Smidge204

Okay, so I manged to accidentally log into the e-mail address that catches all the junk messages the forum generates. Nobody checks this address - it is intended to be a black hole to throw junk mail into, and that's how it's treated. There was unread messages from 2008 in there, to give you an idea how serious I am about that. DO NOT use the "Contact us" link if you have a legitimate problem - contact me directly (see below) Anyway, I've noticed that about 1 in 500 messages is actually someone using the "Contact Us" form the forum provides. About a third of those are actual people with actual problems. To these people who never got answers, I apologize. This post is all about addressing the general reasons why people use that form in hope of preemptively solving their problem. Common Problem #1: "My e-mail / IP is banned!" Due to excessive abuse and spam, our e-mail/IP exclusion filters are long and encompassing. Sometimes too much so. For example, the majority of IPs associated with Russia are blocked due to floods of spam and malicious website linking, as are all *.ru e-mail addresses. China also has a good swath of addresses blocked. Likewise, all *.co.uk e-mail addresses are blocked thanks to a seemingly endless stream of assholes registering from there at the time. I'm considering removing this block so we'll see how it works out... but if the problem resurfaces I will put it back in. So if you get a message saying your e-mail or IP is blocked, you've probably been caught in a filter. Common Problem #2: "My account was deleted!" All registrations must be manually approved by a forum staff. This is because the vast majority of new members are spammer, and only a human eye can pick them out with any accuracy. So if your account was deleted before it was even activated, chances are a mod thought you were a spammer or bot. We check IPs and e-mail addresses first via a Google search, and if either of those show up on a spam/bot list somewhere the account is deleted. User names of those who pass those first two rounds are then Google'd to try to verify you're a real person. If your chosen user name shows up on multiple, unrelated forums as registered within the past few days but with no posts that's usually a sign of a spammer setting up lots of accounts - so you'll get preemptively deleted. Lastly, on the registration page there is a field marked "Current Project" with a default value of "I am a bot, change me" - change that. If you don't, we will assume you are a form-blind registration bot and delete your account. If your username consists of seemingly random letters, you'll probably be deleted on general principle. Historically names like that are spam bots. For the record, this site gets DOZENS of registrations every day on average. nearly all of them are spammers and bots. Common Problem #3: "It's been X days/weeks and I'm still not activated!" Again, all registrations must be manually approved by a forum staff. Sometimes we slip up and nobody checks for awhile. We've gotten better at staying on top of it but still not perfect. Common Problem #4: "I was okay before but not I can't post / I'm not activated!" Changing your e-mail address seems to undo account activation, so that may be the culprit. If you think that's what happened let me know and I'll try to straighten it out for you. Common Problem #5: "My old, activated account was deleted!" Occasionally - very rarely (it's been over a year since the last time) I will cull unused accounts. Accounts that have zero posts and have not been accessed in so many months will be deleted as inactive. If you were a registered lurker who never posted and took a year long vacation there's a slight chance your account has been purged. Like I said, though, I haven't done this in a long time so it shouldn't come up. If you really, genuinely need help Contact me directly (my username at gmail). No promises you'll get a direct reply but if I see it and I'm not pressed with other tasks I'll try to make it right. If you act like a jackass, TYPE IN ALL CAPS or are generally an abusive little dick then you might as well forget it though... I'm probably not going to waste my time on someone who can't write a simple e-mail. Do NOT contact me if you have a problem with another user - the "report post" feature works just fine and all the mods see those. =Smidge=

I'm quoting a month old conversation because that is the most recent pertaining to whatever Retro is doing. A month ago we asked what was going on with you guys - admittedly I've been using PC0 as a proxy, but he's not that bad that he'd neglect to say anything about it during numerous discussions with him in the last month. I've send out e-mail using the Google Docs list. I'm certain there's one or two Retro staffers on it (ScarrdeSun being one of them) - nothing in return. Up until some time last week I was in #sageplanning 24/7 where I'd often see Shadix idling and occasionally talk to SpexFox. Nobody seemed to say anything even though I opined openly that we were proceeding with SAGE with or without Retro. All of the SFGHQ people involved seemed to get it so I figured if nobody from Retro was speaking up, they were asleep. Or it's possible that the Retro people I have contact info on were the wrong people. I never thought to ask because PC0 was the broker of sorts, so I guess that's on me. At this point SAGE is nailed down design-wise with just some touchup and backend stuff to get it running. I have NO idea where ----- is in terms of development but last I heard (a month ago) they were still more or less goofing off. Who's in charge over there? =Smidge=

Over July 7th/8th PC0 and I had a conversation over IM. This was a solid month ago that things fell apart. It's only becoming an issue now because the scheduling is all fucked up. I never received any communication from Retro and PC0 never mentioned anything so I assume he didn't either. We had resolved to continue with SAGE but leave the date open hoping Retro would get back into the mix. Now we've waited by the phone for a month and we're running late, so I'm operating under the assumption that Retro hasn't gotten their act together at all and moving ahead. I'm penciling in SAGE2011 for the week of Sept. 18th. All I can say to the Retro folks at this point is that the train is leaving the station so either get on or step back. =Smidge=

I'm thinking of putting SAGE off until mid September. What's everyone's thoughts on this? =Smidge=

And they are still awesome. =Smidge=

Five years, man! Five ye - FIVE YEARS! Five years! FIVE! FIVE. YEARS. Fiveyears! I want to say I've seen bigger bumps, but fact is many forums don't even LAST five years. That, to me, is the biggest shock: We've been on this forum software for five+ years! =Smidge=

1) Doesn't matter much what language you use - if you actually know how to program (rather than just code) you should be able to transition between languages fairly easy. That said, I do have some experience with C# in VS2010 and feel it gets in my way trying to be helpful, so maybe you should just go straight to C# and get used to the way it behaves. 2) From my experience the best learning tool is practice, practice, practice. If you already know the basics then a book isn't going to help much unless it's on a fairly specific subject. I generally recommend Wrox Press publications but it's not like I'd swear by any one publisher... just avoid anything with a title that disparages the reader (ie "...For Dummies"). 3) Practice, practice, practice. Start small and simple. Try to resist creeping featurism. Don't be a stickler for code format. Wars have been fought over brace style and use of whitespace. Don't be one of those assholes - it might be necessary to stick to a format when working in a team, but otherwise do what is comfortable. Use comments. Lots of comments. Useful comments. You'll be glad you did when you return to your code weeks, months or sometimes years later. Don't make too big a deal out of one-off utilities. For example, I often make quick programs to edit, tweak or extract data from files. Paths and file names are hard coded. The GUI - if any - contains minimal controls in no particular arrangement; buttons of random sizes, all with their default names and captions, each doing one thing that I may or may not need (often with almost exact copies of code with a few minor but relevant tweaks). Point is, writing programs to help with other projects is excellent practice but those programs should not themselves become projects. Learn to use a hex editor and working with raw bytes will help you grasp fundamental concepts of computing; For example, editing a BMP file using a hex editor is a great way to familiarize yourself with graphics programming since all graphics are effectively treated like bitmaps once loaded. This is a great way to learn about data structures, too. =Smidge=

Cee Lo Green also plays well with others: =Smidge=

It's not lapis. It's never lapis... ...except for that one time. I'll update when I get a chance, providing hey0's mod is ready. =Smidge=

The server is back up! Haven't really futzed with it too much yet, but it seems stable. Note that I deleted large swaths of what I believed to be unused landscape, generated by wandering people, both for reducing map size and cleaning up a lot of the buggy generated landscape. Hopefully it will not regenerate so buggy. =Smidge=

This is the second dumbest fucking thread ever. Not coincidentally, the all-time dumbest fucking thread was started by the same person. And to say anything around here is "the dumbest fucking thread ever" is really saying something. =Smidge=

Hi guys. You may or may not have noticed that the server has been down for some time now. The last version of the server really threw a lot of wrenches into the works and I decided to give it a rest until I get a version I'm comfortable actually using. I'll keep you updated as I have the mind to. =Smidge=

The amount of stupid in this post is sufficient to warp space-time. Please fix... everything... and try again (but only after you've learned how to post pictures to the internet.) =Smidge=

The server will be unavailable until hey0 releases an update for his mod. =Smidge=

As far as Survival Multiplayer (SMP) goes, there are really only three things you can do: 1) Walk around and explore 2) Mine stuff 3) Build stuff Walking around aimlessly is somewhat discouraged since it increases the size of the map and degrades server performance. Mining and crafting are both unnecessary since all materials and tools are provided. That leaves building stuff. Some (most) people build houses. Me and PC0 worked on the giant sprites, and I did the giant tails statue and a sea base that's still under construction (and epic). =Smidge=

By request: Original resolution/quality image here (WARNING: 14MB 4008x2756 PNG) =Smidge=

That tunnel wasn't part of the house. It was a secret. Nobody knew about it. But you found it somehow, and built that room. Then it became significantly less secret when I accused Duckboy of doing it - which he didn't. So I decided to build the trap, figuring whoever DID build it would return and complain about being blown up, thus informing me of the culprit. I have no idea how you found that tunnel but now I'll have to make a new one somewhere else! =Smidge=

So it was YOU who built that room! Duckboy didn't even know about that secret passage until I accused HIM of building it, so I set a trap to find out who did. Looks like it worked! =Smidge=

Macaluso = Duckboy. I'll fill the chest up with stuff. Who's the ass that added bedrock? That stuff is such a pain... Also; since power circuits are working properly, the Tails statue now has spooky blinking eyes. You're welcome! =Smidge=

He had a flint&steel in hand when he right-clicked to get out of a boat. Of course the "dock" was made of wood and attached to the house... which was made of wood. P.S. there's like 20+ diamond picks in the storage boxes in Duckboy's house. =Smidge=

There's a problem in the game with water: if you place blocks in the water then remove them, the water doesn't always fill the empty block correctly and you end up with currents and holes. Real pain to fix, too. And yeah, the statue is back - did you really think I wouldn't make a backup before setting fire to 8+ hours of work? =Smidge=

I didn't even know the update was out until I read this thread. I use hey0's mod - but it seems he's on the ball with an update, so I'm making backups as I type this... Edit: Updated! =Smidge=

Obsidian - Black Stone - Dark Gray Iron - Medium Gray Cloth - Light Gray Snow - White Gold - Yellow/Orange Sponge - Lighter yellow Wood - Pale yellow Log - Brown/Dark Red (mostly brown) Brick - Red Dirt - Light Brown Leaves - Green (Can't use cactus due to adjacent blocks) You can get various shades of blue by using ice (which is translucent) and placing "gray shade" blocks behind it. This is the trick I used for the eggmobile's seat. Works great but of course it's two thick in those spots... But yeah, making the 2D sprites isn't that hard once you get your palette sorted. I use a zoning method: divide the sprite into 10x10 chunks and fill in each row of one chunk at a time (I used glass filler when the chunk had empty space). The hard part is keeping track of where you are, since it's impossible to see much of what you're doing when you're close enough to work on it. That, and having to climb back to the top after falling. LOTS of falling... Here's some screencaps I took before tearing down the scaffolding: =Smidge=

Hmm... log says you showed up at like 1AM. Yeah, nobody's around at that time, usually =Smidge=

So I discovered this little gem that fell through the cracks: "Black Heaven" (1999) OP here The plot is kinda cliche but it's chock full of 80's heavy metal goodness. =Smidge=