Will Nichols Graduation Project

What I've Done.

2009-11-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

For the past year, I've run a server with a modified game on it free for players all over the world to use and access. I can be proud in saying that I have created a source of annoyance and stress with the element of other people such as the wannabe hackers who mess up the server from time to time. I've done alot of writing, and editing, and can really only say, I'm ready to present and get done.

Recent Events

2009-09-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

For the most part I've been working on this project for the entire year. The server that I have decided to run possibly permanently is called FAN 24/7 RP. So in a quick summary, there has been a lot of trouble with the script, updates, and players. The human element becomes an important factor of the programming when a script kiddie decides it would be fun to run a DDOS or Botnet on the server. To counter this a filter has to either be installed or written. Mine failed horribly, it did not allow any players to join the server and filtered out all IP addresses. I ended up going with a professionally done free security system. Other then that there has been a lot of trouble with administrators and players, from things like breaking every rule to disrupt play, or spending hours trying to find and abuse glitches. All in all this has been a very challenging experience, to both program entities that appear in the game, and manage the people who play the game.

Right, so the last month or so.

2008-12-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

***This might get a bit long***
Over the last month of working on the server I purchased at the beginning of the month, there was a game mode called "darkrp"which involves mostly civil protection officers protecting civilians from Mafia style activities. The illegal activities include weapon trafficking, drug possession, drug dealing, and breaking and entering. There are several classes in this game mode *note I did NOT code darkrp and have only modified it with help from other coders* these include: citizen, cook, medic/doctor, gundealer, drug dealer, mob boss, gangster, civil protection, and civil protection chief. Bearing with me for a moment this is not a random violent shooter where there is no point to the gameplay. for instance if you kill four people in the same ten seconds then the server will auto disconnect you regardless of your administration. If you are disconnected you must re join the game. This feature requires that team tactics must be used to overcome a force of more then three people without the risk of disconnect. There are several administrators currently running on the server which is called "FAN 24/7 RolePlay" not to be confused with sone of the other copys of it that are said to be launched. The copys wont be there long. At any rate in the week before christmas the server hit the top 200 garrysmod servers in the rating system online. during the christmas we broke twenty people in the server at the same time and nidged into the top 100 servers at the number 92 slot. since then we have dropped back due to coding errors with our custom shipments that were not backed up properly and were deleted during a server wipe. Managing this server has been a great way to study up on the things that can happen if you dont do something correctly, like code a file or back up said file. One example was a "/buypistol elites" command which went badly wrong and turned up free to the players for a good amount of time. That was fixed and we lost shipments that a coder custom made for our server. This diddn't stop many people who still enjoy playing on FAN but it did a few. Over all the work I havve done has mainly been in managing the development of this game server and coding some of the custom administrator "minge B gone" devices. "Minge" is a term on garrysmod used to describe a player who refuses to follow rules, is under the age of 6, or abuses in game functions. There are also script kiddies, who I ususally ban or !cexec before they do damage.

Hear about this yet?

2008-11-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

Unrelated to video gaming, the democratic party wants to re enact the "fairness doctrine" which states that all radio and television broadcasts would have to give equal time to opposing views. This is put quite simply a clinical psychotic reaction. Or my personal favorite fascism. They claim that this is beneficial but I fail to see how infringing on our right, key word, right to free speech. This very much reminds me of Stalin silencing his political opponents. Also if at any time someone is reading this and thinks or says out loud "HEY KID THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE IS FOR KEEPING YOUR BAISED NEWS OUT OF OUR MEDIA!" then I would highly suggest a few books you may enjoy.The Communist Manifesto, Mien Kamph
Yeah just a political rant... Later

So Yeah, And Now For Something Completely Different

2008-11-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

So I've finished re-doing those annoying DOW40K models, but then I also found the Halo stuff on my computer... already in VMF format... where I'm going with this is Fire Team Charlie will be an available team in DOW40K Script. This is because I feel like it. No reason more.

So Yeah, I'm Working on...

2008-11-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Currently models, I cant seem to get them to show up as anything other then these stupid completely clear ragdolls that I can't apply a texture to. So yeah, after getting over 200 models I've figured out they're all in the wrong folders. My bad. Anyway on a better note the map is coming along nicely. I'll have a partial gamemode beta done by February ready for launch on my server (AR RolePlay). Yeah its Going to switch but who wont love DOW40K Mod?

Didja Know?

2008-10-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

· The highest paid programmers make 300k a year
· Video games are shown to help improve fine motor skills
· Games have therapeutic purposes
· Games help develop problem solving skills
· Video games teach how to follow directions
· The world wide sales market of electronic games is expected to rise to $45 billion by 2010
· 83% of most 3rd through 12th grades have a game system at home

I didn't think so...

There are so many things...

2008-10-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

I mean I'm not restricted to the use of the Half-Life 2 games I could do a Halo mod or pretty much any game that I could expose the source to, there could be a mod. Its really just about choice, I could do zombie settlement, I could change my mind. Either way i'll probably figure out at least a few cool things with many gmaes. I could also replace source modles from Rp and replace the team names to do a first person version of Dawn of War, which would be epically cool.

As a Major Piece

2008-10-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

There is a gamemode called "settlement survival" which in there is a group of people and they must build houses tents fires and walls to survive. This also includes weapons to defend from other players who may eat you as to not die. With my mod there will be an entirely new twist on gameplay... zombies. With zombie npc spawners added into the game's main map you would be forced to either constantly move or build a fenced in camp to keep alive while a horde of zombies ravaged your camp after a certain amount of time.

Wow Where Did September Go?

2008-10-03T09:11:00.001-07:00

What happened to that one month, did we lose it? Oh well I think I was productive enough. I have the start of a map file that I can use and now that I have the hang of mapping I can get started on a possible game mode. The surprise is I am actually OK at making .bsp map files. I didn't think that I would be any good with them, but apparently lucky. So now I'm going to try at making my own 3rd party game mode, this should be interesting...

Moving Forward

2008-09-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

So moving right along I have got the hang of coding the spawnable entites into the map, the map which I am working on for my server that I own is going to take another bit of time to complete, and the fact that I have only a part of it done means I have alot of work to do on it so far.

So My Class Time....

2008-09-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

For the most part I use my class time to read up on my .lua script information. The rest of the time I will probably use to either log these websites in my webliogrophy or I would be blogging on the 2010 blog. The majority of my class time in the future I hope will be used on the designing and creating of my 3D world, environment, map.

So onto Mapping

2008-09-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is of course the setup of a map for a game, a map for me is really the environment in which you as the character would move and interact with other players and characters. The map I'm working on will be a waterfront string of shops with some houses at the end of the street and a few apartment buildings. So... Yeah any ideas post.

A Finalized topic

2008-09-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Ok finalized idea will include:
1. An environment that I create from scratch using 3DStudio Max
2. Save it as a .bsp file so it is compatible with the Source game engine
3. Launch the map.bsp file through a Half Life Source Engine game
4. Use a modifyed or Created game mode to play around in this

Another new thing

2008-09-10T09:02:00.001-07:00

There is a good way to do things, I'm not going into details however the basics go like this. There is an easy way to run a game mode on the source files from another game. This is how the typical Half Life mod is tested before use. The Source engine is flexable enough that I could easily code it to my own campaign style game play, or multi player/multi user login MMO.

A Quick Check

2008-09-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

There is a program for Windows called 3d Studio 2008 which you can download for free in some places. This will allow you to warp and create your own 3d models and even entire landscapes that will be navigable in games such as Counter Strike Source. I am going to download and try this to make a quick weapon model for a Source Physics engine game.

Posting Rules

2008-09-08T08:51:00.001-07:00

There is only Constructive posting allowed on this blog... Your post will be immedatly deleted on sight if found to not fit this. This Excludes Teachers.

Developing My Ideas

2008-09-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

If I want to develop my ideas into a more workable system. I'll need to come up with a more narrow scope to deal with. Such as, 2d 3d, or first person third person. These are all elements of a final creation that will go into my project.

Help

2008-09-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

I need a topic...
Any Thoughts?