1 (edited by Processor VX 14-Oct-2016 23:21:33)

Topic: EoR Map Time-Lapse

This would be better suited to something server side, but if you could implement a snapshot of the galaxy map every tick to record:

- Systems colored by the family that owns the most planets in it. Each family set to a different color.
- War and PNAP declarations and cancellations.

Taking this data, one could run it through a map and take a frame by frame to create an interesting time lapse, showing the families growing in their core then eventually expanding and shrinking as wars and conflict rage on. I think this would be a nice organic way to show the progress of the round.

Edit: The per tick snapshot really would just need each systems planets owner and any NAP/War declarations/cancellations. That data could be used to do the coloring and whatnot later.

mbvX, jamjam, nobody, smax

Re: EoR Map Time-Lapse

Attackers dream smile The moment a core grows you will know exactly what to raid. You can calculate if planets can be portalled saving ops.  You can see intra fam swaps to raid.

This map would bring some nice action big_smile

~Attacking is a Skill~
~Defending is an Art~

Re: EoR Map Time-Lapse

I've been looking into how to achieve this for the entire game.  For the map but also just as a historical tool.

Can you imagine being able to step through a family's history tick by tick?  Or any player for any round?

It's a really interesting technical challenge though, I'm still working out the details.  It's a favorite on my list but probably won't be around for a good while.

Got a few bucks?  The Imperial Tip Jar is accepting contributions!

Re: EoR Map Time-Lapse

I like pie wrote:

I've been looking into how to achieve this for the entire game.  For the map but also just as a historical tool.

Can you imagine being able to step through a family's history tick by tick?  Or any player for any round?

It's a really interesting technical challenge though, I'm still working out the details.  It's a favorite on my list but probably won't be around for a good while.

The first step would just be taking an hourly snapshot of the galaxy, recording each planets owner. I'm sure something could be rigged up to then read each ticks data, render it onto a visual map, wait a short delay, then move on to the next tick and repeat. If you ever did record a day's worth of ticks I could probably figure something out if I ever get enough free time.

mbvX, jamjam, nobody, smax

Re: EoR Map Time-Lapse

It makes sense, but the challenge is in how much it would tax the server.  Having this stored in the primary database will cause the entire game to eventually have performance issues, if not right away.  Then there's also the issue of having essentially an hourly backup causing every tick to take longer.

The solution is to get a separate db set up (on a separate server, ideally) to archive only the deltas (differences between snapshots) and have it as a read-only db that works alongside the primary game db.

Conceptually it's a simple feature, but getting it done in a way that doesn't kill the server is the tricky part.

Got a few bucks?  The Imperial Tip Jar is accepting contributions!