Feral Heart

Game & Forum Discussion => Game Discussion => Game Suggestions & Ideas => Topic started by: ZombieKitteh on March 23, 2013, 05:39:24 am

Title: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ZombieKitteh on March 23, 2013, 05:39:24 am
I know with situations as they stand making major updates within the game client itself is hard for staff (without Kovu around).  I'm not asking for coding things or uber hard things to be added. What's stopping you guys from adding offical maps ingame?

Surely you have the tools to mess with .fhm files and the original, default FH maps? I doubt it'd be very hard to go in and add portals. Just because you guys can't have 'major' updates, why can't you offer small ones like offical maps for the time being? Or even editing the current ones.

The maps in game are currently abit.. empty sort of? Have you seen some areas in Fluorite or must I mention South Pole? Maybe add some dens here and there and random ice sculptures in other places. A clear ice material file wouldn't be hard to code (I have one if you like) and there are a ton of public meshes made by players you can use in said maps.

Maybe a more forested area branching off of Ficho and an Icey cave in South pole someplace? Just something new. It'd be something easy for staff to do (after the server issues are finished); and keep people entertained until you guys can throw out real updates.

Heck if you don't want to make the maps yourself maybe make a map making contest. And the places get their map added ingame? It'd be pretty interesting and I'm sure people in the community would like the idea.

Or if you can't edit said files (which I know you can *cough*FH+ & Feralistic*cough*) make an offical map pack for the game on the downloads page.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: Ruby1234 on March 23, 2013, 01:48:45 pm
New maps intended to be the new official maps, have actually already been made.
But there were... Complications as to getting them "official."
I'm not really the person to tell you the details.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ZombieKitteh on March 23, 2013, 08:13:30 pm
Hrmm, I see. Are said details client/game based or personal problems with others based? *decides to be nosey*
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: Ruby1234 on March 24, 2013, 02:29:42 am
It's really just an issue of,
okay, I have the original and official content, what can I do with it?
Edits may be made, sure, but every edit released hasn't been official, merely addons/mods like FH+, Feralistic, etc.
If new maps were made, permission would have to be given for them to be official, and not merely addons.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ZombieKitteh on March 24, 2013, 04:22:31 am
I see, so as in getting permission from Kovu to add said maps to the game? Makes sense I suppose.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: Ruby1234 on March 24, 2013, 11:14:58 am
Aye.
He owns the game, so any official changes made to it, would have to be approved by him.
I know of a few people that had been planning to ask staff if they could remake the default maps and such, but not just any staff member can give permission to edit the game and replace the old download.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ringoluver on April 02, 2013, 03:42:30 pm
In addition to what has been said above, the one thing is even if we did get updates like that out, there isn't a way (to my knowledge, without Kov) that we could force players to download it. Like we couldn't make a popup saying "Please downloaded the latest patch" when you try and log into the game. Only the users who are at least slightly involved with the forums and/or dA groups would know about something like this.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ZombieKitteh on June 20, 2013, 09:15:03 pm
So apparently staff /can/ make changes to the game without Kovu. General is gone.

What's stopping you guys now.

IT servers get updated through word of mouth and such, I remember the patch for SouthPole wasn't made into a popup. I heard from friends. The community is tight enough I'm sure word could spread. And hey maybe it'd get more people being active on the site and forums.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ringoluver on June 21, 2013, 01:03:30 am
X'cuse me, but, we actually can't ADD anything to the game. Raz was able to take general away by redirecting any message send through "general" into "local" through the server code. If we could've edited the game, the 'general' button would've been removed completely, no? It's still there, it just get redirected.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: Vysena on June 21, 2013, 02:31:44 am
Exactly what Ringo said, I'm not staff, but I do know that they need the actual Source Code to truely edit the game, including adding and taking away things.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: ZombieKitteh on June 21, 2013, 04:00:47 am
Whats stopping them from making mods to the client like a lot of users and members of the community do. *cough*FH+*cough* And making a patch on the website?

I know you guys have the tools to open .fhm files and the like. Adding a portal to a new map or two isn't impossible, is it?
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: xXThexDoctorXx on June 21, 2013, 04:23:58 am
I agree with what Zombie is saying. Its not that hard to make a patch for FH. To be honest with you, if we had a mod who could actually read codes then we would have had updates long ago :I Codes can be read and changed without the original sources. Just sayin' :I

Sorry for jumping in, just felt I should put in my two cents.

-ThexDoctor
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: Vysena on June 21, 2013, 05:22:34 am
The point is that you say its simple to patch it, but yet if they had possibly let you try to patch, you wouldn't be able to. FH+ is simply a modified version of FH, meaning when you download maps, you modify it, its simply someone who has maps and they released their FH I guess you could say.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: shell_prisoner on June 21, 2013, 06:38:57 am
I've tried disassembling feralheart.exe. Had no success. The unpacked executable is about 2.5 megabytes of binary code - and even more when translated to ASM. Now I think I would worship the person who can make a complex patch for FH executable without original source code :) But I still believe that it is possible to make FH report a newer version to server.
And I know that admins definitely have tools to decrypt FHMs, even user-made ones. So they can modify any map if they want to.
Title: Re: A few new offical maps ingame~
Post by: Tigg on June 21, 2013, 08:46:22 am
Being able to open FHM flies does not automaticly qualify to make changes that do work.
However of course we try, but we are all no computer nerds. The only one having a nip at computer stuff is Raz, and that with servers, not with game code. Different things.
As it was mentioned already above, if anyone of us wuld be able to crack up the exe and get the code out to modify it, we would possibly try since the original creator refuses to simply give the needet source. Everyone who thinks code stuff and programming is easy, should go to the Kito IT forum and get there source and digg into it. You will most likely not understand what line stays for which function.