Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Aces High!
Aces High!
#1
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Aces High!

Okay, so we had this at the con last year and it was a bit of a hoot to run a quick racing league. Just try and remember this things's not something big and Pro like KoFen - it's a training tool miss VR-is-no-substitute-for-reality had me build out of an old metaverse fork for Daryl to get up to speed and to practice race management. It's just sort of accretted features and grown in model complexity since then with stuff like system stresses and collission damages.

Detailed models we have that're flyable:

RF-47 Kulbit-A (Daryl Haur Ver.)
AF-155- Foxhound-B
LF-162- Wasp
XR-71 Blackbird (With flight-test equipment)

Pilot model is generic.

There's also basic AI models based only on observed data for:
BlackBird Class.
VF-9
TSR-2
Boskone Viper

Mapwise, there's
Frigga Test Track
Ultima Station
Mars (Noctis especially.)

Stuff we have working at the moment is 'Free Flight' mode where you can spin up a jet and take it for a spin, and Race mode.

One more thing:

There isn't that much difference between running into debris, and running into a bullet. Or a missile. And those are easy to simulate. The damage models are down to the bolt and bone. Getting shot will hurt. So will plling G's.

So yeah, there's a 'Combat Mode' too. If you must.

[REX]topgunsoundtrack.torrent.
==

Grab the client Here. You're rig models your own spacecraft, the cockpit environment and the feedback loop, so it needs some power to handle the detail but any reasonable cyberdeck from the last two years can run it well.

The Heisenberg engine runs on litvyak.frigga-aces.fen

Other models. Um - well - these are based on actual flight test data - and breakdown data. So we'd need something to test.... and break.

Grab me if you're having any problems getting it to run. Also, the tachypsychia and ping synchronisation will feel a bit weird at first.

-Anika.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Think DCS meets War Thunder.
And,well, I want to get some peope talking
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
 
#2
From: skysthelimit@okb3.vvs.fen
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: Aces High!

I don't know if I'm impressed or disgusted that you're using a top-tier engineering sim program to play War Thunder. Maybe both? Yeah, let's go with both. *Especially* both, because I should've thought of it first, dammit.

With that in mind, I've attached some sim files from the OKB archives to add to the available flyable spacecraft. Among others, I've got:

- Ga-15 Fearless interceptor
- Ga-38 Canary transport
- Tu-95X bomber/carrier (because bomber v. starter fighter battles in War Thunder are hilarious as hell)
- Mk. 3 Kestrel
- OV-200 baseline (this is the sim we specc'd out to Hephaestus for the 200 build)
- And the grand old lady herself, Ptichka. I wasn't sure if I was going to include her sim data, but she insisted.

If I'm reading your source code right, all of these files ought to work with the simulator engine. If you run into problems, let me know and GLaDOS & I will troubleshoot.

Ja mata!
~Sora
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Reply
 
#3
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
To: skysthelimit@okb3.vvs.fen
Subj: RE: RE: Aces High!

>>I don't know if I'm impressed or disgusted that you're using a top-tier engineering sim program to play War Thunder.

Maybe I shouldn't tell you what it's running on then.

But the difference between a tool and a toy is boredom.

It also means everyone including most low-budget race-teams like gets a free top-tier engineering programme which we can build accurate engineering models for because we've custom flight test hardware built specifically to work with it.

Also, replay of a dogfight between an RF-47 and a Fearless here..... this looks so cool!

-Anika
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
 
#4
From: pyrotechie@stellvia.fen
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: Aces High!

Oh, you've finally released this! I've been playing with the pre-release version that you slipped me at the con, and it's great fun.

I ran some numbers by Sora-nee, and I statted up a Bolitho for the sim. Yeah, a Bolitho. Sora asked "Who's going to fly a dinky little thing like that in a sim like this?", but I said that's the point. If you can fly something with almost no responsiveness and either a decent engine or one pair of machine guns, then you really are a decent pilot. (We both crashed and burned with it. Yayoi flew rings around us.) Anyway, the stat file's attached.

-Kohran
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#5
To: pyrotechie@stellvia.fen
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Sunj: Re: Aces High.

>it's great fun.

You're not the only one.

The connection I have the system on is already pegged and I'm getting people begging me for more bandwidth but it's not something I can just spool up on Hedwig.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
 
#6
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
From: tinman@prometheus-forge.fen
Subj: Your being slow (RE: Aces High)

Now, I know you aren't doing it deliberately, but damn your connection's slow (Me? Na, blame Hades for that). I've convinced Visionaire to let you have some of our bandwidth for this (Sorta-Core Node for the win). We've mirrored your setup, so that'll help out a bit.

Oh, and I've coded the WWII planes for the sim. Yes, I mean what I said. They're hosted here, as is the Saturn Rings course, which'll drop the bandwidth you'll use.

Have fun. [Image: banana-dance.gif]
Reply
 
#7
To: tinman@prometheus-forge.fen
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: RE: Your being slow

Thanks. Unfortunately I can't convince them to keep the main gate open permanently, which really hurts the bandwidth when its shut, and moving this thing to the surface along with the power cables will just be tricky.

In hindisght I never thought about what'd happen if I ever had to go somewhere. ^_^;

If Orion gets another order for one of those core processors, I hope they wont be surprised.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
 
#8
From: cmarsden@greenwood.fen
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: Aces High.

> There's also basic AI models based only on observed data for:
...
> VF-9

... Excuse me, I need to have Words with someone in SBA. Meanwhile here's some flight-test data from the actual article. And a copy of the .vrm file we're using for the sims here. Note that this is still in initial testing, it may change before production.

I'm also adding .vrm's for the VF-1 with a few variants given the frame's popularity.

Has anyone talked to the Warsies about adding an A-Wing or TIE Interceptor?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Reply
 
#9
To: cmarsden@greenwood.fen
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen

Subj: Re: Aces High.

>. Excuse me, I need to have Words with someone in SBA.

You might think that but I couldn't possibly comment. >.>

We're trying to model a Tie properly.

But that means building a tech tree and a 'game' framework, some sort of fairness and balance, and coming up with some way to pay for this thing. Especially when so many people are contributing models.

How can we d this in a way thats fair to everyone?
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
 
#10
From: blackrider@roughriders.fen
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: Aces High.

>We're trying to model a Tie properly.

>
>But that means building a tech tree and a 'game' framework, some sort of fairness and balance, and coming up with some way to pay for this thing. Especially when so many people are contributing models.
>
>How can we d this in a way thats fair to everyone?

Well, the files attached should help.

What? Did you folks honestly forget that Black Aeronaut Technologies handles about half of the Warsies orders for TIE Fighters? Mainly because the TIE Fighters we build are relatively quirk-free.

Anyhow, as for making this fair, how about you tweak the pilot models to reflect that of a pilot that is very well aware of what their bird is capable of? I mean, seriously. Most of my pilots can fly circles around a green X-Wing jockey.... in a Dragonfly. (For you Warsies out there, that's like out-flying an X-Wing in a Headhunter.)

So yeah. Just change it up so the pilot model knows their bird and knows what they're up against. That will make things VERY interesting.

And oh, Anika? For added fun I've included models for the Dragonfly, the Albatross, the Peacemaker, as well as observed pilot data for all. I've even thrown in the BA-4 Astroliner, because escort missions where you keep getting ambushed and your VIP is a big, lumbering, defenseless giant are their own kind of fun. Wink

Oh, and we're seeding in your torrent now - you should see a BIG difference in demand now that our Interwave Node is on the case. Send your love to Ruri - she never gets enough love as far as I'm concerned.

Benjamin Rhodes
CinC Roughriders
"On time, on target, guaranteed."
OOC: Wait, really?  You guys forgot about this?  http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/top ... mes-Star-D
Reply
 
#11
The darn thing is a Moon, not a spaceship, Sir...

http://fantastic-plastic.com/BelGeddesA ... o4Page.htm
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
Reply
 
#12
To: blackrider@roughriders.fen
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: Aces High.

Thanks for the models! I've sent something to Ruri already.

All the flight assists in the model are supposed to keep the spacecraft away from the limit. Both to keep the game playable - and to avoid having too much of a benefit from eerie instructor effects keeping the pacecraft under control for longer than a pilot would. It's supposed to be just a little conservative. That way, there's a benefit to taking more and more manual control - you can keep the engine's from overheating under higher power, or push the maneuverability a bit further. It makes the 'game' accessible, while still rewarding skilled play.

Been working on updating the pilot model to work better through a cyberdeck's puppet interface - since the model and physical environment is so much simpler than KoFen anyway. Cockpit. G-force. Seating. Eject.

I'll have a male pilot, and a female pilot model, with varying capabilities based on actual recorded data. So, picking one over the other will have an effect on how the pilot model handles the spacecraft (Control force inputs, G-tolerances, weight and balance in smaller aircraft)

It also acts as a levelling playing field between people with vastly different physical capabilities.

Nothing is more entertaining than watch a combat cyborg getting more and more frustrated because the pilot model she's trying to drive just won't keep up with what she's trying to force it to do. Just don't get on the wrong side of her and a P-51D.....

-Anika
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
Re: Aces High!
#13
To: [multiple]
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Changes. Keeping the lights on.

Hi all,

Look, I'm glad you like this thing but, even with the Forge taking some of the download load (Thanks Eddie), we're still running out of server space. So, I've, sort of, invested in some dedicated gear that can be fitted at a major node but it's not really something I can really afford to do.... so I need to make this pay a little. It should give a massive kick to game que times and it'll let me move my Hi-Streamer back inside.

Okay., so to really help me out you can click here and buy one. It's a custom cyberdeck built from a mix of Orion, Sirirus, Megadyne, WhizzMec and various others - stuff that I know works together well even if it's not really supposed to according to the manufacturer thanks to a little solder and a jumper.

It comes loaded with Aces by and all our own Flight models. I can build or get these built fairly handy and you know if you buy one you'll get something that's absolutely guaranteed to work with Aces - and come with your choice of desert. I'll be using this hardware template to build and optimise the sim code. It won't be locked or anything like that, but I can't build modules for your specific hardware combination - you might need to get your hands dirty compiling or reconfiguring.

They'll also work with most Metaverse-variant systems too....

But, since I know a lot of you already have a cyberdeck I want to do something else. We just sort of aquired a Boskone TR-72 Raven in good working order.

It's getting tested anyway but, I can build a model for it, especially for those who help me out. It'll have all the same details as our own stuff so you can have a proper red-team too. And it'll be yours. It'll only be available to people who really help me run the game.

But, if you want to just donate I've a Patron going and there's stuff I can do with that - including hiring some professional developers, or hiring other spacecraft to fully model and I'll try and get you something in return. Maybe some sort of voting on what models or maps get done and when.

Other ways to contribute. I need to figure that out. There's modelling and codework that's needed but right now the limit's hardware.

I don't want to go the route of having to make it subscription only.

If you've any questions, just contact me and I'll try to answer them when Frigga's stopped falling apart.

-Anika
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
Re: Aces High!
#14
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
From:  Da.Murph@shadows.fen
Subj: Changes. Keeping the lights on.

'Nika, if you wait for that it'll never get done.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
Reply
Re: Aces High!
#15
To: 
anika-daini@friggarock.fen

From:  
Wolfboy@Stelvia.fen

Subj: Changes. Keeping the lights on.

Anika;
Right now I have an order in hand for twenty of those cyberdecks with hard currency available for the purchase, we have just one request to go with it, the coding for the YLF-6 BAT that we produced for the replacement light fighter contest. We know its another drain on your resources to provide this and because of such we are willing to pay 20% over requested price for the cyberdecks. Also i would personally be willing to kick in some cash to upgrade your mainframe equipment for running the game.

From all the current, (and two future) deckers and riggers on Roannapur station
Lovitar Bostwick
 
Reply
Re: Aces High!
#16
To:
Wolfboy@stelvia.fen
From:
Anika-Daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: YF-6 BAT

Wolfboy

We can do that. To get the full quality model we'll need an actual flying YF-6, an engine and some spare structural parts to properly test. Thet'll get a full prototype model that's engineering grade.

I sold this thing to Jet as an advertisement for an engineering service for the small builders. ;P

-Anika.

---

To: Da.Murph@Shadows.fen
From: Anika-Daini@friggarock.fen

Murph,

You don't knoiw the half of it. It's a cross between dusting the domes of Helium and the first ten minutes of a 1970's disaster movie.

Yesterday we had a turbine trip that put on on aux power for hours. Today, we had a magenta alarm in three compartments while bunkering fuel from a  tanker ship. You don't want to know what StelOil charges for demurrage - we're lucky they didn't find out.
 
-Anika

---
To: [multiple]
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: One more month...

Hi All,

Okay. Big news. I sold enough decks to actually pay for that new server. And another. They've been installed at a 'secure location' rather than on Hedwig - but bandwidth won't be an issue.

We also have a part-time developer to help me on this. Someone with some actual experience. I also have someone helping me assemble cyberdecks here to meet demand.

Game changes are as follows:
Male and Female pilot types have been seperated. There are differences.
G-tolerances have been updated.
Haptic and Tactile feedback and texturing have been optimised.
Models from BAT, Stellvia and OKB3 have been refined and standardised with the current codebase.
Pilot's side-arms have been modelled for escape from spacecraft.
Pilot damage models have been modified.

New Models:
Boskone TR-72 Raven has been added based on initial flight testing. Expect this to be refined as we get more data.

Actions:
Some out-of-spacecraft actions have been modelled for viewing purposes or screenshotting - or transferring between craft since some shuttles have this feature.

New server addresses are as follows:
dangerzone.frigga-aces.fen
roundtable.frigga-aces.fen
openskies.frigga-aces.fen (PVE/Racing Only)

litvyak.frigga-aces.fen will be shut-down in fifteen days since I need Hi-Streamer for work.

Oh, and Client Stability has been improved.

Until next month
-Anika
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#17
To: [multiple]
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: One more change....

Hi All,

Okay. Last update, we talked about adding more weapons to the Sim.

Anyway, you're prayers have been answered. New upgraded missile, radar and gun models will come along in the next update, which should be released just before this year's Port Phobos Invitational. Anyway, because some of these weapons are advanced enough

They'll need to be unlocked, through careful and methodical play for hours on end, ensuring a suitable sense of accomplishment is gained when you launch of you're first Mad Dog.

Or, you know if you don't want to spend a few dozen hours drinding out a full load for your ship of choice, there's the time-honoured method of...

LOOT CRATES[!/i]

For the month of January, the advanced weaponry will only be available through the specialised Ace Packs. Each one containing a randomised loadout which can be added to your own personal arsenal. Some packs may contain missiles. Some might contain liveries. One or two may even contain unusual or uncommon ships that we've been working on, which may never be released to the public.

A full list of probabilities is linked [i]here.


Top of the range, limited to no more than 0.01% of packs in total, is the RF-155-E 'Riding Hi Streamer' protoitype. Which is based on our own engineering test model, while adding electronic combat and advanced sensor capabilities. We've been using it internally to test a full Electronic Warfare module to be added later. For the time being, you'll be among the few people capable of full electronic warfare action - adding a new dimension to our virtual theatre of war.

Oh and before anyone thinks your benevolant dictatress for Life has gone all Electronic Arts, All Proceeds from sales of Ace Packs will go towards the Nikaido Foundation. After February, everything except the unique spacecraft will go to general release, available to all.

Cheers
-Anika

I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.

One day they're going to ban them.
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#18
From: pyrotechie@stellvia.fen
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: One more change....

So, dad could make his usual monthly donation to the Nikaido Foundation the usual way, or we could funnel it through you by buying all the random crates you've got prepped.

No, we won't really do this. Yoriko wouldn't have liked it.

-Kohran
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#19
To: pyrotechie@stellvia.fen
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Re: One more change....

I had to read up, but I understand....

We raised more than I expected - I think we raised more than anyone expected. Not top ten outright, but top-ten users/money.

-Anika.


----------------

(Meta: and I never got the notification for the response >,<)


---------------

To: [userslist]
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: Updates and More

Hi All,

Okay.

Main news this week.

The Nikaido foundation has sent a special thank you message for everyone who contributed. Aoi-chan extends her thanks to every Ace out there. If you contributed anything at all, you'll find her message in your inbox. She also made one simple request....

Along with it, are some non-combat missions. Delivering food and suipplies, constructing settlements, search and rescue. Challenging, precision flying stuff that takes absolute concentration and a sharp eye.

Try fly them in a Bolitho. Or, if you're after variety.

Also added in is a Prototype of something we're calling the 'Drasgonfly'. It's basically just a Hokum's twin rotor drive assembly and engines, with a large forward cockpit, a tail-rudder, and the ability to carry about 4 tons of cargo.... anything from simple freight, to water tanks, to passenger modules.

This is an actual engineering design study model we've been using 'Aces' to test fly, so don't tell Jet I've put this out. The prototype's only just been built and hasn't had its first flight yet.

News 2.

"Noriko and Kasumi AI"

The Hi-Streamer engineering prototype served as sort of a test-bed for a few things I've been working on. First of all, it's the electronic warfare modules that've so far proved to be a bit incomplete. There's a lot of real stuff you can do that we can't properly model, so it's really just scripted rather than giving you actual repeatable results. They're a good approximation and give a good 'feel' but if it's something you know anthing about, you can see the cracks.

The other thing it tested, was proper VI multicrew.

The current crew models we have are.... a bit dumb to put it mildly. Hi-Streamer really doesn't work well without somebody in the back seat, and if you're in the back the basic AI Pilot up-front will be just awful at keeping you safe so rather than work on upgrading the Ewar systems or client stability I've added some proper VI to the Hi-Streamer's model. If you want to spend an entire mission in the back seat, you can and it'll feel almost like you're being flown by a human pilot.

The AI has visual awareness - limited both by what she's looking at in the cockpit, what the aircraft is doing, or whether she's been injured or not. She responds to your actions, positively or negatively. She'll warn you about threats she's spotted and she'll work with you as part of a team. It works especially well if you have voice enable.

"Kasumi" will operate the back seat, if you're in the front. She's the ISO model . Calm, collected and efficient.
"Noriko" will operate the front, if youi're in back. She's the Pilot. She's an aggresive flying style and likes to throw the jet around.

The first person to tell me where the names came from gets a Hi-Streamer pack. Ithe VI module also makes the pack a bit heavy on your system so you might need a dedicated VI coprocessor to make them work at the right framrates until I figure out how to optimise their matrices.

If you have the pack, let me know how it's working for you and we'll start rolling Noriko and Kasumi out to other aircraft.

Until Next Time
-Anika.

I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.

One day they're going to ban them.
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#20
To: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
From: ldolittle@greenwood.fen
Subject: RE: Updates and More

> "Kasumi" will operate the back seat, if you're in the front. She's the ISO model . Calm, collected and efficient.
> "Noriko" will operate the front, if youi're in back. She's the Pilot. She's an aggresive flying style and likes to throw the jet around.
>
> The first person to tell me where the names came from gets a Hi-Streamer pack

Would that be Takaya Noriko?

-- Lynn Dolittle-Lambretta
Sucrose Octanitrate.

Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#21
To:Anika-Daini@friggarock.fen
From: Wolfboy@stelvia.fen
Subj: YF-6 BAT

Sorry, I've been swamped recently. Will have a YF-6 out to you with a full change out of modes/parts plus structural spares. Mode swaps available include two cockpits (one single seat for the gunship/fighter, and one side by side two sweater for the bomber package,) along with the gun setup, corrected WC4. Targeting system, and cargo/combat seating setup.

Almost sent you two full flyers, but I need the second for a mission.

Wolfboy
Wolf wins every fight but the one where he dies, fangs locked around the throat of his opponent. 
Currently writing BROBd

Reply
RE: Aces High!
#22
To: [userslist]
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: The winner and the next update

Hi all,

Okay so maybe what's a 'scure reference to me isn't a 'scure reference to everyone else. The answer is, of course, Noriko Takaya from Gunbuster. A bit before my time.

Lynn Doolite wins the prize for being the first responder with the right answer.

We've also just received a spacecraft from a manufacturer for testing and integration into the game. All will be revealed in due course once flight testing is completed. It's a long a complicated process. The ether flow dynamics on a real spacecraft at speed don't always match the model. We've already learned things about it that we just didn't know before. Real tests teach you so much more than software models.

For the future, I'm trying to get a lot of stability mods done, and get the netcode a little more accurate at high speeds. There's some heavy equations it's running based upon probabilities of where spacecraft will end up on based on rates of changes of position, power settings and control inputs so it produces a band of most likely outcomes but that sort of processing needs some really dedicated hardware to do it fast enough.

The plus side is we've gotten some new stuff that makes Frigga's main systems run a lot faster too.

Also. I'm contacting manufacturers to make the game decks for me . There's some interesting stuff I think we can add to them too but I need to see if it *can* be made first. It works on a station scale - but can it be miniaturised into something that'll fit in a cyberdeck? Trying to do them and do the software updates to keep this thing going is just taking up so much of my day that there's no time left for sweets ;_;

-Anika

----


And while I'm sitting here I had a rather interesting idea.
Given the sheer size of a place like Frigga, and because the whole station is a distirbuted computing system - one giant processor. To get lag down somebody's probably at least tried to rig up a sort of tight beam interwave relay since none of the major componants move relative to each other and full broadcast power isn't needed.

And then I sort of wondered, just how small could an interwave signal be made - if the range only had to be a few metres. A few centimetres across a motherboard. Or a few microns across a chip die.

Anika has, of course, reached out to see if it exists. Or if it can be built.

She's also getting eminently close to, ahem..... doing things because she can do them, and not necessarily because she should.

I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.

One day they're going to ban them.
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#23
This part appears to be OOC, since the first part was IC from Anika.

(07-08-2018, 05:53 PM)Dartz Wrote: And while I'm sitting here I had a rather interesting idea.
Given the sheer size of a place like Frigga, and because the whole station is a distirbuted computing system - one giant processor. To get lag down somebody's probably at least tried to rig up a sort of tight beam interwave relay since none of the major componants move relative to each other and full broadcast power isn't needed.

And then I sort of wondered, just how small could an interwave signal be made - if the range only had to be a few metres. A few centimetres across a motherboard. Or a few microns across a chip die.

Anika has, of course, reached out to see if it exists. Or if it can be built.

She's also getting eminently close to, ahem.....  doing things because she can do them, and not necessarily because she should.

Is she going to tell anybody off Frigga that she's doing this? If she tells Kohran, Kohran will tell Miyuri, and Miyuri will give Anika the codes (six 8196-byte hex strings, to be entered in a certain order with certain gaps in times between each string) to be able to safely remove the cover of the Halcyon node installed in the usually-empty StellviaCorp office on Frigga. Looking at the guts of Halcyon won't get her all the way to what she wants to do, but it'll give her a different perspective on the problem that should help.
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#24
OOC:

Anika's contacted the Underspace.


Both to find someone who's able to - or knows someone who'se able to - build the hardware to her specs. Advise her that'#s she's getting close to offering things that maybe shouldn't be in public domain because something with that low a latency internally could have other uses./ Or burst her bubble by pointing oiut they did it ten years ago or it can't be done. Or maybe lie about it not being possible and loose her trust if she figures it out from opening the Halcyon node...

I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.

One day they're going to ban them.
Reply
RE: Aces High!
#25
To: [userslist]
From: anika-daini@friggarock.fen
Subj: I can't afford this anymore.

Okay.

This is sort of growing beyond my control and that's great and all but I really can't afford all this server time. Even with some gratis contributions from a few friends and interested parties and some things I probably shouldn't known about, I'm hitting the wall most days at peak times.

I still have a job to do most days. I can't handle all the emails inquiring about queue lengths, and - some of the emails have been a bit cruel.

I've tried not to charge people for this and tried to give actual things when I do. I don't want to do the wallet-warrior thing where someone can fling money at it and ruin the whole game - or where it starts getting misereable halfway through to 'encourage' you to pay and I want to try and keep things open with a community, so here's what I'm proposing.

I want to do it as a subscription fee. The fee's tied directly to time logged in. Rather than being a fixed fee for a month, it'll be charged as a certain amount of tokens a per-minute or a per-game basis. So you pay 20 credits for 2000 tokens or so. Games at peak times will need more tokens to play - so it's more expensive to play at busy times, than at non-busy times. The cost to play will be sort of based directly on the capacity of the network, like supply and demand. It's completely dynamic

But, I'd rather people contribute.

So, in the next update for the system I'm going to push an option setting - that'll let you use your own deck to contribute computing power to the system, and the system will issue tokens that you can use to play the game. The idea being that, if you support a token's worth of play - you get the token. That means you get more tokens for adding processing power at peak times when it's needed, and less when it's not.

My own system will generate the basic tokens at the same rate as everyone elses that'll go to the master account. Everyone elses will go to your account. Tokens deplete as you play - according to the rate, or if you want to buy unique stuff like DLC, or even deck hardware from me.

The tokens themselves have a constant value. The only thing that changes is the amount of tokens needed to play. The more contributors, the fewer tokens are spent, the less worthwhile it is to mine them. The less contributors - the more tokens are spend, the more lucrative it is to mine them, and the more time I need to spend on it - so the more I get paid and the more worthwhile it is to add time to the system because you get more time back.

Oh, and to make it worth your while - if you want to sell tokens to other players - you can do that too. The system will let you do that - with a nominal charge for the processing time needed to make it happen. Basically how it works is that the buyer buys the tokens from me - and then I buy the tokens from you - and I take a markup on the transaction because it costs the system time to process it and I have to maintain all the wallet records and security stuffs, and my payment processor takes their bit. If you want me to handle it automatically - I can do that too if you mark tokens as saleable.

There're better economic minds out there than me and I've still to set the actual prices on things

--

Model updates.

RF-47-C (Caesar) model. Updated to this year's spacecraft. Uprated engine performance. Revised centre structural element - arrestor hook, main landing gear, engine centre mounts, wingspar attachement and two new hardpoints, to fit either CFTs or a pair of Meteor missiles Updated passive IRST - All Aspects with track prediction and pilot HMD. Primary track sensors dnow provided by Meteor seaker heads when fitted to gear-door hardpoints.

In theory this one can actually fight. In reality, they changed the rules to stop to landing gear from getting atrophied and make us arm it more.

--

I really would appreciate feedback on the economy model - I want it to work in a fair way rather than an EA's Mobile Soccer sort of way.

Until next time.
-Anika

I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.

One day they're going to ban them.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)