GamerDNA and FI

After moving to Massachusetts to work full time at GamerDNA, things have been crazy. As I wrote in my playtime blog, everything in my house is a mess. I'm slowly getting things in order though. This week I'm working on a revamp of the Events system at GamerDNA.

Things at FI are slowly getting in order as well. We have a new engine we are trying out and things are picking back up from the post GDC slump

Amazon Web Services

Tonight I set up our MMO on Amazon Web Services. I must say I really like the system. I know it's in beta, but so far what I'm seeing I like. I do not think it would work for a full population MMO, but the bandwidth is much better than my home machine. The AMI (Amazon Machine Image) is slower than our current beta server, but worth the trade. I'm sure you probably could cluster machine images or move processes to different images as well for performance increase.
There are also two larger base image options with increased memory and processors.

Either way our game is running at 45-60 FPS which is an improvement merely from bandwidth. I documented all of this on our private wiki, but there is too much private information to post that here. It's about three pages of information.

Here is my success picture from when I got the default AMI engine up and running.

Web Administration for FI

Tonight I upgraded our email to use Google apps for FI since the webmail we were using just wasn't cutting it. Thanks to that we got a lot of needed features for our email. I also added Google Analytics and enabled Webalizer and Awstats on our foreverinteractive.com and infernalworld.net domains.

Server Upgrades

After recovering from another root canal this week, I am working right now on backing up our current copy of our world and update our server to the current copy, Multiverse 1.1.

Current files:
Assets:
/var/www/manual_backups/fi_alpha_assets.2008.01.25.tar

World File:
/usr/multiverse/config/manual_backups/iw_a0_1.2008.01.25.tar

Server Config:
/usr/multiverse/manual_backups/bin.server.cfg.2008.01.25.tar


I also moved all of these to our local FTP server just in case:
ftp:\\home\data\Manual Backup

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I also updated the environment variables in our server account to automatically set the Multiverse properties file. When upgrading Ubuntu Linux flavors have a particular issue that needs to be fixed. To get the sample world going after installing the new version of FI, I change the JDBC library location and mysql DB user and password in the multiverse proprties file.

I upgraded our world successfully to the current version, so the next task is to look into external hosting and demo world hosting for GDC.

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Here is a brief roadmap of items I would like to do next:
= Splash page with guidance
= Move to AWS
= Dark Guardian in world
= Dark Guardian following player
= See if Quest can be adjusted to give Rewards.
= Make quest non repeatable, and the items LORE to prevent bags getting filled.
= Pre GDC Char Wipe
= Public demo
= Update dotProject
= Team Bio's
= Tutorial for getting started to add content in IW.
= Add Python Books to our site.
= Add game design books to our site.
= SVN architecture and backup scripting

GDC here we come!

We have been selected to represent Multiverse at GDC 2008! It's been a long road, but I'm very happy. (That is aside from Monday's dental surgery.)

GDC Submission complete!

Media Package

Now we have to wait for the Monday announcement if we are one of the lucky candidates that get to go represent Multiverse. I am very lucky to have found this project, we have an excellent team!

Tax Example/ Mail Example

I have been working through some of the samples in this book.

The first one was a tax example:
First link is the final tax form in english, second in swedish chef.
http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/bookOfDojo/samples/taxform/my_finished.html
http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/bookOfDojo/samples/taxform/my_finished_swchef.html
http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/bookOfDojo/samples/taxform/original_form.html

The last link is the original form before any changes. I'd like to update the tool tip on the swchef example to have swedish chef instead of english, as the tool tip is still is in english.

Based on an earlier discussion I had today I have done just that. When discussing how to change the content of the inside of a tag, I looked into the innerHTML function. It was done in the example, but for all fields except the tooltip. I had to install and use Firebug to debug as well, because I'm multitasking. =) Here is the result:

http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/bookOfDojo/samples/taxform/my_finished_swchef_tooltip.html

So that is the same example from above, but I have added the tooltip done in swedish chef as well.

The second was a mail reader:

http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/bookOfDojo/samples/mail/mail.html

This one is not finished, but I seen tons of potential for changing various things and adding functionality, so I will be revisiting this.

Code is here:
http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/bookOfDojo/samples/mailTax.tar

Playing with Dojo

Christmas has passed and New Year's is almost here, so I can finally get around to playing with some web stuff.

I started out by doing a quick install of dojo:
and moved on to a rousing Hello World example:

For my next example I will have to think of something more creative and interactive to do.








My web server has a fresh copy of dojo installed at http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot.

The two examples above are here:
http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/dijit/themes/themeTester.html
http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/helloWorld.html

The files are located here: http://76.16.47.80/js/dojoroot/helloWorldFiles.tar

Upgrading to 1.1

Tonight I'm upgrading my local machine to version 1.1. This weekend I will upgrade our main server as well.

So far I have:

• Downloaded all the new assests, tools and server
• Installed all the new tools
• Now installing the software required for the server (mysql, jdk, etc.)
• Setup cygwin, mysql, and Java
• Started the server
  
• Ran the sample world to test.

So my home machine is ready with 1.1 now!

FI Planning

Today I updated all of our tasks. We are moving steadily toward our 1/7 deadline. At this point we need to wrap up our tasks in progress and concentrate on making the best show possible for the folks over at Multiverse, in hopes that we get one of six slots and get floor space at GDC.

This morning I updated our meeting minutes, our dotProject deadlines, and created manual backups of all existing assets.

Assets:
/var/www/manual_backups/fi_alpha_assets.2007.12.02.tar

World File:
/usr/multiverse/config/manual_backups/iw_a0_1.2007.12.02.tar

Server Config:
/usr/multiverse/manual_backups/bin.server.cfg.2007.12.02.tar

I also moved all of these to our local FTP server just in case:
ftp:\\home\data\Manual Backup

Modifying Our Client

Now as the deadline for the MV submission to GDC is coming up, so I'm ramping up as much as possible. Today I put up a preliminary patch and loading screen. I will detail the steps I went through to do this, so they can be updated by our art team.

I created a patcher screen 640x480 @ 72 DPI in jpg format. Then created a 1024x1024 load screen in dds format. I copied these files to their proper places (/patcher_images/tempImg.jpg) and (/Textures/loadimage.dds).

I then built the manifest file:
valerie@starscream:/usr/multiverse/bin$ sudo ./build_manifest.py /home/valerie/fi_alpha_assets

Then I removed the old asset repo:
valerie@starscream:/var/www$ sudo rm -rf fi_alpha_assets

Then copied the new asset repo to the webserver:
valerie@starscream:/var/www$ sudo cp -r /home/valerie/fi_alpha_assets .

Then I backed up the asset repo:
valerie@starscream:/var/www$ sudo tar cvf fi_alpha_assets.tar fi_alpha_assets

Then when you start up the mv client on your local machine, you will see the new files.

I also updated the world_patcher.html:
body { background-image: url(http://76.16.47.80/fi_alpha_assets/patcher_images/tempImg.jpg); font-family: arial,sans-serif }
td,div,p,a,font,span {font-family: arial,sans-serif }

.tl {padding: 0; width: 4; text-align: left; vertical-align: top}
.tr {padding: 0; width: 4; text-align: right; vertical-align: top}
.bl {padding: 0; width: 4; text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom}
.br {padding: 0; width: 4; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom}

.caption {color:#000000; white-space:nowrap; text-align:center}

.form-noindent { border: #C3D9FF 1px solid}

.mv.label { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: smaller; }
.mv.value { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: smaller; }
.mv.button { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: smaller; }
.mv.remember { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: smaller; }

.errormsg { color: red; font-size: smaller; font-family:arial,sans-serif; }
.statusmsg { color: white; font-size: smaller; font-family:arial,sans-serif; }

.h3-header-text-color { color: green; }

Future Items for Research:
phpBBCode
Creating a Launch Pad
Load Screen Name
Splash Screen
Theme Music
Photoshop Plugins from Nvidia

With the move and everything going on in the last 2 months, things have been hectic, but it has not stopped progress!

Last weekend I configured apache and set up the multiverse asset repository to allow external access to our new alpha world. Foxman created the alpha world, and we have it up and running on the server. I had a few routers die in the last two weeks, so that caused some mayhem as well.

Now our job is to make the alpha world look like the playable demo we want for January!

Crazy

Things have been crazy here, so I'm just getting back into things.

Today I set up apache on our server so that we have our assets and world going. As usual I need to change a local variable with t he following command:

export DEFAULT_MV_PROPERTYFILE="fiMultiverse.properties"

MV Sample World

I started a sample world on our server, and connected to it from my desktop. My next step will be to create a world using our art, then register it with MV in a private fashion so the team can work on it.

List of items to do:
1) Add our custom art to the Asset Repo
2) Create world using world editor
3) Move to server and restart using the new world.
4) Connect to and test client.
5) Register world for external use.

Multiverse 1.0 Linux Install

This will be our first install of Multiverse (MV) on the Forever Interactive server. I started out by installing Bitvise Tunnelier and cygwin on my windows desktop so that I could work comfortably on the server in my office. I typically use Tunnelier at work, so I'm comfortable with it, and will use it for the time being. I used cygwin a long time ago, but I have forgotten most of it so it will be a renewal process.

The first step in the MV server install process is to install a current version of the JDK. I also used he linux based MV instructions as well as a reference. They seem to be using a Redhat based distro, and we are using Ubuntu, so I had to modify accordingly. As usual, I use apt-get.

I downloaded the MV install and mysql, and edited a few configuration files. MV also has special notes just for Ubuntu users.


And here is the server up and running.

Couple of useful commands:
./multiverse.sh -v start
./multiverse.sh status
./multiverse.sh stop

cd $MV_HOME/logs/
grep ERROR *.out

Additional good forum links:
Trouble with Ubuntu 1
Trouble with Ubuntu 2

FI Server Setup

Forever Interactive

Now that the OS is installed, I need to set up the computer for use. Over the next few days, I will go through my notes of things that need to take place to better improve the server.

Items done or noted:

• Control + Alt + F1 = Switch to text mode
• Adding new users
• Setting up SSH
• ifconfig to find IP address
• Ensuring the system clock stays on time with a cron job

I have set up an IRC server for internal use. I had to read quite a few sites to fully/learn understand what I needed to do. I still have a few ToDo's here, but the basics should be ok. I was also able to test the IRC server internally and externally.

Links Used:
IRC help
Tutorial on setting up identd/dcc
XChat
IRCD-Hybrid
Ubuntu IRC server instructions
Ubuntu Classroom
Ubuntu server setup information
Ubuntu feisty fawn information

Catch Up Time

I just went out of town on business for WaMu in Seattle, and due to the wonderful world of flying I effectively lost three days of time. So now I have a pile of work to do to catch up, and on top of it all we are knee deep in the middle of a move.

After catching up on WaMu emails, I am going to work on Uberworlds. The project is quiet at the moment, and once I catch up on all of my duties, I should have one less project to deal with. Next I'll work on the FI server, but since there are a ton of boxes and what not in the living room, I'll need to work on that first.

Uberworlds
Since it has been a bit of time when I last worked on this I am figuring out where I left off. I left notes to myself, but I'm not as organized as I would like.

Silversage Quest Implementation
I started off by creating a new druid for testing, Hawte, I leveled her to 10 using /imm gimme PLEVEL 10. She has no quests so I need to pick those up. After that I'm going to check the spacing and new lines in the quest dialogs and clean that up. Each time I enter the game I have to switch to Hawte's character. I'm using my new immortal commands CmdListQuestObjectives (/imm LISTQUEST) and CmdFillQuestObjective (/imm FILLQUEST). I need to also add a command to selectively fill quest objectives and possibly delete or un-fill them.

To improve the output of /imm LISTQUEST I have added a new color for game text in the UI.


Enabling Developer Mode - Once in the game client, hit Ctrl-Tilde and type: $pref::developer = 1; *Note: You only have to do this once, the preference will be saved. Ctrl-F10 opens the GUI Editor and Ctrl-F11 opens the realtime Zone Editor.

For Visiting the Camp, I need to fully check out the entire quest because when I implemented it, it was the first time I have ever done quest implementation in MMOWorkshop, and there may be issues. I also need to add all the cross zone quest implementations. For the quest completion portion on another NPC, I'm using A Quick Tour to compare getting objectives from other NPCs.
This one is slightly different since it ends in an escort quest objective, but I will look into that later. For now I will make sure the quest works by talking to and getting an update from Scout Theon in the other zone.


I was able to complete and test the Scout Theon portion of "Visiting the Camp", and place Scout Theon in The Silver Plateau. The next update I will finish up the Captain Rodkim quests.

Quests worked on:
Captain Rodkim - Life of a Soldier
Captain Rodkim - Visiting the Camp

Forever Interactive Server 3

I have a temporary RAID 1+0 setup using Ubuntu Linux. I am waiting on the last hard drive to come in to fully set up the server, but I have documented the install progress at the FI Wiki.

Below are pictures of me in our new Ubuntu setup using GNOME.


Next steps are detailed in the "To Do" section of the wiki, but basically when the final hard drive gets here, I will install it, redo the install steps, configure the server (setting up processes, security, etc), install backup services, install Multiverse and get all users set up for use.

Forever Interactive Server Part 2

For the past week I have been reading several books (see below), and just getting up to date knowledge on this Linux server. My goal is to have this be well done enough to last us for a while, provide good data security and integrity and save us costs.

Here are shots of the partitioning:

Next I will set up the software raid array.

Books used:
Ubuntu Linux Bible
Beginning Ubuntu Linux: From Novice to Professional
Hacking Ubuntu
Linux All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Degunking Linux
Configuring and Administering Linux ReferencePoint Suite

I will use information from this book for some of our teammates:

Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks: A Pain-Free, Project-Based, Get-Things-Done Guidebook

Forever Interactive Server Part 1

For our first server, we decided just to buy the parts and build it ourselves. Before I came on the team they discussed purchasing a server from Dell or one of the other pre-made companies, but I can build a similar PC for a lot less so we can use the money to do other things. We were able to build this system for around ~$1600.

Here are the pictures in progress:





I put a basic version of Ubuntu Linux on the server to make sure the hardware was properly configured. Now the next task will be to design the partitions and prep the server for raid configuration. The current config just has all four drives mounted serially. Once thats complete I will have to secure Linux, patch any existing software, and add new software.