I'm here to talk about future possible improvements to the Minecraft multiplayer system. First of all, let's talk about where it is now: As of now, the multiplayer system is very rough, very basic. There's an IP-based UI, visible names, server-side interaction, and chat. Very very basic. I'm going to shoot some suggestions at you guys and see how they bounce off, and see what you guys may think of them, good, bad, or worse. :smile.gif:
Before I start, let me state that this is not a list of complaints. I'm very happy with the multiplayer system and how far it's come, and I frankly couldn't care less if it stays the same or is altered, these are just suggestions I've seen floating around, and I'm deciding to combine them into one topic.
So let's take it from the top - connecting to a server.
Let's face it - it's kind of a hassle to type in an IP every time you want to play with your friends. Granted, it works, but I'm just saying it could be much better. Perhaps we could take an approach commonly referred to as the Halo CE approach. Any of you who have played Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC will know what I'm talking about.
Basically, there are two options; you can pay money to a third-party organization to set up a dedicated server that runs lag-free 24/7, or you could start up your own, running it from your network (I can't remember where I've seen this before - I know there's a topic about it. Reply and link me to it so I can give credit for stealing their idea :wink.gif: ).
So you have two alternatives, as a host - pay money for a dedicated sever (meant for 10+ players, no lag), or create one using the network you're operating on (maybe 1-5 players, with some lag). Upon picking the latter, you would be brought to a server creation screen - something where you specify the server name, ip, max players, and basic rulesets (block protection, locks, etc.), as well as ops. Your server settings (including map) would be downloaded to your computer, and then loaded up again by the client for use when you wanted to start up your server again. This would make it much easier for those with slow computers to be able to host and play at the same time, with very little CPU usage, since the server is being executed with the game simultaneously. This also eliminates the use of a server client - something you'd need to execute as a separate program to start a server, resulting in poor connection and framerate.
Displaying the created servers would be very easy - simply have each server that's running report its settings to a master server over at Mojang, and have that server display all of the information about the servers that are online. It'd have to be displayed in a server list, displaying the name of the server, connected / maximum players, and whether or not mods are installed (we'll get to that later :wink.gif: ). So that's the easy part.
The difficult part of this would be the implementation of mods. Let's face it - every server wants to have some sort of mod installed. Whether it be Big Brother or Lockette (which should both seriously be considered for official features), every server wants a a mod on it. One idea as to how this could work is that the client could allow the host to download all the files it's using to run itself, have the host make the modifications and install the mods, then re-upload them back for use in the client. Although this isn't the most time-efficient or efficient manner of doing this, I think it'd work. Let me know if any of you have suggestions as to how this could be accomplished.
Now that that wall of text is done, here's another. Let's talk about friends. No, not your real life friends, your Minecraft friends. You know, the ones you meet on servers.
Ever been on that one server, where you met this awesome Minecraft guru who seemed to be a great guy and you'd like to play with him again? Ever wonder which server he frequents? Can you remember his name? Crap. That's right! His name was XxX5n1P3z360xXXXxxZ! How will you ever remember that? Friend lists. During SMP, I think that users should, through the escape menu, be able to view currently connected players, as well as the last 5 players they saw on any given server. Through this, they should be able to add them to their friends lists, as well as mute them, or request not to play with them again. This would work in a couple of ways. Say person A requested not to ever see person B again, because person B griefed their epic treehouse with a flint and steel. If person A attempts to connect to a server that person B is currently in, person A would be directed to a screen that says "WARNING! The following blocked player(s) are connected to this server: Person B. Do you still want to join this server? (Yes/No)" I think that would be a good way to keep people from running into griefers who hop from server to server - or if they frequent a server that you do. :wink.gif:
The friend list. It should be available right from the start of Minecraft. There should be a little button that is constantly at the upper right-hand corner of the screen that says "Friends," even in SSP. When you click this, it should bring up a GUI similar to the achievements / inventory screen, that does not pause your game, but allows you to browse your friends. It should show the friends' name, the front-face of their skin, whether they're playing SSP or SMP, the name of the server / world they are in (ties back to the 'connecting to a server' portion of this thread), and whether or not they've 'locked' their game (made it so that nobody can join their game through them). It should be very simple and easy to integrate - it would also allow for easy communication, perhaps even with a small messaging system, to say "Hey, join my server!" or "hey, is it daytime yet?" or "hey, did you fix your creeper problem?" simple things like that. (The PM system is really optional, and still requires a lot of thought before integration).
The final thing I would like to suggest is a very unique idea I saw a little while ago - it was the suggestion of having friends able to join your SSP world. This has been rumored around and has been hinted at by Notch, but let me affirm what this feature really should be.
Under the friends list, near where it says whether or not they're playing SMP or SSP, there should be a "Join Game" button. If that person doesn't have their game locked, and they are playing SSP, you should be able to enter their SSP world and see what they've done. I think this is a really great feature that should seriously be considered for implementation into the final product. I've seen many people build amazing, beautiful, great structures in worlds that are astounding - in single player. Everyone's worried about people never being able to see their creations that they built singlehandedly (or with an editing tool, mind you :wink.gif: ), and now, this can become possible. When a player joins another player in SSP, the host of the session (the person to whom the world belongs to) should have admin rights, similar to an SMP server. In this sense, the host should also be able to invite friends on their lists to join them in their SSP world, and vice versa. It can all be tied in through the friends list.
Okay! Sorry about that wall you had to read, but that's just my opinion as to what it is now, and what could possibly be improved in Minecraft Multiplayer to make it more attractive to the community as a whole, and target a larger pool of potential customers. So give me some feedback, improve these features I've rolled out, and suggest your own! It's an open forum. :smile.gif:
TL;DR: Minecraft's multiplayer system is great, but needs a few improvements. They are stated above. :smile.gif:
I don't think it's steamifying. I think that those suggestions will make it much easier to perform basic actions without having to have a massive amount of CPU power, or pay money just to host a server with your friends.
Good ideas, I like the idea of friends list and ignore list in game.
Also, for the people being able to join you SSP world, You'd have to set up ports for minecraft (like a server).
And speaking of that, where would the server run if someone joined?
Great ideas, love to see add these in minecraft
cooking the delicious ham thats SMP into
I suck at metaphors.
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I'm here to talk about future possible improvements to the Minecraft multiplayer system. First of all, let's talk about where it is now: As of now, the multiplayer system is very rough, very basic. There's an IP-based UI, visible names, server-side interaction, and chat. Very very basic. I'm going to shoot some suggestions at you guys and see how they bounce off, and see what you guys may think of them, good, bad, or worse. :smile.gif:
Before I start, let me state that this is not a list of complaints. I'm very happy with the multiplayer system and how far it's come, and I frankly couldn't care less if it stays the same or is altered, these are just suggestions I've seen floating around, and I'm deciding to combine them into one topic.
So let's take it from the top - connecting to a server.
Let's face it - it's kind of a hassle to type in an IP every time you want to play with your friends. Granted, it works, but I'm just saying it could be much better. Perhaps we could take an approach commonly referred to as the Halo CE approach. Any of you who have played Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC will know what I'm talking about.
Basically, there are two options; you can pay money to a third-party organization to set up a dedicated server that runs lag-free 24/7, or you could start up your own, running it from your network (I can't remember where I've seen this before - I know there's a topic about it. Reply and link me to it so I can give credit for stealing their idea :wink.gif: ).
So you have two alternatives, as a host - pay money for a dedicated sever (meant for 10+ players, no lag), or create one using the network you're operating on (maybe 1-5 players, with some lag). Upon picking the latter, you would be brought to a server creation screen - something where you specify the server name, ip, max players, and basic rulesets (block protection, locks, etc.), as well as ops. Your server settings (including map) would be downloaded to your computer, and then loaded up again by the client for use when you wanted to start up your server again. This would make it much easier for those with slow computers to be able to host and play at the same time, with very little CPU usage, since the server is being executed with the game simultaneously. This also eliminates the use of a server client - something you'd need to execute as a separate program to start a server, resulting in poor connection and framerate.
Displaying the created servers would be very easy - simply have each server that's running report its settings to a master server over at Mojang, and have that server display all of the information about the servers that are online. It'd have to be displayed in a server list, displaying the name of the server, connected / maximum players, and whether or not mods are installed (we'll get to that later :wink.gif: ). So that's the easy part.
The difficult part of this would be the implementation of mods. Let's face it - every server wants to have some sort of mod installed. Whether it be Big Brother or Lockette (which should both seriously be considered for official features), every server wants a a mod on it. One idea as to how this could work is that the client could allow the host to download all the files it's using to run itself, have the host make the modifications and install the mods, then re-upload them back for use in the client. Although this isn't the most time-efficient or efficient manner of doing this, I think it'd work. Let me know if any of you have suggestions as to how this could be accomplished.
Now that that wall of text is done, here's another. Let's talk about friends. No, not your real life friends, your Minecraft friends. You know, the ones you meet on servers.
Ever been on that one server, where you met this awesome Minecraft guru who seemed to be a great guy and you'd like to play with him again? Ever wonder which server he frequents? Can you remember his name? Crap. That's right! His name was XxX5n1P3z360xXXXxxZ! How will you ever remember that? Friend lists. During SMP, I think that users should, through the escape menu, be able to view currently connected players, as well as the last 5 players they saw on any given server. Through this, they should be able to add them to their friends lists, as well as mute them, or request not to play with them again. This would work in a couple of ways. Say person A requested not to ever see person B again, because person B griefed their epic treehouse with a flint and steel. If person A attempts to connect to a server that person B is currently in, person A would be directed to a screen that says "WARNING! The following blocked player(s) are connected to this server: Person B. Do you still want to join this server? (Yes/No)" I think that would be a good way to keep people from running into griefers who hop from server to server - or if they frequent a server that you do. :wink.gif:
The friend list. It should be available right from the start of Minecraft. There should be a little button that is constantly at the upper right-hand corner of the screen that says "Friends," even in SSP. When you click this, it should bring up a GUI similar to the achievements / inventory screen, that does not pause your game, but allows you to browse your friends. It should show the friends' name, the front-face of their skin, whether they're playing SSP or SMP, the name of the server / world they are in (ties back to the 'connecting to a server' portion of this thread), and whether or not they've 'locked' their game (made it so that nobody can join their game through them). It should be very simple and easy to integrate - it would also allow for easy communication, perhaps even with a small messaging system, to say "Hey, join my server!" or "hey, is it daytime yet?" or "hey, did you fix your creeper problem?" simple things like that. (The PM system is really optional, and still requires a lot of thought before integration).
The final thing I would like to suggest is a very unique idea I saw a little while ago - it was the suggestion of having friends able to join your SSP world. This has been rumored around and has been hinted at by Notch, but let me affirm what this feature really should be.
Under the friends list, near where it says whether or not they're playing SMP or SSP, there should be a "Join Game" button. If that person doesn't have their game locked, and they are playing SSP, you should be able to enter their SSP world and see what they've done. I think this is a really great feature that should seriously be considered for implementation into the final product. I've seen many people build amazing, beautiful, great structures in worlds that are astounding - in single player. Everyone's worried about people never being able to see their creations that they built singlehandedly (or with an editing tool, mind you :wink.gif: ), and now, this can become possible. When a player joins another player in SSP, the host of the session (the person to whom the world belongs to) should have admin rights, similar to an SMP server. In this sense, the host should also be able to invite friends on their lists to join them in their SSP world, and vice versa. It can all be tied in through the friends list.
Okay! Sorry about that wall you had to read, but that's just my opinion as to what it is now, and what could possibly be improved in Minecraft Multiplayer to make it more attractive to the community as a whole, and target a larger pool of potential customers. So give me some feedback, improve these features I've rolled out, and suggest your own! It's an open forum. :smile.gif:
TL;DR: Minecraft's multiplayer system is great, but needs a few improvements. They are stated above. :smile.gif:
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Curse PremiumI don't think it's steamifying. I think that those suggestions will make it much easier to perform basic actions without having to have a massive amount of CPU power, or pay money just to host a server with your friends.
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What do you mean "playable?" It's been confirmed for Xbox Live, yeah.
As far as gameplay aspects go, only time can tell.
Also, for the people being able to join you SSP world, You'd have to set up ports for minecraft (like a server).
And speaking of that, where would the server run if someone joined?
Great ideas, love to see
I suck at metaphors.