Suggestion - Item Database Idea
I'll start off by saying, I'm sure this idea will be resisted like a French invasion force. However I've put a lot of thought into it and I think it can be done.
Idea background - I was cleaning my DB out and I reached my eAthena Database (Ragnarok for those who don't know) and I dumped it, only to notice it was smaller than the EQemu dump. Most of the eqemu database is grid_entries at a staggering 26.6 mb, that is unavoidable. However items is 18.1 mb. eAthena was a hell of a lot smaller (Purged table before checking it, but the dump file was only 9 mb before 7zip compression.)
On the other hand I'm making a program that edits the eqemu DB, It uses a script engine that processes items and a whole lot of other technical crap. The script for "1001 Cloth Shirt" is the following:
Code:
ac=2
weight=2
price=0,2,0,0
augmentlevels=7,0,0,0,0
slots=head
size=1
The other things like spell effect/scroll effect etc are handeled via drag and drop.
Idea - So heres the idea, make a default value for everything an item could have (I've already done that for my program, though somethings have weird defaults) and instead of the 200ish columns of data, use one TEXT field and a few columns for truly necessary data like id, name, type, icon, and probably idfile. This should make the database smaller as most items don't use most of the blanks. Not to mention there are some columns that don't even have a value besides whatever they all have.
Downside - SQL commands wont be able to sort data (Well, not without one serious command anyway), which will make arbitrary searches harder, however most item searches are for name only. It's rare for an editor to search for a particular type of item, and then it's usually so the editor can summon the item in-game.
Any thoughts on this?