Morning Discussion: Festivus Edition

Has it been a whole year already? After months of build-up and anticipation, the biggest celebration of the year is here--today is Festivus.

So we here at Shacknews Towers can celebrate Festivus, and any other festivities that might happen to be coming up soon, we're not really going to be posting much news over the next few days. Besides--you'll be away from your computer yourself, won't you?

However, we will return on Monday with our picks for the Best Video Game Thing and/or Stuff of the year. The votes are in, and it almost ended in a not-safe-for-work gruesome fight, but we have ultimately decided that we did indeed respond favourably to a number of video games this year. We'll let you know which next week.

In the meantime, enjoy today, tomorrow, the day after that and, heck, the rest of your life.

From The Chatty
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    December 23, 2010 5:01 AM

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      December 23, 2010 5:01 AM

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      December 23, 2010 5:01 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 23, 2010 5:17 AM

      So what's the state of things?

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        December 23, 2010 5:18 AM

        Great for Smp and ssp so far. No lag or crashes.

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        December 23, 2010 5:41 AM

        [deleted]

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        December 23, 2010 6:00 AM

        [deleted]

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        December 23, 2010 7:58 AM

        As long as you don't go to the Nether you're golden...

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          December 23, 2010 8:03 AM

          What's wrong with the Nether?

          I've been messing around some, with no problem.

          I remember at one point there was a crash bug when you would leave, but I can't get it to crash now.

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      December 23, 2010 5:17 AM

      Any server admins mind listing off your hmod plugin list? I think I'm bout to jump back into hosting a shack server.

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        December 23, 2010 6:13 AM

        Well, here's what Shadowdane told me when I asked him the same question recently:

        Using hey0 Mod for server administration and the BiomeTerrainMod for the Biome & Tree Modifications. Then using a few hey0 plugins: Stargate, LeafDropper, SpawnControl. Had 1 or 2 other plugins I think, can't remember what they are right now though. lol

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        December 23, 2010 7:08 AM

        can i be a mod on ur server? I promise not to abuse the spawn block command ;)

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        December 23, 2010 7:43 AM

        As I recall, we're using GriefAlert, WorldEdit, MCStats, Towny, LocalChat, and whatever that mod is that tells you when and how players die.

        * GriefAlert is essential in my opinion for a public, non-whitelisted server (unless you run your server like m0rfus, that is). Even if you're not going to actively enforce griefing, having the information at your fingertips is a useful resource. You can use it to prove some client hacks, for instance. I have some Python scripts that can help you filter the logs to find certain events, hit me up via SM if you're interested.

        * WorldEdit is what we use to restore selective areas of the world from backup, and much more. Gives admins god-like powers over the world. Very useful.

        * MCStats provides the stats pages linked above

        * Towny and LocalChat I could live without. Towny seems too complicated for too little gain, IMO, and I don't like complexity for complexity's sake. Local Chat would be better if it were reversed -- i.e. you talk to the server by default, and chat locally if you prepend with ' . As it is, most of the time I'm talking server-wide so it's just another key to press to all-talk.

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          December 23, 2010 1:40 PM

          Sweet write-up. I think the death one is DeathShout or DeathInfo.

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      December 23, 2010 6:15 AM

      IT TAKES A FUCKING SECOND JUST TO MINE

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      December 23, 2010 6:16 AM

      LOL. I love the edition title for today

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      December 23, 2010 6:24 AM

      Here's what I think would be a great idea for a server. (since you didn't ask). I would love to see a PvP server on a weekly schedule. Something like this:

      Simple version:
      Days 1 - 3 (approximate): pvp OFF, everyone builds bases, gathers supplies.
      Days 4 - 7: pvp ON, base raids, slaughter.

      Complicated version:
      Day 1 - 3: pvp OFF, everyone builds, maybe some sort of area/town protection is in place.
      Day 3 - 4: pure pvp ON, block destruction OFF, fire/lava/tnt OFF.
      Day 5 - 6: pvp ON, block destruction ON, fire/lava/tnt OFF.
      Day 7: pvp ON, block destruction ON, fire/lava/tnt ON.

      This is just the concept. The actual number of days and the actual rules can/should be tweaked

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        December 23, 2010 6:30 AM

        [deleted]

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          December 23, 2010 6:44 AM

          Maybe he left out the part where the world is reset every week (or month)? So it wouldn't get too blown up.

          I'm not sure if I want resets that often, though, even on a pure PVP server.

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          December 23, 2010 6:45 AM

          I believe noknyc means that the server is reset/new map generated at teh end of each week.

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            December 23, 2010 7:54 AM

            Originally, I was thinking that the server would be reset at the end of the week. But I'm not sure what that would do to the community on the server. Players wouldn't feel very invested in what was happening on the world. People would probably just show up for the pvp days and then vanish.

            As for the problems with TNT, well, that is part of why I was thinking to limit TNT to just one day per week for a big chaotic blowout. And then if the world is NOT reset, you'd have a few days to rebuild/repair, or move your base. It would be part of the challenge.

            But there are a number of other solutions that I think could work. Maybe only some of the world is reset, not all. Or perhaps the admins could designate new, pristine areas for each team's base each week, and set their spawns there. But there would be a common battlezone that remains in play each week.

            Just brainstorming. I think if the rules were ironed out, this could be a lot of fun.

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          December 23, 2010 6:45 AM

          I dug a 4x4 column all the way to bedrock and filled it with TNT.

          IT.

          WAS.

          GLORIOUS.

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          December 23, 2010 7:12 AM

          [deleted]

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            December 23, 2010 7:16 AM

            I think if all dupe bugs were fixed, so you knew every piece of TNT was legit, then it'd be fine.

            How much creeper dust can one person find, especially when they are worried about PVP too? Maybe people get enough to make a few pieces a day, it's not like anyone would have stacks of 64.

            • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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              December 23, 2010 7:21 AM

              Yeah, TNT is a pretty rare commodity in a legit game. If you actually build it yourself from creeper loot then you've earned a little mayhem.

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                December 23, 2010 7:26 AM

                It isn't rare if you build a mob spawn farmer.

                You could be up to your ears in TNT in about a hour or two after you finish it.

                • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                  December 23, 2010 7:30 AM

                  Well I don't think there are any creeper spawners. I guess you could just use a dark area but that seems like it would take a long time.

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                  December 23, 2010 7:30 AM

                  Yeah I was wondering about that.

                  In the 'optimal' PVP environment they wouldn't be able to safely build something like that, but of course things aren't optimal right now.

                  How fast does it accumulate? Don't we have an example on some server somewhere? I'd like to see it in action.

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                    December 23, 2010 7:39 AM

                    depends on how big it is. and in a optimal PVP setting, I COULD build it.

                    Just go for 20 min in one direction and build a mine shaft down and start on it.

                    You could hide one quite easily.

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                      December 23, 2010 7:43 AM

                      "Optimal" PVP setting includes limiting the world size. :P

                      Of course it's all a matter of opinion what makes a good PVP server, heh.

                      How long does it take to build one you think?

                      It'd be kinda fun if someone built one and it became a battleground, people fighting for control of the Spice dust.

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                December 23, 2010 7:27 AM

                [deleted]

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                December 23, 2010 8:37 AM

                rare commodity? lol, come to Wang.

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              December 23, 2010 10:02 AM

              pretty much, if the game functioned as intended, it wouldnt be a problem.

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              December 23, 2010 10:44 AM

              Yeah, I've made only maybe 3 or 4 pieces of TNT on m0rfus' server so far.

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            December 23, 2010 7:46 AM

            [deleted]

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              December 23, 2010 7:47 AM

              Disabling TNT is trivial

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                December 23, 2010 7:50 AM

                [deleted]

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                  December 23, 2010 7:52 AM

                  Everything pretty much requires a mod. The default server client is ridiculously sparse. I think this is why Notch tolerates hMod -- they're redistributing his code, but they're also fixing gaping holes in it.

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        December 23, 2010 7:47 AM

        I want something similar: http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=24233164

        We'll need to wait for the mod API to have our dreams realised I think noknyc.

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          December 23, 2010 7:59 AM

          Ya, I wouldn't want to attempt this until the update cycle settles down a bit and/or the API comes out. I would even be willing to try to host this. But yeah, doing it in the current state of the game would be torture.

          However, I could see trying it for just a week to see how it goes. As an experiment.

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        December 23, 2010 8:13 AM

        I don't know, half the fun of building a base on a PVP server is watching your back. Having 3 days to build might be crazy, people will have monster spawners and stacks of legit TNT heh.

        I wonder if instead of everyone building bases, we had two teams, the attackers and defenders. Defenders would build a base (maybe with admin help), then when everyone is online the attackers would get a hint as to what direction and go look for it! The defenders would have traps and things, and maybe the attackers would get a kit so they wouldn't have to spend a bunch of time mining.

        Some people like building, others don't, so if the builders could have fun (with admin help so it's not a huge timesink), then the attackers could also have fun!

        We could have a 'goal' (treasure room) in the defenders base, or just do it like team deathmatch and whoever gets the most kills wins (need Death Notify mod for that).

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          December 23, 2010 8:14 AM

          That's almost like what we tried to do with North Korea on foo1, for a few days. Then things fell apart. ;)

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          December 23, 2010 8:52 AM

          Don't put gameplay in my Minecraft.

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      December 23, 2010 6:28 AM

      I expect royalty checks any day now!

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      December 23, 2010 9:29 AM

      I WISH I COULD MAKE A MOTHERFUCKING PARACHUTE OUT OF CLOTH AND STRING FUUUUUU

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      December 23, 2010 11:35 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 23, 2010 2:18 PM

      How messed up are the servers because of the Hey0 bucket bugs? Lots of people running around in full diamond armor because of it, or has it not gotten crazy?

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        December 23, 2010 2:21 PM

        whoa, what's the hey0 bucket bug and how does it get you diamonds? I haven't updated my server yet to the latest hey0 dev and now it sounds like i'll wait a bit longer.

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          December 23, 2010 2:22 PM

          Well, last I tested, one bug was if you took a bucket of water and dumped it out, the bucket then turned into a chest.

          I only heard about the diamond thing, but it's something with buckets.

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            December 23, 2010 2:54 PM

            My experience was such that if I dumped water out of a bucket, it became a chest. If I tried to lava into a bucket, it became a single block of diamond ore (not the 9 diamond block, but like you'd find in the ground).

            So, if you've got a bunch of iron and a lava lake, you could make 1 diamond for every 3 iron.

            I'm not sure why morfus even has hey0 on his server right now since it's free for all and I need my goddamn lava buckets.

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      December 23, 2010 4:37 PM

      i've got a christmas tree on my back! http://img.electroly.com/ZZ36C97F10.jpg

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