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New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 13:36 UTC
by Ignas
Hi,

i just started a new server of BNT, i want to make it weekly tournaments, maybe biweekly, but i have a problem right away, i cannot login as a user :( , naturally i created a new user, maybe you could advise me with this, in the forums i just found that this might be a configuration error on my end, but i am not really a tech guy, could you at least point me where to look? i try to login and every second time i get a sign :

Login Phase Two
The password you entered is incorrect.

and every second time i get as well this : You need to log in, click here.

As well i need ti find more settings like turns accumulation speed and limit, but this is not in the admin directory where i login, so where could i find it?

Aaaand, i have a few suggestions of overall game display, how to make it more comfortable to navigate, eliminate at least one unneeded click, where should i post it and does it makes difference at all, i mean does anyone care, i read somewhere that the game is going to be rewritten from scratch, is it so?

Again, i am not a tech guy, please talk slowly to me :)
Thank you for any help!
Ignas

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 17:28 UTC
by TheMightyDude
Well, depending on your Server and what versions of Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP (LAMP) its running, but in general it should just work.

I assume your email address you are using on your server is less than 40 characters in length and your password is less than 20 characters or it will fail to log you in.

I have set our email maxlength to 320.

The "you need to login" points to a cookie issue.

Also go into file setup_info.php and enable the switches in it and then view that page in the browser.

I can see you are using IIS as a Web Service, the game is known to have issues when using IIS.

Also can you change the database type from mysqlt to mysqli due to mysqlt is I think old now.

As for settings / configs etc, you will have to tweak that yourself.
Not too sure what is in the release code nowdays, but if you change any config settings you wll need to recreate the universe, unless you change both in the config file as well as the config in the database.

As for the rewritten part, yes I am doing it all on my own in my spare time between medical appointments etc., and will be my version of the game that will play exactly like BNT or close to it, so it might not be called BNT.

It will be using completely different code from scratch and will no longer be a browser based game due to its limitations it has with what I want to add, so it will be closed source.
The new project will consist of 3 or more projects:

#1: Our Networking Side consisting of a Web Service run only by us (used to store user accounts).

#2: Dedicated Server which is a server application that connects to our Web Service and allows TCP connections from the Game Clinet, this will come as a pre-compiled exe (for Linux and then Windows)

#3: 2D/3D Desktop Game Client (first on Windows and then maybe Linux and Mac)

I am still working on the Dedicated Server code (never thought it would be this hard to make a game LOL) to do with how it interacts with the Database, not started the Game Client code yet, so it will take a while.
I have plans to allow Plugins for the Dedicated Server, not too sure for the Client side.

Is there anything else you want to ask?

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 20:14 UTC
by Ignas
Thank you very much for replying so fast and so widely, part of it i have to transfer to my friend who has started server for me, but i could play with configuration, please tell me in what file should i find settings for turns accumulation speed and limit, and growth percentage of credits in planet? i looked in setup_info.php and settings.php but didnt find it there, or am i reading the code wrong? i speak 3 foreign languages, but programming is unfortunately not one of them :(
Nothing fancy about the username and password, and good thing you mentioned about restarting game after change of configuration, or i would be doing it over and over without restarting :D

And looks like you really have an exciting new game in mind, looking forward!

Seems like you love doctors a lot ;) i am recovering from severe vertebrae inflamation, could barely move without groaning from pain, i hope you get better asap.

Ignas

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 23:54 UTC
by TheMightyDude
Just check that version and only the Languages are stored in the database and the config hasn't yet in that version.

Most of the stuff is in the config/config.php it should be common sense what needs to be set.

You have $turns_per_tick which will add that amount of turns on every tick / time you call scheduler.php

You will only be able to call the Scheduler ever 60 seconds due to that's the fastest you can call stuff with Cron.

$sched_ticks must match the same amount of minutes that you are calling the Scheduler via cron.
So if you have cron call scheduler.php every 2 minutes you need to set $sched_ticks to 2.

You also have $max_turns which is the maximum amount of turns that it will increase to before it clamps it.

As for needing to do a restart after a config change, you should be fine due to I don't think the config is stored in the database in that version, so you won't be required to restart all the time :P

Yeah, Setup Info was a quick add-on feature that was dropped in at the last minute several versions back, so it has some issues in this current version.
Its basically there to do some tests to help you set the game up the first time, and once all setup the different tests can be turned off.

TBH I am not really a fan of doctors, I have no choice due to I have an incurable lung condition, so I have to have loads of checkup.

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 20:37 UTC
by Ignas
Thank you again for replying and for all the specifics!!

About the doctors, "you like them" i ment you seem to be seeing them a lot, i am sorry to hear about incurable, that just sucks :(

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 21:07 UTC
by TheMightyDude
Ignas wrote: Thank you again for replying and for all the specifics!!
No worries.

The new version I am working on (still working on the database side of the dedicated server code) will allow the admin to run the service then type "setup" to setup the database and create all the required records in the tables.

This even though its done differently and had loads more checks in it, the universe creation as a whole is created a lot faster than what it is currently.

I am still on the fence whether to have the universe done differently like have the Sectors grouped up into Galaxy Clusters and then have several links linking up the clusters, but due to players hate change I might leave it as is.

[Movement]
I know I plan to make Movement differently in the new version, like there will be an animation when you jump into warp then show a second animation while in travel and then play a third animation of the player coming out of the jump.
It will be the same for the Warp Links and Real Space jumps, just that one will take longer to complete than the other.

Player will also see the animations when other players jump in and out of the sectors.

[Combat]
I have plans to change how Combat works, currently its all down to stats and pop luck, I am planning to change all that so imagine a 2D Grid with the player looking down on the grid, the player one side and the target (Player(s), Planet etc) the other side.

Not fully worked out how it will fully work, but it could be either of the following ways:
1: The player (Attacker) takes the first move by launching his or hers fighters and moves closer to the Target.
The Target (if a planet or if the player is offline) will be done by AI, so they will launch their fighters torps whatever.
Then rinse and repeat until one side gets killed.

2: This is all done in real time where both sides are controlling their own objects / ship / fighters and torps.
This also continues until one side gets killed.

This still needs some work on how it should work, but at least it should be better than what it is now.

[Planet Information]
The screen layout might change some what due to how I would like for it to display content, like when you click on a planet you will see generic planet information, you can scan the planet to get a more in detail report etc.

There is loads more, but they may or may not change later on, so no point talking about those :)
Ignas wrote: About the doctors, "you like them" i ment you seem to be seeing them a lot, i am sorry to hear about incurable, that just sucks :(
Oh :P
Well I have a Heart Test / Scan etc sometime next week or the week after, but I am still alive, so I cannot complain.

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 21:50 UTC
by Ignas
If i may.. having animation is nice, but think of the players who have thousands of turns to use, this inevitably means a lot of movement, so first of all any animation should not last more than 2-3 seconds, and second - it must be automatic, meaning players must not be pressing 3 times for entering warp, travelling and coming out of the jump, these clicks would have no use other than wasting time to make a robotic work. And of course to look at the nice animation.. for the 186th time that day or that week :)

I realised lat night, that BNT reminds me a game i started playing 20 year ago, realthugz[.]com , this game was closed rather recently, sometime end of 2017, even the navigation table including text font, words and size of the tables, not sure if it could be made out of BNT, but anyway, the point is - the game was ruined by raising the turns amount to enormous amounts, like 28.000.000 turns per month (monthly rounds), and not allowing any automation for the game, so even though you could use 2500 for one action, but it took 4 or sometimes 6 clicks to do it, and some actions took a lot more, including mouse and keyboard - what i mean - please think of the players and their time, dont make the game to feel like you are a player-robot who has hundred thousands clicks to make, the game should be time off and not another work :)

For example in the game i use now, the navigation menu on the left side is only visible from main menu, so if for example, after buying something on a planet, i need to travel to another planet immediately, i have to make a useless click to return to main menu. Again, there are tens thousands of turns, you should multiply that one unneeded click to see it. Same when i click on a sector on a map - after clicking i travel, then i see message that i have traveled, and then again i must make an unneeded click to actually go to the place where i was travelling. i spent a lot of time thinking - why didnt you just put the sign " you traveled to sector XXX and used 1 turn" somewhere on the top of the actual sector page, eliminating the additional page (and a click to leave it) bearing so few information in it, and only one thing came to my mind - it was a fashion back then to make a separate page for any changeable information, but now the possibilities are wider and overall people perceive more information at the same glimpse, so i really think that the overall gameplay should be optimised, and this said - renewed, so dont be afraid of radical changes.

you are rewriting a game - of course there will be changes, this should not stop you of the way the universe works.

Combat - i dont believe it is possible to assume that player will be at the same second looking at the same screen to actually make a fight directly. You can always set a 120 seconds timer to join the fight, but this will eliminate the option of blitz attack, and will deffinatley get boring of the player doesnt show up the whole 120 seconds that you have to wait.

Making it in rounds is nice, but what about making it 3 rounds max, and if nobody is killed, then randomly teleported, it would be a shame building/upgrading armor just to meet a nr1 player with a little better stats to destroy you without leaving even a chance.


Heart scan is not so bad, worse part for me is not drinking coffee that day :) hold on!

Ignas

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 01:16 UTC
by TheMightyDude
Ignas wrote: If i may.. having animation is nice, but think of the players who have thousands of turns to use, this inevitably means a lot of movement, so first of all any animation should not last more than 2-3 seconds, and second - it must be automatic, meaning players must not be pressing 3 times for entering warp, travelling and coming out of the jump, these clicks would have no use other than wasting time to make a robotic work. And of course to look at the nice animation.. for the 186th time that day or that week :)
Its just the one click and the jumping into the warp - traveling - jumping out of the warp will be automatic.

I haven't yet decided how this will end up working like, but it could be like this:
1: Player brings up galaxy map where it will show a new style of map highlighting where they currently are.
2: The player selects where they want to go (this can be a long jump via several links etc) then close the map.
3: The player then can click on the [Enter Warp] or [Enter Real Space] depending on their ship capability.
4: Once they click on the type of jump it will automatically open up the jump window (first animation) and fly into it.
5: Depending on the type of jump (Warp Jumps) will take x Seconds depending on how many links they are traveling through, I will explain this a bit later.
6: When the player has reached their destination it will show the exit warp animation and the ship will fly out of it.

Warp Link Jumps will take about 1 seconds to show the animation and for the ship to fly into it, it will then take about a couple of seconds per link they fly through and then a further 1 seconds to come out of the warp.
So say a player wants to jump to a location via the Warp Links (Warp Travel) that goes through say 15 links (assuming they have the fuel for it) it would take 32 = 1 + 30 + 1 Seconds to complete the whole jump.

Now Real Space Jumps are different, not all ships will be able to do these jump due to the type of Engine, Power and Fuel requirements, so while these can jump from location A to Location B faster they have a cool down timer.

But like I have said I have not yet decided how these will work.

I know I don't want these to be instant jumps like they are now.

Just an idea, for warp link jumps we could have Warp Gates (Space Structures) that are in every sector which are linked to certain sectors.
The player that wants to travel to a different location several warp links away, they could set their destination via the galaxy map and then click on the Warp Gate and the first animation would be the Warp Gate starting up and the ship flying into it.
The actual travel will still take time, but will depend on the level of engines that is on the ship, so you have a crap low level engine it will take longer to travel.
Then at the destination, the destination Warp Gate to activate and the ship will fly out.

Other players in either of the start and destination sectors will see the Warp Gates activate and the see the ship enter and exit them.
Players can also scan the Warp Gates to see who was the last X ships that entered, went through and exited them and where they went, but this might require a special device like the LSSD (Last Seen Ship Device) etc.
Ignas wrote: I realised lat night, that BNT reminds me a game i started playing 20 year ago, realthugz[.]com , this game was closed rather recently, sometime end of 2017, even the navigation table including text font, words and size of the tables, not sure if it could be made out of BNT, but anyway, the point is - the game was ruined by raising the turns amount to enormous amounts, like 28.000.000 turns per month (monthly rounds), and not allowing any automation for the game, so even though you could use 2500 for one action, but it took 4 or sometimes 6 clicks to do it, and some actions took a lot more, including mouse and keyboard - what i mean - please think of the players and their time, dont make the game to feel like you are a player-robot who has hundred thousands clicks to make, the game should be time off and not another work :)

For example in the game i use now, the navigation menu on the left side is only visible from main menu, so if for example, after buying something on a planet, i need to travel to another planet immediately, i have to make a useless click to return to main menu. Again, there are tens thousands of turns, you should multiply that one unneeded click to see it. Same when i click on a sector on a map - after clicking i travel, then i see message that i have traveled, and then again i must make an unneeded click to actually go to the place where i was travelling. i spent a lot of time thinking - why didnt you just put the sign " you traveled to sector XXX and used 1 turn" somewhere on the top of the actual sector page, eliminating the additional page (and a click to leave it) bearing so few information in it, and only one thing came to my mind - it was a fashion back then to make a separate page for any changeable information, but now the possibilities are wider and overall people perceive more information at the same glimpse, so i really think that the overall gameplay should be optimised, and this said - renewed, so dont be afraid of radical changes.
Well BNT was created November 2000 if I recall, I joined some time in 2001, wow such a long time ago LOL.

But that extra page when you travel is not just for the "You are now in sector X and have used Y turns", its also used when other players put fighters torps in said destination and it displays a small choice menu, to like pay the toll fee, to try and sneak past or fight you way through etc.

Now if that page was removed, you wouldn't know about the fighters and or torps in the destination sector.

Don't get me wrong, I also hate the redundant unnecessary clicks etc.
Ignas wrote: you are rewriting a game - of course there will be changes, this should not stop you of the way the universe works.

Combat - i dont believe it is possible to assume that player will be at the same second looking at the same screen to actually make a fight directly. You can always set a 120 seconds timer to join the fight, but this will eliminate the option of blitz attack, and will deffinatley get boring of the player doesnt show up the whole 120 seconds that you have to wait.

Making it in rounds is nice, but what about making it 3 rounds max, and if nobody is killed, then randomly teleported, it would be a shame building/upgrading armor just to meet a nr1 player with a little better stats to destroy you without leaving even a chance.
No its not going to be like that, you are still thinking of the game like a browser game and how it is now.
When a player attacks another player, the player being attacked is instantly notified, assuming they are online at the time that is.
So say the player is either just sitting there or in the middle of sending a message to a friend when they are attacked.

The Attacker first needs to target them, maybe scan them and then attack them.
The player being attacked will get a warning sound like "Ship is being targeted", then if they get scanned they will get a warning sound like "Ship is being Scanned" and just before they actually get attacked they will get another warning "Ship under Attack" and then a 2D Grid System where both players are looking down on pops up.
From this Grid System both players have a choice to Stay and Fight, the player being attacked has about 5 seconds to make a choice, by default the player will just jump out of the sector after the 5 seconds if they fail to choose in time.

Players attacking Planet is a bit similar to attacking players, but the owner has no control over the combat.
But like before a 2D Grid System pops up where the Attacker chooses how they want to attack the planet (launch fights to take out spatial structures, attack the actual planets etc), the planet side of the attack is AI Controlled.

Now say the outcome is stalemate, the player(s) can either try again or leave the sector to re-stock their ship(s) and then come back and try again.
Ignas wrote: Heart scan is not so bad, worse part for me is not drinking coffee that day :) hold on!
Its not so much a heart scan, but more of an injection that put your heart under stress to see how well and strong it is.
That's what I am worried about, I have done some research on it and it can hurt a lot and in some rare occasions the heart has stopped.

Re: New game = cannot login as player

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 22:29 UTC
by Ignas
Hey,

i was allmost certain that realthugz game was somehow associated :) oh well..
About the fight and the players fighting "live" i am still sceptical, it reminds me of phone games that have alert system to alert of incoming attacks and scouting, - i always turn that off to avoid beeing interupted, this is really ennoying, at least for me, i dont have any numbers but you should really do a research about nowadays user behaviour, it is changing faster than ever.

Your heart survived massive galaxies wars and extinctions - i am sure it will survive some stress test ;)

Ignas