Dedicated Server FAQ
This thread contains information about the Ylands Dedicated Server (DS) - its current state, plans we have for it and progress towards our goals. Any discussion related to DS should ideally take place in here.
What is the current state of DS? Why is it not a part of Ylands Steam distribution? DS was introduced to Ylands a long time ago in a rather basic (and buggy) form, which we considered something that we would work on and improve. Unfortunately, we didn't find enough time to do so and DS stayed in a rather unsatisfactory state for quite a long time. Since we know that we won't have enough time to improve it substantially before we are released on Steam, we decided to remove it from the Steam distribution altogether and made it available as a "public beta" to those who are sure they want to give it a try / help us improve it before it's good enough. When will you focus on DS? Where can we expect the first improvements? DS improvements (although a more accurate description would be "massive overhaul") will become our priority once the game has been released on Steam and we've taken care of all the critical issues that may arise as a result of the game becoming available to a larger number of players - our estimate is that the works will start in January 2018. Our progress will be communicated through this thread.
How will DS change? What are you planning to implement?
I will separate our plans for this into two areas. The first one is what we plan to do about the Server monitor, running the server and performing administration. The second area will be about our plans specific to dealing with disruptive player behavior - those plans will be discussed here at a later date since they are not yet finalized. In general, we will be providing more exact implementation details to everything as soon as we get to fully focus on it. The following is what we know at this point (feel free to discuss it below). Please note that we decided to start with the bare minimum and move forward only once we and you are 100% happy with how it works.
* we believe that DS will be, in general, run by tech-savvy users, so instead of putting effort into making visually nice tools we will try to come up with tools that will be visually minimalistic but provide all the functionality needed * Server monitor will be removed altogether and replaced by a command line. You will be able to run DS from the command line while specifying a config file containing all the required information. Based on that file an appropriate game will be started. The config file will contain other settings as well (like information if the game should auto-restart after given time etc.) * using the console instead of a visual app also makes sense since Ylands - when running in dedicated server mode - requires no video card as well * initially all events will be logged to a file that the user will be able to check continuously (tail) * those with admin rights will be able to perform operations like banning, kicking, forcing restarts etc. either via console or from the game itself (if they log in and are recognized as admins based on info provided in the config file) Where can I get the current version of DS? UPDATE: with version 0.6.2 we managed to update DS to work with Steam. In the upcoming days we will be contacting those who have asked us about DS in the past and provide them with instructions on how to get it and use it. If you don't hear from us in a day or two or haven't contacted us at all but still want to give it a try, let us know via PM. How can I help? Should I take part in this? Right now the downloadable version contains the (largely unchanged) "old" DS version. You can use it even now but we'll be more interested in your feedback once we start working on the new version and make it available to you. In the meantime, we would be grateful if, in this thread, you'd tell us about features and tools you think you need, ones that you like in other games or share with us anything else you believe should be said :). Thank you!
What is the current state of DS? Why is it not a part of Ylands Steam distribution? DS was introduced to Ylands a long time ago in a rather basic (and buggy) form, which we considered something that we would work on and improve. Unfortunately, we didn't find enough time to do so and DS stayed in a rather unsatisfactory state for quite a long time. Since we know that we won't have enough time to improve it substantially before we are released on Steam, we decided to remove it from the Steam distribution altogether and made it available as a "public beta" to those who are sure they want to give it a try / help us improve it before it's good enough. When will you focus on DS? Where can we expect the first improvements? DS improvements (although a more accurate description would be "massive overhaul") will become our priority once the game has been released on Steam and we've taken care of all the critical issues that may arise as a result of the game becoming available to a larger number of players - our estimate is that the works will start in January 2018. Our progress will be communicated through this thread.
How will DS change? What are you planning to implement?
I will separate our plans for this into two areas. The first one is what we plan to do about the Server monitor, running the server and performing administration. The second area will be about our plans specific to dealing with disruptive player behavior - those plans will be discussed here at a later date since they are not yet finalized. In general, we will be providing more exact implementation details to everything as soon as we get to fully focus on it. The following is what we know at this point (feel free to discuss it below). Please note that we decided to start with the bare minimum and move forward only once we and you are 100% happy with how it works.
* we believe that DS will be, in general, run by tech-savvy users, so instead of putting effort into making visually nice tools we will try to come up with tools that will be visually minimalistic but provide all the functionality needed * Server monitor will be removed altogether and replaced by a command line. You will be able to run DS from the command line while specifying a config file containing all the required information. Based on that file an appropriate game will be started. The config file will contain other settings as well (like information if the game should auto-restart after given time etc.) * using the console instead of a visual app also makes sense since Ylands - when running in dedicated server mode - requires no video card as well * initially all events will be logged to a file that the user will be able to check continuously (tail) * those with admin rights will be able to perform operations like banning, kicking, forcing restarts etc. either via console or from the game itself (if they log in and are recognized as admins based on info provided in the config file) Where can I get the current version of DS? UPDATE: with version 0.6.2 we managed to update DS to work with Steam. In the upcoming days we will be contacting those who have asked us about DS in the past and provide them with instructions on how to get it and use it. If you don't hear from us in a day or two or haven't contacted us at all but still want to give it a try, let us know via PM. How can I help? Should I take part in this? Right now the downloadable version contains the (largely unchanged) "old" DS version. You can use it even now but we'll be more interested in your feedback once we start working on the new version and make it available to you. In the meantime, we would be grateful if, in this thread, you'd tell us about features and tools you think you need, ones that you like in other games or share with us anything else you believe should be said :). Thank you!
