Simple Client Status

[Windcatcher]

Good xp (thanks, GeorgeS!)

No, I didn't kill just one of these to level.

[waternorth]

Incredibly impressed... just out of curiosity, what program are you using to model inanimate objects?

[Windcatcher]

I made the majority of them in OpenZone, though I'm increasingly starting to make some in Anim8or (especially weapons).

[Windcatcher]

I've got hanging flags working now (flapping in the breeze), and Lelembeth is fully usable now (has merchants, guards, lots of things to kill, a couple of guildmasters, etc.). I've also fixed some serious bugs and the client is basically ready for a release/public beta. The major question at this point is: where to put the first public/test server? Cavedude has been hosting a private one for small beta testing, but a public one will have to be readily accessible 24/7. Also, while my test db is usable, some zones are still mostly empty and you could explore everything in pretty short order (though Lelembeth has enough content for quite a bit of leveling, with the highest-level mob, excluding guards, at level 20).

Is the client still buggy? You betcha--I would consider this more of a public beta than a public release, but I feel pretty good about letting it loose on the public -- but we need a server that the community can access, and the correct loginserver host/port (paging Doodman...).

At this time, SimpleClient supports the following server versions:

EQEMU 0.5.5
EQEMU 0.5.6
EQEMU 0.5.7
EQEMU 0.5.7-DR6
EQEMU 0.5.8
EQEMU 0.6.0-DR2

I'm currently testing on my box with 0.5.5, but when I release everything I plan to upload a 0.6.0-DR2 DB as that server has lots of fixes (for example, 0.5.5 has a nasty tendency to forget your inventory items).

There WILL be updates to the client as we move forward into 2008 (for instance, at this time the only existing player models are (1) male human, (2) male wood elf, (3) male dark elf, (4) female wood elf. Anything not modeled shows up as the default human male, and as time allows I'll add more types). There WILL be bugfixes, most likely driven by player feedback. But today I can say that I consider it playable.

Oh, and about those hanging flags: I had to make a TINY change to the client, but the gist of it is that the flag is simply exported as a mob model for that zone, with a single skeletal animation "P01". Placing it is done in the DB using the "objects" table. All in all it was surprisingly easy. I don't believe that the live client can do this, but it's easy when you're writing your own client

[Scorpious2k]

I repeat my offer:

I will donate the scorpious2k server, version 5.7 DR6 (with DB) to be used for simple client. All we need is some people who will run reliable, 24/7 servers.

[Windcatcher]

Bear in mind that your DB would require some rework as the item icons and spell icons don't carry over and only a small subset of the NPC models exist. The items work would go pretty quickly, though.

EDIT: I'm throwing together a dark elf female model too, which should be ready in another day (it will be closely based on the wood elf one).

[Windcatcher]

Well, I've fixed a bunch of stuff, finished the female dark elf model, and I think I've reached the point where the initial version can be turned loose. There is still a LOT more to do and lots of things won't work and/or aren't implemented, but it has to go out the door at some point and this is a good time for it. The only issue is hosting. Since the EQEmu devs are demanding that a client be closed-source to deter cheating, I can't just put this on SourceForge. So I guess what I'm asking for is a long-time community member to offer reliable hosting ("long-time" here merely means "likely to hang around" ). I can have it packaged up in another day or so and post it -- once I know that hosting is available, I'll take the step of porting my 0.5.5 test DB to 0.6.0-DR2, which will be the final step before I package it.

It will come with a small program called ClearLogin, which is a sort of Minilogin, but Doodman has already implemented SimpleClient's login protocol into the main EQEmu loginserver. We only need to prevail on him to publicize the host/port info...

Wind

[Scorpious2k]

Originally Posted by Windcatcher

Bear in mind that your DB would require some rework as the item icons and spell icons don't carry over and only a small subset of the NPC models exist. The items work would go pretty quickly, though.

True enough. But with our server you get a lot of bug fixes, augments (we also have custom augment pools), and if you want there is also player merchants, growing spells (spells that get stronger as your level gets higher) and stargates among other things.