Server Logos in Maps

Bloodroke

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Jul 30, 2013
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I have been confused on this topic for a little while now.

I assist running a relatively new server with MLP content. We are trying to compete with bigger pony servers out there, and getting players to stay is a difficult task. Exclusive, decent maps assist in this process.

However, other servers can take the maps as well. In an effort to keep players on ours and advertise our server, I placed our server logo in some locations on the map (big walls, billboards).

A map-making friend recently told me that including any reference to the server of origin will instantly cause map ratings to plummet. I was never really planning on releasing them publicly (they're really not that good at all; I am still a relative beginner).

What would be the best idea in this situation?
 
Last edited:
T

The Asylum

map ratings schmap ratings. Mapping should be about fun, and only fun.

And there is absolutely no way to enforce sever-exclusive maps. If you want to keep players, give them something to keep coming back for
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
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Nov 2, 2007
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If it hasn't changed since last time I tried, it is technically possible to make the map run only on your server and people who download it will only have an empty shell (and thus can't run it elsewhere).

• Compile a map normally.
• Open in GCFscape and extract lump 0 from the lump folder.
• Recompile the map with all point entities turned off. (I don't remember if it should be a full compile or -onlyents)
• Put both the stripped down map and lump 0 on the server in the maps directory.

The server will begin loading the map, see an external lump file and load that instead of the one in the BSP, restoring all the entities. Players who join will download the shell map, and there won't be consistency errors because it is the same BSP. If a player tries to run the map themselves, or on another server, it will be devoid of necessary entities because they were loaded externally by your server.
This works because entities are special, and are handled completely serverside and the game does not care what entities the client thinks should exist. (it also doesn't work with brush entities easily because they have brush components not contained in lump 0)

That said... that's a really extreme measure to take, and I think the whole server competition in niche communities is a bit silly, but do what you will.
 

A Boojum Snark

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Nov 2, 2007
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Pony server competition. Server logos in map. Map exclusivity. Yes... I think everything about this is absolutely ridiculous. Years back I may have expressed my feelings about it more extensively. But I have a lot of knowledge on a lot of weird stuff, and when I see a reason to share it I do so. Knowledge isn't something to keep bottled up in my head.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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I know you know some hella obscure stuff, but that really takes it to an entirely new level. Jesus. How and more importantly WHY did you decide to find this out??
 

A Boojum Snark

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I don't really remember. I think it was when I was an admin here and had access to do such things myself. Might have been for doing some special events for us (like Time Warp) that involved editing maps server-side. I may also have wanted to do exactly this kind of exclusivity thing with something I was making... actually that might have been it. I was once working on a players-vs-AI boss fight map that was entirely map based logic and maybe I wanted to have some people test it with me "secretly" with no means of them examining it before I was done. But that's just a guess... and that project ran aground when some issues arose that I couldn't fix so I never got far enough where I would have used the method.
 

henke37

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Sep 23, 2011
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Wait, how does the game know where to look for the lump 0 data? Does it use a hard coded path or something?
 

A Boojum Snark

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Nov 2, 2007
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I don't know for sure, but something like that. I've assumed it is related to being able to embed content in the BSP along with there being several map-name sensitive files (soundscapes, particles) that are looked for. This is just something else (<mapname>_l_0.lmp) that has an external and internal search path but is usually never found externally.