FEDERATION 2 DESIGNER'S NOTES
by Alan Lenton
Christmas Eve, 2003
Phew - it's ready, well an alpha version is stable enough to let people into it, anyway!
In fact I didn't just code in the commands to let people talk to other people in the same room, I also coded the 'look' and 'glance' commands to get short and long loom descriptions as well.
None of it was rocket science (so to speak), indeed a lot of it was relatively easy because I'd taken the time at the start to write the underlying code properly rather than relying on bodges to get it done in a hurry. Theoretically I had time to do the movement code as well, but I was a little leery about just how long it would take to move everything over to the production server in New York.
In the event I was right, and it took longer than I'd estimated. Setting up a machine for something like this takes a lot more than people think. It's not just a case of banging in the program. It has to have all its accounts and support files moved as well. And in this case I was setting up the billing/accounts program as well.
It's easier if you are physically at the machine, of course, but as I was 3,500 miles away I had to do it remotely. First I had to set up accounts for the server, then the server details had to be added to the known services list of ports, otherwise the game server wouldn't know what ports to use.
Next the directory structure had to be set up correctly, so that the game knew where to look for its support files - the player file, the map files, and its lock file that makes sure you can't accidentally fire up a second copy of the program while the first is still running.
Then, it has to be added to the initialisation table (inittab, to the techies) so that if the game crashed or the machine was rebooted it would start automatically. A different program, cron, had to have its tables configured to close the game for the housekeeping at 8am Eastern every morning.
It all adds up to quite a lot of time.
I decided not to open it to players tonight, because I wouldn't be around to monitor it. So we will open it tomorrow - Christmas Day 2003, as promised!
