[Server] HOMETOWN

[GreenXenith]

I merged the posts from the other topic into this one (and deleted redundant ones).

Thankyou.

EDIT: First post on 2 pages in a row! (Unintentionaly).

[MommyKat]

For those who were following along with "story time" yesterday, I've posted part 1 of the story about the bike repairman. And it has taken on a life of its own. Thanks a bunch, guys, I'm now obsessed! XD My blog address is in my Minetest profile, or you can pm me for it.

[harmony]

Happy 117th page. (not much enthusiam... sorry) Anyway... what's new?

[Kibbie]

New HOMETOWN items!

If you have been around spawn lately (specifically near our house) you may have heard some unusual sounds. If you looked quickly, you may have missed the source. GreenDimond has gifted us with my most favorite mod to date... wind chimes! :D

There are two kinds of chimes: metal chimes which produce the soft traditional tinkling sounds of a wind chime, reminiscent of a cottage by the ocean - and the wooden bamboo style which produces an earthier sound like you're walking through a forest. Both styles are equally whimsical and enjoyable.





The sound radius for both chime models is 8 nodes, so the chimes will not dominate a neighborhood or be heard server-wide. Due to the fact models with attached sound files can be rather heavy, the crafting recipes are deliberately expensive to discourage players from peppering their builds with chimes and potentially causing performance issues for other players. Please note, if we notice "chime abuse" the chimes will be taken and not returned. These wind chimes are considered luxury items, there is no need to plaster your builds with them in order to show off your wealth. ;)

• Crafting recipes:
  
  A "wind chime maker" must be crafted first, and then used with either a steel ingot or junglewood to craft the wind chimes. Don't blame GreenDimond for the crazy recipe, and don't bother asking what nyans have to do with wind chimes. (We have no freaking idea) :P
  
  
  
  

So if you've already wallpapered with nyan and find you have a spare kitty head and some rainbows lying around that you just don't know what on earth to do with, why not craft yourself a bit of whimsy for your residence in HOMETOWN?

Also, a sneak preview of another addition to HOMETOWN (also courtesy of GreenDimond)...gift boxes! These boxes are not craftable, players will receive these boxes filled with gifts for events such as birthdays and Christmas/winter holidays. The boxes work like the cardboard boxes already in-game, but are so much more awesome! :D



Thank you AGAIN GreenDimond for the many many wonderful contributions you bring to the server, and for sharing your talent and creativity with us! You help make HOMETOWN unique and fresh, and we wouldn't be so successful without you and the rest of our amazing team!

[Kibbie]

MommyKat: ExeterDad was just reading your blog a little while ago while I was doing the windchime post, he said I HAVE to check it out! He was thoroughly enjoying the story. :)

kaeza: Thank you for your help!

Harmony: What's up, chickie? Feeling a little blue tonight? PM if you need someone to vent/talk to. :(

Baggins: You're already gone, but hope you have a wonderful time!

Mitten/Chantelle: Thank you so much for all your kind words, and for trying to help stop the insanity when I was being bombarded on the server earlier today. (Note to self: People with ADD should never ever be server owners!)

Kiko and MommyKat: Thank you for the suggestions of all natural remedies for the man flu! We already have tea tree oil, I never thought to use it like Vicks, though. Huh. ExeterDad is opposed to ingesting/using anything medicinal that isn't so natural it was unearthed in a magical forest by pig snouts in Spain, so your suggestions are very helpful and I will check them out!

micah, LW, and Harmony: Thank you for the get well wishes for the mister!

See you all on the server! :D

[Cpt_mcg]

Soooooo....I'm going camping tomorrow!! (Until Tuesday)
See you all Tuesday (Actually, probably not) See you all Wednesday!!!!
Just thought I'd say this before I can't...

[Kibbie]

Super fast, since it happens to be around midnight and less than an hour until our server starts a new day, I wanted to share a pic to support the statements I made in the post regarding custom skins. The statement was:

We have well over 1,000 unique players every single day. Wanna see for yourself? The next time you are on the server, type /players and you will see the stats. This magnified screenshot snip was taken around 11:30 in the morning EST, and the day is still very young...

So here is a screenshot of player stats taken around midnight EST. Over 1,300 unique players stopped by or played on the server today. Imagine if all those 1,344 players asked for custom skins? O.O This is why we now require players to be regular and active for a minimum of 30 days before being eligible for a custom skin. Installing and assigning custom skins during the server's infancy was fairly easy, since there was probably only about 15 of us on the server every day.....now, not so easy. ;)



So, stick around for a while and we will definitely be willing to invest the time to help you show your personal flair. If you are just passing through and not with us for long, you'll have to make do with the standard skin options on the server. ;)

[Kibbie]

Soooooo....I'm going camping tomorrow!! (Until Tuesday)
See you all Tuesday (Actually, probably not) See you all Wednesday!!!!
Just thought I'd say this before I can't...

Have fun, mcg! Don't pet the bears. :D

[GreenXenith]

For those who were following along with "story time" yesterday, I've posted part 1 of the story about the bike repairman. And it has taken on a life of its own. Thanks a bunch, guys, I'm now obsessed! XD My blog address is in my Minetest profile, or you can pm me for it.

I can't wait for more of the story :O

[harmony]

Thank you Kibbie :) Awesome windchimes btw GD and giftboxes, you have great talent! :D

[Lone_Wolf]

Thank you Kibbie :) Awesome windchimes btw GD and giftboxes, you have great talent! :D

Yep he does!
Is it ok to set up to wind chimes next to each other? Maybe 2-4 nodes apart?
Also: Not sure why but I got EXTREME Deja Vu when I heard we had wind chimes lol

[MommyKat]

I wasn't going to do part 2 quite this soon. I was going to let you guys stew for a while. But it kinda forced its way out of my head, so...it's on the blog and ready for reading.

[Miss Micah]

Do the wind chimes chime on there own or do you have to smack it?

[ExeterDad]

Do the wind chimes chime on there own or do you have to smack it?

They chime via a random timer. GD's original version chimed with a much shorter wait. Almost constant even. So if the wait is too long, blame me :P

[mitten]

Yeah mitten,
I/we really appreciate your very kind words. But Andrey01 is right. The "official" HOMETOWN thread is VERY active. In fact so active that it has been a concern to other forum members and staff.
I think if we have two threads going, it may be the last straw for us.
So in the future, at least until the offsite forum is ready, please post your HOMETOWN related posts there :)

Ok i will do thank you ExeterDad :D

[Andrey01]

Super fast, since it happens to be around midnight and less than an hour until our server starts a new day, I wanted to share a pic to support the statements I made in the post regarding custom skins. The statement was:

We have well over 1,000 unique players every single day. Wanna see for yourself? The next time you are on the server, type /players and you will see the stats. This magnified screenshot snip was taken around 11:30 in the morning EST, and the day is still very young...

So here is a screenshot of player stats taken around midnight EST. Over 1,300 unique players stopped by or played on the server today. Imagine if all those 1,344 players asked for custom skins? O.O This is why we now require players to be regular and active for a minimum of 30 days before being eligible for a custom skin. Installing and assigning custom skins during the server's infancy was fairly easy, since there was probably only about 15 of us on the server every day.....now, not so easy. ;)



So, stick around for a while and we will definitely be willing to invest the time to help you show your personal flair. If you are just passing through and not with us for long, you'll have to make do with the standard skin options on the server. ;)

It would be nice, if most servers would have over thousand players. For example, HOMETOWN would has 5000 players (no for full day), just test has 6000 and more players, Switchboard has 3000 players and etc. But i know IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

[Kibbie]

It would be nice, if most servers would have over thousand players. For example, HOMETOWN would has 5000 players (no for full day), just test has 6000 and more players, Switchboard has 3000 players and etc. But i know IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Agreed, and impossible. It seems like the most popular servers like MinersWorld, HOMETOWN, MM-Survival, Cash's World, etc. are all pushing max capacity at times. I know when we get those spikes of 60+ players on at once some players can feel the performance difference in the spawn area. It would be nice if we could all hold more players and generate more interest in Minetest.

[harmony]

Thank you Kibbie :) Awesome windchimes btw GD and giftboxes, you have great talent! :D

Yep he does!
Is it ok to set up to wind chimes next to each other? Maybe 2-4 nodes apart?
Also: Not sure why but I got EXTREME Deja Vu when I heard we had wind chimes lol

how much is a node? And whoa lol.

[ExeterDad]

Is it ok to set up to wind chimes next to each other? Maybe 2-4 nodes apart?

They will work fine. No reason they would cause conflicts with each other. Well... with the exception of more racket.
The models are however have quite a few triangles (lot's of mesh) for what they are. So the more in one area, the harder it will be for some clients to load without a fps drop.

how much is a node?

A node is one block. No matter what block it is, if it occupies a position on the map, it's a node. Nodes are a common way to express measurement. For example a common door height is two nodes high.

[harmony]

[quote]"ExeterDad" A node is one block. No matter what block it is, if it occupies a position on the map, it's a node. Nodes are a common way to express measurement. For example a common door height is two nodes high.[quote]
oh ok thx. Is it bad for FPS to drop?

[Lone_Wolf]

"ExeterDad" A node is one block. No matter what block it is, if it occupies a position on the map, it's a node. Nodes are a common way to express measurement. For example a common door height is two nodes high.

oh ok thx. Is it bad for FPS to drop?

Well is 0 FPS instead of 5 FPS bad or good? :P
Not sure if I should do the wind chimes or not now lol

[harmony]

"Lone_Wolf"
Well is 0 FPS instead of 5 FPS bad or good? :P
Not sure if I should do the wind chimes or not now lol

Well idk what FPS does, or what it's for...

[Kibbie]

Well is 0 FPS instead of 5 FPS bad or good? :P
Not sure if I should do the wind chimes or not now lol

FPS = frames per second. The lower the number, the worse the performance is. 5 FPS is pretty bad, 0 FPS probably means you can't even move.

[ExeterDad]

"Lone_Wolf"
Well is 0 FPS instead of 5 FPS bad or good? :P
Not sure if I should do the wind chimes or not now lol

Well idk what FPS does, or what it's for...

FPS = Frames Per Second.
A movie clip is merely a ton of pictures. These pictures are shown to you at a fast rate to trick the eyes into seeing movement. A typical movie shows you these pictures at a rate of 29 Frames Per Second.
I think pretty much all the games you see, show you what's happening on your screen in frames as well. So if your Minetest game is saying your FPS is 30 or above, you are having nice smooth movement of whatever you are seeing. If your FPS is very very low, say 5 FPS, you are seeing very jumpy movements. A walking person wouldn't be gliding along with the legs moving smooth. They would appear to jerking forward while walking.

So the concern with nodes that have a heavy mesh is: They add more to the load of the graphics card of the machine that is in the area. The more load, the lower the FPS. This is why spawn is "laggier" then a area far away. There is a heavy concentration of items there. The video card needs to sort it all out and slows it down. So the FPS drops and everything gets jumpier and looks bad.

Sorry for the ramble lol

[Lone_Wolf]

I had just finished a 3 line explanation ExeterDad xD You and Kibbe type fast :P
Yours was a better explanation lol