First and foremost, it has been done and can be done.
Secondly, it has so many pro's to it that it is worth any hassle it might cause.
Thirdly, not sure if this has been proposed before but I couldn't find any topics related to it so here we are.
An auto-updater would be a great addition for Discovery. You could have so many more opportunities such as
-Changing base ownership (Set event battles that decide them etc)
-Addition of new stations possible in realistic ways (Stations being constructed etc)
-NPC patrol changes (Many player pirates in one system, up the police NPCs and vice versa etc)
-Addition of new ships in a realistic manner (IE an entire shipline isn't magically changed or added all in one go but in a proper timeline)
-Dynamic economy (Simply change the commodities value, the updater would alter it for people)
-Simple release of patches etc
-More detailed timeline (Instead of yearly changes per mod version, monthly etc perhaps. News reports that don't jump from year to year.)
There are many other benefits to this and they far outweigh the few cons:
-Programming the updater (Ioncross did it, no doubt it can be done.)
There may be more cons but frankly, there really aren't at all that many and none that can outweigh the benefits.
So, is making Discovery a more dynamic and living universe a good idea?
Personally i like this, but i dont see this happening while they are working on teh new version of teh mod, if this happens at all
*hopes it does*
that way we can fix glitches easier aswell so people cant complain about the new ships ( GC's ect, people like to complain about us)
"Time is too precious to be idle." - Saigo Watanabe "Death is something that is inevitable, Something you cannot run away from." - Katharina Hildegard
Now going under the gaming name: Seraxia www.twitter.com/Seraxia
We would? A program that checks a single file in the mod that contains the version number (encypted if you wish) and if it is not the same as what it has stored, automatically connects to the download site and starts downloading. Hell, I'd say there might even be a macro for Internet Explorer to do that:P
In theory, the mod files don't need to be changed at all, simply another file, say a text document even, added in with the version number listed inside. Every time you wanted to play FL, the updater would appear and do it's thing. Simple, effective and has huge benefits.
What this shouldn't be however, is an anti-cheat tool. The server already has that, this is simply an automated mod update downloader that is started manually (So no worries about programs doing as they wish)
i would think it could be done but i would think it'd be easier to just update the mod everytime. maybe have a new update once a week, so the mod verson would be something like 4.84.1 then the next week it would be 4.84.2 etc etc.
so you'd have a week to take over something BUT how would you be able to know if something changed? admin sanctioned events? could work, a lot more work for them but it's possible. i would think it would mean a lot more work for Igiss too
a weekly version update would be more feasible, then people could download it from a 3rd party data storage site rather than depending on our server to handle thousands of downloads/updates a day.
EDIT: i just don't want to add anymore lag to the server. i'm scared of putting too much onto ioncross. i don't wants her teh splode!!!!
A solution to the server bandwidth issue would be to have the program try several different links. If the bandwidth of the server is dying then simply delete the address of the download (or IP) from the updater's programming.
In reality however, it should not add much to the bandwidth. Being able to say, add a news report every week would not cause major bandwidth issues. Unless of course, news reports are MASSIVE files:P
That aside, what difference is there from the updater downloading the mod and a person downloading it? The updater will only download any new files that have been modified and considering that will probably rarely include new ship models, it's not at all a large size of download.
All in all, not at all more strain on the server that it does not already cope with. Merely a news report here and there and commodity price edits. (Selling points etc)
Just remember, this would also allow a fully dynamic economy. (IE you will find places that are overloaded with trader goods will have prices lowered while places with need but no supply will have higher prices)
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