Era Dev Update 11/22/2009

[cbk1994]

I know we haven't been real good about providing updates about the "new Era" project, so we'll take a few minutes and show what's been going on.

• Gang System
  
  

  A new gang system is being developed by salesman which will focus around competition. Leaders will be able to decide their own priorities and develop their gang into whatever they feel a gang should be. It can be as lame as a party, or expand into something much, much more...
  
  We hope to release the gang system on the main server toward the end of December.

• Support Center
  
  

  The support center, which has been released on the main server, has made it easier for the player <-> PR gap to be crossed, and allowed us to stay on top of communication. We are working to incorporate the support center with other staff tasks.

• Spar System
  
  

  The spar system, which has also been released on the main server, allows players to become more involved with spars and track their performance, as well as compete for the top spot.

• Banking System

  The banking system has been updated with more efficient and modern storing means, as well as a brand new interface. You can see it already on the main server, though there will be some extra features on the Dev server.

• Inventory
  
  

  The new inventory (Q-menu) allows you to organize your items the way you want to, and also sports a reorganized stat display and an equip system based on items rather than specific scripts.

• Overworld

  The overworld has been drafted out, and a pre-map created, but we are still waiting on a proper tileset before we begin the actual development. The overworld will be smaller and more organized, and will be separated into rough districts

• New Jobs

  Crow is currently working on a new job that will operate almost like a mini-game, but won't be just another boring D-tapper. We will be rescripting the other jobs, such as mining, soon.

• EventBot and Events
  
  

  The events system is being made to incorporate "event points". These points will be similar to event coins, but you will receive points not just for winning, but also for completing other tasks in the events. For example, you might receive a few points each time you kill someone in team deathmatch. This prevents the "one winner per event" rule that ruins team events. Besides that, we are rescripting all events and automating the majority of them with a rescripted EventBot. The system will be very similar to the one proposed here by MontyPython.

• Under-the-hood improvements

  For example, guns and other items are now stored as objects, which lets us manipulate them much easier, and allows things such as custom add-ons for weapons. We have also made tons of clientside improvements which make the server run smoother, such as rescripting the nicknames system (which is now on the main server).
  
  Here is a list of the rescripted systems:
  

  • Item database/storage
  • Health controls
  • Shop system
  • Spar system
  • Jail system
  • Banking/ATM system
  • Commands system
  • Effects system (wounding, etc)
  • Inventory
  • Interface
  • Melee
  • Messages
  • Movement
  • Nicknames
  • Options
  • Right-click profiles
  • Guns/ammo

If you have any questions about any of these items, we will be happy to answer them as best we can without giving away too much of the surprise.

[Vman13x]

Nice

[swift]

Make the Dev Server Public again for a bit.

[Dnegel]

Love it.

Very nice work Era Staff, keep working like that and the server will be awesome!

[Nataxo]

(Y)!

Nice to see what you guys are working on :-) keep them coming !

AND ERA NEWS???:o!

[LoStSuRfEr1]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

The overworld has been drafted out, and a pre-map created, but we are still waiting on a proper tileset before we begin the actual development. The overworld will be smaller and more organized, and will be separated into rough districts

So how bout bringing Era Underground back and putting the sewers to use ?

[DuBsTeRmAn]

Sounds nice..!

Oh and, You should also finish up the new era news system.

[CharlieM]

Hotkeys pls

[fowlplay4]

Events Team staff are such a pain to deal with, looks nice that you're providing a scripted form of them

[Rave_J]

Hm i think you guys should redo the Event System Control for the Events Team. Due its annoying to type all of those commands in and have different commands for each event ect. i think it will be easier and make everybodys life easier just to make a gui control panel for that. so simply
each event

u have Event Options then Event Call then start
or end or whatever.

[Matt]

Very impressive, nice work.

[CharlieM]

Didn't Andy make a hotkey system?

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by CharlieM

Didn't Andy make a hotkey system?

He made a primitive one, though I don't think it was ever fully functional. It let you hotkey certain weapons (sidearms).

[CharlieM]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

He made a primitive one, though I don't think it was ever fully functional. It let you hotkey certain weapons (sidearms).

Should make a hotkey system though

[TSAdmin]

Originally Posted by Rave_J

Hm i think you guys should redo the Event System Control for the Events Team. Due its annoying to type all of those commands in and have different commands for each event ect. i think it will be easier and make everybodys life easier just to make a gui control panel for that. so simply
each event

u have Event Options then Event Call then start
or end or whatever.

I say do away with Events Team entirely and the event bot take over. When a certain amount of votes for a single event is reached, that event will be hosted. Kind of like how it works now, but the difference being that people won't be prompted to vote, just whenever they vote. Except for when an event is already in progress.

[Rave_J]

hmm true but u can do away with PR's then cause
u can just script a GP Bot too. If u land on a wall ect
if u cuss warned 3 times time out jailed ect.

i think Staff should just be developments staff i dont think None Developer Staff should even be staff or consider staff due they dont do that much to benefit also i think u guys should make it where u cant drop guns due its too much of a problem always checking logs ect

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Rave_J

hmm true but u can do away with PR's then cause
u can just script a GP Bot too. If u land on a wall ect
if u cuss warned 3 times time out jailed ect.

i think Staff should just be developments staff i dont think None Developer Staff should even be staff or consider staff due they dont do that much to benefit also i think u guys should make it where u cant drop guns due its too much of a problem always checking logs ect

Once again, showing your full display of ignorance.

[cyan3]

Originally Posted by Rave_J

hmm true but u can do away with PR's then cause
u can just script a GP Bot too. If u land on a wall ect
if u cuss warned 3 times time out jailed ect.

i think Staff should just be developments staff i dont think None Developer Staff should even be staff or consider staff due they dont do that much to benefit also i think u guys should make it where u cant drop guns due its too much of a problem always checking logs ect

Having a GP Bot is like a Police force employing robots to arrest people. Even though it might work robots wouldn't have the same judgement as a human and it might cause problems.

[LordSquirt]

Having no GP/PR system is dumb. There are too many situations in which you need a PR that a 'robot' can't do. Also, i'm not just saying this since i'm Player Services Admin.

[Rave_J]

Originally Posted by LordSquirt

Having no GP/PR system is dumb. There are too many situations in which you need a PR that a 'robot' can't do. Also, i'm not just saying this since i'm Player Services Admin.

really it isn't im not trying to be a pain im just saying its possible to make it work 100 percent like a normal gp. but ya im droping it to Chris i think
Era should erase the itemtrade or at least have a fee to use it or delete it and make it where u cant drop or trade so people will earn things there self and not be giving everything. i think this will balance the economy out more well with guns it would be harder to get rare guns that way

[Crow]

Originally Posted by Rave_J

make it work 100 percent like a normal gp

Impossible.

[LordSquirt]

Originally Posted by Rave_J

really it isn't im not trying to be a pain im just saying its possible to make it work 100 percent like a normal gp. but ya im droping it to Chris i think
Era should erase the itemtrade or at least have a fee to use it or delete it and make it where u cant drop or trade so people will earn things there self and not be giving everything. i think this will balance the economy out more well with guns it would be harder to get rare guns that way

If you think a 'robot' can work 100 percent like a normal PR you are most definitely wrong.

[Lucsian]

Looks really good. Can't wait to check out the new gang system

[BlueMelon]

Good Update thanks =]

Put like a black market, where you can buy like "special" weapons and items

All in the sewers. id be pretty cool.

[Good_Ol_Daze]

Originally Posted by LordSquirt

Having no GP/PR system is dumb. There are too many situations in which you need a PR that a 'robot' can't do. Also, i'm not just saying this since i'm Player Services Admin.

Originally Posted by cbk1994

Once again, showing your full display of ignorance.

Some words of encouragement for the players!!!

[water95]

I think it would be neat if you have a place where you can drop an item on a table and it automatically buys it and gives you atleast half the money you would get if you sell it on the street. That way your not stuck trying to sell your items for days and days, and you won't get caught up with those repeat pm's of people trying to sell items that nobody will ever buy.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by water95

I think it would be neat if you have a place where you can drop an item on a table and it automatically buys it and gives you atleast half the money you would get if you sell it on the street. That way your not stuck trying to sell your items for days and days, and you won't get caught up with those repeat pm's of people trying to sell items that nobody will ever buy.

That's the idea of the pawn shop (the recently-opened gun shop).

[Vman13x]

Good job to everyone that helped and keep up the good work

[water95]

Yes, but you can only sell guns there that were purchased from that particular store. What i'm saying is that it should be all items of Era to be sold there including things as lame as a shovel to maybe something as expensive as maybe a bamboo or what not.

[salesman]

Originally Posted by water95

Yes, but you can only sell guns there that were purchased from that particular store. What i'm saying is that it should be all items of Era to be sold there including things as lame as a shovel to maybe something as expensive as maybe a bamboo or what not.

The plan is to eventually have most (if not all) weapons in shops, and then have a "pawn shop" that will buy the weapons back for a fraction of the price.

The new shop was a test run of that idea...but I don't think we're willing to screw everyone over by suddenly putting their weapons in NPC-shops, so it will probably have to wait until the reset.

[water95]

Originally Posted by salesman

The plan is to eventually have most (if not all) weapons in shops, and then have a "pawn shop" that will buy the weapons back for a fraction of the price.

The new shop was a test run of that idea...but I don't think we're willing to screw everyone over by suddenly putting their weapons in NPC-shops, so it will probably have to wait until the reset.

Thats neat

[Cubes]

Originally Posted by CharlieM

Hotkeys pls

bumpppppp

[Demisis_P2P]

Originally Posted by Cubes

bumpppppp

As long as it's not a full implementation of hotkeys I'd be for it.

I've always wanted them to increase the reload time on most weapons (to 1-1.5 seconds) and then make a hotkey for a sidearm, so that people would switch out to handguns in a pinch instead of trying to reload. Would cut down a lot on walling and just plain bullet spam as well. You might actually be able to see what is happening during raid if everybody is being more careful with their shots instead of just holding D.

Z = Main weapon.
X = Sidearm (any handgun, pistol, micro smg).
C = Grenade/explosive/gas.

3 hotkeys is all you need. And maybe one more for any random non-healing, non-weapon item (hat, drill, trash pick, "0wned" sign etc).

[Dnegel]

Agree fully with you there, a Main weapon AND Sidearm system would be a dream to have.

We have grenade, if you equip the grenade, then you change the green bar to how long you want it, then you choose a weapon.
Then you press G and you throw, (im sure you know this.)

[Venom_Fish]

Well, since everyone has put in all the compliments and so on and so forth, guess its only left for me to balance the positive with equal-opposite negative. Too much of anything is bad for you, as I always say.

Anyways, does it not alarm anyone that with all the time that has passed, the only thing to be show for it is the new Gang System? By that I mean the only thing "new" that has a direct affect on gameplay / players. We've seen the spar, the re-scripting of systems is hardly noticed by players, pawn shop idea we've seen, tested and adopted as well as complimented you all on that. (Whoever is working on "New" Era)

As well as, I don't think its very exciting to know with the months that have gone through, not only has there been no new gmap yet, but not even a tileset has been completed? Thats not impressive, at all. Furthermore, I hope you (Salesman) at least have a plan of what this gmap will be, meaning size, design, structure, and etc.

I think I speak for many when I say, I thought more highly of your project when I was kept in the "dark". I actually estimated you all to have done so much more, maybe I was imagining things at the pace of Snakeandy, rather than the very real pace of diligent, more so sluggish team.

For a "new" era, I see more re-newed than brand new. By all means, please don't take my comments as a challenge and attempt to conjure up any more large projects, I start college in September of 2010, I'd like to see "new" Era before then, if you don't mind.

Back to your regular scheduled programming, "G" for grenades please, on hotkeys. Or simply allow players to set their own hotkeys, but do indeed add limitations as stated in Demisis' post.

[Vman13x]

Hmmm interesting wil

[Old_Days]

I didnt and wouldnt apply ever to work with you.