Author Topic: RTB Development (Read 34393 times)

Ephialtes · February 07, 2013, 07:22:35 AM

RTB Development

So this thread officially marks the kick-off of development for the next huge feature of RTB and another smaller but long-awaited one too. A lot of my time has been tied up with the dedicated hosting service you've probably seen, but now that it's at a stable point with a great variety of good functionality it's time to continue development of RTB itself.

RTB v4.1

Version 4.1 will be the final new feature release for the 4.x versions and will be introducing the long-awaited user-owned chat rooms for the RTB Connect service. The idea will be to allow any user to create their own chat room which they can fully manage themselves. A couple of the features may include:

Optional BlockBot presence for room moderation.
Room browser to search and filter player-owned rooms to join.
Full user management functionality including ranks, banning and custom icons for the room.

I've not yet decided whether rooms will be persistent (i.e. they continue to exist after everyone's left) or whether there's some process to apply for a persistent room which may be granted to the more popular ones. The volume of player-owned rooms will initially probably be substantial since everyone's going to want one so this would work well as a process of pruning the less popular/empty ones.

Any ideas anyone can offer for a room browser would be great - I'd probably want it to be able to happily handle around 100 rooms and have them easy to browse and sort.

RTB v5 - RTB Buffet

RTB Buffet is the working name for the next big feature of RTB which is essentially going to be a system to allow users to upload, share, rate, comment on and download "props" they've made in Blockland. A prop is a general term for anything made in Blockland short of an entire build - it could be anything from a lamp post to an evented computer to a ye olde medieval shop. RTB Buffet would allow users to submit these props to RTB to allow other users to browse and load them directly into the server they're playing on.

For every prop uploaded, all you need to do is supply the .bls of the prop you want to submit and enter a few tags describing what you've submitted to allow users to easily browse similar submissions they're looking for. RTB Buffet will then process your save file and determine any custom bricks/items/vehicles required to load the prop and will also generate a number of different screenshots you can pick from to showcase your submission.

Users browsing the system (either via an in-game client like the mod manager or via the website) can search by tag to find what they're looking for easily. They'll be able to see all kinds of details about the build before loading it including the recommended colorset and a preview of the colors that would be used if you loaded it into your server with your existing colorset. You'd also be able to see all the custom add-ons you'd be recommended to install to load the prop with easy links to download these via the mod manager. Hitting the load button would give the user a temp brick similar to the duplicator which would allow them to place the prop in the server and then do whatever they want with it.

It'd be great to hear your ideas about this new service. Let me know how you'd intend to use the service and what kind of things you'd be uploading and I'll do my best to make sure the service allows you to do it. More community discussion on the kind of ideas this feature encompasses can be found here: http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=211093.0

As always, suggestions, feedback and questions are welcome in the thread.

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Alphadin · February 07, 2013, 07:25:09 AM

Amazing
Saw the bit about feedback over what I would make(Got excited to see the feature in the first place).
I would try to make new things to have your environment look better.

Port · February 07, 2013, 07:53:16 AM

RTB Buffet sounds really cool.

Torin0101 · February 07, 2013, 08:00:50 AM

Rtb buffet sounds really useful, Thanks ephi!

jes00 · February 07, 2013, 08:06:11 AM

Will you be able to upload props on the website too? or just with the mod manager?

Ephialtes · February 07, 2013, 08:08:05 AM

Quote from: jes00 on February 07, 2013, 08:06:11 AM

Will you be able to upload props on the website too? or just with the mod manager?

It'll be a client entirely separate to the mod manager so it'll be the Buffet Manager or whatever - I'll think of a clever name for it later. You'll be able to upload saves both from in-game and the website, and there won't be an approval process or anything so they'll be instantly downloadable by anyone.

Cr�wn · February 07, 2013, 12:34:31 PM

Oh good props will help while building nice idea

Zeblote · February 07, 2013, 12:39:31 PM

Quote from: Ephialtes on February 07, 2013, 08:08:05 AM

and there won't be an approval process

You better be ready for loads of empty files, garbage, immature stuff, joke uploads, etc

Quote from: Ephialtes on February 07, 2013, 08:08:05 AM

You'll be able to upload saves from in-game

How will uploading screenshots work? A save needs a screenshot so people know what it is.

-Jetz- · February 07, 2013, 12:49:48 PM

Should probably mention that this thread had some nice discussion on the subject of props and such for anyone who is interested - http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=211093.0

J MASTER · February 07, 2013, 12:53:16 PM

Wow I'm really looking forward to this update.

Ephialtes · February 07, 2013, 01:06:58 PM

Quote from: Zeblote on February 07, 2013, 12:39:31 PM

You better be ready for loads of empty files, garbage, immature stuff, joke uploads, etcHow will uploading screenshots work? A save needs a screenshot so people know what it is.

Empty files are easily detected and there will be a team of moderators to remove the crap. As for screenshots:

Quote from: Ephialtes on February 07, 2013, 07:22:35 AM

RTB Buffet will then process your save file and determine any custom bricks/items/vehicles required to load the prop and will also generate a number of different screenshots you can pick from to showcase your submission.

Quote from: -Jetz- on February 07, 2013, 12:49:48 PM

Should probably mention that this thread had some nice discussion on the subject of props and such for anyone who is interested - http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=211093.0

Thanks totally forgot about that, I'll throw it in the main post.

-Jetz- · February 07, 2013, 01:50:23 PM

To bring back one of my suggestions from the aforementioned thread -

Quote from: -Jetz- on October 14, 2012, 10:28:27 AM

What about finding some way to show your favorite props on the brick selector menu and allow them to be added into the brick cart?

Could have a separate tab in the brick selector just for props. Not sure how the categories or sorting would work, maybe by author or something.

Would be nice if people could store props locally, too, maybe also accessed through the brick selector. Might be useful for people who make something they can easily place but don't want to upload, kinda how you'd use Duplicator saving. Could be done through private prop uploads, but the reason I bring this up is because I'm worried RTB might experience some unexpected downtime or maintenance and suddenly everybody's building efficiency drops by half. Some risks present themselves in allowing people to upload directly from client to server but I doubt it could be much worse than it already is, especially with some configuration options made available to the host.

Altiris · February 07, 2013, 01:51:52 PM

Note: clicking the RTB logo on this thread sends me to a picture of a frog lol.

I really like the chat room idea, it's more like how Xbox live works. Will you be able to have three people or so in the chat (not sure if RTB can do this already).

Whenever these new features come out I think of what will/would happen to RTB and all of these great featurs when Ephilates can't pay for the server or retires or something. Same thing with Blockland itself.

Electrk · February 07, 2013, 01:53:41 PM

Oh hey. The dev topic is back!

4.1 and Buffet seem really cool!

MrLoL� · February 07, 2013, 01:55:21 PM

Sounds awesome, good luck