Suggestion(s) for donations

zeus9860

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First, before i get on with the main focus of this topic, would probably be a good idea to make an "announcement" donations topic that will pop up under any section of the forums, there are talks of donations here and there by using the search method, spread out across multiple topics. Really need to make that one main attractive topic with all the information necessary as to what people should do if they want to donate, also said topic should be open for comments and used to list potential models that could help the mod, so people may do their own searches and post them there or question as to if it's an actual good buy for the mod. Basically an active guide topic with everything in it so to say. I'm clueless about making a guide for this, otherwise i would do it.

This came to my mind as i am clueless as to what i should do to donate something, be it money or models, both ways should be described so people have an easier time doing this stuff. People are often driven away by the complexity of things or the lack of knowledge to know what to do.

Now the main focus of this topic, i've been digging through turbosquid yesterday and today for quite sometime, decided to make a search on model packs under $50, see what kind of things pop up and if they associate with the medieval-fantasy theme. Currently my google chrome has a crapton of tabs open, so i'm gonna go through all of these tabs and post the ones that seem more usefull (alot of these tabs are weapons packs, most of which are basic models low quality models that are in the game or are even uglier than the ones ingame). Then again i have no clue if said model packs are of any use or can even be used in msc or mss. Along with the fact that some of these might have already been donated (which could very well be another problem for donators who are clueless like me).

Anyways, here's the list:

Favorites

-Dinosaur Pack, this is probably my favourite search of them all, it's not a weapons pack and the theme is actually interisting, not sure if its entirelly fitting with msc but since we already have alot of things that don't seem fitting, so why not? Dinosaurs need some love too. Crocs are already ingame too. Maybe use them in jungle'ish maps or large plain areas such as thunderplains, or could even pull that one move of having dinosaurs frozen in icy maps and the ice is melting away so they magically come back to life. :wink:

-Spider pack, we already have a bunch of spiders in the game, i know. But this one pack literally looked like something that could have some potential use with msc, along with the fact that the quality of the models are literally msc look-a-like.

-Zombie horde pack, not 100% sure about this pack, the way the models look like, they don't seem to fit in that well, since its mostly horror fitting. Unless it goes along with the lines of khaz failed experiments and/or abominations.

-Fantasy meele weapons pack, these look pretty good, the price tag is a bit heavy but probably worth it. Also one of my suggestions from here was to add more weapon variants to each skill, the use of dual wielding in blunt and axes for example, the introduction of dual wield spears. Things like this... this pack could potentially add some more diversity to available weaponry.

-Fantasy robes pack, pretty sure this was already donated as i saw people talking about it long ago. Still worth a mention i guess?

-Alien insects pack, reminds me of hunderswamp_north, probably some potential use to these.

-Fish pack, the only reason i'm posting this is because of the fact that we only have 3 underwater enemies in this game from what i recall (leeches, sharks, demonfish) and i guess that orca whale that essentially is not a valid target. There was talks for an underwater map in the recent past, inb4 that map is rigged with sharks and demonfish and glowing leeches. To avoid that, perhaps this one pack will help avoiding that.

-Mushroom pack, maybe new consumables with side effects? Maybe new items used in alchemy to create advanced potions (mix 3 different types to create a potion, essentially something similiar to forging gear)? Maybe new items that can only be collected from specific themed maps assigned to each type of shroom? I know its way alot of mushrooms, but the potential use behind them for various reasons could be so damn "high"!

-Potion variety pack, this pack might be useless, i don't know. I do like a wide variety of potions flasks in RPG games though, if msc could do that without breaking up, probably a good addition then.

-Fantasy weapon pack, 20 models included in the pack, some potential variety in weaponry is included. Things like rapiers, double sided blade, blade with a spiky handle (mix use of pushing back and doing damage or parrying and returning damage to the enemy), etc.

-Fantasy swords pack, 6 swords, all magical looking and low quality. Could potentially use some of them as daggers too with rescaling.

-Knight gear, i like this set, i really do. All 4 of the items look pretty good and would most likely be worth considering adding into MSC in the future.

-Fantasy bows set, 10 bows, from basic to magical looking, this pack seems pretty good for replacing old models with and even add new potential bows to the game.

-Fantasy heavy armour set, 10 models, chain armours, plate armours. They look exactly the kind of thing msc would use, quality-wise.

-Fantasy light armour set, 10 models, lightweight armour. Samething as the previous listed item, quality-wise it looks like the thing msc would use.

-Fantasy shield set, 13 models, basic to magical shields. Samething as the previous listed item.

-Fantasy daggers set, 10 models, basic to magical daggers, same as the previous entries.

-Fantasy swords set, 10 models, baisc to magical swords, samething again.

-15 weapons pack, looks similiar to what msc would use in terms of weapon content.

-Diablo spear pack, 5 spear models with some nice quality in them.

-Fantasy weapons pack, set of items that look like are made of glass/crystal or whatever.

-Orc warlord pack, this pack might be worth it, if we were to add a new orc unit to the game. The creator named it warrior, the creation seems more related to a warlord than a warrior to me.




Secondary picks

-Wyvern pack, potentially could have some good use.

-Basic potions pack, not really sure if these are of any use.

-Pumpkin pack, maybe add a new type of food consumable? Apples are the low tier consumables, could always go with a mid tier or higher consumable. Perhaps have its own recipe aswell for a pumpkin soup or maybe a pumpkin pie. :roll:

-Meele weapons pack, have no clue if this can be of any use, the weapon variety is good tho.

-Moar potions pack, probably MSS. i don't know.

-Tardis 2013 pack, probably not that much use, but since we already have a tardis model in the game, thought it might be a good idea to give it some more use. Like different variations of Tardis used for different purposes, one to travel into the past (helena-old_helena), one to travel into alternate dimensions (nightmare maps) and so on. I'm not really a fan of doctor who, not that i don't welcome the use of the tardis in this game, it's actually a pretty good idea.

-Apples pack, more apples, anyone? Could always update these things with some extra variety, effects and uses. Maybe even have them used to create basic potions and stuff.

-Medieval weapons pack, these look nice. MSC probably has little to no use for these unless its model replacement, so MSS perhaps?

-Low quality medieval/fantasy pack, might have some use within msc, at least one of the models might (the one handed sceptre that is).

-Low quality blunt weapons, blunt weapons with a level system design (they change in appearence and get stronger and nastier), the idea behind it is pretty good, probably no use out of those models though. Unless it is for replacing the current existing models with these.

-Low quality fantasy swords pack, i have an undecided opinion about this, they look a little bit too cartoonish, plus the textures in some of them also make them less serious as instruments of war. Some of the models, while unrealistic, look good/ok to me.

-Greenstell weapon set, same issue as the previous listed item, too cartoonish, though i do see more potential in this item than the previous one, it contains a diversity of tools.

-50 weapons pack, from the image i count 40, inb4 rip off title, cheap price anyways. The only use i see in this pack is probably replacing some of the existing bow models with the ones provided here, they might look better than the tree bows and its variants we have.

-Medieval weapons pack, there are low-mid and high quality included, mss could potentially use this(?), i have no clue.

-Old rusty gear, the only reason i'm posting this is because of the shield, it does look nice, not sure if it would still look nice ingame, also considering the price tag, probably not worth it.

-Hammers pack, 5 hammers, no big deal. Just decided to mention.

-Weapon pack, maybe for mss.

-Weapon pack, these look okay'ish overall

-10 katanas pack, bunch of katana reskins that basically look like basic elemental reskins, overpriced probably. Not that they look bad, it's just that the price tag might be a rip off compared to some of the other packs. 10 bucks would probably be the ideal price. Then again i'm no expert.

-Lowpoly medieval weapons, maybe for mss, idk.

-swords pack, mss maybe.




Some non-pack items here, mostly npcs (if not all)

-Dragon knight, pretty sure it could easily fit into msc, given that we have dragons in the lore and a dragon themed map.

-Battlemage maiden, looks damn nice. Not sure what kind of integration she would have in msc though. Maybe endgame content possibility? Like a character introduced later that will help you with quests or something. We are humans in this game and have little to no help from humans themselves, which is weird. Maybe could be for mss, idk.

-sword + shield knight, this looks nice but uh... i would place it on the same spot as the previous listed item in terms of where it should be, if msc could use this, good, if not, then mss?

-Female warrior, could easily be added to msc, with places like deralia and hall of deralia, could also easily replace some of the existing ugly models (i'm looking at you, the one npc that shows up in foutpost/islesofdread2/gertenheld_forest/deralia...)

-Warrior girl/young female warrior, same as the previous one, except looks more rookish.

-Medieval female warrior/experienced female warrior/royal guard, probably what i would call as the real deal. Could also help replace existing ugly npcs.

-Medieval warrior, same as the previous 2 entries, except looks like a basic male warrior/basic infantry, so i guess a rookie.

-Medieval warrior/experienced warrior/royal guard,same as the female counterpart.

-Warrior/Rogue warrior, same as the previous one except his motives are different.

-Fantasy warrior/Rogue warrior leader, basically what the name says, looks like a rogue warrior to me or some type of warrior you would pay to get the job done.

-Medieval knight, basically the bulky guy from the group that gets all the attention.

-skeleton warrior/undead warrior/cursed warrior, someone was caught exploring the wrong location at the wrong time.

-Skeleton archer/undead archer/cursed archer, same fate as the previous fool.

-Necromancer, the one guy who delivered said fate to the previous two fools. :roll:

-Woman priest/female support mage, the go-to npc to get some support magical spells and items.

-Human battlemage, the go-to npc to get some offensive magical spells and items.

-Human warlock, the go-to guy to get offensive magical spells.

-Female mage, the go-to npc to get basic magical spells and items.

-Fire mage, the one npc that just wants to see the world burn, also he could sell some spells too to help him achieve that.

-Mistress, the go-to person to get shady requests/tasks and things involving poison (i guess in other words, she could sell poison related magics)

-Dwarf warrior, there was still room to add a midget to the list, so here it is!




A pack that is priced over 50

$59 troll pack + reskins, not sure if necessary to the game but might be worth mentioning.


UPDATE #1(Free-50€ search)

This update contains a list of items that are potentially ready for implementation:

-Monster rig Mesefus, a pale undead, includes a walking animation, seems to be missing 3 basic animations (attack, idle and death), price is cheap though.

-Low poly giant demon with a club, it seems to be ready for use and contains 4 animations.

-Large red mantis, death animation, max 3ds rigged.

-Wasp, seems to be game ready, fully animated.

-"Metal" wasp, exactly the same as the previous one, just retextured and 1€ higher. :roll:

-Alien, game ready, doesn't look 100% alien to me, looks like an experiment gone wrong. Includes "dramatic poses", walk cycle animation and attack animation.

-Fly, seems to be complete and ready for use, includes 3 animations (flyloop, idle and death). Cheap price.

-Low poly fantasy wurm, 9+ animations, seems ready for use.

-Carnivorous plant, seems ready for use. Says its animated but doesnt specify what animations are included.

-Demonic bear, actually its a panda. Anyways seems to be complete, says its animated but doesnt list what the animations are... Might be missing some animations most likely. Also low price.

-Fire Golem, this right here looks badass and it's one of my main targets right now. It seems to be complete for instant use.

-Ice Golem, this is the same as the previous one, different model though. Also one of my main targets right now.

-Demon lord, this is probably a great investment, seems to be game ready, low price, a whole bunch of animations (8 to be exact) and comes in two elemental versions of fire and ice. Also my main target.

-Demon, seems to be complete and ready for use. This is a secondary target for me. (might buy it at a later time)

-Mummy, same as the previous item.

-This creator has a bunch of animated stuff. All of them seem to be missing "materials", idk what that is. Also the format might not be the proper one, but there is this conversion option of 5 models per week. So i guess it's worth it?





Not animated, some models that look nice and i thought i should mention:


-Magma creature, not rigged or animated, looks good though.

-Stone golem, doesn't have animations, which is too bad, the model looks damn good and has alot of potential use. Also cheap price.


-"Female warrior", the name makes little sense imo, the model is pretty good though.

-Nasty demon, looks pretty good.



UPDATE #2

Just some links for future reference:

-3DRT

-3dFoin

-3DRT creator store

-CGtrader store
 

zeus9860

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About damn time i'm done with this, i'm such a slowpoke when it comes to making long ass posts. Anyways for the people still wondering why i did this, its just to somehow help people look for something to donate, i myself am looking forward to donate but gonna wait untill someone comes in here and tells me what to do when searching for models for this game, there are different formats and quality settings which i would assume aren't compatible with this game. So yeah, expect to see some useless mentions in the list.
 

Hush

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zeus9860 said:
-Fantasy robes pack, pretty sure this was already donated as i saw people talking about it long ago. Still worth a mention i guess?

-Wyvern pack, potentially could have some good use.

-Fantasy heavy armour set, 10 models, chain armours, plate armours. They look exactly the kind of thing msc would use, quality-wise.

The fantasy robes aswell as the the wyvern were already (among a few other models) donated by me and, if I remember correctly, that heavy armour set was already donated by Phosphorcracker.

I think that In the current state of MS:C not the number of available models are the factor, which limits the progress, more the amount of people who are currently involved in the development.

All the nice and shiny models are nice to have, but as long as there are just a few people (not sure if there is any active modeler in the dev team at the moment) working on integrating them into the mod, they will just pile up (like my donations do) and won't make it into the game in the near future.

So, is there maybe a way to donate devs instead of (or in addition to) models to MS:C? ;)
 

zeus9860

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The only way to bring in more developers would be to call their attention towards the game by making it publicly announced (eg: steam). Then again the developers usually just leave. So kinda beats the purpose of calling them out.

This reminded me of the fact that MSS and MSC devs should group up and work on 1 thing only. I've suggested this many times but seems like people don't give a f*ck about that and would rather just keep on delaying both things for years.

The manpower is already short, splitting between two projects makes no sense imo. You either focus in finishing MSC or put effort into delivering MSS. I would prefer MSC to be kept alive the most, despite it being a mess of a game right now, i prefer the old engine over the source engine, i can't stand playing source games for a long period of time, MSS would just be another one of those games added to the list where i play for a week or two and then quit for months or years.

Anyways, enough derailing from my part, i do believe the only two things i can do to help is either donating models or directly to RKS for the hosting service.
 

Hush

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zeus9860 said:
... i do believe the only two things i can do to help is either donating models or directly to RKS for the hosting service.

Same here. Thats what I did and will do in the future - and I am really looking forward to see some of my donated models in the next patch(es). :)
 

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Bugger is, I've only managed to get a fraction of Hush's models into the game - there's still a lot of model donations piled up on the backburner.

This is a grand list, though it'd take me forever to go through them and figure out which ones are problematic. Given the size of the stack on the backburner though, I'd almost rather people donated directly to RKS. At the moment, I can't promise your model will show up in the next release, or even several releases hence. Monsters, in particular, take a hell of a lot of work, even when they are simply replacing existing ones.

That said, I'll repeat what I posted elsewhere, for model requirements:
From the Model [Req] Thread said:
For monsters:
• Less than <8K poly (mind you, >4K poly is more work, as the model has to be segmented.)
• Bone #0 should be the root bone, linked to the model for movement.
- Albeit, there's no way to check this without downloading it.
- Also not an issue, if the monster is of the stationary or flying variety.
• If it ain't animated, skinned/UV'd, and rigged, forget about it. More work than it's worth.
• Preferred formats: MS3D [Milkshape], SMD

For weapons:
• Do require skin. Do NOT require bones nor animations.
• <4K poly (though sometimes we can reduce LOD - but the model will suffer.)
• Preferred formats: MS3D [Milkshape], OBJ

For all:
• Not Maya or 3ds MAX format, for these are proprietary. Blender is also a bit iffy.

If you purchase $10 or more worth of valid models for use with MSC, and provide your Steam ID, we will give you a Donator Halo. Please run links past Thothie before making purchases, however.


zeus9860 said:
This reminded me of the fact that MSS and MSC devs should group up and work on 1 thing only. I've suggested this many times but seems like people don't give a f*ck about that and would rather just keep on delaying both things for years.
As I've pointed out before, MSS has never really interfered with MSC's development. In nearly every case, either the MSS developer had no interest in MSC, or didn't have a skillset we could use. The one possible exception is Rickler, but by the time he started working on MSS, it was specifically because he was sick of the MSC drama, and had already given all that he could. (...And he was since eaten by Godzilla.)

What would be nice, is if people worked on what we needed, rather than just whatever they felt like at the time, but alas - not even an issue these days, since we have so few developers. (Greatguys1, however, is going above and beyond the call of duty lately, I can't even keep up with him.)

But people just aren't interested in the Goldsrc engine anymore - it isn't the modder's paradise it once was. (Sadly, neither is Source, largely due to Valve doing random changes in an effort to break every other mod, every other year.)

So I dunno... If you wanted to "donate a developer" maybe you could put up a work order on Monster, but I suspect that'd be a pretty penny. (Also it'd have to be clear they were working for you, not us, or some odd tax issues could arise.)
 

zeus9860

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Thothie said:
Bugger is, I've only managed to get a fraction of Hush's models into the game - there's still a lot of model donations piled up on the backburner.

This is a grand list, though it'd take me forever to go through them and figure out which ones are problematic. Given the size of the stack on the backburner though, I'd almost rather people donated directly to RKS. At the moment, I can't promise your model will show up in the next release, or even several releases hence. Monsters, in particular, take a hell of a lot of work, even when they are simply replacing existing ones.

So I dunno... If you wanted to "donate a developer" maybe you could put up a work order on Monster, but I suspect that'd be a pretty penny. (Also it'd have to be clear they were working for you, not us, or some odd tax issues could arise.)

I don't mind having my donations on hold for a long time, as long as they are actually something needed for the game sooner or later. As for the list itself, i posted alot of the links without having a clue as to what would be best. I did a small update at the end of OP with a smaller list of new items, that smaller list might actually be more on-point. Then again i searched for that stuff before seeing your reply here.

That donate a developer idea is probably way too expensive if there was alot to do, which i believe is the case. Maybe the only way to get something similiar to that would be to have its own donation for modelers. Unless Husk wants to to donate a developer himself. That's up to him. :wink:

Speaking of modelers, where is FER? He was the last active modeler when i took my long break from this game.

Anyways, i'll be sending a pm shortly with 3 links from the new list i added.
 

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Wish I knew where FER was... It was difficult to get specific tasks out of him, but he was one of the few modelers we had who would take requests from time to time. I think everything we need right now might be beyond or on the edge of his privy. (It'd be nice to be able to unload some of these conversion tasks though.)


I'm tempted not to bring this up, as I don't want to discourage people from donating models entirely (even if, again, I'd rather you gave to RKS, atm). However, if you buy a model from Turbosquid, in addition to linking me before you do, so I can determine the possible viability - as Zeus just discovered - GOOGLE THE AUTHOR'S NAME!

3rdt.com said:
Just a warning to our customers. Turbosquid.com is illegally selling our 3d models under our brand name. Please don't make purchases from them. If you have ordered any of our products from them in the past, please request a refund due to they are not selling a legal license for our intellectual property.
3RDT is the source of our new elf models, among others, and it seems most of his stuff is available on his web site, for considerably less than it is on Turbosquid, where he apparently doesn't want it to be, and isn't getting any money for his work. Some similar shady stuff going on with the various models we got from 3DFoin, I suspect. Turbosquid isn't the only site doing this either - and the markups are considerably harsher elsewhere.

(Given all the models we've nicked, I suppose I shouldn't get too sanctimonious, but at least we don't try to sell them back to you, with a markup to boot! ><)
 

zeus9860

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I would assume that we should only buy from these mainstream websites (turbosquid, cgtrader and the likes) if the models are only sold there, i should have done my research before buying, i always research stores when i buy games and i didn't do it with the models thinking it was all fine.

This shouldn't discourage people from donating models, the purpose of these comments is to alert people before buying, not all we see is what it seems to be in the end.

As for FER, i had a lengthy catchup conversation on steam yesterday, would be nice if he returned as i'm pretty sure he could still help out with some of the stuff. Sadly i have no control over this as it is his decision and time in the end.
 

Thothie

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Meh, you aren't the only one - I'm sure we've purchased over a dozen models from these guys now. I'm not even sure about the free ones at this point - I'll have to go through my records and see if I can Google up whoever all we may have screwed over.

I suppose they are still a fairly good search engine though (although, even there, they used to be better).
 

Everquest

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Getting any kind of help on an already old and out dated (As most people would look at it to today's standards...) game that costs money to even play, (HL1) I just do not see happening unless they had their own copy of HL1 and decided to help, but I assume that is rare now and only becoming rarer.

However getting your own free stand alone game or merging with Sven Co-op, as discussed in another thread, there should be no limit to the amount of potential moddlers, map makers, etc. in general terms. I mean if the game is free and they try and like it, maybe they would stay and help, even if only for a little while. Schools are starting to be big with video game design and I am sure HL has been in the spot light more than once. Heck my girl friend from Barcelona has even heard of HL and she does not even like first person shooters. (But she does love RPGs hence why I was trying to get her on here and was so excited it was playable for a time on SC, but we missed our chance...)

Or those map and model makers already on Sven Co-op, some being very good I might add, might try their hand at MSC if for nothing else but for a change of scenery, are looking for a challange or because they want to add to their portfolio.

Maybe we just need more PR. I mean how many HL games 1 or 2 are like MS? Even in the industry there are not a lot of online first person rpgs that controls the way this one does in the grand scheme of things and especially not a free one too boot. And a lot of people like fantasy adventure/rpgs. And then on top of all that can mod it to their liking, or with in respect to the approval of the dev team anyway.

And I had no idea you could just take any kind of model and just upload it as it were. I thought they would have to be made using the HL tools for them to be compatible...

And what is RKS and what are these "conversation tasks" you are trying to complete that you speak of?
 

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RKS is our (godsend) host, who maintains the website, FN, and a near dozen active servers in three time zones.

No idea what a conversation task might be - though I maybe reminded come Thanksgiving.
 

PY004

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Maybe we need to rename the servers to "MSC Official Server" or something. These servers are practically official servers anyways. I don't see a need for the RKS branding and it just confuses new players with a group that has no relevance to MSC other than that it hosts a couple servers for it. I always dismissed the idea before because I didn't want to imply servers hosted by others are inferior or take any traffic away from them.
 

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RKS.PY004 said:
Maybe we need to rename the servers to "MSC Official Server" or something. These servers are practically official servers anyways. I don't see a need for the RKS branding and it just confuses new players with a group that has no relevance to MSC other than that it hosts a couple servers for it. I always dismissed the idea before because I didn't want to imply servers hosted by others are inferior or take any traffic away from them.

So RKS is different from FN then? One of these tout either in the server names or a screen that pops up after downloading the mod of extra exp and or gold just by playing on their servers. I consider that cheating so I would try to stay away from servers like that, although I suppose if everyonee is on the same footing and you can not take that character made on that server anywhere else it should not matter and maybe they are trying to balance the game over all, I have no idea. But just by looking at it I would generally steer clear anyway.

Thothie said:
(It'd be nice to be able to unload some of these conversion tasks though.)

This what I was mentioning, unless you meant you had forgotten which conversations you were working on.
 

PY004

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RKS is the community that hosts the MSC Website, the FN Server (the software that all FN Connected MSC servers connect to retrieve and update character information), and runs the RKS MSC game servers that you see in your server browser.

Since Thothie has full access to the RKS MSC servers, it is the de facto official server of MSC. I think the RKS branding on those servers just causes confusion among newer players as is the case here.

All FN connected servers receive a boost to character EXP I believe. Thothie would know this better than I. I just maintain the servers. In other words, servers not connected to the official FN central character storage and retrieval system would allow their characters to level at half the rate of the FN connected server. Characters cannot be interchanged or transferred between FN connected and non FN connected servers.
 

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Everquest said:
So RKS is different from FN then? One of these tout either in the server names or a screen that pops up after downloading the mod of extra exp and or gold just by playing on their servers. I consider that cheating so I would try to stay away from servers like that, although I suppose if everyonee is on the same footing and you can not take that character made on that server anywhere else it should not matter and maybe they are trying to balance the game over all, I have no idea. But just by looking at it I would generally steer clear anyway.
Ironically, FN is the only effective mechanism in place to stop you from cheating, and, generally speaking, the only publically accessible servers we've seen outside of FN, for the past several years, have been dedicated to cheating (Yes, I'm looking at you Anitalink.)

FN's primary function is to create a central database of characters so you can play anywhere and progress with the same characters. Additionally, if something happens to corrupt your character (as it so often does), it creates an automated backup every four hours from which the character can be restored. Lastly, if you're caught cheating, it can be used to roll back your character several months, or, in the most severe of cases, delete and/or ban it. ...It's also handy for figuring various game balancing aspects, as we can use it to get a better idea of global progression, item rarity, etc, across a large population of players, rather than relying solely on our own personal experience, and it's a good source to pull "real-world" characters from for testing. We'll occasionally put up a public alpha test using an FN archive, but leave it safely disconnected from FN itself.

There's also a few game features that only work on FN, and the number of these is liable to increase in the future. (Including all future holiday events.)

But yes, the XP and loot boosts apply to all FN servers, not just the Official MSC servers run by RKS. I think the only thing exclusive to RKS servers, is the April fool's event (which doesn't get you anything, save maybe lols).

RKS.PY004 said:
Since Thothie has full access to the RKS MSC servers, it is the de facto official server of MSC. I think the RKS branding on those servers just causes confusion among newer players as is the case here.
I've no problem advertising for RKS services - this is the first time I can recall it causing any real confusion. :/

Everquest said:
Thothie said:
(It'd be nice to be able to unload some of these conversion tasks though.)

This what I was mentioning, unless you meant you had forgotten which conversations you were working on.
Oh, CONVERSION tasks, not conversation tasks (maybe your auto-correct doesn't realize it, but those are two different words). I was referring to the rather lengthy and arduous process of converting purchased models for use with MSC.
 

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Maybe that is why people who cheated and got uber gear and tons of gold would always join my listen server and bug me... :oldangry: But as I said I was either put off by extra xp/gold if those servers were even around back then and I want to say I do remember them or those like them or I simply did not want to have to be bogged down on where "I" wanted to go... Maybe a little bit of both. Now if I played it would have to be by myself for the majority due to no wifi.

However how hard would it be to use the FN servers like a hub where they are all linked together in real time and when you want to go to another zone you just walk to the exit and or hit the enter key to confirm and then have a quick load screen and you are there like other MMORPGs, opposed to having to be at the whim of others?

Of course maybe it can never be engineered that way nor enough servers to go around for all maps, but maybe if a server is empty it could be used that way of course eventually if you run out of empty servers you are stuck, unless for every map there is a server. Or a mega server to hold all maps running at once.



Thothie said:
Oh, CONVERSION tasks, not conversation tasks (maybe your auto-correct doesn't realize it, but those are two different words). I was referring to the rather lengthy and arduous process of converting purchased models for use with MSC.

Yea... Let's stick with that story... K THX BYE :oops:

But seriously is it extremely hard to do the conversions or just time consuming and tedious? I use to play with the Quest text based game engine and even made a Text Adventure game 80% complete and a Choose Your Own Adventure 70% complete before circumstances beyond my control occured.

Regardless is it as simple as putting said model in a converter and changing the specs and qualities of the model to make it MS worthy? Or do you have to do a total conversion basically from scratch, writing some kind of long confusing code or worse? Can the code be simply copied and pasted with the appropriate values to make it work?
 

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Everquest said:
However how hard would it be to use the FN servers like a hub where they are all linked together in real time and when you want to go to another zone you just walk to the exit and or hit the enter key to confirm and then have a quick load screen and you are there like other MMORPGs, opposed to having to be at the whim of others?

Of course maybe it can never be engineered that way nor enough servers to go around for all maps, but maybe if a server is empty it could be used that way of course eventually if you run out of empty servers you are stuck, unless for every map there is a server. Or a mega server to hold all maps running at once.
Ummm... Type listmaps in console, and you'll notice we have around eighty of them, given that it's rough on one mean-ass box/fin to run even three maps... Yeah, ain't happening.

It *might* have been possible about a decade ago, when we only had twelve, even then, we wouldn't be able to have twelve servers in each region to cover that.

Granted, a lot of popular RPG's these days have taken to the instanced world/area approach, so it's not as big a shortcoming as it was back in the days of, well, Everquest.

Everquest said:
But seriously is it extremely hard to do the conversions or just time consuming and tedious?
Both, though it varies wildly with the model. There's no conversion program, per say, though using a service or program to convert from one format to another is generally the first step. It's particularly atrocious with monsters, as the animation sequences need to be cut apart and then flagged properly - sometimes you need new ones, or the bones are arranged wrong, either of which requires hours of drudgery, and very often, you gotta do both. Then there's writing up the related script, which can take days of trial and error, particularly on complex mobs with multiple movement/attack features (the new elves have taken months, but they come in a lotta flavors). If they are over 4K poly, they additionally have to be chopped up into submodels and re-attached in segments. Armors are a royal pain as they have to be tweaked out to fit on two different genders. Weapons are a bit simpler, assuming they can be converted to a usable mesh format, but even there, ya gotta make a viewmodel and several world models, and get them all scaled and aligned proper, so usually a few hours a piece (plus, assuming they aren't simply direct replacements, scripting and testing time which can take days.)
 

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Thothie said:
It *might* have been possible about a decade ago, when we only had twelve, even then, we wouldn't be able to have twelve servers in each region to cover that.

Awww... I miss those twelve maps and one player model... :oldlol:


Everquest said:
But seriously is it extremely hard to do the conversions or just time consuming and tedious?


Thothie said:
Both, though it varies wildly with the model. There's no conversion program, per say, though using a service or program to convert from one format to another is generally the first step. It's particularly atrocious with monsters, as the animation sequences need to be cut apart and then flagged properly - sometimes you need new ones, or the bones are arranged wrong, either of which requires hours of drudgery, and very often, you gotta do both. Then there's writing up the related script, which can take days of trial and error, particularly on complex mobs with multiple movement/attack features (the new elves have taken months, but they come in a lotta flavors). If they are over 4K poly, they additionally have to be chopped up into submodels and re-attached in segments. Armors are a royal pain as they have to be tweaked out to fit on two different genders. Weapons are a bit simpler, assuming they can be converted to a usable mesh format, but even there, ya gotta make a viewmodel and several world models, and get them all scaled and aligned proper, so usually a few hours a piece (plus, assuming they aren't simply direct replacements, scripting and testing time which can take days.)

I am sorry I even asked... :oldshock: I was going to offer my services but I can do none of that... :|
 

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Everquest said:
Awww... I miss those twelve maps and one player model... :oldlol:
It's not as if they aren't all still there - they just have a lot more friends now. ;) (Well, and in Helena's and Sfor's case, grew a bit.)
 

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Thothie said:
Everquest said:
Awww... I miss those twelve maps and one player model... :oldlol:
It's not as if they aren't all still there - they just have a lot more friends now. ;) (Well, and in Helena's and Sfor's case, grew a bit.)

I can not wait to go exploring again! However I actually never went very far... Edana, Thornlands with the boar and bear I think was next to it and then a city of buildings on the other map on one far side and the spider caves in the middle and then a forest or hill entrance with a man and a diary or something in another adjoining map and of course the sewers in the first town. I did not go to too many other places back then. :oops: But I did enjoy those I had went too. I really liked the music and the towns, just a shame the towns people back then were not very talkative. :|
 

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Well, they are a bit more talkative now... Though you'll have to get to at least mscave before you hit any real voice acting.

Granted, that progression goes pretty quickly on FN, which is among the reasons we need to get this dynamic quest thing off the ground - to give you some reason to go back and visit the maps you outleveled and ended up skipping.
 

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And why do we have official servers, as official as can be, that do have the leveling up and gold attained faster? Are there any FN that are just normal as the game intended? I suppose then there would be the leveling gap between players, but that would be my own business to enjoy the game naturally with no artificial ingredients or preservatives. :p

No one would be forced to join the slower (normal) exp/gold servers, but obviously they could swap back and forth. But if fast leveling is their thing then I doubt they would bother and stay where they are at anyway. But for everyone like me, we will enjoy the scenery and slower pace. And if we ever have the itch to progress faster, for what ever reason, we can always go to a FN server that is double the exp etc. :D

I would have to start from scratch anyway so I guess it wont matter much. I would just like to cut my teeth on how it was if possible, without out growing it too quickly :oldcry:

And you mean voice acting like full blown conversations or just something to fill the air with banter and give the allusion of conversations/voice acting?
 

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That whole thing about having specific servers for each map is a bit redicolous but it kinda made me picture MSC as an open world game, now that would have been awesome to see.

Instead of transitions that reboot the server into a new map, you would get loading screens from transitioning from 1 place to another, i guess said loadings could be used to "reset" the area you are going to, something like this would be awesome, but probably impossible to achieve at this point, maybe MSS, if it ever sees the light...

This reminds me, i still have to do the RKS donation and next model donation later this month.
 

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zeus9860 said:
That whole thing about having specific servers for each map is a bit redicolous but it kinda made me picture MSC as an open world game, now that would have been awesome to see.

Instead of transitions that reboot the server into a new map, you would get loading screens from transitioning from 1 place to another, i guess said loadings could be used to "reset" the area you are going to, something like this would be awesome, but probably impossible to achieve at this point, maybe MSS, if it ever sees the light...

I guess it would be a bit ridiculous now, but as was previously mentioned, there was only about 12 maps when I last played so that would be 12 servers. Minus those maps that are hardly ever played for one reason or another and the number begins to shrink.

However I think at least one main town for all players should be able to be traveled too. Either to visit the bank, buy much needed necessities, trade/sell for coin or to do quests and train at Master Houses should always be available.

But then the issue of what maps you must go through to get to said town would be an issue. (Let's say to get to Edana, as an example, would take 14 maps to get to it. That would be just about impossible with out either having a closer town used instead, players magically just warp to town or you do have that many servers to allow for such a far travel.) Also which maps would be played that is newbie friendly but also hardcore for those just starting and vets would need to be considered. But everyone needs a town.

Also last time I had suggested this we were toying with the idea of player made servers picking up the slack. But then the computer would have to be on 24hrs a day and depending how it is set up or if you only have one computer, you wont be even able to play. Also concern of cheating was discussed.

But then, if the player limit is still 32 or less, a server, thus a whole map, would be too full to load for a waiting player. Then does the servers/game allow for two of the same maps to be played (if there was an extra one for that reason or it simply refuses to let you enter that area. No one from the full 32 would be in "that" same map even if a server allowed for two of the same maps to be played side by side. Also from my understanding, 32 players would be horrible lag and unplayable anyway...
 
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