Adding Fan Content to Minkata -- A Planning Thread

[rarified]

In the MOULa forums there has been an ongoing discussion about when/how/what will it take to add Fan content to Minkata for testing, and by extension the work that will need to be done to eventually incorporate Fan content into the Cyan MOULa servers.

I'm starting this thread partly as a way to expose my thinking, as well as what I know (or think I know) will be needed for the first step: Fan content on Minkata.

No concrete work has been done yet to alter the MOSS server to handle Fan content (if any is needed). I have several ideas about how it might look from a player point of view, different staging methods to keep individual Fan elements seperate at first and then on a planned method integrate them.

I have not, however, approached Cyan (Chogon) with any suggestions or to request their input on integrating Fan content on MOULa. Before I feel I can justify taking some of his time to do that, I want to understand the technical needs imposed by adding new content (other than trivial items such as clothing). Of course Chogon is welcome to comment or make suggestions whenever he feels necessary

I'm churning a tentative list of what I think are prerequisites for adding content to Minkata. I'll start adding those items to this thread when I feel the tasks have sorted themselve into a presentable list.

In the meanwhile, have some (cautious) optimism -- I have more time then before to allocate to Uru and hope to start accelerating my progress on the goals that depend on me!

[Doobes]

If you need an Age to experiment with, I would be more than happy to provide you with a copy of the new GoMe Pub to dissect and otherwise manhandle to get it to work on Minkata. This version would not replace the old Pub like on Gehn and TOC (that was a decision by those shards' admins) since, presumably, Cyan would want to keep theirs.

Korman exports are showing promise, as I and the MystiTech Productions team have found by paging them into MOULa itself ala Grey Hat "magic". Even basic clickables such as sitting mods worked just fine, so that was very promising.

As far as a dedicated delivery system, as I mentioned at the last AGM, I'm working on a library with traditional books as a stopgap measure in lieu of the forthcoming fan Nexus. Once we prove that fan Ages are viable in Minkata, that could be the next step, along with the creation of a new PRP for an existing Cyan Age to add a Linking Book that leads to said library (and later the fan Nexus), a new book on the Relto shelf, OR a new link in Cyan's Nexus, whichever one is easier for them and us.

[rarified]

Hang onto that thought, Doobes. I look forward to digging into your new age to see how it works. There are a few things still in front of that task in my queue.

_R

[Mac_Fife]

Mod note: To keep this thread clear for content planning activity, I've split out the emerging side-discussion to a new thread: "A Planning Thread [Discussion]"

[rarified]

Can you provide me with the game resources (PRP files, SDL additions) in as close to a drop-in package as you can make? And a few instructions on how the additional content is intended to appear in-game?

That will give me something I can try on a second MOSS instance to see how it works or doesn't work. Then I can get some experience, ask questions, and move toward getting it public on Minkata with my new knowledge.

Let me know how to pick up the pieces you think I will need.

_R

[Doobes]

Can you provide me with the game resources (PRP files, SDL additions) in as close to a drop-in package as you can make? And a few instructions on how the additional content is intended to appear in-game?

That will give me something I can try on a second MOSS instance to see how it works or doesn't work. Then I can get some experience, ask questions, and move toward getting it public on Minkata with my new knowledge.

Let me know how to pick up the pieces you think I will need.

_R

Not a problem! I've put together a handy ZIP archive that has all the files in the appropriate directories (dat, sfx, etc) for the new GoMe Pub. Note that this is the very latest version, but it's not entirely ready for public release due to camera weirdness. It should be a proper test of pretty much everything though.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6bjxwkjfyuaob ... 1.zip?dl=0

Note that if you use the standard net.linktoage command in the console, the imagers won't work properly, but if you can link to it via normal means somehow, they should work.

This is also a version that will NOT replace the old Pub. It has a different sequence prefix (properly reserved) and different filename.

If things do crash, I would strongly recommend sharing the error logs here so we can all pick at them and find the faults together.

And please feel free to pick at any of the files you need to. I can always brew up a fresh batch of PRPs.

[Doobes]

Sooooo...anything new? I'm anxious to see if there's been any movement on this.

[Tai'lahr]

Well, this is all just hearsay, so keep that in mind, but I know you're anxious to hear something that indicates movement. The Numero Uno Lab Rat tells me she's seen a lot of chatter in recent days that included your name, the words "test" and "Minkata" and a whole lot of words and phrases and symbols she didn't understand... (she's not exactly an Algernon type )

Any idea what this means? <cuts red wire on bomb> "But first, cut blue wire." Don't worry, probably not related...

She saw a reference to Star Trek and thinks they might be trying to create an alternate universe - and when they're in that alternate universe, the Minkata shard is sometimes temporarily disabled. Does that make any sense?

Anyhoo, hope that helps ease your mind and give you some hope. I'm sure that just as soon as they have something more concrete to tell you, one of them will post it here or contact you directly.

[Doobes]

I'm sure that just as soon as they have something more concrete to tell you, one of them will post it here or contact you directly.

Sounds good, but I'd much rather they do the former and not the latter, barring anything Cyan wants to keep under wraps. The point I've been continuing to make is that the process should be more open and transparent. Nothing should be behind closed doors or in PMs until an official release of content is imminent or if Cyan themselves directly request it to be so.

It is in our best interest to show any and all movement on getting content into MOULa as it will keep interest alive and possibly drum up some new interest from new and returning explorers.

[Marten]

Here is a brief update that I hope explains well enough what's going on. I can elaborate beyond this as necessary (to the limits of my understanding). Some conversation is going to happen in chat, not here - it's more efficient. But yes, we can improve on transparency, and here is an attempt at that.

2-bullet summary mode, ENGAGE:

• Short term, rarified is exploring the fastest and easiest way to return to a working state if changes to Minkata need reversal. We want to be sure that once content begins to flow, we KEEP it flowing... we DON'T want the force of the community to come crashing down on OU or any creators if any content corrupts the database. When rarified is confident we're setback-resistant, the content will flow. That should be Soon(TM).
• Long term, for OpenUru to thrive, we know it cannot continue to be hosted and maintained forever by rarified. I think we need a discussion between H'uru devs, OU, and Cyan. rarified is in the middle, trying to satisfy two masters with the current OU build system. It's as complicated as it is because it mimics what Cyan had. To simplify and go less enterprise-y as Hoikas has suggested would be smart.

rarified is focused on the short-term lower-hanging-fruit, to get content flowing ASAP. Long-term will be discussed more after pipes are plumbed.