Simple Idea: Multiplayer Mapping (explained)
wolffeguard
Join Date: 2010-10-17 Member: 74493Members
Join Date: 2010-10-17 Member: 74493Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Just a simple Idea I had, that doesn't sound impossible</div>Let me just start off by saying I've been mapping for Hl1 & Hl1 mods, Hl2 & hl2 mods and various othergames for a few years now and am definitely pre-ordering tomorrow (when the bank is open) to gain access to that oh-so-juicy Spark editor (i've already watched hours worth of timelapse spark editor footage on youtube).
My closest friend who's also been an avid gamer his whole life wants to get into editing. He is the type of person who always fusses about little flaws in various games. You would think he is depressed because his voice is almost monotone on a consistence basis. I showed him a couple of pre-alpha videos on youtube of NS2 and his reaction was something I never heard him say about anything, ever, "Looks cool".
He wants to get into editing as well, and he's excited after I showed him a few spark editor videos.
My idea:
Currently if I am correct, if two people want to work on the same map you go as follows: Person A edits it a little, saves it. Sends it to person B. Person B opens it then edits it. Repeat. Obviously that could work, but it just doesn't have that "Cooperation" feel as your always editing the map yourself.
This could be an after-release project or something that people may find, but I propose a co-operative addition to the spark editor. Similar to Halo 3 and Halo Reach's "Forgeworld (nothing compared to the power of say the spark editor). It would be extremely fun to be able to edit the map in real time with a partner. I'm not sure how easy this would be to implement, it might be relatively easy, as adding in a server client into it, but then again It might be difficult or require a lot of effort.
This could open up possibilities for fellow map editors as well, allowing further cooperation.
This feature wouldn't be without it's kinks to work out, but in the end I think it could be powerful.
My closest friend who's also been an avid gamer his whole life wants to get into editing. He is the type of person who always fusses about little flaws in various games. You would think he is depressed because his voice is almost monotone on a consistence basis. I showed him a couple of pre-alpha videos on youtube of NS2 and his reaction was something I never heard him say about anything, ever, "Looks cool".
He wants to get into editing as well, and he's excited after I showed him a few spark editor videos.
My idea:
Currently if I am correct, if two people want to work on the same map you go as follows: Person A edits it a little, saves it. Sends it to person B. Person B opens it then edits it. Repeat. Obviously that could work, but it just doesn't have that "Cooperation" feel as your always editing the map yourself.
This could be an after-release project or something that people may find, but I propose a co-operative addition to the spark editor. Similar to Halo 3 and Halo Reach's "Forgeworld (nothing compared to the power of say the spark editor). It would be extremely fun to be able to edit the map in real time with a partner. I'm not sure how easy this would be to implement, it might be relatively easy, as adding in a server client into it, but then again It might be difficult or require a lot of effort.
This could open up possibilities for fellow map editors as well, allowing further cooperation.
This feature wouldn't be without it's kinks to work out, but in the end I think it could be powerful.
Comments
This would be an interesting feature, but I have no idea how to manage it. Basically you would need the map editor to act in a server-client system and somehow do lag correction and locking to avoid people messing with the same object.
However, if someone gets this to work, it would be an interesting way to do more collaborative mapping. That being said, I imagine collaborative mapping is a small subset of mappers. Typically mappers (in my experience) like to have a singular vision, make it, and then have tweaking occur. However, I could be wrong.
This would be an interesting feature, but I have no idea how to manage it. Basically you would need the map editor to act in a server-client system and somehow do lag correction and locking to avoid people messing with the same object.
However, if someone gets this to work, it would be an interesting way to do more collaborative mapping. That being said, I imagine collaborative mapping is a small subset of mappers. Typically mappers (in my experience) like to have a singular vision, make it, and then have tweaking occur. However, I could be wrong.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No, you are right. Perhaps you don't even need to make a locking mechanism. I think it could be a great idea, for serious mappers to cooperate together & plan ideas in real time with each other instead of it being a "turn based" mock system.
It'd be great to get a professional opinion on the logistics & feasibility of such an implementation.
As mentioned before, this would cause some confusion if two people are altering the same object (vertex, side) simultaneously, but that is a minor annoyance at worst.
Well, that's kinda what I wanted locking for. Perhaps a simpler system would be to see highlighted what the other person(s) are manipulating so you know to not mess with it. Or, you could, but chaos may ensue.
Well generally people who make maps are serious about it. Only the dedicated really ever continue mapping as the newer people lose interest because it might be too complicated for them to figure out. Say two people worked on a map together in real time, they woud likely be on ventrilo and communicating real time as well, so as said earlier, the potential chaos would be an extremely minor annoyance at best that could be easily in most cases solved.