Updates

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:47 am

A little heads up on the new EM map system.

We're closing in on a release of it. There is still some tweaking to do but I'm happy to
announce that this will work as intended.

Catch you out there.

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:15 pm

Hi all!

Im SeeJays friend working on the new dynamic Map system on his site. http://evochron.junholt.se.

Thought iÂ´d stop by here to say hello.

Its a very interesting project and technically speaking kind of unique. The entire map and grids and objects are drawn using javascript and a mixture of SVG and for IE6 , VML.
This makes it cross-browser and mobile device ready. Some features in the current stable (kinda) version include.

* full theming support
* API for zooming, panning
* Quadrant Zoom function all the way into the systems.
* automatic Zoom and Pan by selection of data from SQL.
* sortable and clickable datagrid connected to Map.
* label collision detection (labels doesnt get stacked over eachother)
* Editable grid with inline editing for administrators using a CRUD Ajax interface.
* fully customizable object icons in vector format.
Exited to get input when sneak preview is posted.

What are we calling the project anyway ?

anyway.. Hi all .. and i hope to install the game today . Be kind to me out there.

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:24 pm

Welcome MapMan.

Great to have you here as well as on the Bus.

I'll watch your back when you're online, so you'll be very safe (LOL)!:P
I can guarantee you that pilots liking this map thingy will also rush to help you
if you encounter any hostile actions. I'll set you up with a stick to get you started!;)

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:37 pm

Cool..
hmm.. My status looks kinda NOOB..
I Â´ve been asking for a different format of the file generated by the game. Its hard for me to deal with plain textfiles (but will work).

See you on the bus.

/The flying duck.

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:42 pm

From post: 100417, Topic: tid=6692, author=MapMan wrote:Cool..
hmm.. My status looks kinda NOOB..
I Â´ve been asking for a different format of the file generated by the game. Its hard for me to deal with plain textfiles (but will work).

See you on the bus.

/The flying duck.

Atollski might be able to help you out. He wants the map to "talk" to his great
program as well. Zule will probably also give you some useful information. Those
two guy's seems to know what they're doing!:P

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:08 pm

Ok.. will do

I need to install the game and try out Atollskis software first.
I guess im the only one here not actually ever seen the game in action but still spent 100 hours on development for it.

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:10 pm

Did you know that the game presents info about LOTS of status going on in the HUD ?..

It make me wanna do a dashboard with that info using the same tech as we use in the map. Woud be kinda easy compared to the map.

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:19 pm

From post: 100424, Topic: tid=6692, author=MapMan wrote:Did you know that the game presents info about LOTS of status going on in the HUD ?..

It make me wanna do a dashboard with that info using the same tech as we use in the map. Woud be kinda easy compared to the map.

Yes, I know, but I'm not really a modder, so I haven't really checked it out.
Have installed some mods from others to improve my cockpit/scenario.

LOL, you're getting involved much deeper then me now.

And you still haven't tried the game for a sec yet. ROFLMAO!

Now you understand why I don't sleep anymore!

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:27 pm

Hey MapMan.

I have a project for you.
One interface that presents the map (GPS), Atollskis NavProg and Zule's Data presentation/Warnings.

Now thats something to get your teeth's into:P

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:38 pm

If i get Adobe air running with access to the output texfile from the game , only imagination can stop me i guess.
All the painting and vector stuff is already in place. I also have prepared a Treepanel that would look something like Atollskis stuff (from seeing a screenshot).
My girlfriend is so happy for me getting new projects on my mind

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:42 pm

From post: 100427, Topic: tid=6692, author=MapMan wrote: My girlfriend is so happy for me getting new projects on my mind

She will probably kill me when we meet. Maybe we should call that beer night off!?!?:P

I'm looking forward to this. Once you get comfy with the sim you're gonna create
some great stuff I'm sure off.

You already have.

Atollski · Post by **Atollski** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:02 pm

Hi MapMan,

You're both doing a great job on the site, that map is looking really great!

If you want the savedata.txt file converted, I could write a converter program which re-formats to whatever standard you want. There'll be a bit of a delay between the time the file is output and the creation of your file but hopefully not too much to cause problems!

Also, I've managed to get some 'Hello World' MySQL code up and running, would this be compatible with your SQL server?

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:28 pm

NEW MAP PRE-RELEASE!:D

I'm happy to announce that the new map site is ready to be tested.
There is still some work to do with graphics and tweaking in the information presentation area.
We release it anyway to get some feedback on changes, bugs and improvements.

How it works:
- The map is now dynamically updated from an SQL Database. As soon as the DB is updated, it's
plotted on the map.
- If you click once on an object, it will be marked and focus in the table moved to that line and vice verse.
- If you double click an object, it will zoom in.
- Zoom out is achieved by clicking on "Back" above the table. (This function needs more work).
- You can also zoom in a Quadrant by double click the quadrant area. This works in all zoom levels.
- There is a tab with "data" and that is for entering new findings. (Only for me at this point)
- The "empty space" above the table is presenting coords for the selected object. More info will be added here.
- Jumpgates is connected with a line when both start and dest gate is in the selected zoom level.
(BH and WH will be added as well).

Consider this as a beta version for now. My "hacker" MapMan will not be able to correct, change or add
anything until next week. (Skiing in France).

There will be a lot off features added in the future, such as Universe GPS function that will plot your
position in real-time on a local version of the site. (It's still connected to the DB).

We have tried different browsers for this site and it seems that explorer have a problem running
it. It's only javascript running things so it's a bit weird. All other tested browsers run it fine.
I use Google Chrome for this.

Feedback is much appreciated as usual.

The location is: http://mercenary.junholt.se

(My old site will remain as it is as well for those of you who prefer it);)

Enjoy!
SeeJay and MapMan (Jedi Master in training)

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:12 pm

The reason it doent work in IE is simple and pure lazyness from my side. Its just a matter of formatting color codes so IE understands them. Its a 10 minute process. I have just not cared until now since im on Mac.

Back button is really awful right now. Both placement and function is a joke. Its hidden above the grid and always goes back to topmost zoomlevel.
I need to invent som zoomhistory semantics to make this work.

If someone is familiar with vectorgraphics in svg format please contribute with icons for different objects in map. Also icons in any vectorbased application would be most appriciated.

For best experince in javascript RIA applications like this, please use Chrome.. Its tha poopooe. Performance wise that is.

Im back on monday and we are looking forward to your ideas and thoughts. But please know that the UI is in no way final. Its meant to look ugly now.

Please make sure you dont have the map big enough to be in scroll mode. This humps up the label collision detection and everything gets a blur.

Btw. I tested the game yesterday. Haha. I will definatly need protection. I suck.
/ MapMan

[Edited on 1-20-2011 by MapMan]

[Edited on 1-20-2011 by MapMan]

MapMan · Post by **MapMan** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:19 pm

@atollski. cool. I would like it in json format if thats possible. But dont spend time on before i have solved the local file access problem. My stuff is browser based and there is a no no regarding local files. One way would ofcourse if everyone saved there savedata.txt to their dropbox folder. But i guess that is too much to ask and there might be a too long delay.
What are you doing with SQL. Saving info from the game in a sql on the web or locally?

Atollski · Post by **Atollski** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:51 am

I think the local file access problem is now solved - have managed to create a program to upload data from my map log program to a MySQL server running on my local computer. If your site is running MySQL, hopefully we can just point the program at your database server and it will dump data straight into your site so you can focus on all the snazzy stuff like using an iPad/iPhone as a HUD.

:D:D:D

I think beers are in order...

Hopefully will be on tonight - it's been a while!

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 1:12 pm

Hey Atollski. Cool.

You can have my login info for my webhotel if you want to try stuff.

Cheers, beer and scotch IS ALWAYS IN ORDER. (FWI):P
Just let me know mate.

Post by **DaveK** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:46 pm

Hi

I love the new map and the ability to zoom in and out. A couple of points . . .

When I zoom into a quadrant within a system, several labels are on the same line overwriting each other.

Will planets, gates etc eventually have icons of their own?

Is there any way of seeing the data tabulated by type (as in the original site)? All I can find at the moment is the systems.

Whilst you are developing the system please could you put the "last updated" date somewhere on the start page so we can see whether there are any new goodies to see. Obviously when the system is complete and the updating/info adding semi-automated then update dates aren't so important

A cool development!

Thanks

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:04 pm

Hi DaveK.

Thanks.

- The labels is an issue we are working on.
- All different object will have a unique icon to it.
- We are also looking into presenting the data as you suggest. That will be after the site is
working smoothly.
- We can put a last update note on the site as well, good point.

Post by **DaveK** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:20 pm

Thanks

Post by **DaveK** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:48 am

Hi

I know that you have been concentrating on the new map (please find a bit of time to keep the original up to date! If it helps I'm willing to enter data into an excel file and email it to you to add to your file!)

Any news on the progress of the quest? Could you start a quest thread to make it easier to track updates?

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:25 am

Hi DaveK.

The original map is up to date so far. I do have some systems/objects I haven't plotted yet
since I might use them in the quest. Is there any special data that you are missing?

I haven't gotten any reports in a while, so if there are data missing, please send it and I'll look into it.
(You can either use the form on site or send any file you want).

I will start a new thread for the quest in due time. As for now I'm beta-testing the first part of it.
So it's not really much to say just now. It is created to keep your old IMG quest progress, it will
even force you to do that one first if you haven't.

Post by **DaveK** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:43 am

Hi

No I'm not missing anything - I was just offering to do a bit of grunt work so that you could have a bit of time to actually fly around "out there", rather than just making things more fun for the rest of us!

Would you please post an update of the website and Excel files in the downloads section

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:57 am

Oki.

Thx for the offer mate.
I don't mind doing this, just happy people are actually using it. There will most likely be
a locally installed new map as well in the future with a lot of features in it.
it will run with the online DB from my site.

If you have any data you can send it. I have a few system that will go up soon.
I will update the download section as well.

If my eye's don't bleed to much from no sleeping, I'll see what I can do tonight. I'm also finishing the
graphics for the new site tonight.

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 1:19 pm

I see you are still missing an important station in Sapphire!