Space

This time, I am starting 100% from scratch, asides from models, and some intro stuff.

The good news, is that this new version will be greater, and better than ever! I’ve learned a LOT, and I’ve ready to whack it all into action, to provide system optimizations, make it easier for me to simply modify my code, instead of having to rewrite it, and more!

I can’t fill you in on the details until the release of SpaceOnline 1.0.0, but we are taking quite a dive in another direction!

Do note that SpaceOnline has been backed up, but really didn’t have much progress to it, so no worries.

This reprogram is 100% necessary, and will help ensure the future of SpaceOnline.

Well, I’ve been waiting, and waiting… For something… Help on a wordpress forum! MY patience has run out, so, I have decided to make my own! It shouldn’t be THAT hard, right? I mean, if you think about it, all it is, is… Well. Lot’s, and lot’s of stuff.

This will probably be one of my BIGGEST PHP ventures EVER.

No link as of yet, but once I get the system going, I’ll go ahead and post, and give you a link.

Hiyah! I’ve decided to start taking screenshots when I play SpaceOnline, and put them on the web!

Take a look at all of them, and tell me what you think!

Sillowette:
Cool, or creepy?

Crescent:

Nasa Logo:
Looks a bit like some form of nasa logo?

Grey face:
Ok… A grey face…

Rocky face
A rock face….?

Planet face:
a….. PLANET FACE?!?!?!?! What madness is this?!!?!?!!”

Two planets:
Twins? I think not!

Planet coming just a tad close…
“But I wuuuv you!!!”

About to be hit…
Uhoh….

I should be hit soon…

BAHHH!!!!!!!! Geddawayfrome!!!!!!
Big…

Oh my god… HOW BIG IS THIS THING?!?!

Hit!
ARRGGHHH HI'M HIIIITTTT!!!

Two secodns later…
Wow.. This is fast.

Two more seconds later:
I moved that far in two seconds..??

To those of you who signed up for Open Servers, your comment was not in vein!

First of all, I’d like to thank you guys for spreading the word about Open Servers, I now have about 13 participants and I see a couple, that I did not personally invite.

Now for the real post… You all may be wondering why I have not sent you all an invitation to Open servers in a while (For some of you, I haven’t at all).

The reason for this is that I got a lot of input at the last Open servers; Both from SpaceOnline it’s self (how it handled more than two players) and from those who played it. I have likewise been busy fixing bugs, and programming new features.

In other words, Space has entered the stages of “nonstable” versions again, and is not fit for public testing.

By the way, you can look forwards to a soundtrack in the next Open Server release of SpaceOnline! Many thanks to the designer of the soundtrack, Android! (http://androidmusic.greendaysgroup.com)

What are Open Servers?

SpaceOnline is primarily a PRIVATE game. That means that the public rarely gets to see anything of SpaceOnline as it is now. However, the problem with this is that I never get any outside opinions. The goal of Open Servers is like that of a Open House. To show users around the normally private space (No pun intended). However,the similarities end there. Instead of trying to sell you what I am showing you, I simply want to know what you think of what Im sowing you.

Since the last Open Servers:

Hiyah! The results from the first Open Server were quite helpful, and I have programmed some MAJOR changes to SpaceOnline’s core physics.

The cool thing about this, is that the new physics can emulate the original settings, PLUS anywhere in between! The idea is that different ships use the same script, but have different abilities. For now the Necon Speed Fighter has top notch Anti-Slip settings, but that will change.

Open Servers 2nd Gen:

As you may have gathered, you guys will be trying out the new physics for Space, and if I have the time, maybe even a new camera mode.

While you are playing, bear in mind these questions:

From 1-100, 1 being very poor, and 100 being absolutely amazing, what do you think the quality of SpaceOnline is?
From 1-100, 1 being no potential, and 100 being absolutely absolutely fantastic, what do you think thepotential of SpaceOnline is?
How do you like the controls (Key positions) of SpaceOnline?
How do you like the maneuverability (How the ship responds to these controls)?
Do you have any ideas for SpaceOnline?
Do you have any complaints about SpaceOnline?

Those who would like to participate:
If you would like to participate, you will need to leave a comment. (The “No Comments”/”X comments” button (X being how many comments there are))

When you leave your comment, we will require some form of contact information -

If you wish to be contacted via email, just enter your email into the email box.
If you wish to be contacted via Plexpedia, Marsxplr, Bitfighter forums, or Unity forums account, put noemail@noemail.noemail in the email box, and leave your account name in the comment, along with where it is from. For instance, I would insert “Mars Account : flyclub”, or “Unity Forums Account: Flynn” at the end of my comment.

Spread the word.

I’ll be using this to post minor/large updates, and stories about SpaceOnline development.

New:

Anti-Slip calculations, and modifications officially complete! – The ship still needs to be tuned, but I’ll leave it as-is for now. It is much easier to command at the moment. Don’t expect it to be so easy forever, each kind of ship has its own stats. Some ships will be amazingly fast with ZERO anti slip, anywhere between, and vice versa.

And… Maybe one ship will have it all. Death weapon. Adjustable speed that can betaken to any level. 100% Anti-slip. But you are not likely to even see what such a ship looks like. And if you do, you will probably be it’s enemy.

One more thing… Ascedonians are only the BEGINNING of the races. If you think they are cool, wait until you come across their masters.

Old:

Working on the SpaceOnline ship script, I discovered a dirty little secret… Apparently, the anti-slip velocity modifications were never being applied! Imagine that. :/

The first, and second sucessful Open Servers were hosted today!

And here are my conclusions:

• Player complants
  • The controls are too hard
    • What players are referring to is the ship slip. The ship physics were never fully programmed, and as such, the ship’s anti slip drives never activate, until no controlls are pressed. I have to come up with some genius way of telling when, and where the player needs anti-slip.
  • Too cramped
    • Players seem to think that SpaceOnline feels cramped.. Closed. Because SpaceOnline should feel quite the opposite, I will be looking into figuring out why. I think that the cramped chat, clamped camera mode, and the recently reduced window size, may have something to do with this. I’ll do all I can to allieviate these issues.
• Player requests
  • Better cameras
    • Players think that the camera should be somewhat “disconnected” from the ship.. So that it does not move precisely with the ship, but instead pursues the ship. This would give players a better feel for their current momentum, amongst just making things cooler. Players also think that some more camera distance would be nice.
• Bugs found
  • A major place registration bug has been found in the core of SpaceOnline Racing. Efforts to fix this bug will be launched soon.

Please comment! Add your thoughts.

Being a one-man developer, with only one beta tester, I am a little bit worried about the direction of SpaceOnline. As such, I have decided that at every “Stable”, and every “Complete” version release, I will host an “Open” server. In this server, anyone from the public is invited to join, and play SpaceOnline. The purpose of this, is to get an outside opinion on the development of SpaceOnline.

If you participate in the open game, you will be asked questions about what you thought of the game. Bear in mind these questions while participating:

From 1-100, 1 being very poor, and 100 being absolutely amazing, what do you think the quality of SpaceOnline is?
From 1-100, 1 being no potential, and 100 being absolutely absolutely fantastic, what do you think the potential of SpaceOnline is?
How do you like the controls of SpaceOnline?
Do you have any ideas for SpaceOnline?
Do you have any complaints about SpaceOnline?

If you would like to participate, you must comment!
If you do not have an email, use noemail@noemail.noemail.

Your IP can be traced, so please do not abuse the comments.

You will need to provide some form of contact information, such as plexpedia account, marsxplr.com account, Unity Forums account, bitfighter forums account, or email. (Emails may not be successful) I will use this contact information to alert you of an open game. Usi g this contact information, I will send you updates on the open servers.

The New Space project was started summer last year – It has been a year since that day!

As it turns out, my new master server probably won’t work.

Firewalls, and other bad networking conditions will likely be an issue. Combining my master server with Unity’s NAT facilitator (AKA Cool thingymabob for getting past firewalls, and such) will be impractical.

However, there is hope.

After talking with some people very well studied in the subject (Not Unity specific, but good enough to understand how the Unity Master Server works) I have found how what could be wrong with the Master Server.

First of all Unity’s Unity’s master server system is designed to run on a dedicated server. Dedicated servers can only handle so much traffic; Likewise too much traffic = super unreliable networking.

Unity’s hosted Master Server, is not intended for complete reliability, likewise it’s probably not using a super high capacity dedicated server – one capable of properly handling all of the traffic coming to it.

THis also explains why Dime Rocket has stopped working lately. A while ago, I came across a post by Aubrey, giving a link to Dime Rocket. It worked for a while (Thanks, Aubrey!), but then started to decline.

My guess is that the DimeRocket master server was well within it’s range – but then, it’s link got posted, and many needed developers – such as I – started using it. This probably gave the server more traffic than it could handle, and… Poof – buggy master server.

Now, there is hope for Space… Some time, may be never, maybe even in six months, I may be able to host a Cloud dedicated server. The advantages of this are: It’s a dedicated server – Unity appropriate – and it is Cloud; Cloud environments share the same data amongst multiple computers. Many sytems simply split one computer into quite a few, and give the data to one slice.

Cloud + Dedicated Server = Reliable master server.

No promises, though!

For now, however, I plan to migrate back to the Dime Rocket server, or find something better, and less known – at least until a long term solution is found.