NAB622

Update! I have uploaded a release candidate to github for the first theme only. I still have some background work to do before the other, smaller themes are available - but if anyone could help bug test this one, it would be much appreciated!

 

This release still uses the old, low resolution levelshots I have from years back, so they are really bad. I'll update them later.

 

Also, if my documentation is not adequate, please tell me where and I will correct that as well.

 

https://github.com/ParabolicMinds/ParaTracker

Sorry for the slow updates - I've been very busy and there has been a lot of progress. The biggest problem is that much of the code is spaghetti, since I didn't know much about what I was doing all those years ago.

 

I have a prototype ready at this point.....unfortunately, when I put it on my web host, I found out that they block the outgoing connection to the game server. So, as much as I wanted to give you guys a working demo, all I can offer is more screenshots.

 

 

Standard layout:

 

 

 

Layout with frame removed:

 

 

 

CVar list:

 

 

 

 

 

Aaaaand RCon:

 

 

 

Everything is fully functional as far as I can tell. I have some more security code and floodprotect code to add, and the RCon log isn't working right, but it is 100% functional and usable in it's current state.

 

All colors and font details are in a CSS file separate from the sensitive stuff, so they can be changed at will. The background color can be changed, made translucent, made transparent, or even have an image on it.

 

The levelshots will optionally fade between as many as the tracker can find. By default I'm hoping for 3, but I set the maximum limit at 99. PNG, JPG and GIF are all acceptable. The time delay and frame rate of transitions can be changed, so you can make them as fast or as slow as you like.

 

I do plan on making 7 smaller layouts after this, but it will require restructuring a large portion of the code, so it will take a little while to finish them. They will range in size from the current size down to banner ad size, horizontal and vertical, if I can make it work.

 

Thoughts and opinions are welcome!

Oh, almost forgot - @@Circa, I will add a setting in the config file to remove the frame as well.

I still have a long ways to go, but I did finish a mockup of the current layout. I know the tracker is very large; I am starting with the largest size, and working down from there. After I get this skin working live, I will work on some smaller iterations, ideally with only the data people request on each one. Other skins are a remote possibility.....but we'll see about that when I finish this one.

 

Also, the black background is clear, so the background color can be anything, or even an image. I just chose black because it makes things easier to see and I like it.

 

 

 

Hit me with thoughts/criticisms. Currently, the only things not working on this skin are the RCON and PARAM rollover images and the fading levelshots. After that, I am moving it into the PHP code, and then I will start on ways to shrink it down.

I am all for customizability. In all honesty, though, that may be beyond my capabilities. I am a very poor coder at best, IMHO. My CSS file is also a mess and needs cleaned up. At the very least, it will have wait until after I finish the base look and clean things up. I did already put some thought into more compact "Mini" tracker banner image, like for forum signatures, and I think it's a great idea if I can figure it out.

 

Editing fonts and colors should be easy with just some CSS changes, once I clean up the CSS file. Multiple different widths would be possible, although it would be a lot of editing. Responsive width, though.....I'm not sure that's even possible without eventually breaking the page. Then again I know nothing about <div>, so.....if I am wrong, feel free to enlighten me.

 

Regardless - I have added your suggestions to the to-do list!

Since Parabolic had an old PHP server tracker project that we never released, and apparently there is still some interest in this community in having a working tracker, I am taking a fresh look at the project and trying to get it up to snuff. It isn't very efficient, but it is in an operable state. At the moment, I cannot screenshot what I have, as it will reflect very poorly on the final product. Once I actually learn how to use HTML <div> tags correctly, I think I'll be home free. For now, here is what the background looks like, with no data on it:

 

 

 

The top left is the server name, below that is the player list, and the bottom left is for player count, and the RCON and parameter list buttons. The upper right is for the screenshots, and the lower right is for IP/port, map name, mod name, and gametype.

 

First and foremost, I want to know what you, as a community, want to see in a tracker.
 
Currently, the project contains:

• A config file for easy setup
• Multiple levelshots per map (Upwards of seven currently) that fade between each other
• A complete list of online players (No partial list crap from years back -- UGH)
• The possibility to be used on just about any Quake III based game (Untested thus far, but Jedi Outcast will be supported for sure!)
• RCON
• Flood protection, in case of high traffic
• And some very bad PHP code from years back

The current size of the tracker is 675 x 300. Again, I'll try and have an image soon, but I need it to not look like a haphazard mess first.
 
Anyhow; if anyone else has some suggestions, now is a great time. I'm all ears. If you think what I have planned now is sufficient, please chime in with that as well.
 
Oh, and this project is intended to be open sourced when it is complete.

In case nobody else has seen it yet:

 

http://forums.filefront.com/announcements/461333-filefront-forums-closing-down-more-information-here.html

As long as people donate, ads will never be necessary. We've always received a surplus of donations in the past, I don't see that changing this year.

 

And I will make sure that continues this year, I just need a bit of time. No need for ads......

I don't think I posted this yet....

 

Money is not what JA's modding community needs, and I won't be doing any work for money. It doesn't cost money to produce content.

 

I would say it can cost money, depending on the content. But true art is born from passion, when money (Or the lack thereof) is no object.

 

And no, I don't intend to do any modding for money either, it just.....seems silly.

For a stun function, you could take the easy route and have the game knock the player over and make them get back up. The perfect excuse is that, since they're Jedi and all, they're tough. A slight incapacitation would be plenty of stun for me.

 

As for coding a stun option onto other weapons, well.......I have no idea.

 

Ouch.........at least it's back up. But if the source code truly is lost, that's going to be a looooot of work to redo. :/

How long does it take before crashing? Is it delayed by a few seconds, or is it instant?

 

I'm absolutely positive there's a way to capture the console output during launch, but I can't look it up until I get home.

 safe_malloc error... dont know how to fix and of course _lightmapscale bug that ruins whole map after light compile

 

I've run into the safe_malloc before, although I don't remember what caused it for me and I'm sure it has a variety of causes. As for a _lightmapscale bug ruining the light compile, I'm interested in that. I don't know if I can help with either of those, but I'd like to try if you're cool with it.

About the _lightmapscale i made it 0.125 i think O.o

Ah. It might just be the way shadows are calculated from alphas, then. I've never used that part of q3map2 before. *shrug*

 

Doesn't change the fact that the rest looks amazing, though.

The name's Choombawoomba, but some of the people from FileFront might know me as Graeme

I do remember seeing your name a lot, mostly on the forums. It's good to see another familiar name here!

I cant quite remember now since it was so long ago, but I may well have left you and a couple of others on the staff list. I seem to remember when I was made aware of the login bug I left any retiring staff on the list just in case, since removing and re-adding them later on would have stopped their login from working.

 

I remember at the time you said you were pressed for time, a few other staffers left for similar reasons so its nothing to worry about! You were one of my best staffers, in fact, didn't you do some HTML stuff on some of the pages on the site like the rules page to spruce them up? I ended up kitbashing that on several other pages in an effort to make things look a little prettier!

 

I did some HTML work, yeah....but not much. If I recall correctly, the images I used were hotlinked from my website, because the file and picture uploading part of OPS was broken at that time too.

 

Enough about me, this thread's about you. It's nice to see you back!

 

Stick around. I've got some stuff you might be interested in.

I could add the persons name to the staff list, and they would get the email for their OPS login, but the login would not work. The only work around was a Network Admin account that was kept spare, that trusted members could use to log in if necessary, however despite my requests they would not allow any new staffers to use this account. It makes sense really, for obvious security reasons, giving a completely new staff member Network Administrator access. However i seem to remember they were reluctant to allow returning previous staff members to use it also, unless they had been staff previously for quite some time. Unfortunately a lot of the longest serving and most trusted staffers had long since moved on or were not contactable.

 

Wow.........I might have tried my login, if I knew that was happening, because I don't think it was ever removed....but the most I could have done would be to give someone else access with it. Definitely didn't have enough time.

Like i said above, i've been through a similar situation before, and what they were coming up with was terrifying! It would have seen JKFiles turned into something that looked like a glorified blog!

 

Oh my word.......don't remind me! I remember seeing the proposed changes. Ugh. Glorified blog is putting it nicely - it was far worse than a blog, nigh unreadable.

 

And then everyone started photoshopping *hundreds* of design proposals of their own and started arguing and it got funny.  Poor n0e.

Oh, I noticed. I just don't think a slogan is the answer. They're often very tacky is all.

Nah, there's no need for a slogan..........slogans are part of this "Modern restaurant makeover" trend that I utterly despise. Padding > Slogans IMHO, and I really don't like padding that much either.

It looks awesome. Very nice detailing and lighting. The only thing that bothers me is the blocky shadows - is there any chance you could ramp up the lightmapscale somewhat?

Just a thought, but if you haven't already, try snapping the offending vertices on both patches to the grid (Ctrl +G). It's worth a shot. *Shrug*