Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Discussions about the OpenUru.org Minkata test shard

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Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by rarified »

Shorah!

It's here! It is time for the very first testing of the Minkata-alpha shard. This will be the shard upon which fan ages begin testing, when I debug the issues with the client using fan ages.

This call is for testing the shard itself. There is no new content here yet, I just need to get people to use the shard to make sure it is functioning properly.

This is very early in the life of the shard, so don't be surprised if you find issues with what I will list below for the goals of this testing period. But I do want to exercise the shard so I can look through the logs and vault to see things work the way they should.

Here are the goals for this round of testing:
  • Make sure you can log on with your existing Minkata account (or one you create if you are new to Minkata from the link here.)
  • Confirm you can move and play in the game properly (use books, move objects, navigate)
  • Confirm the state of your avatar is the same as Minkata was as of a week ago. You still have all the linking books you found, cones are where you left them :) Doors and the environment are as they were on your last visit.
  • Tricky one: Change some state in Minkata-alpha. Then go back to Minkata. The change should not be present in Minkata. Try closing a door that was open, or finding a new book that you didn't have in Minkata. Try it the other way as well: Change something in Minkata and go to Minkata-alpha and make sure the change is not there.
  • No crashing, hangs, or "Net 6"s allowed! Report here if you encounter them.
Here is how you use Minkata-alpha. If you are new to Minkata, you will need to set that up on your computer first. Follow the instructions you received in your confirmation email when you successfully created your account, or go here for a reminder on how to install Minkata.

Then, follow these steps (assuming you are running Minkata on Windows):
  1. Download a Windows command prompt batch file: UruLauncher-Alpha.bat Put it in the same directory you created when you installed Minkata. It already should have a file UruLauncher.exe present.
  2. Open a command prompt window.
  3. Use the "cd" command to change to the Minkata installation directory. You now should have a command window that looks something like this:Image
  4. In the command window, run "UruLauncher-Alpha". The MOULa launcher window will pop up, it will download a new launcher, and start it. You should then get the usual Minkata login window. Log in with your regular Minkata account.
  5. The launcher will download a few new files, and check a number of your existing files. It will probably take a while the first time when you switch from Minkata to Minkata-alpha. When the update check is finished you should get the regular Minkata game window, with your avatar list. You can now play in Minkata-alpha!
  6. After you run the UruLauncher-alpha batch file the first time from the command window, from then on you should be able to double click on it to start Minkata-alpha in an Explorer window, just as you would do for the regular UruLauncher.
  7. (Note: The Minkata-alpha game client is an "Internal" client, not the regular client. That means you will see messages at times you didn't see anything before. There also is the ability to use "Internal" commands, but we will discuss those later in the testing process.)
That's all there is to it. Each time you want to go to Minkata-alpha, use the UruLauncher-Alpha file to start the game. To go back and play in the main Minkata shard, just run the "UruLauncher.exe" file as you did before. The launcher will again update itself and files in your installation directory when you make the switch, and then bring up the game playing in Minkata. You cannot play in Minkata and Minkata-alpha simultaneously on the same computer, so please don't try. 8-)
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by Mac_Fife »

I hit a problem straight off...

The batch file ran, the new patcher was fetched and ran but then it seemed to want to install the GoMe Pub age (since I don't have that age yet) but the files aren't being served so it just errors and exits :(
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by Hoikas »

The link to UruLauncher-Alpha.bat is broken. The error message also appears to be broken...
The requested URL was not found on this server. The link on the ">referring page seems to be wrong or outdated. Please inform the author of ">that page about the error. If you entered the URL manually please check your spelling and try again.

Code: Select all

<!--#set var="TITLE" value="Object not found!"
--><!--#include virtual="include/top.html" -->

    The requested URL was not found on this server.

  <!--#if expr="-n v('HTTP_REFERER')" -->

    The link on the
    <a href="<!--#echo encoding="url" var="HTTP_REFERER" -->">referring
    page</a> seems to be wrong or outdated. Please inform the author of
    <a href="<!--#echo encoding="url" var="HTTP_REFERER" -->">that page</a>
    about the error.

  <!--#else -->

    If you entered the URL manually please check your
    spelling and try again.

  <!--#endif -->

<!--#include virtual="include/bottom.html" -->
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by Mac_Fife »

Rarified has fixed the link for the .bat file. But sadly it looks like the behaviour across servers is not as intended, since age state changes are not staying within the confines of the server and are always copied across, from what I've tested so far.

Additionally, there's an odd behaviour with saved login details... On first trying the Alpha server, my saved login details from regular Minkata ("Minkata Prime") populated the login box OK, but they were blanked when I went back to Minkata Prime. This is repeatable: Save login details On Minkata Prime and they're OK going into Minkata Alpha, but are then subsequently blanked when going back to Minkata Prime.
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by Hoikas »

The internal client is probably saving them decrypted, which the external client rejects.
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by Mac_Fife »

Ah, quite likely. I didn't look in the login.dat file that got left - I guess in the back of my mind I was thinking "if I didn't change anything then the file won't have been touched". I was forgetting about the differences between internal and external clients.
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by charura »

This is as far as I got...

Image

And then this when I try the original Minkata

Image


Edit: I deleted said file from sfx folder in Minkata main folder, copied same file from URULive sfx folder and then pasted to Minkata sfx folder. All is good now. Minkata runs as 121 and Minkata-Alpha is 124
rarified wrote:Tricky one: Change some state in Minkata-alpha. Then go back to Minkata. The change should not be present in Minkata. Try closing a door that was open, or finding a new book that you didn't have in Minkata. Try it the other way as well: Change something in Minkata and go to Minkata-alpha and make sure the change is not there.
Closing (or opening) the door or the shutters in Relto remains the same in both instances

Tried deleting the tos file..hmmmph. same
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by rarified »

Thanks for the feedback charura!

I've been diverted for the last day (and next couple of days) for tax preparation. So it will be a little while before I dig into the saved state bug.

Hang in there!
_R
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by HenryMikel »

Mac_Fife wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:43 pm Rarified has fixed the link for the .bat file. But sadly it looks like the behaviour across servers is not as intended, since age state changes are not staying within the confines of the server and are always copied across, from what I've tested so far.

Additionally, there's an odd behaviour with saved login details... On first trying the Alpha server, my saved login details from regular Minkata ("Minkata Prime") populated the login box OK, but they were blanked when I went back to Minkata Prime. This is repeatable: Save login details On Minkata Prime and they're OK going into Minkata Alpha, but are then subsequently blanked when going back to Minkata Prime.
It's not just Mac. Same exact same behavior for my avatar. The state change crosses game borders. And the Prime login gets erased. If you leave that Prime log blank then the Alpha log in still works fine. BUT after it gets blanked, if you had forgotten what your login was and make a mistake in entering the Prime log in THAT incorrect info remains and you can not log in to either Shard.
Thank heavens for back ups.
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Re: Initial testing of the Minkata-alpha shard

Post by ghaelen »

So... had to look up how to change directories and run a file with command prompts, lol

Original Minkata behaved just fine. Ran amok, used books, linked, moved things, etc.

Got the alpha launcher to run and download the files, logged in, saw my ghaelen explorer and the other in there (Guild of Healers).

Went in with the Guild of Healers avatar, closed the door and window to my Relto, went to the nexus and to the hood. One person was in the city when I went in with the regular Minkata launcher, was in there when I went in with the alpha launcher.

I linked around, played with the door in Delin, picked up a couple Relto pages, then finished the Cleft (yeah, this avie is slooooow). Everything seemed fine.

I quit, then went back in with the regular Minkata Launcher. Had to input my username and pw again but it updated the patcher and started up. Once I got to the avatar list, I went in as Guild of Healers again. My four pillars were there, the relto pages were in my book, the relto door and windows were closed as I had left them.

I went to Teledahn, mucked about a bit, turned on the power, went back to my relto to make sure I had the book then quit again. When I get some time I'll go back in with the alpha launcher and see if those changes have saved.

Hope this helps.
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.... those things that are conceived in unity are going to work...."

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