The past few days Unter and I have been kicking an idea. Turns out, Rune's engine actually supports locational "teleporters", which can actually transfer you not to just a different spot on your map, but to an entirely different server. Different IP and all. Does this bring any immediate pictures to anyone's head?

Here is our proposal: The Low Caliber Network. A spiderweb of "geographically" linked maps and servers run on a multitude of different machines, so that players would login to a "town" server, and from there could walk in through the giant gates of the Low Caliber Arena and actually be transferred to the Low Caliber Arena server. If the players aren't in the mood for dueling, they can leave town through the gates and emerge into the wilderness, where monsters would be lurking in the woods and mountains. Hell, maybe even dungeons.

A clan system with logins could create a "guild" structure in which multiple warriors could fight together without fear of lacerating each other with their weapons. And if that clan has a server machine (a 500 mhz or above with decent RAM will do) they can dedicate towards the cause, they can have their own stronghold in the Low Caliber Network World.

Now, this is obviously going way the hell out on a limb. But, this project is do-able, in all technical and conceptual aspects. So you ask, what do we need in order for this dream to be realized?

1.) Servers - Pretty important. Any machine with decent RAM and a decent connection will suffice as a server. If you have such a machine that can be connected, and are willing to contribute, Unter or I would help you in getting it connected to the world.

2.) Mappers - I know some of you have a knack for mapping. Anyone who's interested in the idea of this project, and wants to contribute by laying down some map action, this would be greatly appreciated. We're talking about building a world here. That's going to take alot of *quality* mapping. To begin with, we'll probably be looking for a town, and some wilderness terrain. Keep in mind, when we're working on one specific region, we need to keep all the terrain looking more or less uniform. In other words. If the town is covered in snow, it wouldn't make much sense for the area just outside the town gates to be grassy and sunny. So please, if you are interested, contact me or Unter. For those who have AOL Instant Messenger, IM me at "Daemonifuge".

If you don't have AIM, you can mail me at
reagan_haslam@hotmail.com

So the next question is. How long would this take? Truthfully, with the right maps, we could get started within the week. Now keep in mind, this may just mean a town and an arena, and then add the wilderness as we get more resources from the community. But a project has a better chance of not dying when there's progress to be seen. It is very possible to turn this project into an actual substance, rather than words, very soon. Contact one of us if you're interested. Thanks.

-Gren

This server warp has been know for a pretty long time actually, just noone attempted to make such extensive use of it like you're planning to do.

Quality mapper right here for you . Also I can set up a computer or even two, hell maybe even three very good ones, P3s, maybe even P4s and lots of RAM. The only issue is I don't have the cash flow to support any servers (no cash flow ) So if someone would pay me to provide the connection, I would provide the servers.

This seems like one hell of an idea but I have some doubts whether there will be enough contributions to support the cause.

Let me know what you come up with.

Right on Nutt. Think you could make a viking town? Low rolling hills, grassland. Autumn. Can you picture what the Low Caliber Arena might look like from the outside? At the top of the town (like on the north end of the town, on a hill), have the Low Caliber Arena. If you do that. Unter can slap a door into the LCA, I'll host the town, and bam. We've got a chain. Also make two town gates if could. you know how the LCA is arranged with like three points? Make the town kind of like that, with the LCA at the top, and then two exits at the other corners.

And it's up to you if you want to put interior's in the buildings or not. Make at least one building solid, but with an entrance we can slap a teleporter on, cuz another person submitted a badass inn map that I wanna slap in there sometime.

If this doesn't sound like too much, and you're willing to go for it, that'd be pretty sick. Thanks man.

I'll do it after I'm done with the arena if I can be sure the map will be put to use. This sounds like an awful lot to accomplish. I don't want to spend a lot of time working on it when in the end the whole project will be dumped.

First things first is you gotta figure out where this stuff will be hosted and can having multiple server teleports in a level be done.

Is unter in on this or is he still unsure? Without him we ain't gonna get far.

One more thing, the UT engine is not meant to render large scale maps. It is meant for relatively small areas and it is the last thing you would want to make a nature scene with.

So it can be done but don't think too far ahead, there are limitations. Rolling hills would require a lot polygons to look natural and the UT engine is inefficient with many of them in close proximity. Smooth surfaces such as those are likely not an option. The UT2003 engine is much more suited towards this but this is only unfortunately Rune not Rune2.

Take a look at some of them large scale maps that have been made (such as the snowball fight maps). The scene is pretty simple but the large open area is very bad on performance, even on my system.

Unter's definitely in on it, to the best of my knowledge. Could ask him yourself if you want to be sure. The only way this will work is if we can break the barrier of public pessimism. I mean yeah, there's a billion and one reasons it might *not* work. There's one way we can actually make it work, and that's by not giving up on it.

If you put the work in on it, I can guarantee (as much as any human being can), that it will get used. Both Unter and I are pretty enthusiastic about the idea of this. We both love projects. He's got alot of talent for coding and administration, and I've got alot of human resources and maps that I'm pulling together and organizing for this. As long as the key players remain true to the cause (and by key players I don't just mean us, I mean anyone who actually involves themself and puts in the effort), I don't see any reason why the project shouldn't be a success, whether it takes a week or a month to get off the ground, no one can be sure yet.

Ah yeah, don't take the "rolling hills" too literally. Just some small hills. They can be jagged and sloped, that's not a problem. I mean don't sacrifice alot of performance on making them look natural. You know seaside's hills look? Don't worry about anything any fancier than that. I mean we all know what the game looks like, and we know it's not gonna look totally realistic. So just do what you can, and don't worry about stuff like that. The game in itself is capable of enough atmosphere and mood to make up for the somewhat rugged textures and terrain.

Well than lets go for it. Like I said I can provide the servers if you choose to use them and I'll be in on the mapping.

Cool. Give me an idea of how much money you'd need for those servers and I'll see what I can come up with.

Another thing is I would like to make maps that are well balanced for the average modern computer, say a geforce3/P4 1.6.

Those systems with a TNT2 or those such as your 650Mhz processor will be a drag.

I suppose it's another forceful push towards an upgrade.

And these servers, how many players are you planning to have in each?

I'm planning on upgrading anyway, everyone upgrades eventually. Don't let that even bother you.

Probably around 8-10 player limit. That should leave enough space so people can travel through and they shouldn't get full.

And don't worry about balancing the town for deathmatch. Just make it kinda RPG style.

8-10 players, thats quite a bit.

Alright well I'll go take a look at what I can find.

And Unter, we might think about some sort of auto-kick script, that would boot someone who's been idle for more than 10 minutes or so. (This would also be helpful in LCA, to help deal with Holy-Defender(TC)'s six year afk sprees.)

lol.

Ok my ISP's Ultra service offers 640Kbps upstream. That's 80KB theoretical upstream which I'm assuming will be about 50KB effective based upon my current standard service. I could install a second line so the Ultra service will be dedicated to the servers so my home uses will not interfere.

I'm not quite sure how much bandwidth each player eats up in Rune, I'm estimating at around 2KB. In this case that would support around 25 PPL so that would be good for the 3 8 player servers, perhaps even more if we stress it a little.

These are just assumptions, we should figure this out in detail, perhaps Unter knows the net use per person.

As for the price, that's $70CDN per month and $45CDN for the first two months.

That's about $45 US per month and $30 for the first two months.

$45 for three large servers is not bad if you ask me .

As for the servers... My second home system is a P4 1.8 512MB RAM, that can support a huge server if you want one. I can batch some more good rigs with spare P4s/P3s/Athlons and lots of RAM and perhaps my dad's laptop too, it's a VAIO, very nice. I also have to consider the increased electric bill, but since I'm strapped for cash my dad may be willing to cover the extra cost, I'm really not sure how much it will add to run a few computers 24/7.

quote:

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Originally posted by Gren:
And Unter, we might think about some sort of auto-kick script, that would boot someone who's been idle for more than 10 minutes or so. (This would also be helpful in LCA, to help deal with Holy-Defender(TC)'s six year afk sprees.)

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Votekick that idiot. I do it all the time.

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....can having multiple server teleports in a level be done.<?>
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Yeah on one of my older maps I had some TPs goin to LCA and some goin to the various Roach servers.

All ya have ta do is name em each different (Event name or what have you) and enter a web Url
in the teleporter Url field like so... Rune:/iphere:7777 where iphere is the IP of the server needed

Edit: not so sure 'bout 7777 port... that is default but some may use others.

Make sense? I'm not too good at 'splainin stuff.
I'm a do'er not a teller hehe.

Yeah $45 a month for three good servers ain't bad. Considering a good machine can run more than one server at a time.

If you guys haven't done so, take a look at DM-Wendol][ attached below.

Mano, NuTT, Imp and I have played it on various occasions, and came to the conclusion that it was an ideal starting point for an RPG map; managable in size but lush on detail and, in addition, containing many potential "portals".



DM-Wendol][.zip (1,400 Kb, 5 downloads)

Yea, I was trying to make Unter host it on one of the previous existing LCC servers. It turned out we didn't get it, I think because Unter had frame rate issues with it. Upgrade that comp!

Also now that I think about it, rather than using Wendol we should use a map designed by ourselves to fit our particular likings.