I think this might work. I has looking over Gloop, a program that the maker of SOTIS created to store stats on his website, and make a global leaderboard. This got me thinking. First let me explain how it works.
How it Works
Gloop runs at the same time as SC2. When a bank is created/updated on the users computer, that information is saved and then converted into something readable, and then sent to the SOTIS website. So here is my idea. If a program can take data OUT of a bank, why can't it put information back in?
The Steps
Problem 1: How to Make People Install Gloop
Many people will not want to install a program like this, but they just want to play the game. Unfortunately, for games that really need this, that really isn't an option. They will try and play the game without it installed, and then crash the game. So how can you check if the Gloop is installed? I have a solution!
In the game description, say "GLOOP IS REQUIRED TO PLAY THIS GAME!" and provide a link you can download it from. What Gloop will do is, when the first bank is created (at the beginning of the game) Gloop will detect it. It will then change a HIGHLY encrypted boolean to "true". This will tell the game that Gloop is installed. When Gloop is uninstalled, it will change that value to "false". If the game detects that the value was not changed to "true" (Gloop is not installed), it will display "You need to install Gloop to play this game" and then kick you.
Problem 2: The Security
The reason why encrypting banks will NEVER work is because you can always just open the raw code and see how it is encrypted. If the encryption is done through Gloop, this is no longer a problem! You can pack all the security you need into Gloop, which will safely contain it and keep it safe.
Problem 3:Hackers
Yes, they exist. There needs to be a way to check and make sure a bank has not been hacked. How? By storing THREE sets of data. One in the bank, one in a location encrypted by Gloop, and one on the website. If all three do not match up, then the game will delete the banks, data on the website, and data in Gloop, making you start over. This would need some security, to make sure it isn't just someone switching computers or opening a corrupt file.
Problem 4: Changing Computers
When you change computers and try to load a bank, everything is reset. You essentially have data on each computer. If Gloop can be used to store information on the website, it could be used to check if the values on the current computer are "0", and then download the proper banks to the computer.
Problem 5: Saving Names
As you may or may not know, player names cannot be referenced, because they are text, not strings. If you could save that into a bank, load it with Gloop, and then convert it back into a String, you could finally have the option to view players as a String!
Problem 6: Bank Sizes
You could use 1 bank to trigger Gloop. This could then put the data in the bank, the bank could store it in a variable, then trigger Gloop to store new data into it to be loaded. That means no bank limit!
Just Think!
Think of the possibilities! I am sorry if this has already been thought of before, but I would like to resurrect it! Just think of the endless possibilities this could lead to!
Need Help
I am going to try and program this myself. We will see how it turns out. If you would like to PM me with suggestions or whatever, go ahead! (Or to call me a noob because it has already been made or something)
Hmm sounds intresting but I think there is a VERY big problem: Blizzard.
I don't think that they would like this in any way. I'm also pretty sure that this is against the EULA.
But I might be wrong....
Well I suppose that only one person in the lobby would have to have the program installed for the data to load. Instead of kicking if they don't have the program, it can just be "Your data will not be saved if you do not download this program". That way if people like the game, they will get tired of their game not being saved and download the program willingly.
If this becomes a "big thing" I'm almost positive blizzard will not like it. But I agree that we could do it gloop style; your data wont be saved if you don't have it, but you don't HAVE to get it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Feel free to Send me a PM if you have any questions/concerns!
Ya well if anything, we can suggest it to Blizzard. I would assume they don't want "Global Banks" because they don't want their servers cluttered with custom game data.
If we suggest for THEM to make a program like this (it would not take them long) that could save the data to a DIFFERENT database, then they might go for it. Who knows? It's not like Blizzard tells us anything lol.
Ya well if anything, we can suggest it to Blizzard. I would assume they don't want "Global Banks" because they don't want their servers cluttered with custom game data.
... We have like what? 105mb total mapspace? Who for gods sake uses that all?! I realy don't mind if they reduce that to 100mb and give us Server Banks ... I mean, how big is your banks folder? Mine is 2.1mb and that includes: The dialog designer (great tool) banks which alone take 1.4mb and all the campain banks which are 516kb. So yeah, of all the custom games I played, the banks take up about 200kb (61 files).
I thought of this months ago, back in beta when I was brainstorming how one could run an MMO using only SC2. No map changing with bnet spoiled my ideas, but I had a few other ideas, like a login system for the program so that you could have the same info on several computers, and multiple accounts.
Yeah...speaking of map changing... How is the starcraft universe project going to handle that? It looked awesome, but... I wonder what he's going to do about that.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Feel free to Send me a PM if you have any questions/concerns!
Don't forget that players are going to have to BUY maps with the release of HoTS. If they have to do that, then they shouldn't have a problem with taking a couple minutes to download a program. Especially if we can get this thing to work with a bunch of different maps.
Also, if Blizzard releases it, it could just download itself with a patch. Now THAT is something they should do. It would take what, a day for them to do?
Uh, Blizzard? They kinda already said they were doing that. Just like the app store, a map that costs money will soon become accepted as a higher quality map than one that does not. It is just they way of life.
I think that yes, maps that cost money will be regarded as higher quality. And I completely love the idea of letting map makers get some money for thier work. I dont like the idea of some 8 year old making a crap map, throwing up some fake screenshots, and charging 10 bucks. Some very basic quality control (IE the map has to be playable) would be necessary. That's not to say free maps will "die out" though.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Feel free to Send me a PM if you have any questions/concerns!
I think that yes, maps that cost money will be regarded as higher quality. And I completely love the idea of letting map makers get some money for thier work. I dont like the idea of some 8 year old making a crap map, throwing up some fake screenshots, and charging 10 bucks. Some very basic quality control (IE the map has to be playable) would be necessary.
Thats why I think it won't happen. Maybe donations. Without any quality control... can't even think of it. But I doubt that blizzard will be that stupid. The abusement possibilitys are just too big. Like you sad: empty map, some fake screenshots high price...
Yeah...speaking of map changing... How is the starcraft universe project going to handle that? It looked awesome, but... I wonder what he's going to do about that.
I can't help but think that they'll only have max 14 players, maybe less. It'll be an MMO by name only unless they use something like what this topic is about, and even then are restricted by map size.
As far as Battle.net improvements, one primary focus will be on getting the StarCraft Marketplace up and running at some point around the launch of Heart of the Swarm. The maps and mods community in StarCraft II has published tens of thousands of custom maps using the StarCraft II editor. Our goal with the new Marketplace design will be in upgrading the custom map UI to better showcase the wide variety of great new maps and mods to players who are looking for fun new gaming experiences. We want players to be able to more easily find, rate, and sort through all the great custom maps that have been created.
No, they did not say directly that they are going to allow mappers to charge to play their maps. However, doesn't the word "Marketplace" give you a hint that it will?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Great to be back and part of the community again!
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How to Make Global Banks!
I think this might work. I has looking over Gloop, a program that the maker of SOTIS created to store stats on his website, and make a global leaderboard. This got me thinking. First let me explain how it works.
How it Works
Gloop runs at the same time as SC2. When a bank is created/updated on the users computer, that information is saved and then converted into something readable, and then sent to the SOTIS website. So here is my idea. If a program can take data OUT of a bank, why can't it put information back in?
The Steps
Problem 1: How to Make People Install Gloop
Many people will not want to install a program like this, but they just want to play the game. Unfortunately, for games that really need this, that really isn't an option. They will try and play the game without it installed, and then crash the game. So how can you check if the Gloop is installed? I have a solution!
In the game description, say "GLOOP IS REQUIRED TO PLAY THIS GAME!" and provide a link you can download it from. What Gloop will do is, when the first bank is created (at the beginning of the game) Gloop will detect it. It will then change a HIGHLY encrypted boolean to "true". This will tell the game that Gloop is installed. When Gloop is uninstalled, it will change that value to "false". If the game detects that the value was not changed to "true" (Gloop is not installed), it will display "You need to install Gloop to play this game" and then kick you.
Problem 2: The Security
The reason why encrypting banks will NEVER work is because you can always just open the raw code and see how it is encrypted. If the encryption is done through Gloop, this is no longer a problem! You can pack all the security you need into Gloop, which will safely contain it and keep it safe.
Problem 3:Hackers
Yes, they exist. There needs to be a way to check and make sure a bank has not been hacked. How? By storing THREE sets of data. One in the bank, one in a location encrypted by Gloop, and one on the website. If all three do not match up, then the game will delete the banks, data on the website, and data in Gloop, making you start over. This would need some security, to make sure it isn't just someone switching computers or opening a corrupt file.
Problem 4: Changing Computers
When you change computers and try to load a bank, everything is reset. You essentially have data on each computer. If Gloop can be used to store information on the website, it could be used to check if the values on the current computer are "0", and then download the proper banks to the computer.
Problem 5: Saving Names
As you may or may not know, player names cannot be referenced, because they are text, not strings. If you could save that into a bank, load it with Gloop, and then convert it back into a String, you could finally have the option to view players as a String!
Problem 6: Bank Sizes
You could use 1 bank to trigger Gloop. This could then put the data in the bank, the bank could store it in a variable, then trigger Gloop to store new data into it to be loaded. That means no bank limit!
Just Think!
Think of the possibilities! I am sorry if this has already been thought of before, but I would like to resurrect it! Just think of the endless possibilities this could lead to!
Need Help
I am going to try and program this myself. We will see how it turns out. If you would like to PM me with suggestions or whatever, go ahead! (Or to call me a noob because it has already been made or something)
Great to be back and part of the community again!
Like I said, PM me if you have any additional ideas or post here!
Great to be back and part of the community again!
nice job hijacking my thread :D
Sounds like a good idea though, but most people wont want to download a program like that. Like you said though, you can force people to do it. ;)
Hmm sounds intresting but I think there is a VERY big problem: Blizzard. I don't think that they would like this in any way. I'm also pretty sure that this is against the EULA. But I might be wrong....
Or they could play something else and simply ignore it :/ I think forcing them to install it is the wrong way....
@Hobrow: Go
Well I suppose that only one person in the lobby would have to have the program installed for the data to load. Instead of kicking if they don't have the program, it can just be "Your data will not be saved if you do not download this program". That way if people like the game, they will get tired of their game not being saved and download the program willingly.
Great to be back and part of the community again!
@TacoManStan: Go
If this becomes a "big thing" I'm almost positive blizzard will not like it. But I agree that we could do it gloop style; your data wont be saved if you don't have it, but you don't HAVE to get it.
@zeldarules28: Go
Ya well if anything, we can suggest it to Blizzard. I would assume they don't want "Global Banks" because they don't want their servers cluttered with custom game data.
If we suggest for THEM to make a program like this (it would not take them long) that could save the data to a DIFFERENT database, then they might go for it. Who knows? It's not like Blizzard tells us anything lol.
Great to be back and part of the community again!
Yeah that sounds way better...
... We have like what? 105mb total mapspace? Who for gods sake uses that all?! I realy don't mind if they reduce that to 100mb and give us Server Banks ... I mean, how big is your banks folder? Mine is 2.1mb and that includes: The dialog designer (great tool) banks which alone take 1.4mb and all the campain banks which are 516kb. So yeah, of all the custom games I played, the banks take up about 200kb (61 files).
I thought of this months ago, back in beta when I was brainstorming how one could run an MMO using only SC2. No map changing with bnet spoiled my ideas, but I had a few other ideas, like a login system for the program so that you could have the same info on several computers, and multiple accounts.
@JackRCDF: Go
Yeah...speaking of map changing... How is the starcraft universe project going to handle that? It looked awesome, but... I wonder what he's going to do about that.
The map has to be really really awesome good from the very first seconds or people will just abandon your map
@zeldarules28: Go
I think most people will want to play that game somewhat seriously, and as such will have no problem with installing things like gloop.
@b0ne123: Go
Don't forget that players are going to have to BUY maps with the release of HoTS. If they have to do that, then they shouldn't have a problem with taking a couple minutes to download a program. Especially if we can get this thing to work with a bunch of different maps.
Also, if Blizzard releases it, it could just download itself with a patch. Now THAT is something they should do. It would take what, a day for them to do?
Great to be back and part of the community again!
Source?
As far as I know that would be in the hand of the mapmaker/team, IF the marketplace will be a place where you can buy/sell maps for money.
@Hobrow: Go
Uh, Blizzard? They kinda already said they were doing that. Just like the app store, a map that costs money will soon become accepted as a higher quality map than one that does not. It is just they way of life.
Great to be back and part of the community again!
QFT.
@TacoManStan: Go
Still pretty early too state this, even tho it's the most obvious.
@Dresnia: Go
I think that yes, maps that cost money will be regarded as higher quality. And I completely love the idea of letting map makers get some money for thier work. I dont like the idea of some 8 year old making a crap map, throwing up some fake screenshots, and charging 10 bucks. Some very basic quality control (IE the map has to be playable) would be necessary. That's not to say free maps will "die out" though.
Again, give me a source (Blizzard post or press release). Saying Blizzard sad so proves nothing.
Thats why I think it won't happen. Maybe donations. Without any quality control... can't even think of it. But I doubt that blizzard will be that stupid. The abusement possibilitys are just too big. Like you sad: empty map, some fake screenshots high price...
Taco sad every single one :-P
Uhm just noticed, maybe we get ontopic again?
I can't help but think that they'll only have max 14 players, maybe less. It'll be an MMO by name only unless they use something like what this topic is about, and even then are restricted by map size.
Does map switching work offline?
@Hobrow: Go
Here
No, they did not say directly that they are going to allow mappers to charge to play their maps. However, doesn't the word "Marketplace" give you a hint that it will?
Great to be back and part of the community again!