If they produce a high-quality product that is commensurate with the price and with consumer expectations, they are entitled to those profits.
When they don't, well, this is what we end up with.
Remove client mission generation per station, make them global. Give us a mission finder.
- Thread starter Iori
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If they produce a high-quality product that is commensurate with the price and with consumer expectations, they are entitled to those profits.
When they don't, well, this is what we end up with.
Wrong, the missions are handled server side. They only change when you are connecting to a different server.
They are part of information associated specifically with your CMDR's instance which is generated client-side. It's the same with NPCs. In fact the entire Skynet bug was only possible because of client-side NPC data that was stored on the client's machine. FD gave a rather detailed description of this when we had the Skynet bug and explained that most of this information (i.e., NPC data, missions, etc.) is generated by the client based on basic seed information from the server. Even NPC weapon information requires client-side information to use and access, this is how the NPCs created the Skynet weapons in the first place.
If NPCs and missions were generated by the server we would have no problem with mode-switching as the servers would have kept their mission data associated with your CMDR regardless of mode-switching. As it currently stands the server does not store that information, it is created locally the same as the NPC that instantly spawns to interdict your CMDR.
Wrong, NPC damage is persistent, many players (including myself) have tested this. There are some bugs though.
There are dedicated servers on different layers, the first layer handles the BGS stuff, the next layer handles matchmaking etc and the last layer is your P2P connection which handles NPC, USS and player interaction. Your actions are still reported to the server rather than the player hosting the instance.
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NPCs are generated in your instance, mission generation is not. You can log in and log off and the bulletin board will still be the same. It only changes if you are connecting to a different server (which often happens during mode switching).
No, it is not. I'm sorry but I've been interdicted more times than I can count and NPC damage is not tracked from prior encounters. The NPCs are not persistent in any way, they simply insta-spawn when they need to be created. This is how they can show up behind you suddenly during supercruise, how they can "follow" you on 30 ly jumps (they are simply re-spawning) and even how an NPC with the same name can reappear with a different combat rank. These issues are not "bugs" they are limitations of the P2P architecture that creates new NPC spawns when your CMDR enters a new instance, which means every time you jump, drop out of supercruise, drop into a USS and so on.
Yes, there is synchronization between the server and the client re. BSG, system state and so on but the servers FD uses do not track or store the detailed information about any given NPC or any given mission. That is the entire problem with the lack of persistent NPCs, the servers are simply not set up to handle that at all. They give your client the information it needs to do most of the work on its own and FD would need a massive investment in central dedicated servers to track all of this persistently.
Yes, some mission information is retained, for example, if you have a mission in your inventory it will stay there despite any number of mode switches and the mission boards only refresh at certain intervals unless you switch modes. That does not mean that it is not generated locally, for example, when driving the SRV or flying around in supercruise you only see "updates" for the rocks or USSs at certain intervals but the rock or USS is still generated by the client and they only exist as long as you are in that particular instance. For missions the process is slightly broader than this as the information is retained between stations, much like inventory in the "buy back" option staying around for 10 min or so, but it is still tied to your CMDR and will disappear once the server tick causes it to refresh. That is also why we have problems with the "0 min 0 sec" mission timers, they are triggered to be generated on certain conditions such as getting close to the delivery station or system but are not tracked persistently in a way that would make sense. They are just flagged for the client to generate at a certain interval even if it makes no sense due to being impossible to complete the mission in that timeframe.
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Again, NPC DAMAGE is persistent, we've tested this several times. Since it doesn't work always we came to the conclusion that a bug might be involved.
This is mostly correct. Note that a full client-server architecture isn't possible due to the sophisticated combat system in ED. Otherwise we'd need to roll dices and have low tickrates.
Correct. Although your example reminds me of Schroedinger.
This is correct, but it isn't related to the question if missions are generated server or client side.
Do you know of any video showing this? I haven't re-tested damage persistence recently but if they managed to fix it that would certainly be an improvement. From what I can tell however they are still insta-spawning NPCs with no regard for prior position or other information in ways that are not physically possible. For example, yesterday I was pursued by an NPC who I managed to outrun in SC and left him over 1000 ls away when I reached the station. Despite this they magically appeared at the station waiting for me as soon as I dropped out of SC.
The central server wouldn't really be necessary for most combat within an instance, what the central server could do is ensure that NPCs remain persistent between instances, i.e., if you jump to another system the NPC needs to follow you and if they have a lower FSD jump range then you will outrun them. At present you can't "escape" from most NPCs as they can magically appear in any instance your CMDR has created without regard for position, speeds, jump ranges and so on.
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You mean that database which is now huge due to over 10,000 station missions all being stored there... Now given a few thousand CMDR's requesting missions and the need to filter and sort the database plus replace missions that have been taken, generate a new range of missions for the entire bubble every six hours... The game is made by Frontier, not google!
While I would like to see a system of missions where you may be contacted by a minor faction you are allied with at any time, requesting your services. I don't think having the entire bubbles missions in every station will add anything to the game other then cost, confusion for players, a nightmare for the developers and be a feature that is not used by many.
Nice to see the idea though, just needs to be thought out a bit deeper.
No video, you'll have to believe me or test it yourself. Remember that it can be bugged. Last time I checked it didn't work for NPCs following you through hyperspace.
I'd like that, however I think that it could be handled client side. Since we are the one spawning the NPC anyway, we could just tell him to not spawn... Should just take some coding effort (and it's likely something FDEV wants to include in the future).
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BTW, you might be interested in this video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJPyjmfdz0