Dev Meeting 2015-04-05
Talad says: welcome to the “meet the developers” event
Eymma nods
Talad says: this event is created to allow a good flow of information between players and developers
Talad says: we are here to answer your questions, get your comments, etc…
Talad says: if you have a question/comment just go to the stand in front of us
Talad says: one question each
Talad says: if there are no questions, we can discuss about the current developments
Talad says: you were already here?
Talad says: ok, I see no questions
Eymma says: oh…
Talad says: we can give you some updates on the developments
Talad says: mordaan can you start with setting?
Mordaan says: yes, Evirea was at the famous meeting ore. 🙂
Mordaan says: Sure.
Mordaan says: Recently we have been working on several things. First quests to introduce new crafts, like jewelry making, brewing, and item enchantment.
Mordaan says: They are pretty much ready to go. So we are working towards a settings+rules update.
Eymma says: yay!
Thedrish says: nice
Mordaan says: Also we have about 14 new books awaiting approval.
Razos says: That’s quite a lot.
Thedrish rembers Licina*s hearty flat pie
Eymma nods
Evirea giggles
Evirea says: Belatedly. <.<
Talad says: Eonwindd can you expand on what rules is working on?
Eonwindd says: sure
Eonwindd says: like Mordaan said, we have recently completed a few tasks
Mordaan says: And also to mention a general update: we are working to update the website more regularly with stories and updates. There have already been a couple. Tay is working hard on that.
Kaerli says: awesome
Eonwindd says: we expanded enchanting: now you can enchant weapons
Thedrish says: nice
Eymma says: oh?
Eonwindd says: *you will be able to XD
Eonwindd says: in the next update
Eymma says: sounds cool.
Eonwindd says: we also completed Jewelry Making, thanks to Tua andZunna for data and testing
Eymma is all excited
Eonwindd says: you will also be able to enchant your jewelry
Mordaan says: and for getting the quests done...very little tweaking was needed. :)
Eymma is even more excited
Eonwindd says: brewing is also almost completed
Arane says: Brewing..like French Press?
Eonwindd says: the crafting has been loaded and tested
Thedrish thinks The Hammers will like that
Arane says: Or Just Alcoholic drinks only?
Eonwindd says: Brewing like drinks XD
Eonwindd says: we only need to deploy the crafting stations in game as soon as the art will be available
Mordaan says: "brewing" implies alchohol. :P
Thedrish nods to Mordaan
Eonwindd says: so very little work is left for rules to complete these crafting
Eonwindd says: about what Thedrish was reminding ... :)
Thedrish looks up
Eonwindd says: Licina has won a cooking competition some months ago
Eonwindd says: the prize was the possibility to add the recipe in game
Mordaan says: took awhile for the first winner of a cooking contest to have the recipe added. But we got to it...eventually. :)
Thedrish smiles
Thedrish says: It will be in with the update?
Eymma says: Good news
Eonwindd says: the recipe data has been prepared already by Tuathanach and next stage will be to load it in our testing server for testing
Eonwindd says: so it's likely possible it will be available at the next update
Thedrish says: thanks for the info Eonwind, I will tell her.
Kabitar claps
Eonwindd says: I cannot promise 100% but that's the goal
Thedrish thinks Licina will stalk Eonwind with butterflies
Zunna says: lol
Eonwindd says: you're welc ... dho ... XD
Menille says: Greetings all and Happy Easter!
Zunna says: Hey Menille, thanks and you too :)
Eonwindd says: happy Easter!
Eymma waves at Menille Same to you
Talad says: Hi Menille
Razos says: Happy Easter
Menille says: thank you
Talad says: I would like to mention we got a new sponsor on the web site
Talad says: is a coupon kind of website, where you get discounts fo rproducts
Eonwindd says: if there are no questions maybe we can gives small updates on what we're soon going to work
Talad says: they donated to us and we agreed to link them from our main page
Eonwindd nods
Talad says: show them some love by checking their web site
Zunna says: nice! yes i thin i saw their logo. a coloured chameleon
Talad says: marketing wise is quite some time we don't push for new initiatives
Talad says: but we keep open eyes for opportunities
Talad says: like when we have been selected to go into short movies for south american Fox TV
Talad says: was some time ago and I never got to see the result!
Talad says: but was a good one
Eonwindd says: we also made short in-game movies XD
Talad says: Engine side Jilare has been working on some important stability improvements for the NPCClient
Eonwindd says: some of you may remember that
Talad says: NPCClient is the server which moves NPCs in combat and when they are roaming
Talad says: He worked on solving some crashes and improving performances
Talad says: we are testing those changes and will hopefully release those soon
Eonwindd nods
Talad says: also server side we have installed new updates
Talad says: mainly for the infrastructure
Talad says: you may have noticed a downtime few days ago
Talad says: in the morning for about 2-3 hours
Talad says: we have upgraded the database and the operating system with all new security patches
Talad says: which will make the server more stable
Kaerli says: cool
Talad says: as mentioned at the beginning Zunna and the other team members are trying to create regular commuity news
Eonwindd says: especially Taya
Zunna says: Well it's Taya
Eonwindd says: :)
Talad says: to be posted on the web site to make it more interesting and fresh
Razos says: .
Talad says: Taya, sorry :)
Talad says: right
Talad says: my mistake
Eymma says: That sounds nice
Talad says: more news on the web site may attract people
Zunna says: She already posted one you can see it on the main site just now
Eonwindd says: Talad, maybe Zunna wants to give some news about the Shindrok Project too
Zunna says: Yes :) The Shindrok Crater Project advance like we said slowly but surely
Zunna says: We are about to finish the first 10 NPCS that you all will meet down there
Zunna says: each unic10 NPCs; 10 Descs that you can read already on the PS Wiki page
Eonwindd says: for any of you not knowing about it check the forum, it's open to your contribution ;)
Zunna says: 10 quests. were on those at the moment
Zunna says: Soon we will work on items and such, new things created just for this project
Zunna says: and yes were open to contribution at any time it's a community based project :)
Zunna says: Just poke me or Tuathanach !
Eymma nods
Eonwindd says: if you're looking at contribution to PS development the Shindrok Project is a good place to start
Eonwindd says: *contributing
Talad says: one nice community contribution I was expecting is the textures for enki wizard robes
Talad says: it's a nice and not too hard project
Talad says: I encourage you to try
Eonwindd says: especially if you have artist skills, we're in dire need of those
Talad says: if you need help on "how to do it" , join us on the chat channel, you can find instruction on main site to join the chat channel
Iridia says: tried my hand at it :)
Talad says: and we can help you to use the editing tools for PS (viewmesh)
Thedrish says: what software do you need? blender?
Talad says: just a viewer
Talad says: which is made with crystalspace
Zunna says: like once you made your texture , on photoshop for example
Talad says: and reads planeshift files
Zunna says: you need to see it on the 3D model
Talad says: so you can see only the model and the texture, then paint it, reload, see result
Thedrish says: are those tools available for linux?
Talad says: yes
Talad says: if you go on the pswiki, there is a section dedicated to artists
Talad says: those tools are explained there
Thedrish says: okay, I will have a look
Talad says: called art pipeline
Talad says: the tool is viewmesh
Eymma says: oh cool!
Talad says: with that you can create skins for existing models
Thedrish says: okay, a possible interest from me then
Evirea says: Hm.
Talad says: I can tell you developing PS is a lot of fun :)
Evirea says: Might try it. I have a habit of breaking things when I try to develop anything computer-wisel though <.<
Thedrish says: who is the contact for these things?
Talad says: mainly myself, as I'm the one more expert on those tools
Thedrish nods to Talad
Eymma says: Can I ask a question?
Talad says: I think also other devs know where to get the tools and such
Eonwindd nods
Talad says: Eymma please walk to the stand
Eymma says: Oh okay.
Eonwindd says: but don't ask me to paint XD
Eymma says: this one?
Talad says: hey Eymma
Thedrish says: question round already?
Talad says: yes
Eonwindd says: sure
Eymma says: Hello Talad
Eymma greets all developers
Eymma says: My first time here
Eymma clears throat
Thedrish looks at Eymma
Eymma says: All this talking about robes got me thinking. Is it possible to have different colors for the different ways?
Eonwindd says: yes Thedrish, everyone wishing to ask a question can make a queue behind Eymma
Eonwindd says: you're welcome Eymma :)
Thedrish says: eonwind, thought it would be later :)
Eymma smiles to Eonwindd
Thedrish looks at Eymma in a supporting way
Eonwindd says: hi Eymma I think we already talked about different colors, right Talad?
Mordaan says: It has been discussed, Eymma. And I think we'd all like to see it.
Thedrish says: good one Eymma ..
Eymma says: Oh .. didnt know that.
Eonwindd says: I think it would be the goal to have a color for each way
Talad says: consider the robes are unique for each race/gender
Eymma says: Maybe just description wise or in the details of the robe.
Talad says: so if we want to create one new color version, it has to be done for 15+ models
Thedrish wises there was a black coloured robe for Ylians
Mordaan says: The hang up is rather than have a separate mesh for every color, it'd be better to have a single mesh and have it be dynamically textured.
Talad says: but... we discussed about coloring those the same way we color hair
Mordaan says: We just haven't managed to accomplish it.
Thedrish says: *whises
Razos says: w
Kaerli says: yeah -- being able to have multiple textures for the same robe mesh would be good
Eymma says: Yes, I know they all have different ones. I understand it is a lot of work. I wish I could help out. But I am not an artist
Talad says: which is using a method at runtime (meaning on the fly when the client runs)
Eymma says: Oh.. that sounds challenging
Eymma says: But thank you for answering.
Talad says: for your hair we do not have a specific texture
Talad says: we have a generic one, which then applies a color "shade" based on the player
Iridia says: the hydlaa salon is soon
Firke greets the devs.
Talad says: this is not resulting in a perfect color, but simplifies greatly the art side
Talad says: so we may use the same for robes or clothes in the future
Talad says: Hi Firke
Firke says: I was wondering about jewerly and weapons enchantments. Are these to be like looted weapons enchants, with the possibility of 3 enchatsment on one items or like armor enchants.
Eonwindd says: hi Firke
Eonwindd says: the enchantments will be the same like the craftable enchant-able arrmors
Eonwindd says: except they will have different bonuses
Firke says: So is that only way proterction then?
Eonwindd says: absolutely no
Zunna says: Different :)
Eonwindd says: :)
Firke says: Maybe like icey sabre in a quest?
Eonwindd says: weapons will offer offensive capabilities
Eonwindd says: depending on the way
Firke says: Some graphics might be cool with weapons like that.
Kaerli says: awesome
Talad says: attaching particles to sockets is possible
Eonwindd says: eh .. we'll see about graphic, that would be the goal but actually it's a bit time consuming to produce
Talad says: which means you could have a flame coming out of your hand when the sword is there
Talad says: not sure about having the flame attached to the weapons itself, as we do not have defined sockets at the moment
Talad says: this will be harder
Eonwindd says: Talad using the hand socket can be possible
Mordaan says: Ah, that reminds me of another update...maybe not the next update, but something we're working on. All those cool staves Tuux created. We're finally working on the quests to make those available.
Linule says: Hi, I have a suggesion for a quest text
Talad says: sounds interesting Linule
Zunna says: like this one
Linule says: Aimed at new players
Linule says: As I was doing the food association intro and getting night mushrooms, it occurred to me that that sequence might be a place to insert an intro to the forest arangm along the trail, as in is the quester beware of them and if asked explain that they are poisonous in a casual way, and suggest to later read about them at library. Just a thought toward helpful comments for a quest just given.
Kealaee says: New players?
Eonwindd says: nice idea
Mordaan says: Yeah, that can be done.
Mordaan says: Could be a quick line Jomed says as he sends you looking for them.
Linule says: It is an approach that might work in other areas that lead to new to player content, as conditional info
Iridia says: no doubt there are more starter quest where that kind of information may be useful
Linule says: That is all I had, just wondered if the idea had merit
Mordaan says: sure, thanks Linule
Linule says: Thanks
Eonwindd says: hi Razos
Razos says: Firstly dear developers, I want to say thank you for working on that game and bringing fun and relaxing hours to some of my days. :-) I have a question about the forest outside Hydlaa: It is not made of unique tree-objects making it possible to really go in (and perhaps discovering something). Is there a technical reason for this (e.g. problems with number of objects)?
Mordaan waves and impales himself
Zunna says: lol
Eonwindd says: lol
Eonwindd says: thank you Razos
Eonwindd says: a true forest would be good to have imo
Thedrish agrees
Mordaan says: Yes, it just was never done.
Talad says: we have some limitations in terms of complexity yes
Thedrish says: just putting a lot of trees and bouches in?
Talad says: when you say uniqueness and discovery what do you have in mind?
Mordaan says: That whole area could do with a makeover. But yes, having individual trees could be harsh on the fps.
Razos says: I think the following:
Razos says: The tree models are already there.
Razos says: At the moment the forest consists of three parts
Razos says: The one of Levrus, the one of Hydlaa and the one of the path to bronce doors.
Razos says: Perhaps they can be separated from Hydlaa and Bronce doors.
Razos says: I don't know but that might give you a lot of ressources for real trees.
Razos says: Hydlaa of itself also consists of a lot of objects.
Razos says: And it works.
Talad says: actually the outdoor areas are already seperated by the main hydlaa or bronze doors
Talad says: are separate levels loaded with "portals"
Razos says: Ah, I didn't know that.
Talad says: so you go through a portal and it loads another piece of map
Razos says: Thank you for listening.
Talad says: let's say every year video cards are more powerful, so I'm sure we can now increase the complexity a bit
Thedrish says: that would limit people with old pcs?
Mordaan says: but it's a good point, right now it looks like a cardboard cutout of a forest. :P
Eonwindd says: yes would be good to re-make that forest a bit
Iridia says: secret path to levrus lol
Razos says: I would like that idea.
Iridia says: so he can get lost a bit closer to home
Zunna says: and there is always something going on in a magical forest... uhm i like the idea
Razos says: And a darker and darker way to Levrus
Iridia says: hehe..
Eonwindd says: hi Thedrish
Menille says: A Demorian village would be nice deep in the forest.
Zunna says: indeed
Iridia says: agreed
Thedrish says: Hello all, I hope you will permit me two questions, one on behalf of Eymma who had to go AFK and one from myself.
Razos says: I agree :-)
Eonwindd says: ok Thedrish since you're the last ask away
Thedrish says: Eymma wondered why there is no echantment info with enchanted armor, except in the name? Could there be info about which gems/crystals used?
Thedrish says: There is no info in the description
Eonwindd says: I think we may expand the description a bit further
Talad says: aren't there books about it?
Eonwindd says: initially we thought to ditch a few informations from magical items descriptions
Thedrish says: well, other items have info, just armor does not
Thedrish says: hence the question
Eonwindd says: but maybe for future expansion showing more maybe useful for other reason as well
Thedrish says: that would be great.
Eonwindd says: also since you're asking about armor enchantment
Eonwindd says: I would like to point out some had to be changed to make them more in-line with the overall concept of opposed and friendly ways
Eonwindd says: as shown in the settings quests
Thedrish says: Okay, I will move on as Kaerli also wants to ask something. As for my own question, I would like to make an appeal about typos in quests: some quest fail when someone enters the correct word but with a typo. Could that be changed into the NPC saying *sorry? what did you say?* It would prevent simple typo frustration with players.
Thedrish says: like *emerals* instead of *emeralds*
Mordaan says: The way it is set up is it looks for keywords that are "correct". Then there's a default response for anything that isn't correct.
Eonwindd says: mhm not sure it's possible ... it's not that easy to distinguish from a typo or a wrong answer
Thedrish says: but a type resulting in a quest ending is sour
Thedrish says: I know about the choices of real life.
Razos says: You could perhaps use levensthein-distance
Eonwindd says: at least from a software pov :)
Thedrish says: but it might be a little ... more relaxed?
Mordaan says: What we might be able to do is set up the quests so that a wrong answer doesn't end the quest.
Razos says: if it is 1 to a solution it is a typo
Thedrish says: Enack is one example
Mordaan says: but some quests are kinda set up that way. So you do have to be careful when submitting your answer.
Thedrish says: thanks mordaan
Mordaan says: We can think on it, though.
Thedrish says: I know ... just trying to prevent frustrations
Mordaan says: We're always looking for ways to improve quests.
Thedrish says: a typo at 3am is bad
Thedrish says: thanks for listening
Mordaan says: but like Eonwindd said, it can be difficult to distinguish between a typo and a flat out incorrect answer.
Mordaan says: from the engine's pov
Razos says: Eonwindd: you can use levensthein-distance
Razos says: to determine if it is typo or not
Zunna says: what is it ?
Razos says: levensthein?
Eonwindd says: I guess it's an algorithm
Razos says: yes
Kaerli says: yeah, think of how a spellchecker works :)
Razos says: the distance is the minimum number of operations between two word
Razos says: to change the one into the other
Razos says: typos have a low distance
Zunna says: oh ok. thanks :)
Eonwindd says: but you need a dictionary :P
Razos says: 1, perhaps 2
Razos says: your dictionary is the correct solution
Razos says: and you watch for words in the answer
Eonwindd says: btw interesting topic for future integration in case
Razos says: which have a ldistance of 1 or 2
Linule says: A PS focused dictionary of key words would be much smaller
Razos says: I'll write down a url
Eonwindd says: however, we're already past the time, I think it's time to wrap up :)
Razos says: https://en.wikipedia.org/Levenshtein_distance
Eonwindd says: thank you
Firke says: This could get complex the better it is set up. qwerty keyboards, etc.
Razos says: You are welcome
Talad says: thanks for participating, and enjoy PS and it's evolutions!
Eonwindd says: and Happy Easter