Hack Pack Optional?

[Legacy_Supreme_Pizza]

               Is there a way to design areas that need a hack pack and are optional?

OK  we are in area B and want to transition to area C but when we try to transition it says we need a hak and gives me the link.

And I don't want people to have to DL the hak just to try the mod out.

Is that possible?
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               At a module level - no.

At a server level - yes, but currently on linux.
nwnx_haks allows you to 'hide' haks that are in your hak list, from All players, and only make it visible to certain players who indicate via a conversation or whatever, to say that they have the hak.

Once they do that, they are able to re-enter the server, and the hak is no longer hidden, which then enables the content for them - Which means that they can enter the areas requiring that content.


I dont use linux, so I have my own system in place.

I have my own application that downloads music, 2das, models, and entire tilesets via the application, and it installs it all into the override folder.

Override content can provide everything a hak can, except that it is sometimes considered more messy.
Eg- You have all the files uncompressed - filling your override with thousands of files, vs the one hak.

Players are then able to register on my forums, and fill in a profile field that indicates they are using the downloader content.
I use an API that allows my server to interact with my forums, so when a player uses an area transition, it automatically checks the persons forum profile if they have one, and if they say NO to downloader content, it doesnt let them in -  as it knows that if they go in without the content, they will crash.
If they want to access, they need to select yes on their profile field - which is basically like a disclaimer I suppose.
They are selecting yes to indicate that they have installed all the content required, and its no ones fault besides their own if they crash due to not having the right content.

But yeah- if you wana make hak content optional, you either need to use nwnx_haks on linux, or use override on windows: unless someone can convert nwnx_haks to windows.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Supreme_Pizza]

               How about VaultSTER?

If I used that I'd like to be able to run the second server on a different CPU core.
Is that possible?
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               Vaultster doesnt do anything relating to Haks.
Vaultster transports a bic file from server A to Server B via networking.

If you are planning on running two servers off the same machine, then vaultster would be redundant for you.

Just make 2 server folders, and alter the nwn.ini inside each of them, to point to the same server vault folder.

Then, if you want players to travel between servers, they just need to access a server portal - no need to mess with vaultster.

This all being said - its got no bearing on your original question about making Hak packs optional.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Supreme_Pizza]

               Sure but one server could run a no-hak mod while other servers could run separate hak-enabled modules.

To the player they wouldn't actually "feel" like they entered a separate module.

This make sense or am I way off base?
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               Well yeah - that works, but you end up doubling your server upkeep.
Content on one server would need to be transferred to the second, tested, and then loaded up separately.

In any professional program/project- scripters/coders and programmers will always elect for a single code base vs multiple branches - and if they do branch, they will try to merge before major releases.

If your happy to have 2 versions of your module floating about - thats your choice - but I just prefer to have a single module, that works for people with the content, and without the content.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Supreme_Pizza]

               I hear what you are saying but in absence of an alternative solution practical application comes first. I simply don't have the time to devote to converting nwnx_haks to win or win7 especially with win8 looming. At the  moment I'm too busy creating blueprints and expanding the scripts for the content I already have.

Heck, I still have 20 more levels to design for.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Supreme_Pizza, 27 janvier 2013 - 02:35 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               Another, less "technical" opinion, more along feasibility lines...

I am replying because this topic is interesting to me and touches on an aspect of PW gaming that does impact a certain portion or players, probably a very small portion though, since the community, as a whole, has grown to just accept the need for haks to tweak the basic game according to a designer's taste and preference.

I do like hak-free quick-joins for EXACTLY the reason you have described... to get a general "feel" while server-hopping.  But understand... I am still connecting with an archaic dial-up (there are very rigid reasons for this necessity in my case) with prohibitive download speeds.  However, if you as an admin are looking to satisfy "samplers" along with those who readily just delve into the custom styling without missing a beat, I'd expect a "Server Light" version would suffice for those try-outs and alleviate the need for the potential of synch problems between areas that could easily occur.  Let 'em get a general taste and then either join the full server or not per that experience.

Yet I am in the severe minority when it comes to DLing haks.  Most gamers I engage could not care less whether a hak is required and in most cases actually seek out servers they know for sure use haks, and especially haks designed by particular authors. IMO those are more respresentative of the majority of gamers than the converse. For my situation, as long as a PW doesn't require an unmanageable DL time (I'd say anything over 4GB would fall into this category for me, personally), the haks just get installed as part of the standard NWN gaming procedure.  No biggie, really.

So this reply doesn't address the "How-to" but rather "Is the value added worth the admin headache to implement it?".  Just one opinion, for what it's worth.