model that's appropriate.
Mordaan Says: So there are options.
Eonwindd Says: but we should setup a specific merchant category maybe, but they need to be different from quest items
Migg says: Toys would be nice
Anysu says: Oh toys, nice.
Mordaan Says: Any other questions?
Gonger says: Greetings! I do not have a question, but a reminder. Sometimes in the forums people present ideas, and then say, "I would love to help, but I am no programmer." The reminder is that there are many different ways to help the game WITHOUT being a programmer. Help with story-telling, RP properly instead of being incommunicado while crafting. Welcome newbies. Present ideas. Plan events. Be active!
Gonger says: Ups, I talked out a bit too fast... :-)
Mordaan nods
Migg says: Indeed!
Gonger says: I will write something in that sense in the forums as well.
Mordaan Says: It's a good outlook, and yes, it should be emphasized.
Mordaan Says: Thanks, Gonger.
Eonwindd Says: yes, thanks
Eonwindd Says: Like you said there are many ways to help
Gonger says: Yes. And in some way or another, EVERYBODY can help.
Eonwindd Says: yes, exactly
Gonger says: Good developers are of course extremely important. But they are not everything.
Harither says: some smiths do some remain silent.
Eonwindd Says: In a roleplay game like this I'd say creative thinking wins over everything else
Uadjet Says: Sorry I'm late!
Migg says: Better late than never, happy new year!
Gonger says: Where is Emaline?
Uadjet Says: Working, at the moment.
Mordaan Says: Any other questions, comments, suggestions, etc?
Migg says: Um, is Uadjet on fire? Too much smoke!
Talad Says: I can speak about what I'm doing in Unreal Engine
Harither says: smokey Uadjet.
Talad Says: is any of you not familiar with what is Unreal Engine?
Mordaan throws a bucket of water on UadjetTalad Says: sorry I crashed
Anysu says: Talad went poof
Uadjet is on fire, baby!Mordaan Says: Talad Says: anyone answered not familiar?
Gonger says: No.
Talad Says: ok
Talad Says: basically I'm working on the server side
Talad Says: to have our NPCs spawn in hydlaa
Talad Says: the main topic is how to do so
Talad Says: we have two ways
Talad Says: 1) use most of the existing PS code, which means the server has all NPCs in the database and sends those to the client
Talad Says: in this method, we read the database, we see which NPCs have to be loaded, like race, position on the map, stats, ... and we load a new NPC, which is then send to all clients
Talad Says: 2) just drop our NPC in the map visually from the Unreal Engine editor in hydlaa plaza map. This was not possible in current PS.
Talad Says: This way the NPC is just part of the map permanently
Talad Says: there are different advatanges in the two approaches
Migg says: What about GMs taking the NPC over? They sometimes move them to another map
Talad Says: with method 1 we have more control on loading/unloading of certain NPCs
Talad Says: with method 2 we save some code, and we are more "UE-compatible"
Talad Says: there is a function to impersonate an NPC I think as default inthe engine
Talad Says: so should be no problem
Gonger says: Sounds good!
Talad Says: I'm doing some tests to see which method is better
Migg says: ah great, I thought 1 would be easier to code, if not I'd say go for 2
Talad Says: and define the way it will be
Talad Says: also I found a developer which is creating a MMO framework for UE, called PRO/MMO
Talad Says: if you google you should find it
Talad Says: he would be interested in having PlaneShift use this framework, so we are collaborating
Eonwindd Says: cool
Anysu says: Neat
Talad Says: this can help us to understand better the possiibilities
Harither says: wow
Mordaan Says: could be a nice frame of reference for us
Talad Says: the framework is open source and allows already many basic functions like inventory, stats, ...
Talad Says: so we may decide to reuse some of it
Mordaan Says: so not everything has to be developed from scratch
Talad Says: it also has instanced dungeons and on demand servers
Talad Says: which may be interesting
Eonwindd Says: VERY interesting
Talad Says: I'm working with their main developer these days to see what can be reused.
Eonwindd Says: rules had several ideas and may very well used dungeon instances
Talad Says: If he reads this chat log, I want to thank him for the good help he is providing
Migg says: You think of reusing parts of the framework code or of using the framework?
Mordaan Says: Nice. Much appreciated.
Damola greets devs, gms and game masters
Damola says: and players
Talad Says: both are possible
Migg says: I think using the framework may be easier
Talad Says: will be long to explain the constraints of using their backend, and also probably too boring for this audience
Damola tilts her head "Talking about Unreal port?"
Mordaan Says: Yes
Talad Says: I think as we proceed in learning the new engine, we will start to trash some of our old code
Talad Says: but for now I'm keeping the main structure similar to current PS, just for me to have a familiar structure
Mordaan Says: Sure, as things evolve, some things will become antiquated and can be removed.
Mordaan Says: Out with the old and in with the new.
Eonwindd Says: also we have a lot of existing script, quests, etc. and it will be easier to try to get them to work as is in the first place
Eonwindd Says: and eventually rewrite what UE does better over time
Eonwindd Says: *what UE does better than PS code
Mordaan Says: yep
Harither says: is it possible to log in already?
Talad Says: I can
Talad Says: for now you can see a part of hydlaa plaza
Talad Says: and move around
Talad Says: well, you can also create a character
Talad Says: and the char creation is pretty much the same as the current "quick creation"
Damola says: thats a good start already.
Migg says: Early beta testers should be eagerly available
Harither says: *raises hand and grins at Miggs*
Talad Says: want another "Ring of the Past" ?
Talad Says: this time will be for UE beta access
Mordaan Says: Talad mentioned that in IRC. Hopefully 2018 will be the year for a true UE demo. >.>
Migg says: Is the demo a good start for the client? Or you have one already
Talad Says: the small game crystal hunt we published is a demo of the engine
Talad Says: I mean our first demo
Eonwindd Says: oh speaking about help needed, if you ever happen to know someone willing to help and skilled in creating effects for UE (or willing to learn) we could use some help
Talad Says: next one will allow people to connect
Migg says: great!
Eonwindd Says: one things we're sure about is we can't port the current effects and they will have to be done from scratch, and this is a monumental task
Migg says: you mean spells and such, or weather?
Harither says: effect like the torches in the cave and in front of the temple? and the sparkling crystal?
Eonwindd Says: spells and such
Mordaan Says: But once someone gets the hang of doing this using the UE tools, it could go quickly. We hope, anyway.
Eonwindd Says: yes
Damola says: will unreal engine allow for somewhat advanced effects? I like the current ones, but just asking
Talad Says: yes
Talad Says: the graphical part will be as awesome as any commercial game
Gonger says: Will we stop seeing Energy Arrow hit a target, after the messages about damage?
Damola says: Nice, Talad.
Damola ponders firing an Energy Arrow at Uadjet to find out what Gonger is talking about *nah, just kidding
*
Talad Says: I'm expecting to see NPCs noticing you less in darkness
Talad Says: and getting alerted when you come to light or make noise
Mordaan Says: cool
Talad Says: all that is available to us, to a certain extend
Uadjet Says: Nice! Stealth should be fun to have available for all the sneaky types.
Migg is already level 5 in hide in shadows
Talad Says: ahah, good
Talad Says: we can keep stats as the database is the same
Migg says:
Talad Says: ok, anything else?
Talad Says: or we can wrap up
Damola says: I have seen something very nice in another game: When you creep there your char gets a partial yellow circle around it and when it is complete the NPC is about to notice the char, this is indicated by a red circle… of course, I wonder how could a char know whether a NPC would detect the char on the other hand
Anysu sneaks up and trys to hide behind Migg.
Damola nods "I like to make a little announcement and call for testing about my https / TLS implementation for Planeshift server."
Migg says: \o/
Damola says: planeshift.teamix.org, including myplane is available as https now, so no need to send login password in clear text over the wire anymore.
Damola says: (at least not for myplane access)
Mordaan Says: Once we get things running and stable, we can look at a lot of those little things. Like afk indicators, umm other such things I can't think of now.
Damola says: It would be kind if some players could test the https with their web clients, once we are confident that it works okayish, a permanent redirect from http to https makes sense
Damola says: I found no issues.
Mordaan Says: nice, thanks Damola
Migg says: well, seems OK, it now loads through HTTPS and uses TLS
Talad Says: ok, see you soon
Talad wavesDamola says: also server has updated database and a kernel with basic fixes for Meltdown, since today. This required a short down time.
Damola waves
Talad Says: thanks for your participation
Damola says: Thank you for continuining on working on Unreal port.
Migg says: Thanks a lot for all the good work!
Mordaan Says: Thanks for attending!
Anysu says: Thanks
Mordaan Says: This are really slow now but hopefully 2018 will be a great and breakthrough year.
Harither says: indeed i guess some cant wait to test the new hydlaa
Mordaan crosses his fingersMigg says: Hear Hear!
Mordaan Says: So that's the meeting. See you around.
Mordaan waves
Migg says: Bye!
Mordaan Says: *poof*
Migg says: Uadjet, don't jump around!
Eonwindd Says: cool Damola
Migg says: You make the smog spread wider!
Migg looks around for a fire extinguisher
Migg says: I hope Derghir can't burn
Harither says: his fists are burning
Migg says: Also your desc is wrong Uadjet
Damola smiles at Migg "Now you have some use for a fire extinguisher"
Migg says: It should say "back on", not off
Uadjet Says: Ah, quite right.
Uadjet Says: Fixed. Thanks!
Migg says: yw!
Gag says: Damola looks hot!
Migg says: Sure does!
Migg says: OK then, see you!
