Offline Mode v3

[Blitz]

Dear Dev Team,

thank you for the extraordinary job you've done to revive this game.
As the project is closed source for some reason, If I may suggest to restructure the offline mode the following way:

- create a new realm called localhost or something
- when connecting to this realm, emulate server-side tasks locally using binaries so it could remain closed source (I know that installations can be tedious but you could create install scripts)
- cut the pvp sparta arena and other pvp game modes/quest in this local realm, but make sparta the town visitable

If the cost to have cities offline and doing quests and mmo'ing without internet is that I need to install rdbms and such be it... it would be great for the dev team too, because this means offline mode could be a stripped online mode, and you could merge the 2 dev branches together.


Blitz

 

[Gopo]

Yeah, being able to host a local server would be the dream. No idea why they're keeping such a tight lid on the source code.

 

[Jeinx]

It is difficult to consistently find matches in pvp, co-op and find players to buy our wares as it is. Splitting the community further by letting everyone have their own server would be the second, and final death of the game. It is out of love for the game the project is closed source.

 

[Blitz]

There is a disconnection I think how you see and how others see this.

I did not say open source it. Actually as custom games can be played in offline mode probably there is some kind of offline emulation stuff going on already, I only asked to make it possible to do quests locally too with cities WITHOUT any pvp modes. The closed source binary could communicate with a local encrypted database or something storing the stuff the game needs, I don't know. Celeste team could still be hosting the servers that pvp players could use.

"It is difficult to consistently find matches in pvp, co-op and find players to buy our wares as it is."
Man are you kidding? No matchmaking system and maybe 100 active players on ladder. Most of them are casting their own matches and have years of experience, refined build orders, execution and map knowledge. I played some pvp before but I will let them play against each other.

I think a lot more people would donate or pay for your stuff and especially for newly created quests/campaigns (content is king) - if we could be playing it offline and keep our cities offline. If we cannot and you guys or some core important team members decide to leave for some reason, every purchased stuff will be lost forever, like it happened before with Microsoft.

 

[Jeinx]

There is a disconnection I think how you see and how others see this.

I did not say open source it. Actually as custom games can be played in offline mode probably there is some kind of offline emulation stuff going on already, I only asked to make it possible to do quests locally too with cities WITHOUT any pvp modes. The closed source binary could communicate with a local encrypted database or something storing the stuff the game needs, I don't know. Celeste team could still be hosting the servers that pvp players could use.

"It is difficult to consistently find matches in pvp, co-op and find players to buy our wares as it is."
Man are you kidding? No matchmaking system and maybe 100 active players on ladder. Most of them are casting their own matches and have years of experience, refined build orders, execution and map knowledge. I played some pvp before but I will let them play against each other.

I think a lot more people would donate or pay for your stuff and especially for newly created quests/campaigns (content is king) - if we could be playing it offline and keep our cities offline. If we cannot and you guys or some core important team members decide to leave for some reason, every purchased stuff will be lost forever, like it happened before with Microsoft.

Thanks for the opportunity for us to see things from your perspective. Looking at things from different perspectives is always good.

 

[Ardeshir]

Bit torn on this really, because I come from a household that'd make immense use of offline-mode and/or LAN city functionality cause other than me they all dislike the all-online aspect of the game. Got a family member who only plays skirmish mode in offline mode currently lol

Most of them are casting their own matches and have years of experience, refined build orders, execution and map knowledge..

This is mostly wrong though. The top level of the game already avoid the ranked system in order to guarantee quality opponents (for them) and they're sick of being accused of driving newbies away, so instead the top sparta players are 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier players. We almost didnt have enough casters for the last tournament. As the only regular Aussie pvper, I stayed up til daybreak to cast half the quarterfinal lol. The most active sparta player over any 5 or 10 season stretch in the past 15 months is me, and I literally started pvping about 2 months prior to that, though I will admit both having prior RTS experience and that the next most active is Vindicator, Zeuz/Pozeidon, or Borg depending on where in that span you look, all with a couple years + experience. There are quite a few regular but not so serious players on the ranked ladder pretty much any time, and stacks of pvp rookies every time an event is on (like right now). Your best bet for fair games and for getting help with build orders is the PvP discord

"It is difficult to consistently find matches in pvp, co-op and find players to buy our wares as it is."
Man are you kidding? No matchmaking system and maybe 100 active players on ladder.

He isn't. Imagine what it's like looking for PvP partners in East Asia or East Coast Australia. We don't all live in the US or central Europe, just 85% of the playerbase in this tiny community . It wasn't really til starcraft 2 that any RTS had a proper matchmaking system either, and considering we can get 70 people at a time watching organised pvp, in a game that's now around 52,000 accounts, 100 "active" pvpers is a relatively low number

f we could be playing it offline and keep our cities offline. If we cannot and you guys or some core important team members decide to leave for some reason, every purchased stuff will be lost forever, like it happened before with Microsoft.

I have more faith in a 32-person strong dev team having a succession plan so the team doesn't suddenly one day just collapse, than I do in the average gamer maintaining good backups

Yeah, being able to host a local server would be the dream. No idea why they're keeping such a tight lid on the source code.

Ideally, I wonder if there could be away to integrate LAN-server hosting into offline mode, without having to give up the source code.

As Jeinx said though, the different perspective is good, we just have to be careful to not fracture the community needlessly, but also like I said, I can see a benefit to expansion of offline mode functionality

 

[Blitz]

Just start a crowdfunding project on kickstarter for Offline cities/quests. And for lan mode, why not.

 

[Ardeshir]

Because the technically minded folks in the dev team are working on other things and would have to stop what they're doing to implement it, and that there hasn't really been anyone asking for it til now. Money isn't the obstacle, the number of volunteer devs with that specific skillset is. I'm not saying it's a bad idea if done properly. The issue with just handing over source code (as you probably know) is that a million half assed clones will kick up overnight, fracturing the playerbase and souring the perception of community-developed AOEO even if that's not what people asking for it for this reason intend to do with it.

 

[Blitz]

Ardeshir, no one is asking for the source code and I understand the dev team is working on the romans and other stuff right now. Still I find hard to believe that the source code must be published in order to implement these features.

Do you still smoke too btw? I read somewhere that aussies pay the most around 50 aud for a pack.

 

[Andy P XIII]

This technical stuff is lost on me, but it seems worth mentioning that Kickstarter/charging for content/etc. is off the table. Microsoft’s rules dictate we cannot offer any part of the game for money. Everything is free for everyone always.

 

[Ardeshir]

Ardeshir, no one is asking for the source code.

Gopo did

Still I find hard to believe that the source code must be published in order to implement these features.

Either way, the work of implementing them still stands. And like I said, there simply wasn't the calling for it before. Offline mode in limited form actually predates a community hosted AOEO server, and I'm a bit surprised old breakaways or a completely independant group havent looked into doing an extension project to offline mode for these kind of features, without the all-online server reminiscent of the MS realms like Project Celeste uses.

Back end developers are also the most sought after addition to the dev team. Any fool with high school coding experience can make, or in the very least, edit, quests and maps in the game if they're willing to put in the work. I can think of maybe 2 members of the dev team capable of doing what this would take, and I won't mention their names.

Do you still smoke too btw? I read somewhere that aussies pay the most around 50 aud for a pack.

Yeah, it's great being a part of the most tax positive demographic to ever walk the face of the earth (Aussie male smokers), and still being told off about my lifestyle