Distension Beta Suggestions/Bugfix thread

[Shadowmere]

Distension supporters it seems that distensionbot is online in #distension 24hr for the moment.

I am not sure if it is really 24 hr tho, so please check and report.

?find distensionbot
Not online, last seen 5 days ago

How about you stop spreading rumours that you randomly hear?

[gdugwyler]

Distension supporters it seems that distensionbot is online in #distension 24hr for the moment.

I am not sure if it is really 24 hr tho, so please check and report.

By whose authority? That's unacceptable. The currently-compiled code is in a halfway point between release and debug, and should not be running under any circumstances. I hope you're joking! At this point I need to control its running very tightly, and find it hard to believe that someone would run it at this point without having asked or even notified me.

As for progress, it's almost done, both in terms of code and LVZ additions, of which there are quite a few. Unfortunately that Labor Day I thought I'd have all day to work on Distension was usurped, leaving me with just smatterings of time to get it done. But it's moving along and I'll need to do the testing mentioned before fairly soon.

One thing that I'd like to see added is a couple of flag graphics, one for each army. At this point I think the beta army names are going to stick. I'm also changing the army colors to red and blue, which are more recognizable. Red for People's Republic of Misanthropy, and Blue for Intergalactic Planetary, Inc. However, not having the time or much talent in design, I could use a hand with these. Essentially what I'm looking for are two flags similar to national banners... for People's Republic, I'd like no text on the flag, and maybe a parody on the old hammer-and-sickle USSR flag. Perhaps two intersecting items symbolic of a more modern communist government, but arrayed in a similar fashion. For the other, I'd like something that looks a bit like a corporate logo -- simple but memorable, with strong elements of blue for identification purposes. The name can be used, or it can just have "IP" or "IP, Inc."

If you're interested, I'll give a large reward, on the order of a bonus applied over 25,000RP, if the designs are accepted. This is for both flag designs. For one I'll give a bonus over 10,000RP. If there's more than one design for each I'll pick the best. The size of the flag should be about maybe a quarter of the total size of the rearmament area, either to fit on the side/above/below the rearm area, or to fit underneath it, below where people will spawn. It should also be identifiable if it's shrunk down to 25% size, as that'll be about the size it will show up as on each player's HUD. The deadline for flag submissions is this Friday, so hop on it if it sounds interesting. Doesn't have to be too fancy -- just a solid basic design is ideal. Please ?msg me a link to it in PDF format (or high-res form if you aren't using Photoshop).

[roxxkatt]

qan> let them know it'll get done sometime. heh


-__-"

[Andy H.K.]

Distension supporters it seems that distensionbot is online in #distension 24hr for the moment.

I am not sure if it is really 24 hr tho, so please check and report.

[2kill]

Still working. Got a lot of stuff done yesterday -- not so much today, though. Basically what's left is the reward system for beta testers, the F1 Help, and various odds and ends (finishing commands for Ops fake mining ability, implementing the slew of LVZ extras, such as unlock msgs, round type descriptions, win/lose LVZ [going to make it work, despite needing to send out a msg to every player]). To test these new features, I'll still need a small group of testers, who will not only be the first to play the public version, but will also get to keep any RP earned on their otherwise pristine new accounts.

I should also have Monday off, which I'd like to slate for a public release. Starting back on my second bachelor's on Tuesday, so that will pretty much be the deadline. I always liked to play it close...

are the tests going to be at the most recent times or are they moving back to the old ones? or something totally different? I would like to know either through the forums or ?msg me in game. see you in the release

[gdugwyler]

Still working. Got a lot of stuff done yesterday -- not so much today, though. Basically what's left is the reward system for beta testers, the F1 Help, and various odds and ends (finishing commands for Ops fake mining ability, implementing the slew of LVZ extras, such as unlock msgs, round type descriptions, win/lose LVZ [going to make it work, despite needing to send out a msg to every player]). To test these new features, I'll still need a small group of testers, who will not only be the first to play the public version, but will also get to keep any RP earned on their otherwise pristine new accounts.

I should also have Monday off, which I'd like to slate for a public release. Starting back on my second bachelor's on Tuesday, so that will pretty much be the deadline. I always liked to play it close...

[Andy H.K.]

Heard him talk in in-game Distension chat yesterday. He said Dist will be released after a few more tests is conducted. He would need a small number of people for that.

We just need to stay tuned.

[DankNuggets]

i guess he's on a walkabout

[roxxkatt]

so if the release is still going to be a monday.....

that would be today?

anyone hear news from qan?

[gdugwyler]

Update: Girlfriend's grandmother died; her parents are milling around here whereas I thought I'd have the week alone; leaves me with very little time; going on vacation starting next Tues; returning 8/19; planning on getting Distension out the door from 8/20 to 8/30 with a slated release right around end of the summer, as originally promised some time back... apologies for continued delays.

[2kill]

As for the actual game progress, I've gotten it up and running with the DB upgrades, which is the biggest hurdle, and am now adding various small features. (Some of my time has been diverted to fixing up elim/belim, though -- they're higher priority at present.) I'll still need a few testers to ensure various new features work, such as the RP bonus, and possibly the special ship unlocks. Also wouldn't hurt just to check over it for anything odd now that the debug mode is disabled. Note that anyone who participates in these very limited tests will be able to keep their RP in the main release, effectively being the first ones to play public.

I would love to help just ?message me the time I need to be on for or post it either way

[gdugwyler]

My suggestion though would be to combine the two models: Have a permanently active Distension arena with very low RP rewards but also a regular, advertised schedule of wars (perhaps 3 or 4 a day) where there is a x3 or x4 RP multiplier for the duration of the war. Possibly also make it so ERs can host a bonus multiplier war on request.

This would mean that the game itself would be always available for all players to practice and enjoy but also give players an incentive to get together for a nice big rewarding game from time to time. Regular bonus wars would also mean the arena would be regularly advertised in pub and any new players attracted would be more likely to see the arena at its best.

This sounds like a good idea. It would give new players an easy way to jump in to the game and get a dent made in some early ranks, as well as a reason to go at a specific time.

As for the schedule I'm thinking of a sort of hybrid between the two options: first, it's not running; then someone decides to host it and advertise for it, and sets up some kind of bonus; the bonus runs for maybe an hour (or a full war, though who knows how long that will last -- maybe just a set number of rounds or a certain amount of time, whichever comes first), after which the host is not officially "hosting" the game any longer. At that point it switches to regular Distension. This means it will advert at the start of new rounds, if it hasn't done so in the last 20 minutes or the like, and hopefully draw people in using the same techniques employed by the full-time arenas like Elim or the long-running ones such as Tourny. It'll continue to print info to the chat, as well as to the alerts chat. (Rather than having a specific bot, such as DistensionAlert, set up, the bot will just be on the channel. I have no idea why we don't do this for Tourny, the various team dueling arenas, etc., the code to which we have easy access to... makes no sense now that I think of it. Now that RoboRef isn't coming back we can actually do away with all AlertBots -- at least until his charming return.)

As for the actual game progress, I've gotten it up and running with the DB upgrades, which is the biggest hurdle, and am now adding various small features. (Some of my time has been diverted to fixing up elim/belim, though -- they're higher priority at present.) I'll still need a few testers to ensure various new features work, such as the RP bonus, and possibly the special ship unlocks. Also wouldn't hurt just to check over it for anything odd now that the debug mode is disabled. Note that anyone who participates in these very limited tests will be able to keep their RP in the main release, effectively being the first ones to play public.

I'm still not guaranteeing Monday, but my girlfriend is going away on a microbio retreat starting Sunday, so I'll have a lot of free time to kill. It should get out the door fairly soon.

[roxxkatt]

...lets hope for the 28th...?

[Viruk]

If you host it at set times, people will know when it's up, and will come. But a lot of people who would like to play, won't be able to due to time restrictions. A benefit is that it's more likely to ensure bigger games, but at the expense of a bigger playerbase. Also, i love distension, but i'm getting past the part where i plan my day around it.

I agree with this completely

I don't think it ever ought to replace purepub because I feel there ought to be an arena for casual basing where everyone's ship is equal and ships are known quantities. Distension is great but it does sacrifice some combat skill and newbie-friendliness for the sake of ship variety and long term goals.

I don't think it should be limited to being hosted on request because its nature as a leveling game makes it more of a long term attraction. It could crowd out hosting for other interesting short term games as people clamour for a chance to level up their ships. Alternatively it could languish if unpopular with ERs. It could well become little known and little advertised and so become unpopular with players as they would never get the opportunity to make much progress with their ships.

Possibly it should run permanently but I suspect that unless it runs alongside the pubs with new arrivals to the zone dumped in the arena automatically it isn't going be heavily populated. (Since it is somewhat different from the pubs I would be surprised if it was put on par with them anyway.)

Personally I would rather Distension always be available when I am ready for it than be forced to choose between neglecting it or scheduling my day around it. I am often content to mess around in sparsely populated arenas even without the benefit of leveling up a ship.

My suggestion though would be to combine the two models: Have a permanently active Distension arena with very low RP rewards but also a regular, advertised schedule of wars (perhaps 3 or 4 a day) where there is a x3 or x4 RP multiplier for the duration of the war. Possibly also make it so ERs can host a bonus multiplier war on request.

This would mean that the game itself would be always available for all players to practice and enjoy but also give players an incentive to get together for a nice big rewarding game from time to time. Regular bonus wars would also mean the arena would be regularly advertised in pub and any new players attracted would be more likely to see the arena at its best.

[DankNuggets]

the way i see it, it's a catch 22 right now

If you open it up 24/7 immediately, it's probably gonna have the population that it had a month ago, maybe a little more since it's starting. I think so because it won't have a lot of people in it at one time, and when the people used to seeing a full arena come, they'll leave if it isn't pretty full.

If you host it at set times, people will know when it's up, and will come. But a lot of people who would like to play, won't be able to due to time restrictions. A benefit is that it's more likely to ensure bigger games, but at the expense of a bigger playerbase. Also, i love distension, but i'm getting past the part where i plan my day around it.

Left to rot away in 24/7 with 10 ppl on average, it wouldn't be nearly as fun, and it would have large rank discrepencies. However, if it's more like 20 ppl on average (look at the pubs now) then it'll find a comfy medium pace. It won't be the "can't look away" hectic game that it was in the beta hayday, but it will be fast enough not to be boring.

Good luck on finding a way to keep it like the pubs: partially full, all the time. Maybe it'll eventually phase out the purepub as a more rewarding form of public basing...