Announcing: The Altitude Map Server!

michael · #1 06-09-2009, 07:13 PM

Disclaimer: The Map server is still very early in beta and not all the functionality is there yet. But I think it's enough that we can start using it.

Altitude Map Server

I have completed the very basic portions of The Altitude Map Server. You can create an account, upload your maps and one screenshot of the map (preferably a view of the whole map), and comment on peoples maps. I will be adding more functionality when I have time, and based on how successful it is.

Leave comments about the map server here for now.

Maxzippoman · #2 06-09-2009, 07:19 PM

Super!!)
nice job))

nesnl · #3 06-09-2009, 07:20 PM

Nice, so how fast will it update on the server once it has been uploaded onto the web? Also, what is the uptime of this server going to look like?

DiogenesDog · #4 06-09-2009, 07:52 PM

this is an awesome idea and you are a community hero.

uploading pedo porn maps now.

michael · #5 06-09-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nesnl

Nice, so how fast will it update on the server once it has been uploaded onto the web? Also, what is the uptime of this server going to look like?

I'm not sure. I was thinking about having the server just have the latest 10 maps (or something) that were uploaded and cycle through them. However, I haven't completed the code to actually make the server use the new maps, so the server is not up right now. I'm hoping once i have it working it will be up all the time, resetting every hour or so.

Maxzippoman · #6 06-09-2009, 09:23 PM

Uploaded my last version maps, when server is gonna go up?

michael · #7 06-09-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxzippoman

Uploaded my last version maps, when server is gonna go up?

Tonight, hopefully. Currently working an getting a cron job set up.

Maxzippoman · #8 06-09-2009, 10:57 PM

make server max players like at least 16-20 thats the most fun)

michael · #9 06-09-2009, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxzippoman

make server max players like at least 16-20 thats the most fun)

I think i have it set to 20.

Also, you made a typo that cause me some confusion for a couple seconds. When you uploaded smallbattlecruisers to the server, the filename you had was tdb_smallbattlecruisers.altx

I have fixed it, just don't do it again :P

Maxzippoman · #10 06-09-2009, 11:37 PM

oh sorry I think I screwed not only smallbattlecruisers

michael · #11 06-10-2009, 01:29 AM

The server is now up, and should restart every hour to load new maps.

Maxzippoman · #12 06-10-2009, 05:41 AM

Real nice server, laggy sometimes, but fun and attractive)

michael · #13 06-10-2009, 06:22 AM

(Sorry for the wall of text, short version: The first day of the Experimental Server had some good, and some bad. Do you map makers and fellow altitude veterans think this is worth it? Or is the old system of map making / posting on the forums good enough? Also, is it possible for the server to spam things for me? "Welcome the the server, go to the website, blah blah")

Okay, so after the server has been up for a while, and I have been 'baby-sitting' it pretty consistently. Popping in and saying "The server is going to restart soon to load new maps, go to altitude.bluehawkdesign.com to upload maps" (I'm sure some of you got pretty tired of my spam :P )

Is there some way for me to have the server say things? A MOTD when a user joins, or a message 5 minutes before my cron job restarts the server or something just letting people know what the server is.

Observations so far: It didn't take long for some unplayable maps to show up. (FFA with like 2000 turrets?? what?) (spawn points that send you right into a wall? fun!)

I like the idea that you can upload a map you want to test and it will show up pretty soon (within an hour) but i don't want cheap XP maps or other lame things like that, but short of sitting there all day watching the server i don't know what i could do. I think i'm going to take a pretty hands-off approach on the experimental server, and just have it do the 10 latest maps no matter what.

Then eventually make another one that is like Top Maps and have it randomly pick 10 of the top 10% of maps on the server (assuming lots of people make/upload maps). This is after I implement some kind of voting system of course.

Thoughts? Is this even worth my time? I was kinda disappointed by some of the maps and conversation happening on the server (although some of it was due to it being so hard to explain what the server was and where the maps were coming from). However there was half a dozen great maps uploaded that were very fun, and I hope that will only improve with time. So do you guys think this system is any better than the old way of uploading maps to the forums?

nesnl · #14 06-10-2009, 06:43 AM

I think it inevitably will have it's problems, but I still think it's a good idea because it gives immediate access for people to have their maps hosted instead of posting here and hoping someone downloads it and hosts it. This might give the needed motivation for some people to start making some maps.

I don't know how often you have the server restarting, but good maps take time. Anyone who is making a map in 15 minutes just so they can have some turret farm hosted on your server isn't worth your time. I suggest setting the server restart time to something like once a day or less. People who make serious maps won't mind waiting 24 hours to have their map hosted and it will give you an opportunity to filter out horrible maps before they make it into the rotation.

So I say stick with it. You can adjust how the server works over time so that it hopefully gets to a point where it is a very valuable tool for the community.

gameguard · #15 06-10-2009, 06:45 AM

i really appreciate the effort your putting into this. I kind of figured alot of people out put up bad maps. Probably the best solution is to have that voting system and only select the good maps. That is, if we get enough people participating in this. I think the timing might still be a bit early for a sustainable map making community but who knows.

lamsbro · #16 06-10-2009, 01:26 PM

I love the server, its completely awesome.

pig_bomb · #17 06-10-2009, 01:39 PM

the server is an awesome idea and totally worth your time, i think that it definitely doesn't need to be updated every hour, you should also make it a requirement to post a full screenshot of the map

jeppew · #18 06-10-2009, 02:59 PM

this is awesome, though i doubt restarting every hour is necessary.

Maxzippoman · #19 06-10-2009, 03:05 PM

I was waiting for a server like this one from the start. It is very fun and usefull. Cuz sometimes we get bored of the standart maps and need some new places to play.

Just filter the ****maps, and create another server for popular maps.
There will be a server to test something new and a server to play your favorate.

Triped · #20 06-10-2009, 03:43 PM

I really like the idea. Nine tenths of the maps are just awful, but yeah, restart every 2am or something and delete all the bad ones. At least you got that castle and battlecruiser map in play.

Is there a way to detect the properties of a map in the altx file? That way you could at least measure turret density and automatically reject the most horrible maps.

jeppew · #21 06-10-2009, 03:50 PM

there are like 3 maps with solid clouds, and one that is just random stuff put everywhere.

it's awesome.

gameguard · #22 06-10-2009, 04:15 PM

hahaha I actually love the map with infinite items. It starts you in the wrong side too. awesome!

We actually had alot of people playing the test server and its awesome. Thanks again for putting up this server.

protest boy · #23 06-10-2009, 09:16 PM

There's a map on one of the servers that's called something like bm_fun_arena. It has several missiles in a row that you can sequentially pick up and fire off and thereby create a barrage of 10 missiles all heading down the straight corridor towards your enemy

anyway, thanks for setting up this server to host new maps! It will definitely give people incentive to make a map if they have somewhere to host it.

michael · #24 06-11-2009, 05:25 AM

Alright, Thanks guys. It great to hear that so many people enjoy the server. I think it's a good sign i have to wait to join cause its usually full when I try to join.

I have changed so the server is updated every night at 2am my time (8am UTC or something). And added better sorting and some basic filtering to the web site.

For some reason the map editor freezes very often in my Ubuntu (like every 1 minute), so I finally decided to boot into windows and try it out. It's pretty confusing at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. I threw together some ugly image in gimp, imported it (slicing SUCKS in gimp), drew the geometry, and tested it. It was hilarious. The image i had drawn was 1000x800, so i had to scale it to like 2.5 times its size just so it was playable- which made the already terribad graphics look even worse.

I have a new found respect for you map makers. Keep up the good work! And i'll keep trying to make something that's not fail...

Edit: also, as soon as I have time I'll add some kind of rating system to the server, and make a second server for high rated maps.

Grif · #25 06-11-2009, 08:09 AM

I could probably host an alternate server if you want to coordinate up and down time. Just guide me through your hosting setup.

jeppew · #26 06-11-2009, 05:29 PM

GACK!, i need to be able to upload a new preview picture, i improved the one i already uploaded.

hope you write that part soon.

michael · #27 06-11-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grif

I could probably host an alternate server if you want to coordinate up and down time. Just guide me through your hosting setup.

The hosting is pretty complicated... I have a bash script that kill the server and calls a php script that pulls the 10 newest maps from a mysql database and prints out the .xml file. It then copies those maps from the webserver directory to the altitude server directory and starts the server.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeppew

GACK!, i need to be able to upload a new preview picture, i improved the one i already uploaded.

hope you write that part soon.

Tonight hopefully.

michael · #28 06-12-2009, 04:14 AM

uehksacr.bastnkeuasyhp4baksnubxya.bastnkjmp5gabkeu

Ok, so, because i'm an idiot, i don't have subversion set up yet. So i have been edited the files directly on the server, and while i was editing the maps controller (which controls basically everything except for creating accounts) I saved the file, and mid-save our internet went out. So only about 100 of the 600 lines of code got saved, and then my editor crashed cause it didn't know what the heck was going on.

Needless to say, most of the website is not functioning right now.

The altitude server should continue to run, and will reset tonight and load the latest couple of maps (hopefully).

Maxzippoman · #29 06-12-2009, 04:33 AM

dam... bad news...
Hope it will load new maps cuz people playing the same crazy maps over and over and swearing on each other)))

michael · #30 06-12-2009, 06:56 AM

Okay, my internet is working again so I sshed into the server to see what the damage was.

Last night i was tinkering around with getting subversion to work for like 3 hours (never used it before). I thought it wasn't working right, but apparently it was. So I was able to go to a backup and only lost about 15 minutes of work.

The web site is working again.

jeppew · #31 06-12-2009, 02:17 PM

you can't join the server atm, says something about "game update"

Maxzippoman · #32 06-12-2009, 02:46 PM

It says "Failed to create game update" and the map is death match(2)

Maxzippoman · #33 06-12-2009, 02:54 PM

Glad we have the servachOK server till you repear the script

michael · #34 06-13-2009, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxzippoman

It says "Failed to create game update" and the map is death match(2)

Okay, something is wrong with my bash script. When i start the server manually it works fine, but my script is breaking it somehow. I'm working on it right now.

michael · #35 06-13-2009, 07:42 AM

Ok, i don't know what is going on. The server will be working fine, and then it kicks everyone off. This is an excerpt from the log file:

Code:

ERROR : Registering broken client: Client[name=Bluehawk 101, ip=87.2.137.118:27272, playerId=15]
ERROR : java.io.IOException: Oversized packet (2088 bytes) to IP 87.2.137.118:27272, max packet size is 1500 bytes
java.io.IOException: Oversized packet (2088 bytes) to IP 87.2.137.118:27272, max packet size is 1500 bytes
	at BU.b(SourceFile:335)
	at Gc.a(SourceFile:28)
	at BU.a(SourceFile:372)
	at gL.a(SourceFile:50)
	at gL.a(SourceFile:38)
	at Ih.p(SourceFile:617)
	at Ih.a(SourceFile:287)
	at xF.o(SourceFile:206)
	at xF.run(SourceFile:222)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
INFO  : Removing client 'Bluehawk 101' from 87.2.137.118:27272, playerId=15, message: Failed to create game update

Still trying to figure it out...

lamster · #36 06-13-2009, 07:56 AM

Please email your full server logs to erik@nimblygames.com

low · #37 06-13-2009, 10:35 AM

It always happens when the map is death match! (2) I tried to play it on my server and got the same error. It probably sounds silly but I'm pretty sure that somehow that one particular map kills the server. Maybe because of too many turrets, I don't know. Just try to take it off the server and see if it works

Maxzippoman · #38 06-13-2009, 11:21 AM

I agree with low.
There is another map called "lv60 in no time" and it doesn't load att all, I think thats the cheaty turret overwhelming in memory...

PS:
I didnt use that map to lvl up im already lvl 60 anyway by my self)

Maxzippoman · #39 06-13-2009, 11:21 AM

or it may be a virus

jf2l · #40 06-13-2009, 11:05 PM

Michael, you've got to take "death match!" off the server.