Moving Forward: Preparations for CTF Take #2

[totemo]

So, as discussed on the subreddit here, Deaygo will be fixing the CutePVP plugin and I'm looking at the ArenaCTF plugin linked in the post as plan B.  For evaluation purposes I made a smallish flat map with red and blue no-mans-land areas containing two flags - something small enough to be manageable for a few staff to try out.  I generated a flat map because it's easy to work with for testing and cobbled together a couple of bases using schematics that we saved from the actual event builds.  

 

I have been sleep deprived today and haven't made as much progress as I would have liked.  Here is what I have found out:

• ArenaCTF is based on another plugin, BattleArena, which is a framework for a range of competitive one-on-one and team oriented minigames, with several different pre-made game types built on top of it.  BattleArena is very configurable, including options for warp signs and kits, colouring team names and chat, score broadcasts, the vanilla scoreboard, timed matches and other scheduling functions.  It's something that could have a broader utility on P and S for KOTH-like content.  It would also be useful in the event for the same purpose.
• ArenaCTF adds coloured wool heads, flags look like floating wool drops, with flame particles around them.  When a player is carrying the flag he also shows the flame effect. 
• It's playable now on Red event server if you have at least two people.  I haven't changed the white list and if you were not white listed before we will gladly add you.  I haven't changed the ArenaCTF configuration yet.  I was mostly too tired to function today, apart from setting the match duration to 10 minutes, just now.  
• From my initial testing and a fairly thorough reading of the BattleArena documentation, ArenaCTF falls short of our 2012 CTF in the following areas:

• Although BattleArena has support for some functions involving WorldGuard regions, it doesn't support adding team members as region members.  I believe we could easily extend ArenaCTF to do that though, and I'll tackle it after sleep.

• ArenaCTF has an addFlag command.  It appears to only ever track one flag per team - the last one for which the addFlag command was issued.  I'll be reading the ArenaCTF source with a view to fixing that too.

• Some minor quirks involving synchronising player inventories when players attempt to place the flag in a the protected (build permission denied) flag enclosure. Easy fix.

• The syntax for creating signs to warp to team spawns (and indicate preferred team) is obscure and again I won't be able to solve it without reading the source code.

• Contact with the opposition team's wool does not inflict any damage.

 

Having re-read all of those points I'm beginning to wonder how comparatively difficult running last year's CutePVP would be.

 

There are probably many things that I can't think of right now.  I'd like people to hop onto red and do a little play testing and collate the results here.  We can use the same setup to test Deaygo's plugin when he's done.  There's a floating glass platform that is the waiting room.  You type /ctf join and a minute and 6 seconds later you warp to your team's spawn. (The time delay and inventory contents are configurable.)

 

The multi-server setup added extra complexity, schedule pressure and risk that precipitated the failure of the original event.  We need to get out of the habit of fixing things right up until the last minute.  It's embarrassing and unnecessarily stressful for all concerned.  I believe we should aim for a completed product, free from significant observable defects several days before the event, and that we use those days to test as thoroughly as we can.  And in future, we should pull the plug if we don't have the goods on the day before at the latest.

 

Since we want to run both bases on the same map, we'll need to make a new map.  I rolled back the edits on blue, repopulated the forests and put more animals inside the circular wall and took a backup.  So, if desired, we can incorporate all of the features that were built into that map by hand, particularly underground.  We also have schematics of the wall design and flags on red server that I can easily provide.  What we need is a new design for the combined map and we need a volunteer to do it because the techadmins will not have time.  I think something like thrawn21's map from last year would make most people happy.  I'm neither attached to nor opposed to running the lobby on a separate server.  What I would like is for it to work, and I think a single map is the least risky way to achieve that.

 

Other deficiencies in the map we ran on the 22nd:

• No generated underground features.  We had to build dungeons by hand in order to allow the possibility of XP grinders.
• No cactus, jungles, nether biomes and associated products.

[MasterCommaThe]

 Would that be...  ...CTFT2?

[MasterCommaThe]

First: As a C player, building your dungeons was just the funnest thing I've ever done on nerd.nu. Thank you for the opportunity.

Second: I vote we do not allow ourselves to announce an event's date until we have the plug-ins debugged and mostly play-tested already. That will take a certain amount of patience, but I think that by itself will solve our "habit".

[kitcatbar]

I was white listed before to work on it, but get "Kicked whilst connecting to red: You are not whitelisted on this server!" when trying to join.

[totemo]

Yep, you are sorted again.

 

I was white listed before to work on it, but get "Kicked whilst connecting to red: You are not whitelisted on this server!" when trying to join.

[AvengerOfThings]

Alright, i guess it's time to get an official check-in. Where are we at with everything? Will we be able to fun the event this weekend, or are we delaying another week? What can we help with as moderators to get things moving along? Let's hear it!

[TheRandomnatrix]

I'm up for being a guinea pig for any plugin testing.It'd really help if we could get the status on the map/who wants to make it, so we could work on tidying it up. 

[MasterCommaThe]

<raises hand> I want to help make it </raises hand>

[totemo]

Alright, so:

• From IRC discussions I know that Deaygo's not quite ready with his CTF plugin yet, and he won't have time until the weekend.  
• I'm not impressed with ArenaCTF.  It doesn't do anything like our previous CTF experiences with poisonous wool.  Doesn't support more than one flag (hard-wired in the code).  Doesn't support adding players to a team-shared region.  And there are reports on the Bukkit plugin page that players can pick up their own team's flag.
• I think possibly Deaygo was talking to thrawn21 about doing the combined map.  I'm not sure where we are with that.

So we definitely won't be ready until the weekend of the 7th and 8th of July.  I keep hearing that that's a no-go due to the 4th of July.

[AvengerOfThings]

Great! Thanks for update Totemo! The weekend after the 4th is probably not the best one. Very big time of the summer for us Americans. I know I'll even be doing some vacationing then. Maybe we could look at a weekend closer to the beginning ofAugust. Try to hit the most people before they head off to school for the fall (spring for upside-down people).

[kitcatbar]

Can we get an update on where we are with CTF?

[schererererer]

Bump at the two week mark. I think we were shooting for this upcoming weekend?

[totemo]

In short: we still don't have an event.  We don't have a plugin yet.  Deaygo is planning to do more work on it soon.  I don't know what we have for a map.

 

We have a few things on our plate at the moment.

 

• We've just ended the Survival rev, and even a small event like that takes a little bit of effort.  
• We're moving to 1.6.  Deaygo has updated all of the NerdNu plugins, except ModMode which is going to take a bit more work.
• We're moving the servers to new hardware, and the deadline is the end of this month.  Today, I'm in the process of putting a test 1.6.1 server on the new box so that the S admins can work on the map for the new revision.
• With the help of several moderators, I was mostly ready to run my MobCombat (fight as monsters) plugin as an arena minigame on P, but I discovered that (apparently) DisguiseCraft conflicts with ModMode, and I haven't had a chance to dissect those plugins to work out why just yet.
• I've been working on resolving long standing bugs and moving all of our CommandHelper scripts into version control so that we don't lose anything, as well as ensuring that all three servers run identical versions of that code to reduce maintenance problems (e.g. "fixing" a bug on one server and not the others).
• LadyCailin is continuing to improve her CommandHelper plugin to enable development of new facilities on the servers.
• Jcll is away for a few days at DEF CON (http://www.defcon.org/).

• Slide hasn't been around.

[kitcatbar]

I didn't want to say anything until I was confident I could handle it, but I started on a map in World Painter for CTF today. This is what I have as of a few hours ago, although some changes have been made. Map size is 1280x1280, but can be expanded. The bases would be in the NW and SE corners, being protected by mountain ranges. The mountains have been lowered since I took that screen shot, since they were ridiculous when I loaded up the world in single player. The middle mountain range will stay high, with 1 or two valley/slightly less high pathways to serve as choke points. The plan is to have a snowy forest on the summit. The land around the mountain ranges will be relatively tame, giving people more options in case they didn't want to climb mountains to make the straight shot between bases. One non-base corner will have a desert, possibly with a temple to loot, and the other will have a jungle, possibly with a volcano within it (giving us another option to give out nether supplies). At the moment I'm slightly evening out the land in the base corners, making it more like vanilla plains.

 

I wanted to get approval/feedback before going much further. And while I've watching thrawn's World Painter videos and have tested the brushes myself, I wanted to wait to hear back about how the ore distribution should be (lol full intensity). I know a plump was planned, but I don't know just how much it was plumped last time.

 

Edit: I added 128 blocks to each side to allow more of a buffer for a world border.

[totemo]

It looks good. The plump might be a bit too intense, though. I think we need a nether biome roughly equidistant from the two bases, for acquiring netherwarts and blaze rods.

 

We'd need to paste the minigames area in there somewhere.  Perhaps that goes in the centre?

 

Deaygo seems to be too busy at the moment to do his CTF plugin so I'm working on improving the CTF plugin we ran a year ago. It would probably work as-is.  I am, however, interested in adding the ability to do multiple flags and multiple capturable buffs.  We could paste some ruins into the SW and NE corners.  Buffs could go there or we could just do one in the middle.

 

Er.. EDIT: except the code has to be tweaked to do 2 flags instead of 4. I'm generalising it instead of hacking.

[kitcatbar]

The plump might be a bit too intense, though.

 

That was done on a test map, I just put it in there because I thought it was funny how ridiculous the plump was. This map has no ores/caves on it yet.

 

Also, what would you think about minigames being on the edges of the map, over a void? I know last time there was an issue at least at the beginning of people warping to an event, only to safely jump out (either using enderpearls or water, can't remember) of it, getting closer to their enemy's base.

[AvengerOfThings]

Awesome map! looks really good! 

[totemo]

Also, what would you think about minigames being on the edges of the map, over a void? I know last time there was an issue at least at the beginning of people warping to an event, only to safely jump out (either using enderpearls or water, can't remember) of it, getting closer to their enemy's base.

 

It could be done.  The way I can see it working, we'd lose WorldBorder protection and rely on all the chunks around the border being pre-generated as empty, or WorldEdited as such.  (To prevent them from being filled in by the generator.).  As far as I know, WorldBorder's region is always centred on the origin.  

[kitcatbar]

World Painter allows you to make either a water, land, or void border of a size you choose around maps. I've used the void border on mini test worlds. Nothing generates in the void, but past the set border land will generate. All I need to do is set a large border, and find a way to gracefully make the land drop off. Having events above the non-base corners is another option, since the mountains in the center are too large to have anything above.

[kitcatbar]

Throwing in a map update. I decided to scrap what I had before, while keeping the same plan. I was hating how the mountains were looking, and they got past the point of being fixable. Luckily starting over with more experience has been working better. I just finished the inner mountain range, as shown here.

 

As shown as the pro MS paint planning picture, there's fairly open space in the cardinal directions where we can paste in the mini games. I think this would work better than have the world end in void.

 

For the nether I think I can make a volcano within the jungle that is nether-y inside, and have the far regions of the desert turn into nether rack, giving teams multiple ways to find the supplies they need.

[JohnAdams1735]

Sorry I've been sort of hands-off with this, but kitcatbar, the map looks good :) Thank you so much for helping with this.

 

Thank you as well, totemo, for picking up the code and moving this forward :3

[totemo]

Okay, map looks cool.  I've been working steadily and want to confirm some details of what will be available in the finished plugin.

 

Expect the following:

• Support for multiple flags.  It's configurable. I think two per base is probably a good number.  The way I've designed it, in order to score (capture) a stolen flag, the carrier has to click on one of his own team's flags.  That means that stalemate is only possible if both teams steal both opposition flags.
• Support for multiple buffs.  A buff is a distinguished block, like a flag.  Clicking on it applies a potion effect for your whole team.  There's some work to do here but I will probably make the buff apply for about 30 minutes or so.  Then you need to renew it by clicking the buff block again.  With the map you're working on, there could be a buff in the NE and SW corners.  The configuration file specifies the number and locations of the buffs, and also allows each buff to apply a distinct set of potion effects.  I'm thinking one buff for speed and another for regeneration.  And, because there are two, teams must make a choice of how they allocate their resources.
• Smart building materials. In C45Y's original CutePVP code he allowed wool of the team's colour to do damage to opposition team members when they walked on it.  I've generalised this idea to any kind of block imparting any kind of potion effect.  The original idea is still supported: red wool will cause a wither effect on blue team members.  But also, red wool will also give damage resistance to red team members when they tread on it.  And of course the same story with red and blue teams swapped.  In addition to this, I'll be configuring the following effects (subject to testing and feedback before the event).  These effects apply to both teams equally.  The idea is that you must use them judiciously in the design of your base defences to give you a tactical advantage over attackers:
  • diamond block -> Jump Boost x10, 10 seconds (this will be fun to test!)
  • gold block -> Regeneration I, 10 seconds
  • iron block -> Strength II, 10 seconds
  • lapis block -> Speed II, 10 seconds
  • redstone block -> Confusion III, 10 seconds
  • orange wool -> Poison I, 5 seconds
  • purple wool -> Night Vision I, 5 seconds
  • black wool -> Blindness I, 5 seconds
• I hope that these will allow players greater flexibility to create defensive and functional features of their bases and to give them potentially more interesting uses for mined valuables. Note also, that the jump boost on the diamond block might be used by attackers to enter bases, but at the risk of carrying around extra diamonds.

 

I hope to be able to make a test environment for the above available on the event server before this coming weekend.

[kitcatbar]

With the map you're working on, there could be a buff in the NE and SW corners.

 

The nether areas will be perfect for that, since they're slated to be the most dangerous areas in the map and are in those corners. Even when other players aren't there to challenge buff seekers, the terrain and nether mobs will be. I'll keep areas for buff blocks in mind when I make those sections.

[JohnAdams1735]

The new features for the different kinds of blocks is brilliant. I'd also like to probably leave it to the players to figure out what does what exactly - just hint that more than just wool does damage, and some blocks have positive effects!

 

I'd like to announce a week in advance, and that week can be used to polish up things/prep the map. Ideally we'd get the event done before school starts again (which, in some parts of North America, is about August 19 - such as my University!).

 

Thank you both again, totemo and kitcat, for all the hard work!

[kitcatbar]

The last bit of hard work I have to do is the jungle, and the nether-y volcano in it. The rest of what I have left to do in World Painter is just adjusting the land a bit and putting forests + biomes in. So hopefully within the next few days it'll be ready to go on event for WE/by hand fixes, when the S map isn't being worked on. Here are desert nether pictures for the hell of it. Still need to add a thin lava river running through the bottom of the ravines, but that seems safer done outside of World Painter.

 

Actually I was hoping I could get some direction on how much to plump the ore from someone who made the last map (thrawn and Steve?) before adding in resources. I don't know how much is too much/too little.