Shinzon

Hello everyone! I'm Shinzon (also have gone by Ruafo). 

I've actually been part of MaNGOS going WAYYYY back. I used to do work with TheLuda, Vladimr and Xeross. Worked a LOT on MangChat way back when and created several custom mods for MaNGOS. 

I stepped away for several years to have kids and I've also been working in Cyber Security doing penetration tests and network/firewall analysis. I really just wanted to get my hands dirty again with some of my old projects. I will  be the first to admit that my (coding) skills are a bit rusty - so be kind as I bring myself back up to speed. Also, most of my experience was working with Tortoise SVN and not Git though MaNGOS was just starting to use Git when I stepped away. So, I'll start poking around and create my own repo just so I don't screw up anything in production. 

Eventually, once I'm comfortable I hope to (maybe) rejoin the development team and see what I can do to help continue to help out with MaNGOS. Though from what I can tell you all have done a GREAT job of keep everything alive and going, so I'm not sure how I could possibly improve upon things except to maybe take the load of some of the bug fixes? 

I LOVE the separation of the projects into Zero, One, Two & Three. I think this is a fantastic idea! That also really allows for some great continued development to be focused on each core individually. 

Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself now that I've stepped up out of my grave and brushed off the dirt. *takes a breath* *waves*

@antz awesome! Thank you. And I apologize in advance for any stupid question I may ask in the next few weeks.

I understand. But EasyBuild also seems to do the compile as well (granted I see that can uncheck the compile option). 

In my defense (and I do apologize), I'm about 5 years out of date with MaNGOS. I'm picking up my old MaNGOS code and the project and starting to poke around again. I had stepped away from MaNGOS back when we were just introducing cMake and moving over to git (maybe git was more than 5 years ago - I can't recall) full tilt. 

Just a bit of historic introduction: I am the same Shinzon (aka: Ruafo) that worked with Xeross on MangChat. 

You'd think that stepping back into the development saddle would be like riding a bike, but it's clearly been too many diaper changes and penetration tests (most of my time has been spent raising my kids and working in Cybersecurity). But... I'm trying. LOL

I've been scouring the forums trying to find settings for VB (such as what additional source files to include, etc.) if I want to do the compile with in VB instead of using EasyBuild but can't find anything. Are there any? Reason being, if I'm doing development in specific areas, I want to do the compile within VB - not in EasyBuild so I can test things. 

I was trying a few things but I think I'm missing the OpenSSL in the additional includes and I can't for the life of me figure out where to put that in VB Studio 2015. It used to be off File > Preferences in 2014, but they must have moved it. 

Surely other people are doing test compiles in VB, right? 

23 hours ago, Olion said:

You could look for a desciption of the source info, from which the map and other files are calculated by the extractors, at the cite https://wowdev.wiki. No one knows, how much accurate is it.

I was more asking how accurate the post was on us not knowing what the “Hole Chunk” is for. Has any further discovery been done down this road? I don’t see anything in the forums that indicate that we do know.

Thank you so much @antz, that actually was very helpful! Are those posts accurate?
So we still do not know what the “Hole Chunk” is for? I personally like puzzles. If I wanted to work on the reverse engineering of that, is there a team currently working on it? 

I know this is most likely a very newb question - but I've looked everywhere trying to find this answer. I know very well that maps, mmaps and vmaps need to be extracted in order to run MaNGOS and I have built MaNGOS many times and played around with the code quite a bit, but I would still not say that I have a strong understanding for what the maps, mmaps and vmaps really are.

Is there anyone that can explain what they really are? My basic understanding is that they are the map wireframes for the world for world of warcraft. But maybe I'm off base? I think it would benefit everyone to understand it more. Is there an article here that explains it in more details?

I want to find out what you guys would like to see in MangChat.

The next version will have notification of Achievements. Here are some other ideas I've been tossing around:

* Timed notification or posting to a DB of realm(s) populations

* Ability to clear GM Tickets from in IRC

* A smoother capability to whisper players and allow them to whisper IRC users

What other features would YOU like to see integrated? (can't guarantee they WILL be integrated, but I can certainly try)

ya i did that, i got a mangos core, i looked all around in it for a mangchat folder but its not there, just the same core i get when i download from mangos's git

You don't just want to do the "git clone git://github.com/shinzon/mangos.git" You also need to do the branch stuff afterwards, otherwise you will ONLY have the core.

(i.e. git pull git://github.com/shinzon/mangos.git mangchat)

FOLLOW ALL THE STEPS. Not just the first one or two.

It sure makes ScriptDev2 a pain to patch though.

Really? I had no problem at all. I know two other people who have patched without a problem with SD2 operating.

So far, it is working pretty well on Linux. However, it does spam world invites to players. Not just 1,but more like 20 of them.

You should be able to supress that by disabling the invite to join world channel in the MangChat.conf file.

MangChat now at version 1.7.2

Supporting Mangos 7331

Client Build 3.0.9.9551

I have gotten the MangChat branch working now at 100% for Mangos build 7331. Here are the instructions of how to download this branch using Git Bash.

I'm using the path "C:\\Projects" as an example. You can put it where ever you want.

Go to Git and type:

cd c:

cd projects

git clone git://github.com/shinzon/mangos.git

cd mangos

git checkout -b mangchat

git pull git://github.com/shinzon/mangos.git mangchat

Then simply compile whichever win build you want. (Sorry, don't have Linux, so you linux guys are on your own... though I do not think you should have a problem compiling my changes)

I will post any updates that are done to MangChat here.

The next version will have the following:

- Achievement Notifications

@NTSC

Thank you for getting back to me.

My problem hasn't been understanding what they are for, that part I got... What I can't figure out is what the NEW field names are for those data sets. (or if they even exist)

As far as the santuary code... I've tried several different variations - GetAreaID(); Zone, etc. but I still can't get it. Regardless of the fact that it uses an area id now instead of zone id.

Well... I personally run Windows server 2003... but I'd say XP with SP3 should be fine. Any of them will work fine, though you may run into more complications with Vista.

I would say reasonably... around 100. Depends more on your connection between the clients and the server. I have hosted as many as 450 on a box with approx those stats... but I also had a 45MB/sec internet connection

Ok, I'm not one to normally complain, but I'm really not sure where else to turn.

I am trying VERY hard to do my own developing, trying to learn the differences between the 303-willcrashforsure branch and the current version of Mangos. However I feel like I have NO resources to talk to. I'm doing sort of well picking and proding at the code trying to figure out what's changed here and there but there are sometimes I just need a developer to talk to so that I can ask what are probably simple questions. I've tried seeking help on the mmorpg-dev IRC channel, but no one ever answers when I ask a question.

I've always thought of Mangos as a "learning" project... somewhere that developers can get together and build an MMO core, but how does everyone communicate?

I'm sorry for venting but I just get very frustrated in that I can't seem to find anyone that give me answers on new development - Yes, I know that this branch isn't supported... I'm not interested in support... this isn't a "Production" thing... I'm trying to learn how to develop.

(NOTE: This thread is not directed in anyway towads TheLuda, subhuman_bob or NTSC... they've always been very helpful)

Here are some of the things I'm trying to figure out on my own that I would appreciate any assistance I can get:

• * In the UpdateFields.h there are many fields that have changed, but in particular these three fields I can't figure out what they are pointing at now: UNIT_VIRTUAL_ITEM_SLOT_DISPLAY; UNIT_VIRTUAL_ITEM_INFO; GAMEOBJECT_STATE
  * I've tried a couple variations on adding zones to santuaries. This is what I used to use:

   }
  
  if(zone->flags & AREA_FLAG_SANCTUARY || zone->ID==1 || zone->ID==876)             // in sanctuary
      {
          SetFlag(PLAYER_FLAGS, PLAYER_FLAGS_SANCTUARY);
          if(sWorld.IsFFAPvPRealm())

  but I can't seem to get it to work. Do I have something wrong in my code?
  

I know this may sound like a pain, but I just ended up copying and pasting my code in Visual C++ editor manually... yes... it was hundreds of lines of code, but not a big deal. It's not like I had to really REWRITE it...

Ok... I've been looking through the changes in the Character Data field between the most recent patch and 2.4.3.

Am I the only one who thinks that Character Migration is going to be a ROYAL PAIN IN THE A**?

The latest information about the fields is always in http://github.com/mangos/mangos/tree/master/src/game/UpdateFields.h

http://www.manground.org/mangosUpdatefields.html

there is the site with the script

you can also look in updatefields.h under EUnitFields

Regards,

jdg

Thank you both guys! That is EXACTLY what I was looking for!

yeah, I usually use UDB wiki but it's way out of date. That's why I'm looking at ways I can figure it out on my own.

Let me know if you find the php script.

Thanks

I am curious if there is an easy way to tell what changes have occured to the Character Data field whenever updates occur. I know how to parse the data and modify it.

However I'm wondering if there is there a DBC that shows what the different fields are within the data field? Or is it really just trial and error as to how you can tell what has changed and what hasn't?

Touche`.

The problem I see with using premade enviroments, (I say this because I have worked on projects, as stated before), is that it never has a good outcome. Of course, I am coming from an area that is an actual field. I created video games for money. Of course, as a hobbyist its a completly different world vs a competitive world. Sit on board meetings, having people bashing in there heads because they decided to go with Torque instead of Panda.

-Mynt

Well, unless someone knows something about technology that I don't... trust me... there is no premade enviroment that is going to work for this.

Just a note for those who like to watch branches (like me) you can get a nice graphical representation of what is being done every day here: http://github.com/mangos/mangos/network

Under the Berne Convention, signatory countries agree to respect the copyrights of citizens of other signatory countries. To date, 164 countries have signed. The ones that haven't, to be honest, probably have very few citizens who have access to computers.

The Berne Convention itself does not cover computer software or database contents, however it was expanded by the WIPO Copyright Treaty to cover them. 160 countries have signed this- note that it's not as many as have signed the Berne Convention. Two notable exceptions are Norway and Russia.

This is VERY interesting news. My lawyer validated this today for me. I always love subhuman_bob's advice. Seriously... he always comes up with very insightful information

if you plan to make the videgame with a new hardaware imput, well be sure the game also supports normal keyboard and mouse (just to make ppl think "hum, this game is pretty nice itself, but i wonder how awsome it would be with the hardware...") and also you should be prepared to make it reviewed by gaming sites, magazines etc but so that they try it with the new hardware. i don't think anyone is goind to pay 500$ if they aren't 99% sure it's worth it.

Not a problem, It will have both interfaces available... can't lose 90% of the market. Right?

Now if the project would be open source the money problem maybe wouldn't be as big but I think the main issue would switch to being "time"...

Cheers

That's sort of along the lines of what I was thinking. I mean, if we could get a really good team working on this... I'll provide the needed software and datacenter to house everything.

The easiest way (in the US, which is where he resides) is to do what's known as a "poor man's copyright." Enclose the work- even a rough draft will suffice- in a registered letter mailed to yourself. Do not open the letter. If the dispute comes up in court, allow the court to open the still-sealed letter. In this case, the storyline burned onto a CD will qualify.

Registered Letters (in the US, your country may vary) have a Post Office-affixed seal making tampering evident, plus are dated- thus establishing when you first came up with the idea. If posting the story on a forum, "save" the webpage and burn that to the CD you mail.

A rough draft suffices because the author retains rights to the work and any derivative works.

Meaning, if you write a story using characters and places from (for example) 'The Lord of the Rings' you do not automatically "own" that work- J.R.R. Tolkein's heirs might, since it's derived from his work and less than 50 years after his death. (there are exceptions to this, namely for reference works and parodies)

I had actually thought of this and very well may end up doing it. My attorney said that under the Berne Convention copyright should be protected internationally (at least as far as anyone with any game creation capabilities are concerned.

If you are going to release something as open source or on the internet it is way easier to simply release it under GPL or some other license and provide a copy of that liscense with it. Do not expect some sort of autobinding license to take place as I doubt you would be able to fight something like that in courts outside of the US (mailing yourself a letter may not hold up in non-US courts).

Anyway this is way off topic now and if he has lawyers I'm sure they'll know more about this issue than we will.

True... I will post some more indepth details next week.

I was talking about an actual opensource community. Like Mangos.

Planeshift was built off Crystal Space and Realmcrafter. These are tools that basically are like... drag/drop, heres what it can do and cant have fun. Its almost like someone picking up the latest git/svn of mangos and building a server off it.

When I say opensource, community, I mean bare bones, start from the ground and work your way up. Like the old WoWD was, just start from the bottom at the bare minimum and start improving.

I can clone Mangos, and call it my opensource also. Thats all Planeshift did, they use Crystal Space (An MMORPG engine developed for faster rendering with high numbers) and RealmCrafter "A database/server interaction tool that was already created for hobbyists to pick up and learn programming an MMO"

Do something like Graal, once again referenced. Graal was opensource.. but went closed. When it was open, I have never to this date still seen a community contribute as much as they did. They had ages 5-90(yes 90, XXGrup was the oldest person on Graal). 5 year olds making water images.. etc.

Opensource from the community, not a premade.

That's exactly what I want... my BIG HUGE question is, how do I protect the copyright of the storyline while development begins? (We are talking a world wide basis here)