Need help bring StarMade Attention to my Community. Lots of Questions.

[Kane]

It means the default blueprints (Isanth) could be used by NPC. if off there spawn no enemys

keep the startmoney option at 25000 its less enough
so you could buy 5-6 shield and 3-4 recharger blocks

Thanks, Yeah I had no clue so I will keep default blueprints on then. Would I need or should add other pirate ships made by StarMade Community. I assume just one ship so people might get bored overtime or?

Making players buy ships with blocks generally is a bad idea. Because if your inventory can't hold all the blocks the ship is made of, the ship can't be bought.

Since I'm new I can't say anything about this really. I had a chat with my players on Teamspeak and they seem to dislike the idea of buying a replacement ship out of thing air is bad. In fact they think even having the blocks and spawning a blueprinted ship is also just as bad but at least more legit.

From what I understand also is that you can't force it to check the store inventory. So you are breaking the entire econ by making blueprints of certain ship parts etc without having to even search for them.

Let me know if I'm wrong I have not played really just assuming with my thought process how players would abuse it.

What do blocks stack up to anyways? Like what is the max stack size. Could you at least blueprint a fighter or a small ship etc?

 

[CyberTao]

Making players buy ships with blocks generally is a bad idea. Because if your inventory can't hold all the blocks the ship is made of, the ship can't be bought.

All shapes of a block (full, wedges, penta, etc) now fit into 1 inventory slot so there is plenty of inventory space I would think, unless you got a rainbow colour scheme going on, or trying to use all weapons and effects across your turrets.

Ones I changed due to not knowing what it means:

• DEFAULT_BLUEPRINT_ENEMY_USE = false //(Would this not mean anything anyone makes is used as a enemy blueprint?
• • AUTO_KICK_MODIFIED_BLUEPRINT_USE = true //I hope this stops them from using outside blueprints.
  • REMOVE_MODIFIED_BLUEPRINTS = true //I hope this stops them from using outside blueprints.

Modified Blueprint has to do with Players uploading modified blueprints (I.e. altered the files so you could somehow spawn your battleship for 100 credits). To change what ships pirates are using, you can do that ingame in the Catalog (under the admin tab, and checking the permissions).

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Stack size is infinite. The biggest problem with the block based blueprint system is that you can't see whether all the blocks used in the ship fit in your inventory before you sctually try to load it. So if someone decided to dismantle their ship with the intention of buying it again later, they'd be very upset (a stronger word should probably be used here) when they realise they can't load it because they used too many decorative blocks.

 

[SomethingSlimy]

When are the new stations going into the game? Maybe you should wait for those. It might be disappointing for new players to run across the exact same stations all the time.

Thanks, I assume when you say release I assume you mean Dev version. At first I got confused thought sweet new faction point system is in and such. But then found out that is a dev version. Though I don't think that would be best on the actual production server besides testing around for now.

I disagree. The (wip) universe update is far too awesome to use anything else.

 

[Kane]

When are the new stations going into the game? Maybe you should wait for those. It might be disappointing for new players to run across the exact same stations all the time.



I disagree. The (wip) universe update is far too awesome to use anything else.

Well from what I can see Wip Universe tends to be super unstable and might ruin a lot of players fun and enjoyment. You have to remember that this is a community of new players.

Stack size is infinite. The biggest problem with the block based blueprint system is that you can't see whether all the blocks used in the ship fit in your inventory before you sctually try to load it. So if someone decided to dismantle their ship with the intention of buying it again later, they'd be very upset (a stronger word should probably be used here) when they realise they can't load it because they used too many decorative blocks.

Ahh that is too bad but I guess if you get use to it over and over then it might not be so bad. Most or well all of us are new so we should be able to get use to it overtime. The entire system in my opinion is broken and unbalanced to begin with.


A few my players are asking about crafting. Does anyone have a crafting process to explain what you do and how? A lot people asking if its easier or better then minecraft style crafting. "how I had to craft wood>planks>sticks>diamonds>enchant 500x" Though the enchant part was a silly comment as that person knows there is no enchanting.

But any kind of visual aid if its a video or just a picture showing a complex crafting setup would be sweet.

 

[SomethingSlimy]

Well from what I can see Wip Universe tends to be super unstable and might ruin a lot of players fun and enjoyment. You have to remember that this is a community of new players.

The only problems I've had with it so far are that the gravity around wormholes are super-op. Just stay away from them unless you don't care about your ship. Maybe you could increase the sector size to 2000-3000 to distance yourself from them more. (I think the new default will eventually be 5000, but currently that just means it takes longer to get anywhere. I think 2000-3000 is an ideal size with the new update so far.) Also, galaxies outside of the central one are really buggy and don't appear on the map. But that shouldn't be a problem depending on how many people you plan to have.

 

[FunnyBunny14]

http://starmadepedia.net/wiki/Crafting
No pictures, but a good documentation (made by me). Be sure to let me know if I forgot anything.

 

[Winterhome]

Crafting in Starmade is effectively Minecraft (Tekkit) style tree crafting across multiple types of factories, and with a timer instead of a grid.

Also, there's a method of forcing a sector to have Protected status - which is to say, nothing can be damaged by combat in it.

 

[Kane]

Crafting in Starmade is effectively Minecraft (Tekkit) style tree crafting across multiple types of factories, and with a timer instead of a grid.

Also, there's a method of forcing a sector to have Protected status - which is to say, nothing can be damaged by combat in it.

Thanks for the breakdown. To bad no ones made recent picture examples of this though I understand it completely. I just like showing coloring books to people who don't haha.

http://starmadepedia.net/wiki/Crafting
No pictures, but a good documentation (made by me). Be sure to let me know if I forgot anything.

Nice guide I swear I did not see that on the front the wiki. Seems like it's 99% DB dumped and no contribution to it. So thanks for doing this!

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Wait... I wrote it myself entirely. So is it meant as a good thing or a bad thing (the db dumped part)?
The article does need some cleaning though; the information is presented a bit clumsy sometimes. The general information is there, but it's not always as easy to read.

 

[Kane]

Wait... I wrote it myself entirely. So is it meant as a good thing or a bad thing (the db dumped part)?
The article does need some cleaning though; the information is presented a bit clumsy sometimes. The general information is there, but it's not always as easy to read.

No no you did a good thing. The entire wiki though I'm almost certain is a Database Dump. Looks like someone executed template or a script and made the item database part of it. So most the database is just item templates that were never actually done by a person. I'm surprised more people don't participate in it.

Maybe if the community tries to hold an event or something.

 

[Qweesdy]

Settings I plan to change:

• WORLD = stonelegion
  
• PROTECT_STARTING_SECTOR = true
  
• USE_STARMADE_AUTHENTICATION = true
  
• REQUIRE_STARMADE_AUTHENTICATION = true
  
• PROTECTED_NAMES_BY_ACCOUNT = 1
  
• STARTING_CREDITS = 10000
  
• PLAYER_HISTORY_BACKLOG = 1000
• ALLOW_UPLOAD_FROM_LOCAL_BLUEPRINTS = false
  
• BLUEPRINT_BUY_WITH_BLOCKS = true
  
• SERVER_LIST_NAME = Stone Legion
  
• SERVER_LIST_DESCRIPTION = StoneLegion.com 24/7 Dedicated Server

WORLD only determines the directory name the game uses for the universe's data. This is mostly useful for resetting the universe (which is necessary sometimes - e.g. when awesome new things like galaxies and wormholes are added). For this reason I'd at least add a version number to it ("stonelegion1") so that when you need to reset the universe you can just change it to "stonelegion2" (then "stonelegion3", etc).

I think "ALLOW_UPLOAD_FROM_LOCAL_BLUEPRINTS = false" is a very very very bad idea. It means that players can't backup their work and upload it again after you reset the universe; which means either you have to do a lot of extra work (saving and restoring people's work for them) or your players lose everything. Even if you promise to save and restore players ships, players like me won't take the chance and will refuse to use the server. Of course it also prevents people from shifting their work from other servers to your server (but doesn't prevent people shifting their work from your server to other servers).

Ones I changed due to not knowing what it means:

• DEFAULT_BLUEPRINT_ENEMY_USE = false //(Would this not mean anything anyone makes is used as a enemy blueprint?
• • AUTO_KICK_MODIFIED_BLUEPRINT_USE = true //I hope this stops them from using outside blueprints.
  • REMOVE_MODIFIED_BLUEPRINTS = true //I hope this stops them from using outside blueprints.

"AUTO_KICK_MODIFIED_BLUEPRINT_USE = true" is a bad idea. It means when there's a minor bug in the game (and a blueprint is corrupt) the game kicks the innocent victim.

Why do you want to stop people using outside blueprints? I'm sure you think you've got a reason (that isn't just "I hate the players"); but I'm also sure there's a better way of achieving a better result.

 

[Kane]

Why do you want to stop people using outside blueprints? I'm sure you think you've got a reason (that isn't just "I hate the players"); but I'm also sure there's a better way of achieving a better result.

Well I think the biggest thing you don't understand is we are doing this in a collaborative manor through Teamspeak. The players and I are talking and making these rules. So might dislike it but a big part is we are bring in new blood and our members more then attracting the elites and old time players like yourself.

You are also talking about the community that made massive projects since Vanilla Minecraft: http://godcraft.com/threads/moria-v3.2496/
Also that is disgusting that another admin would hold blue prints / work hostage. You can download our Build Server maps all the way back from 2010 from Stone Legions website.

I guess I'm getting old and your use to a lot of younger people wanting to just run a server for fun and then run out of vps power or stop paying the bills etc. I run everything as professional as I can

Thanks for the tip on the universe. I knew the usage on that I might add a version but we would not be skipping from one to another etc. I document and auto backup the universe via a script I will write for it also. So it will have proper stamping for date/times/server/etc include a info file also with more details.

Sorry a bit of a server admin nerd :P

 

[der_scheme]

Well from what I can see Wip Universe tends to be super unstable and might ruin a lot of players fun and enjoyment. You have to remember that this is a community of new players.

More important is that the new universe structure is not fully backwards compatible. So in case you want to setup this server in the next few days, using the more unstable dev versions might actually be a good idea.

No no you did a good thing. The entire wiki though I'm almost certain is a Database Dump. Looks like someone executed template or a script and made the item database part of it. So most the database is just item templates that were never actually done by a person. I'm surprised more people don't participate in it.

That is because the wiki currently is not meant to be edited by the public, since it is not feature-complete. Technical stuff aside, we are missing essential stuff like style guides and also many StarMade-specific templates. It is safe to assume that every article that is not actively worked on by the wiki staff will have to be overhauled later on.

 

[Kane]

More important is that the new universe structure is not fully backwards compatible. So in case you want to setup this server in the next few days, using the more unstable dev versions might actually be a good idea.

Yeah since we are new we are actually going just be running a test server for the next week or 2 depending the time when we feel comfortable with the game and when the new universe is stable. From the video is was for sure not backwards compatible or maybe it could be but it be a mess I'm sure.

As a server admin I like to learn the ins and outs with our community before we launch so I can make sure i'm doing things right. Including backups, etc.

That is because the wiki currently is not meant to be edited by the public, since it is not feature-complete. Technical stuff aside, we are missing essential stuff like style guides and also many StarMade-specific templates. It is safe to assume that every article that is not actively worked on by the wiki staff will have to be overhauled later on.

Ahh I see. It seems that there is quite few good people on these forums that seem to do great guides anyways. Like the Logic Videos for Starmade are great.

 

[Winterhome]

There are also some utilities that're outside of base Starmade that can be used to manage the server.

Red-Shift, for instance, uses a system called "Overwatch" - which sets limits for the maximum mass of a ship blueprint upload at 50,000 by reading blueprints and auto-deleting the ones that don't match the server's requirements.

If you can get a hold of one of those utilities, you can restrict the size of blueprints to upload without getting rid of the feature completely. Anyone know of one that's free for public usage? :\

 

[Qweesdy]

Well I think the biggest thing you don't understand is we are doing this in a collaborative manor through Teamspeak. The players and I are talking and making these rules. So might dislike it but a big part is we are bring in new blood and our members more then attracting the elites and old time players like yourself.

The part that I do understand is that these new players will spend several weeks working on amazing creations; then (due to either bugs or a new update with new features) you will have no choice but to reset the universe. When that happens all of these new players will be worried about losing everything they've worked hard on. Hopefully they will have saved a copy in their local blueprints, but if they can't upload from their local blueprints back onto your server then what are they supposed to do? They will have no choice but to abandon your server and find a server that allows uploads.

The alternative is for you to spend weeks receiving complaints about lost work and restoring player's blueprints manually, and hoping you get the permissions/ownership right (and screwing it up and watching everyone leave because getting their work restored is too slow/painful). Note that you will need to do this with player's stations, which will be a major amount of work already.

If the game was stable and wasn't receiving awesome updates, then you wouldn't need to reset the universe so much, and it might make sense to prevent uploads. This is not currently the case.

 

[Kane]

The part that I do understand is that these new players will spend several weeks working on amazing creations; then (due to either bugs or a new update with new features) you will have no choice but to reset the universe. When that happens all of these new players will be worried about losing everything they've worked hard on. Hopefully they will have saved a copy in their local blueprints, but if they can't upload from their local blueprints back onto your server then what are they supposed to do? They will have no choice but to abandon your server and find a server that allows uploads.

The alternative is for you to spend weeks receiving complaints about lost work and restoring player's blueprints manually, and hoping you get the permissions/ownership right (and screwing it up and watching everyone leave because getting their work restored is too slow/painful). Note that you will need to do this with player's stations, which will be a major amount of work already.

If the game was stable and wasn't receiving awesome updates, then you wouldn't need to reset the universe so much, and it might make sense to prevent uploads. This is not currently the case.

Well that is for them to upload it. What is wrong with me backing their blueprints up and also giving them a copy as well as allowing them to have them again if the server wipes. I would just copy the blueprints over again.

That is what I would do. As well as maybe if people want a start 100% fresh period we just release the Blueprints to everyone. Also just because they can't upload them can they not download their own for backups? Or does the game not allow that?

 

[Qweesdy]

Well that is for them to upload it.

Um, if you do "ALLOW_UPLOAD_FROM_LOCAL_BLUEPRINTS = false" they can't upload.

What is wrong with me backing their blueprints up and also giving them a copy as well as allowing them to have them again if the server wipes. I would just copy the blueprints over again.

If you reset the universe, everything is reset. This includes all player info, all faction info, etc. If you "just copy the blueprints over" then you've screwed up the blueprint permissions. For example, a ship that a player has set to "faction only" will now be available to its creator's enemies (which will really annoy people - it's like giving China the plans to America's stealth bombers). You will need to wait until the players log in and create their faction, then assign ownership of their old ships (while hoping nobody tries to claim someone else's ship as their own).

If you try to avoid that (e.g. by copying the old faction and player data over too) then your sever will end up clogged with players that left and factions that died; where half the time you've reset the universe in the hope of getting rid of all that obsolete stuff. Of course "getting rid of all that obsolete stuff" also includes getting rid of blueprints that nobody cares about anymore.

That is what I would do. As well as maybe if people want a start 100% fresh period we just release the Blueprints to everyone. Also just because they can't upload them can they not download their own for backups? Or does the game not allow that?

Like I already said; if you give the players a backup that is impossible for them to restore/upload (because you disabled uploads from local blueprints) the only thing they can do with it is find a different server and abandon yours. To save time, why not set the server's welcome message to "Please abandon this server now to avoid having to abandon it later!"?

 

[Kane]

Um, if you do "ALLOW_UPLOAD_FROM_LOCAL_BLUEPRINTS = false" they can't upload.



If you reset the universe, everything is reset. This includes all player info, all faction info, etc. If you "just copy the blueprints over" then you've screwed up the blueprint permissions. For example, a ship that a player has set to "faction only" will now be available to its creator's enemies (which will really annoy people - it's like giving China the plans to America's stealth bombers). You will need to wait until the players log in and create their faction, then assign ownership of their old ships (while hoping nobody tries to claim someone else's ship as their own).

If you try to avoid that (e.g. by copying the old faction and player data over too) then your sever will end up clogged with players that left and factions that died; where half the time you've reset the universe in the hope of getting rid of all that obsolete stuff. Of course "getting rid of all that obsolete stuff" also includes getting rid of blueprints that nobody cares about anymore.



Like I already said; if you give the players a backup that is impossible for them to restore/upload (because you disabled uploads from local blueprints) the only thing they can do with it is find a different server and abandon yours. To save time, why not set the server's welcome message to "Please abandon this server now to avoid having to abandon it later!"?

Sounds like you played some shitty servers my friend. I'm sorry to hear that. Just because I disable Upload on the server for the first version does not mean I will on the 2nd or third. Since our players are brand new I see no need for it for the first. Now you are confusing me can plays download their blueprints off the server without me or do I need to give it to them. I assume anyone can locally save it?