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Yesterday, TerraTool was updated to a new point release, which brings some brand new features and a visual overhaul.

Experimental: Map Patches for the Original Map

Custom Maps are a cool addition to the game, but they require a full server wipe. Server wipes are bad, we know that. Players hate losing all their progress and server owners usually don’t wipe their servers unless they really have to, for whatever reason. If you’re running an established server with the original map and you’re struggling and hesistating because of the ‘wipe-situation’, maybe this new feature helps with your decision.  Continue reading “TerraTool: 1.1.0 Update with new features”

Good news! After fixing some issues in the last week during the closed beta I’m glad to announce that TerraTool can be used by everyone as of now. Key activation was removed from login page earlier this evening.

Minimap Updater Script

From now on, minimap fix won’t require downloading individual minimap files for each map anymore. Instead, we will use a handy little updater script that takes care of this job and comes with some other benefits. For details, check the TerraTool Downloads page. Just put this file into your LiF:YO directory and run it whenever needed.

New Map ‘Exile’

If you’re still not satisfied, here’s something else. A new map has joined the collection! This will be all about the question: Who will take control of the northeastern penisula and the vast amount of ressources on it?

Keep in mind that TerraTool is still in beta state. There is absolutely no warranty that every feature and function works 100% as intended. Use at your own risk and please report any malfunction or issue you’re experiencing.

I’ll keep adding und improving stuff over the course of the coming days and weeks. You can always track the latest changes in the changelog. Hopefully we will see many new servers using a custom map in near future.

The closed beta for LiF:YO TerraTool has started today. Access keys have been sent to everyone who asked for it. (If I forgot you, I didn’t do it on purpose. It was a busy day, please just send me a message again). The first few map deployments have been completed already and things look pretty good in general.

As already announced in the last post, there are five different maps available for starters. More maps will join the collection over time. If you have ideas and suggestions, feel free to post them. What all the maps are based on is simply a 16-bit-grayscale heightmap of 1533 x 1533 pixel size. I’m also considering to implement an “upload and simulate” option where you can experiment with your own creations and use them for map deployment eventually. But… first things first. Map customisation options and SQL file distribution method are on top of the to-do-list for now.

The closed beta phase will last for one week at least. I’m looking to finish it as soon as possible, but will extend it in case problems pop up. There will be a little downtime during the next days, because the server has a defective memory which needs to be changed (see: Murphy’s Law).

 

It has been pretty quiet, thanks to the LiF:MMO dragging all the attention at the moment. It’s actually a good thing because it takes away any pressure and gives me time to finetune everything and find better solutions for a few problems that have popped up here and there.

I’ve developed a web-based tool that can be used to generate maps and distribute them to LiF:YO servers. This tool might evolve into some kind of toolbox for server admins eventually, with the map generator being only one of several features. In its current state you can login using Steam authentication, add LiF:YO server(s) to the system and push maps to their database. The system behind it will queue the job for the mapgenerator and process the jobs consecutively. You don’t have to do anything during that process, which can take up to two hours depending on your server hardware. Once the database is prepared, you’ll be served with server startup instructions and some files that you have to put into your LiF:YO server directory. Some manual steps have to be done, but they’re rather simple. Map graphics of terrain, ore positions, quality hotspots and the mapgenerator logfile are available as well. See the screenshots to get an idea of what it will look like.

Continue reading “LiF:YO Custom Maps Status Update”

I haven’t had much time to work on the LiF:YO Livemap lately, because the custom maps are really time consuming at the moment. I’ll share some screenshots and details about the work-in-progress project within the upcoming week. Meanwhile, I managed to implement some features that have been requested by some users for the livemap.

The online player counter will show a list of online players in a tooltip when highlighted. Same for the restarts timer. It’ll show the time of all scheduled server restarts that have been configured. Additionally, each player in the claim memberlists has an online/offline indicator icon.

Continue reading “LiF:YO Livemap v1.2.2 released”

As already announced in the official LiF:YO forums, we’ll bring custom maps to the game. I’ll go into detail in a later post. However, most of the work is already done and it’s time for some fine tuning. Only intense testing can tell if the map(s) are playable in the long term and ready for deployment on real servers. Therefore, I opened two public testing servers:

lif1.nyuton.net:28000
“Himalaya” Map
» Download Minimap Mod
updated 2017-02-18

For this map I used a 60×60 km heightmap extract of the Himalaya region and masked the edges to forge an island. Due to the square shape of that island, there is a high amount of building space available.

lif1.nyuton.net:29000
“Gran Canaria” Map
» Download Minimap Mod
updated 2017-02-16

This is the real-world heightmap of Gran Canaria. A lucky pick for LiF, because most real-world islands are either too flat or would waste too much space in the square map due to their shape. But this one fits well.

Continue reading “LiF:YO Custom Maps Incoming!”

This is a small update for the LiF:YO Livemap, primarily to address issues related to player tracking in GM mode. I’ve implemented zoom from 0.5 to 8.0 scale in GM mode and player highlighting by mouseover. When a player marker is pointed on with the mouse cursor, all other players will get a transparency of 80%. With these two features combined, it should be possible to read the player names in any situation.

Continue reading “LiF:YO Livemap v1.2.1 released”

Happy New Year everybody. There haven’t been any updates on my site for quite a few weeks. I was very busy moving to my new location (in real life). The dust is settling now and it’s time to go back to normal.

I could finally finish some work on the LiF:YO livemap, which has been updated to v1.2.0 today.

More features in GM-Mode

When you’re an admin or GM on a LiF:YO server, every detail that can be shown on a livemap comes in very handy. The downside of displaying sensitive information such as player positions and buildings is that players could gain an unfair advantage through it. In most cases, you don’t want to show these information to ordinary players. The solution for that is quite simple: Seperate the views. Continue reading “LiF:YO Livemap v1.2.0 released”