Is it that my question is stupid?

-----
MSensei
Please visit my freelancer server. http://www.msensei.com/freelancer/

I don't think anyone (outside of DA) is really sure yet.

I know there has been discussion of being able to change the AI settings for multi-player... I can't believe that there have been no comments here. Does anyone have any clue about this or even the AI settings I discussed. I have been very interested in the "mod loader" that has been posted. I am impressed with some of the prowess displayed here. I assure you all that any information provided here will be put to good use and documented well.

-----
MSensei
Please visit my freelancer server. http://www.msensei.com/freelancer/

AFAIK there is no sync between client and server.
quite often if there are discrepancies between the two, crashes are common

...Just a random thought from a random mind

First off - its not a stupid question - its VERY valid as we try to figure out how to ensure a reliable way to mod servers, and clients. There are a lot of things about the game that we are still learning. Just because you dont get an immediate answer, doesnt mean someone is not either looking into that specific aspect, or creating a listing.

As far as I know, DA has not responded to any of our questions at this time - this makes things a bit more difficult, because not only do we have to "reverse engineer" the game, we also have to figure out what does what, where, when, how, etc.. Keep in mind also, that for about 70%(?) of the population has just gotten the full version, and some wont have the full for another couple of days, if not weeks.

The guys that ARE working on things (myself included) want to know the same thing, so hang in there - we will get there.

Hope this helps..

<Edit - typos>

Edited by - beltic on 12-03-2003 07:33:09

Well can there be a vauge responce then? What about my AI question, is that rumor true that the AI .inis are synced. Is anyone certain of anything that for sure syncs? I have been watching packets for some time now, have not been able to discern much in this way. I am quite timid about moding my active server as my patrons would be "put out" and that's the last thing i want because of the awsome pirate-goodguy battles that have taken so long to nurture. Basically after reading so much I am filled with certainty that the initial handshake contains some of this data, just haven't been able to decrypt it yet, wanted to know if anyone had established any thoughts as to the data that IS handshaked (ie certain AI .ini files). Someone MUST have experimented with this some, i would have done more already but for the fact that I have only 1 server to mess with. I'm really trying to be of help here, i feel like such a noob around some of u even tho I teach CompSci and have been programming for years. Be well fellow geeks. Let me know anything you know and i will continue to endeavor to help.

Sincerely,
MSensei


-----
MSensei
Please visit my freelancer server. http://www.msensei.com/freelancer/

No ini files are synced. It's quite easy to have a discrepancy between client and server, generally with undesirable consequences.

So far, any modifications to the ini files which affect the client, such as the client's speed and rate of fire, appear to affect only the client, so if somebody hacks his weapon stats to fire at machine-gun rates, or hacks his speed so he can move hellafast, it works, but only for him, generally to the detriment of everyone else. Clients are also able to alter the prices and points-of-sale for equipment, and ships, although ship-alterations have been reported to crash either the client, server, or both.

On the other hand, modification of AI loadouts, and AI behaviors, and loot drops, appear to affect nobody if only the client is altered, and affect everyone on the server, although no clients are actually altered, if the server is modded. This can be a good thing, as I've replaced all the "npc shield" versions with the actual versions of the shield usable by players, with the result that NPC shields now both regenerate, and drop, without any further modification, and the changes apply to all players.