Recognized Persistent Universe - Brainstorm!

[ShadowPilot]

So with features such as the exchange/economy, Fleets, playability assets, and faction overhauls. We only seem to be missing one key detail.

Persistence in the universe we the players create, we will be able to keep diplomatic relations using the Global Factions idea that is on the trello. But, what of those hard earned ships and stations?

I want to mainly brainstorm about ways we can keep the world persistent on the servers we play without losing all the progress made dueto a forced wipe database sizes.

Idea 1: Create an Admin command to save all faction bases and resources with activity of a week or less.

Idea 2: Streamline database clean up to allow server up time to go well beyond 3-6 months.

Submit your ideas, but we need some persistence so this constant start up grind disappears.

 

[Gonzalo]

awesome idea :D

 

[Lukwan]

Well put and succinct, ShadowPilot.

This small aid to an over-worked volunteer admin-team would go a long way in establishing and, more to the point, keeping a community of players.

All of my time on SM is spent on a MP server. (This is my first time playing an Alpha-game and partaking of the forums.)

I have tried many servers, but essentially dropped anchor on one for almost a year. Every time there is an update that 'changes everything' or when a technical problem corrupts the files it is back to square one for everyone. Usually the shock of losing weeks worth of builds or mining wealth causes a huge loss of player-base generating negative feelings towards the server...and the game itself. This is more likely to happen to the newer players who have not yet learned the importance of saving BPs locally.

The success of any game is heavily influenced by the commitment of it's core players and the health of the MP experience. We are the core. Please help us stay committed.

 

[jayman38]

1. Auto-Local-BP-save by default, which automatically saves a blueprint locally when saved on the server, with an in-game configuration checkbox to turn off auto-saving if desired. (For example, to save disk space.)
2. An option when joining a server to select local BPs from the total local BP list and upload the selected ones to the server, auto-removing BPs that are already available on the server. (With a server-side BP compiler to reduce duplicates from multiple sources and help admins decide which BPs to authorize for integration into the universe.)
3. Additional server-side blueprint converter utilities, like block converters that are "intelligent" enough to identify improper or inactive blocks and let the admin select which good or new blocks replace those old and broke blocks.
4. An option server-side to capture the current universe's "seed" and an option to manually enter a seed into a new universe's generation, to make it identical to the original seed universe.
5. Server utilities to capture individual "features" of the universe, for selective integration into the new universe, including replacements for generated content. This needs to be closely linked with the utilities mentioned in idea 3 above. (Needed to recreate an old universe after the game updates, using new rules/features/blocks.)

 

[Dire Venom]

Starside server did this a bit ago.
They gave us time to save all our stuff as blueprints, then allowed us to shove as much stuff as we wanted into cargo containers (then greatly increased server cargo storage capacity) then moved the container over to the new universe.
Nothing was lost but it did take an hour or so to get everything set up like before.

 

[kiraen]

I understand the frustration, but this thread is effectively pointless.
The game is alpha, as such 'save game compatibility' is not guaranteed.
What you are asking for is for the game to go beta. That's at least a year away unless you want the game to stop being developed.

 

[Lukwan]

I understand the frustration, but this thread is effectively pointless.
The game is alpha, as such 'save game compatibility' is not guaranteed.
What you are asking for is for the game to go beta. That's at least a year away unless you want the game to stop being developed.

I think you have misinterpreted the OP. No one said anything about guarantees of save-compatibility. No one is asking for and end to development.

What is on the table is a request for the server admins to have tools that help them transition through major changes. If some of these ideas are not workable, a layman like me wont know it until I ask.

For example: Would it be impossible for the server to take a snapshot of my credits and mats to be replaced after a major reboot?