Product Updates archive at Daikon Forge

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Second Life network problems - Taketori Sales Offline

Jun
06
2008 in Kick a Linden in the junk, Server Issues, Product Updates, Asset Server, WTF and Second Life.

In the last 15 minutes, I’ve gotten 30+ emails from my in-world vendors and various user’s swords that indicate that Second Life objects are failing to contact my web server, so I have temporarily disables sales once again.

This weekend, I will be removing all in-world Wave Katana vendors in preparation for switching over to networked vendors. I hope this doesn’t cause anyone any inconvenience, and I ask for your patience and understanding.

One last note : Because in-world objects seem to be unable at the moment to contact outside web servers, it is possible that the C:SI grid-wide scoring system is currently not storing all win/loss data that it should be. I am not able to get in-world long enough to verify this, and it could be that it is just inconsistent rather than failing every time. There’s nothing we can do about this : If Second Life is having network problems, it’s beyond our control

Popularity: 35% [?]

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Bitten in the butt by debug code again

Apr
28
2008 in Taketori Katana, Product Updates, Epic Fail, Bug Reports and C:SI.

12 Comments

508467119_49de142f07_m Yup… Those of you who’ve upgraded to the V1.0.5 Taketori Katana have probably already found the bit of debug code I had in there for the benefit of my beta testers, and which I should have taken out before releasing a general update. I know that a few people have already reported (why only a few? What’s up with that?) that when they kill an opponent with the Taketori they heal to 100% no matter how low in health they were during the duel.

Now, in my defense, I’ve got a couple of things to say about that. Firstly, it only works if during the duel you only had one opponent; This is determined by the number of people that attack you from the time you draw the sword until the time you die, and during a free-for-all you only get the standard 25% heal.

While it’s possible to be very careful to only get hit by one opponent in a 3vs3 match or a free-for-all, it’s highly unlikely. It is, however, a definite problem for the King-type matches where one person takes on all comers one at a time, since they’ll heal to 100% after the first opponent (but not thereafter).

Secondly, it has long bothered me that the only way to force an upgrade on users was to upgrade all C:SI weapons so that old versions would no longer work with newer versions, and with all of the talk lately about the Taketori being unbalanced (which I am not at all convinced of, by the way) I decided that this could no longer be the case for my weapons, and put in a "remote disable" feature that allows me to permanently disable any old versions.

Pobody’s nerfect, as this post aptly demonstrates, and there has to be a way for me to be able to distribute new weapons with the confidence that I can fix any balance issues that are discovered and people will upgrade to the newer, more balanced versions rather than simply continuing to use an older version.

THE PLAN

So, what I’m going to do is this: I have already taken out the code that is responsible for the problem, and I’ll work in a couple more update-worthy changes (like the ability to hide and show the tsuba) and will distribute another update in the near future. After that update is released, I will give it a few days and will start to announce reminders that upgrading is mandatory. After a couple of days of such reminders, I will permanently disable version 1.0.5 so that people will no longer have the option to use it.

The updates will still be sent to those who may be on vacation or for whatever other reason have not had a chance to see the announcements, so nobody will get left without an update. In other words, even if you log in six months from now and try to use V1.0.5 you will be sent an upgrade to whatever version is current at that time and the 1.0.5 version will cease functioning.

So, in the meantime, I think that it can be fun and convenient to heal 100% after a duel (remember, that does not work in 3v3 or FFA battles) but don’t get too used to it, because it won’t last long

Popularity: 37% [?]

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New Vendors On The Way, and a Distraction

Apr
26
2008 in Product Updates, Animating and C:SI.

3 Comments

I’ve mentioned that there is an update to the Taketori coming, and that it’s just waiting for confirmation from a few testers that I haven’t totally botched it up. With that new update pending, and the thought that I would once again have to run all around the grid updating vendors (for maybe the thirtieth time in the last eighteen months), I decided it was high time to get networked vendors in place.

So, I went and deleted all of the in-world Taketori vendors, intending to replace them in short order with networked vendors. Only, it didn’t turn out that way. I ran out of steam (did I mention I’m sick?) and ended up just leaving the situation with no in-world Taketori vendors.

I still have a bit of testing on the network vendor scripts that I want to test before going live, and I want to make sure that I plan well enough to not code myself into a corner, because I’m always at the Second Life group limit maximum due to having vendors in various places and would like to be able to make a secure networked commission vendor that I can just give to store owners without having to "drop a group to join a group" to drop a vendor.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, I got side-tracked by a post by Abu Nasu on the Second Life forums (registration required) about how he’d built a custom rig for creating Second Life animations in 3ds Max.

One of the tools that I used when making the Taketori is XSI Mod Tool, a free version of the SoftImage XSI 3D modelling and animation program specifically targeted at independent and hobbyist-level game makers that I’d used to create some "proof-of-concept" games for the XBox 360 in my previous job.

One of the nice things about Mod Tool is that it has way better support for custom character rigs and better animation tools than either Poser or DAZ, and I had already created an adequate rig that I wanted to use for creating C:SI weapon animations, but had given up on before finishing the export plugin because of a lack of time and the fact that I already had tools for that job.

Abu’s success has got me fired up on that idea again, and despite my previous protestations that I hate doing animations and did not want to have to make any more in the immediate future, I’ve decided to revisit that project and see if I can actually get it done this time. If I ever do manage to finish the project, it could (hopefully) mean that creating animations will be a little less painful in the future, and perhaps I’ll be less reluctant to work on them :)

We will see what we see when we see it, I may not get any farther this time than I did last time, but it will be a fun thing to work on that I hope will help me with future C:SI weapons.

Popularity: 28% [?]

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There’s no such thing as a balanced weapon

Apr
23
2008 in Product Updates, Bug Reports and C:SI.

21 Comments

So here I am, knocking myself out (almost literally, ugh I hate being sick) trying to make sure that the Taketori is "balanced", whatever the heck that means, and I’m still getting reports from users who say it’s too fast, too slow, too powerful, has too short of a range, has too long of a range, does too much damage, etc.

And there are people I trust implicitly and believe on every side, which just doesn’t help much. So maybe, just maybe, there’s simply no such thing as a ‘balanced weapon’. Or maybe there’s no such thing as a consensus on what a balanced weapon is. I’m just not sure.

So, I’m going to take a short break from the "iterate/test/update" cycle and see if I’m able to come up with a more objective way to determine such things. If I can do so, I’ll be sure to post more information, and any ideas on how to determine balance *objectively* are welcome.

P.S. : Yes, I’m feeling moody. I’m sick, and frustrated. You would be too

Miyamoto Musashi wrote…

The Benefit of Weapons in Strategy

There is a time and a place for use of weapons.

The best use of the companion sword is in a confined space, or when you are engaged closely with an opponent. The long sword can be used effectively in all situations.

The halberd is inferior to the spear on the battlefield. With the spear you can take the initiative; the halberd is defensive. In the hands of one of two men of equal ability, the spear gives a little extra strength. Spear and halberd both have their uses, but neither is very beneficial in confined spaces. They cannot be used for taking a prisoner. They are essentially weapons for the field.

Anyway, if you learn "indoor" techniques, you will think narrowly and forget the true Way. Thus you will have difficulty in actual encounters.

The bow is tactically strong at the commencement of battle, especially battles on a moor, as it is possible to shoot quickly from among the spear men. However, it is unsatisfactory in sieges, or when the enemy is more than forty yards away. For this reason there are nowadays few traditional schools of archery. There is little use nowadays for this kind of skill.

From inside fortifications, the gun has no equal among weapons. It is the supreme weapon on the field before the ranks clash, but once swords are crossed the gun becomes useless.

One of the virtues of the bow is that you can see the arrows in flight and correct your aim accordingly, whereas gunshot cannot be seen. You must appreciate the importance of this.

Just as a horse must have endurance and no defects, so it is with weapons. Horses should walk strongly, and swords and companion swords should cut strongly. Spears and halberds must stand up to heavy use: bows and guns must be sturdy. Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative.

You should not have a favorite weapon. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well. You should not copy others, but use weapons which you can handle properly. It is bad for commanders and troops to have likes and dislikes. These are things you must learn thoroughly.