Why COH will not get a server emulator.

[TonyV]

Boo.

Code Select Expand

1. Query the database for characters that match the desired account name,
   sorted by last logon date (descending), limit 1. Cause finding needles in
   haystacks is what SQL servers have been doing for ages and they're really
   good at it.
2. Profit!

Boo.

1. Since this is a VERY commonly used functionality, create a column per account for last logged in character.
2. Access that column when the person logs in, and update it whenever they choose a character.  You don't need a separate query to find this information.
3. Dance like it's Christmas and you were drawn by Charles Shultz.

[Manga]

Code Select Expand

1. Query the database for characters that match the desired account name,
   sorted by last logon date (descending), limit 1. Cause finding needles in
   haystacks is what SQL servers have been doing for ages and they're really
   good at it.
2. Profit!

If only the database query was THAT simple...  :)

[Manga]

It's no longer a hint if you point it out like that, but people on the Multimedia forum know very well that I intend for us to be able to make our own maps, and finish the incomplete bits that the devs left in the i24 Beta client. Their creations deserve to see the light of day as they intended.

See, now you're talking reverse engineering the client as well as the server.  The pair are designed so that the server contains as little data as possible, and sends as little traffic as possible to the client, and the client uses its massive archive of objects and data to build a world in real time.  Without the client side stuff, the "map" on the server is just garbage data.

[Starsman]

Boo.

1. Since this is a VERY commonly used functionality, create a column per account for last logged in character.
2. Access that column when the person logs in, and update it whenever they choose a character.  You don't need a separate query to find this information.
3. Dance like it's Christmas and you were drawn by Charles Shultz.

Now sort the character list by last played. :)

[Tenzhi]

This is probably important information from a technical viewpoint, but from the POV of a layperson it seems that hairs are being split.

[Victoria Victrix]

This is probably important information from a technical viewpoint, but from the POV of a layperson it seems that hairs are being split.

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=farm4.static.flickr.com%2F3240%2F2772221688_2866dc49bf.jpg

[Tenzhi]

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=farm4.static.flickr.com%2F3240%2F2772221688_2866dc49bf.jpg

That is an interesting sculpture.  And I find it a particularly funny response because I nearly went with "hares" myself. :)

[Angelus Animi]

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=farm4.static.flickr.com%2F3240%2F2772221688_2866dc49bf.jpg

I find this disturbing on many levels... ???

[Victoria Victrix]

It's literally called "Split Hare," it is in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the UK, and it is by an artist named Sophie Ryder.  She does a lot of monumental Sculptures featuring Lady Hares.  http://www.sophieryder.net/

[Arnabas]

You know, I don't care what it is called or how it works. If something lets me play again , I want it.

I would even be happy if the game was somehow made single-player.

[dwturducken]

1. Since this is a VERY commonly used functionality, create a column per account for last logged in character.

I had to read this three times before it stopped sounding like some kind of programmer punishment. Right up there with, "Copy this seven pages of code from this old copy of COMPUTE! Gazette."

Also,

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=farm4.static.flickr.com%2F3240%2F2772221688_2866dc49bf.jpg

Can anyone spare some Brain Bleach?

[Starsman]

It's literally called "Split Hare," it is in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the UK, and it is by an artist named Sophie Ryder.  She does a lot of monumental Sculptures featuring Lady Hares.  http://www.sophieryder.net/

A furry that is actually respected as an artist by society?!  :o

[Tenzhi]

A furry that is actually respected as an artist by society?!  :o

Such art is historically highly sought after.  In ancient Egypt, for instance.

[Victoria Victrix]

A furry that is actually respected as an artist by society?!  :o

Here's the lady herself.

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=gerryco23.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fsophie-ryder.jpg%3Fw%3D640%26amp%3Bh%3D508

I think she's more about mythic images.  I could go on at some length about the hare in celtic, greek, and other myth, but I don't want to bore you.

[krtbuni]

I've heard a fair bit about it. =>.>=

[Reiraku]

You know, I don't care what it is called or how it works. If something lets me play again , I want it.

I would even be happy if the game was somehow made single-player.

This is me, right here.

For anyone working on it, you have my thanks.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Now sort the character list by last played. :)

0. Since you already have a field storing last activity date for each character, you can add an index on it to speed up the query.
1. SELECT * FROM characters WHERE account=<account ID> ORDER BY last_active DESC

If only the database query was THAT simple...  :)

Yes, it is. If you're selecting by account name and not ID, it will need an extra JOIN and that's that.
1. SELECT <fields> FROM characters JOIN accounts ON characters.account=accounts.id WHERE accounts.name=<account name> ORDER BY last_active DESC LIMIT 1

[Codewalker]

0. Since you already have a field storing last activity date for each character, you can add an index on it to speed up the query.

And since the character table will be the most used table in the database, then indexes on it will very likely be in the memory cache at any time other than right after server startup. So index queries against it are very, very cheap.

1. SELECT * FROM characters WHERE account=<account ID> ORDER BY last_active DESC
Yes, it is. If you're selecting by account name and not ID, it will need an extra JOIN and that's that.
1. SELECT <fields> FROM characters JOIN accounts ON characters.account=accounts.id WHERE accounts.name=<account name> ORDER BY last_active DESC LIMIT 1

That's assuming the accounts are in the same database, which they wouldn't be -- there's no reason for every shard to have the master account list in its own database, and it would be a security risk for it to have direct access to that table anyway. Presumably the dbserver would already have the account ID on hand, probably passed in a token from the authentication server.

[Leandro]

See, now you're talking reverse engineering the client as well as the server.

Actually, the client has a built-in map editor mode, so there was no reverse engineering involved. The map format is human readable (as you can see in the linked thread), and the client reads maps from .txt files from the "data" overrides folder. We don't need to disassemble the client or touch one byte on it in order to create and include new maps; the COH client is very, very, very mod-friendly.

It's true that Codewalker posted a binary patch so people could load maps right now, but that was just a case of "gimme NAO!" and not a necessity. With the server in place, the client doesn't need to be touched in order to create new maps; it's one of the things it can naturally do.

[Codewalker]

It's true that Codewalker posted a binary patch so people could load maps right now, but that was just a case of "gimme NAO!" and not a necessity. With the server in place, the client doesn't need to be touched in order to create new maps; it's one of the things it can naturally do.

Maps load just fine without that patch. The only thing the patch is needed for is if you want to create new scenes (skyfiles), or add new meshes (which we don't yet have a tool for doing).