Tip for developer (save game)

[Whaleboobs]

..and has all the quirks ruled out,..

Please elaborate, i'm all for making it like you want it, if you don't like to have a _data folder move them back up. They dont need to be viewed in the masterfile, you can click them one by one and see them in the browser.
heck, remove the masterfile its not that useful (yet).

The positives for having it full hosted is that you can decide later what you want to have! There is no turning back now after you roll out the update, what if the code you have now has a bug in a browser? This could be fixed with a quick github push.

This solution is the cleanest.

Not really, but then again, why should such information be neccesary in the first place?

Meh, maybe compare different saves? same reason as for showing gold and mc. youre probably right its not that big of a deal.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Please elaborate, i'm all for making it like you want it, if you don't like to have a _data folder move them back up. They dont need to be viewed in the masterfile, you can click them one by one and see them in the browser.
heck, remove the masterfile its not that useful (yet).

Basicly, I thought of the following design (if you want to keep it github based):

- saves will have individual files per save in a subfolder sorted by account name (basicly, the status quo, just in html layout)
- script gets loaded from github, but if it can't load, it should show a (simple) offline variant instead that displays the code
- a master file that allows browsing savecodes by account and class that people could easily link to their desktops if they want ... basicly some kind of GUI loader

 

[Whaleboobs]

Update:

1. added firefox detection (copy button hides)
2. added code to please Internet Explorer 11, no more activeX warning.
3. added automatic selection of full savecode if you try click on it.
4. add a text warning if a save is not saved with the latest game version.

Planned to be made today:

1. add a link to the latest GaiasOrpg map download.

Looking for someone to make portrait art (70x70) for each class. (There are 15)

https://github.com/phinxy/GSS

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Update:

1. added firefox detection (copy button hides)
2. added code to please Internet Explorer 11, no more activeX warning.
3. added automatic selection of full savecode if you try click on it.
4. add a text warning if a save is not saved with the latest game version.

Planned to be made today:

1. add a link to the latest GaiasOrpg map download.

Looking for someone to make portrait art (70x70) for each class. (There are 15)

https://github.com/phinxy/GSS

Man that looks great! How does it scale on different resolutions with all those images btw?

 

[Whaleboobs]

Man that looks great!

yeah? it's ok for being put together in a couple hours, its very minimal. I would love to make the design exactly like you want it as long as it doesn't require custom images. it's a big drawback to work with.

personally i would be happy with this design if i fixed the corners and made a background of some kind. Maybe add some graphic elements to define stuff's place so everything doesn't float in the air.

I also want something that makes it look like something from Gaias, maybe just a logo.

How does it scale on different resolutions with all those images btw?

You could always resize the window and look for yourself. its supposed to be in the center of screen all times with a fixed width of 750px. (covers 98% of world's )monitors

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Does the offline thing work?

 

[Fack0r]

Update:

1. added firefox detection (copy button hides)
2. added code to please Internet Explorer 11, no more activeX warning.
3. added automatic selection of full savecode if you try click on it.
4. add a text warning if a save is not saved with the latest game version.

Planned to be made today:

1. add a link to the latest GaiasOrpg map download.

Looking for someone to make portrait art (70x70) for each class. (There are 15)

https://github.com/phinxy/GSS

I can do that. Give me a few.

EDIT: Wc3 icons are 64x64 so i made a stroke to justify the extra 6 pixels with some bevel.

 

[Whaleboobs]

Does the offline thing work?

yeah man. i'd say it ready for deployment after we done some testing so we know its working 100% for everyone.

@Fack0r good idea to use wc3 icons, looks good. can you make all 15? theres no hurry the images can be added whenever we feel like it.

 

[oger-lord]

added firefox detection (copy button hides)

Why? In my example it worked to copy the code to the clipboard with firefox.

 

[Whaleboobs]

Why? In my example it worked to copy the code to the clipboard with firefox.

Really? because ive read that it is absolutely impossible in firefox, or at least the later version of firefox. (without flash method) Ill definitely try it out now.

Edit: we are using the same code. "document.execCommand('copy')"
it not working for me in firefox.. what version do you have?

with your code i get this cannot copy message with your code

 

[Zwiebelchen]

yeah man. i'd say it ready for deployment after we done some testing so we know its working 100% for everyone.

Great then. Give me a small notice once it is "final" so I can implement it!

Btw, is there a way to have the Gaias logo as some kind of "faded" backdrop? Or the map in case of the vault?

 

[Whaleboobs]

Great then. Give me a small notice once it is "final" so I can implement it!

Btw, is there a way to have the Gaias logo as some kind of "faded" backdrop? Or the map in case of the vault?

VAULTS. How are these saved? Just an extra save code per saved character?
Would you want a description text about anything?

You want the Gaias logo in the background faded out a bit?

Can you provide a high resolution Gaias logo?

i see you updated the map now, cant wait to play it. The activeX thing in IE is fixed by having this little code on top of the document over <html>.
Maybe you want to add that now, or just wait for this thing we're making to be done.

code

<!-- saved from url=(0017)http://localhost/ -->
<html> etc.

updates today:
added a background and fixed the top leafes (and bottom too).
Firefox version control since version 41+ supports the copy button.
added the gaias logo and a download link

 

[oger-lord]

it not working for me in firefox.. what version do you have?

I use firefox 41.0.2.

From stackoverflow:

The JavaScript document.execCommand('copy') support has grown, see the links below for browser updates:
IE10+ (although this document indicates some support was there from IE5.5+).
Google Chrome 43+ (~April 2015)
Mozilla Firefox 41+ (shipping ~September 2015)
Opera 29+ (based on Chromium 42, ~April 2015)

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/400212/how-do-i-copy-to-the-clipboard-in-javascript

Edit: Maybe it makes a difference if you use a button or an image?

 

[Whaleboobs]

I use firefox 41.0.2.

From stackoverflow:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/400212/how-do-i-copy-to-the-clipboard-in-javascript

Edit: Maybe it makes a difference if you use a button or an image?

ah im using 38.0.5 so its probably too old then.
"It is scheduled to appear in Firefox 41".

ill add a version check then!

 

[edo494]

firefox 41+ is a bit too cutting edge, you are locking out a lot of users

 

[Zwiebelchen]

For the Gaias logo, just consult the map thread... it has a high resolution version:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...oject-information-gaias_retaliation_color.jpg

Btw... the extra code you mentioned that disables the activeX prompt doesn't work.

 

[Whaleboobs]

For the Gaias logo, just consult the map thread... it has a high resolution version:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...oject-information-gaias_retaliation_color.jpg

Btw... the extra code you mentioned that disables the activeX prompt doesn't work.

okay ill try fit the logo in.

The code works on my side just make sure you have a line break after the code or it wont work. just like my example code has it.

firefox 41+ is a bit too cutting edge, you are locking out a lot of users

im not locking out someone, just hiding the "copyme!" button.

 

[edo494]

locking them out from the feature! (this is not meant to be real argument)

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/pastebin_data/s37p8u/Gaias_Retaliation_Color.jpg shortened link(by quite a bit), but the same image(its on hive via pastebin, I hope noone minds)

 

[Whaleboobs]

Added the logo, i tried to fit it in the background but it would make text unreadable.
so now the full logo is a download link to the Gaias map page here on hive.
The logo is hosted on Imgur "As of February 2015, Imgur now states that images are never deleted unless requested. ".
If the logo for some reason does not load the design would still look good tough.

The Photoshop .psd is on the Github page if anyone wanna edit it.
It would be great if Zwiebelchen or any other developer created a Github account.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

It's a shame that I don't have the raw file for the green version of the Logo anymore.
Basicly the one that is used on the map preview image...

I lost it when I upgraded my computer to a new OS. :/
It would probably fit much better than the brown one.

EDIT: I gotta say I'm not a fan of the item displaying thing... I kind of clashes visually with the other elements.
As a suggestion: can you replace the "level" "gold" and "MC's" with icons? For Gold and MCs, you could use the ones used ingame on the resource bar. Level could be removed completely and instead added as a number in the bottom right corner of the hero icon.
Also, the "return to latest save" thing should look different aswell, from a design-perspective.


EDIT: I actually found one version of the old green variant. Unfortunately, the lower half is cut off in the source. But that might actually be a good thing in this case, because you want the logo to be on the bottom anyway.

click

 

[Whaleboobs]

It's a shame that I don't have the raw file for the green version of the Logo anymore.
Basicly the one that is used on the map preview image...

I lost it when I upgraded my computer to a new OS. :/
It would probably fit much better than the brown one.

EDIT: I gotta say I'm not a fan of the item displaying thing... I kind of clashes visually with the other elements.
As a suggestion: can you replace the "level" "gold" and "MC's" with icons? For Gold and MCs, you could use the ones used ingame on the resource bar. Level could be removed completely and instead added as a number in the bottom right corner of the hero icon.
Also, the "return to latest save" thing should look different aswell, from a design-perspective.

I agree, the item display thing does not fit in very well. What would ideal are item icons, like one icon for each item type.
http://gaias-retaliation-orpg.wikia.com/wiki/Equipment
30-ish icons.
You would need to provide an item-type id for each item. since we solved the 190 char length its no problem i am assuming.


About the gold and mc icons ill extract them from wc3. its not legal but its only a 16x16 icon and its morally fine imo since its a map for wc3?

Good idea to put the level in the bottom right corner of the hero class icon.

I also agree on the back button, it might be enough to recolor it. maybe a back arrow icon would help out there.

ill change the logo out for the black version and we will see if its better or not.

 

[Whaleboobs]

Added avatars

Added avatars, it looks great!


Edit: removed the blue "back to latest character"-button and made the menu highlight where you are instead.

HELP, are these all the Gaias classes? It feels like ive missed the Thiefs classes?
"Squire", "Thief", "Ranger", "Magician", "Cleric", "Crusader", "Berserker", "Assassin", "Bard", "Hunter", "Druid", "Sorceror", "Necromancer", "Bishop", "Monk", "Mystic"

 

[S0ulseeker]

HELP, are these all the Gaias classes? It feels like ive missed the Thiefs classes?
"Squire", "Thief", "Ranger", "Magician", "Cleric", "Crusader", "Berserker", "Assassin", "Bard", "Hunter", "Druid", "Sorceror", "Necromancer", "Bishop", "Monk", "Mystic"

Squire - Berserker / Crusader

Thief - Assassin / Bard

Cleric - Monk / Bishop

Ranger - Druid / Hunter

Magician - Necromancer / Sorceror

Mystic - Hexblade / Psion

 

[SaikoDeMoN]

Squire - Berserker / Crusader

Thief - Assassin / Bard

Cleric - Monk / Bishop

Ranger - Druid / Hunter

Magician - Necromancer / Sorceror

Mystic - Hexblade / Psion

Missing those

 

[Whaleboobs]

I found the mystic guild-master right outside the gates, kinda odd location but i got the icons added at last.

The Gaias Save system is now final and ready to be added in the game, here is the final design, any last opinions?

To Zwiebelchen, When you're going to implement this you want to grab this file first (click raw):
https://github.com/phinxy/GSS/blob/master/SaveCodes.html

You can see how i divided the html code in to parts that each on their own is under 190 characters. Do your thing here.


The first array, D, Should have input in this order:
Class, Level, Gold, MC, Load Code, game version.

The I array is an array of items separated by comma (,). An empty array is fine.

Put the Load Code, Level, Class and Game Version directly in the plain text you can see in the files. This is for offline viewing only.

This file would be placed where you store saves now, ie.
Warcraft III\GaiasRetaliation\account\SaveCodes.html

Feel free to change the name of the file to anything you want.


Warcraft III\GaiasRetaliation\phinxy\_data\Cleric-20.html
https://github.com/phinxy/GSS/blob/master/_data/Cleric-20.html

This files name is very important, keep the name of the file like this:
Class-Level.html

Any questions?

 

[BoxOfFaith]

Is it going to look strange if we have a ton of different levels? Typically most people save every time they level up, so sorting through all levels 26-50 could be clunky?

Would it be possible to limit it to two options per class? The highest level code, and then another option that would allow you to view the rest of the levels you saved at previous as well?

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Good question! Does a scrollbar appear when players have too many characters to display them at once?

Also, there are some typos in there:

"Compatible" and "Sorcerer".

 

[Whaleboobs]

Good question! Does a scrollbar appear when players have too many characters to display them at once?

Also, there are some typos in there:

"Compatible" and "Sorcerer".

The page layout expands/grow.. so no scroll bar, ew.

It is possible to sort the characters and make them toggle their content, like a hide/show sliding thing.
Currently it is supposed to sort the characters by level, lowest first. Its probably enough to reverse the sorting (to descending) and do that thing where you hide the lower level ones.

So it is SorcerER? Are you 100% positive because on the wiki it says SorcerOR, the wiki is outdated and probably community driven so that could explain it.

Anyways the typos are fixed. As long as there are no typos in the main two save-files now its fine to add the system to the game. I am glad you looked over it and found the typo there. When it is released i am assuming i would need to stay put on the forums and see if there are any bugs, you never know.

Also someone else needs to create a GitHub account so i can transfer the ownership.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

When it is released i am assuming i would need to stay put on the forums and see if there are any bugs, you never know.

Also someone else needs to create a GitHub account so i can transfer the ownership.

Depending on how you coded it, there might or might not be maintenance required, yes. I highly doubt I will apply further changes to the save/system after implementing this. But you never know.

I guess Muzzel has a github account, but he is rarely online these days.

Also, it's indeed sorcerer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorcerer

So the page just scales up then? Well, that works too, I guess. After all, the browser will automaticly apply a scrollbar in that case.

What's with the vault save btw?

 

[Whaleboobs]

What's with the vault save btw?

I have not played since last week so i have not had the chance to get any souls therefore i never saw any vault codes.

What would you like me to do?

I will send Muzzel a PM asking for his GitHub name.

Vault code functionality added. here is what it looks like with and without a vault code present.

http://imgur.com/a/RzAsm

Edit:
Good news!
A person at MakeMeHost might help us out with getting a list of hosted Gaias maps which we could place somewhere!

 

[Jumbo]

Looks very nice Whale!

 

[Whaleboobs]

thanks jumbo!

Figured out how the Vault works. It looks like its supposed to be a global save for every character.

What happens if you overwrite the old vault when you save a new character with souls? You'd have to create backups of the vault save

The current Vault.html looks very good. It's a shame to remove it..
You decide what to do Zwiebelchen

 

[BoxOfFaith]

Souls are used for every character, so if you get a soul on a hunter you can use the same soul on your assassin, or cleric, or whatever else.

So long as you load your vault every game, you have no reason to not overwrite it. Though, I guess I could see some issue if you forget to load it, or don't load it, and end up saving then. But I think as long as you don't use a soul which in turn creates a new vault, the old vault shouldn't be overwritten.

 

[S0ulseeker]

I appreciate what you're doing for the map whaleboobs with your HTML skills on the save files. It really adds a nice polish to the map. I really love how the community comes together and supports this project in so many ways over the years and this of course just goes to show how great of a map Zwiebel has created that so many people care and still play and stick around and help out when and how they can over years of gaias. Gaias is the only reason I even have wc3 installed anymore. It doesn't even feel like a custom map but rather a mod, even more so with the extension pack, vault, polished saved html files, and this new D4/new content coming out. The future for Gaias is so exciting :]

 

[Zwiebelchen]

The current Vault.html looks very good. It's a shame to remove it..
You decide what to do Zwiebelchen

Wait, you made the individual pages aswell? I thought this thing you made is only a master that gets the values from the individual pages?

 

[Whaleboobs]

Wait, you made the individual pages aswell? I thought this thing you made is only a master that gets the values from the individual pages?

I would suggest you to download it and see for yourself so there is no confusion between us, just create the two .html-files like i said in a post a bit back and open the master page in your browser.

Well, the master relies on the save files in /_data to have the right variables and design. In other words the master can't read old .txt files currently. (I am on it.)

The best i can do with the old .txt files is list them like normal and display the raw text in the right area (including crap code from wc3). I would recommend a button to toggle "show old saves".



Btw, The master file name should have an exclamation-mark first so its always on top in windows explorer. Like so: !SaveCodes.html
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/force-your-favorite-files-to-the-top-of-any-directory/

I noticed a cool side effect in Windows 7, You see the save code and basically the offline text directly in windows explorer so you do not really need to open any files to copy savecodes.

Added a button to toggle old .txt saves. Is it clear enough?

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Backwards compatibility to the .txt saves is not neccesary really. People can just copy & paste codes from those txts like they used to.

 

[Whaleboobs]

Backwards compatibility to the .txt saves is not neccesary really. People can just copy & paste codes from those txts like they used to.

Hm, Ok. Instead of removing the button we might wanna make the button more subtle and non-intrusive.

MakeMeHost head manager(!) said he is gonna finish up the game list of hosted Gaias games for us today so we can embed it somewhere, i am thinking another box right on top of the logo.

He also asked for us to credit MakeMeHost. Zwiebelchen? That would be cool, right? Where is the game credits located, btw?

 

[Zwiebelchen]

In the quest log and intro. You can credit MMH directly in the list of hosted games on the load menu.

However, I don't know if we would actually need that. Sure thing it's practical, but with the hostbot up and running almost 24/7, why bother?

 

[SaikoDeMoN]

MakeMeHost head manager(!) said he is gonna finish up the game list of hosted Gaias games for us today so we can embed it somewhere, i am thinking another box right on top of the logo.

Wait, what for? Gaias games outside the official bots are few and far between. I guess if you've already made him do the work, it's too late to retract the request now but I doubt this is going to be very useful. I would rather you give some information on the official bots (Gaiashostbot & Gaiasdungeon).

 

[Whaleboobs]

Wait, what for? Gaias games outside the official bots are few and far between. I guess if you've already made him do the work, it's too late to retract the request now but I doubt this is going to be very useful. I would rather you give some information on the official bots (Gaiashostbot & Gaiasdungeon).

It will list the bot games, too (at least one of them, he promised).

Edit: Here is a mock-up of what it could look like.

 

[aRtY]

For the record, I did not demand a credit. Neither did I specifically ask to be mentioned on the map. All I wanted (phrased as "would be appreciated") was MMH to be mentioned on HWS thread (what he did).

tl;dr; It's perfectly fine not crediting MMH on the map or the tool itself as HWS has its partnership with MMH and we are glad helping where we can.

-MMH Webmaster

 

[SaikoDeMoN]

Oh the bots are there. Cool. Hopefully we can get some new players out of this.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

The mock-up of the game list looks nice. I guess if it fits the general look of the rest of the elements, then sure, add it!

I'm eager to implement this master sheet, but I don't want to add it in a semi-final stage. So give me a green light once this is truly finished.

 

[Whaleboobs]

I added a couple lines of code that uploads all save data to a server i got on amazon.

Primary reason for this would be to have a ladder.
Could be fun to have some competitive racing, first to level 50 wins!
This ladder could be reset each version update automatically.

For this to work *without cheating* i would need to have a code on the server that checks if the savecode is valid.

Zwiebelchen, could you PM or email me the snippet of JASS that validates a save?
I could convert it in to PHP-code. Maybe we should talk more on skype?

If it turns out its not possible we could have more frequent ladder resets and just hope nobody cheats. It would be very easy to cheat.

Edit: like so:
Currently you can have one character per class in the ladder. per account name.

 

[SaikoDeMoN]

A ladder? For an ORPG team-based game? Where many players already have all classes at lvl50? Wut.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

A ladder system would be cool for PvP and battlegrounds and stuff.

But other than that, I don't see many reasons for it. And competitive PvP is way to imbalanced to matter so far.

 

[Whaleboobs]

SaikoDeMoN,

LOL yeah you're right it does not make sense. The ladder would be a ladder of people who are first to load their character when a map update hits..

A ladder system would be cool for PvP and battlegrounds and stuff.

Personally i would love to compete/race from level 1 to 50.

I think i figured out a way to allow a ladder for every Gaias update.
Problems currently:

• Player 1 loads old savecode from previous version. instantly at the ladder top.
• Player 1 creates a new character. Player 2 loads a old character and boost player 1 to ladder top.

Solution: A bit of data (boolean) that represents "eligible for ladder" embedded in the savecode would solve this.

There needs to be some game code too:

• if player 1 loads save-code from old game version, flag the player saves as not eligible
• If *any* player loads savecode from old game version, flag all players as not eligible. (This would be the only thing needed obviously)

In other words, if you want to compete with others for the ladder, you or any other player in the game can not load a save code from a different game version.

Zwiebelchen, This is a solution, you wanna go for it or should i scratch the idea?

 

[SaikoDeMoN]

How are you going to handle cheaters though? A big part of maintaining ladders in multiplayer games that have them is making sure players cant abuse their way to the top and by constantly banning offenders. How are you going to deal with people that play a cheat version of the latest map, get instant level 50 and own the entire ladder? They could do this for any number of player names (since they can just -save in LAN with any LAN name).

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a levelling race - I used to do this in orpg maps with a friend of mine long ago, but I can't see a way you can implement this system without it being grossly abused by cheaters.

Also, Gaias ORPG enjoys having a very small percentage of cheaters (practically non-existent) specifically because there isn't any competition for items or levels (anyone can gear and levelup with a reasonable amount of play on the bots), implementing something like this will attract the wrong crowd - people who just want to plaster their name everywhere using any means possible without caring about enjoying the map or adding to the community.

Well, that's my 2cents anyway.

TL;DR I like the idea but it's not sustainable.

 

[Jumbo]

A 1-50 race wouldn't work since basically Gaias is a teambased ORPG. Races like that are good for hack and slash games, etc. (Path of Exile)

A pvp ladder has always been hindered by the already mentioned cheat/exploit possibilities.
Otherwise, pvp would be fun, but at the moment it is not possible. I would love to have an Alterac Valley style battleground with 2 teams + charging mobs on each team. Of course this will likely never happen for the mentioned reasons and simply because it is a huge amount of work.