The NS Galaxy Map

[Wolfline]

Nope, it seriously doesen't work...

Ya, I noticed that as well when I clicked the link.

[North Mack]

Nope, it seriously doesen't work...

Ya, I noticed that as well when I clicked the link.

Like it's been said many times in this thread (if anyone bothered to read it) the original map no longer works. We're discussing the eventual return since we have the original creator working with us now to bring it back.

[Tuthina]

This seems to be quite interesting... how can I donate and/or have a look of the product?

I think Galaxiki is fine with all the calculations done for you (unless I am mistaken), although I failed to find a star system with a binary star out in the orbit, is it possible?

[North Mack]

This seems to be quite interesting... how can I donate and/or have a look of the product?

I think Galaxiki is fine with all the calculations done for you (unless I am mistaken), although I failed to find a star system with a binary star out in the orbit, is it possible?

Hm. I probably should have taken some pictures of the map when we had it up on the test server... Donation options may or may not be listed in the next week or two depending on how mindsets does playing with code and such. We will put information in here if we can't pull down enough to fund it on our own.

[Sskiss]

This is indeed good news. I've always enjoyed that map and bringing it back would really be something to see.

[Northwest Slobovia]

I think Galaxiki is fine with all the calculations done for you (unless I am mistaken),

There seem to be some problems with its planetary temperature calculations. One appears to be simply a bug related to atmospheric composition, but I think there's something fundamentally off about them. Some planets of stars more or less sun-like are too hot. Everything else is calculated correctly, which is a big help.

although I failed to find a star system with a binary star out in the orbit, is it possible?

Not in the present version. The guy (yeah, it's just one guy) who writes the code has promised a new version that will include that among other things, but it was supposed to be out by the beginning of the year.

Yeah, I have a few stars on Galaxiki. It's OK, but paying for systems is a substantial barrier to large interstellar nations. The user community is tiny, also. There's a sporadic attempt to organize a single FT RP session, but I haven't seen much progress on it. I was hoping to use Galaxiki for hosting an FT nation, but the NS Galaxy Map might be superior. Now, if we could just get the developers of those two to work together...

[North Mack]

I have yet to receive anything back from mindset about optimizing the code lately, so for now we'll assume that we'll need a high or unlimited CPU host. These run (on average) somewhere between $25 - $40 a month. Expect between $200 and $500 for a year of hosting. The question at this point is would we get enough donations to keep the site going.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for some way to determine this or not? I was thinking of a $500 kickstarter or something but I don't know if something not a game is against their TOS, I haven't really looked into it. There used to be a site that you could "pledge" to donate X amount without actually donating so people could see how much they could reasonably get, but I don't remember the url and can't seem to find it in a google search. So yeah. suggestions?

[CoolBoyGcp]

I have yet to receive anything back from mindset about optimizing the code lately, so for now we'll assume that we'll need a high or unlimited CPU host. These run (on average) somewhere between $25 - $40 a month. Expect between $200 and $500 for a year of hosting. The question at this point is would we get enough donations to keep the site going.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for some way to determine this or not? I was thinking of a $500 kickstarter or something but I don't know if something not a game is against their TOS, I haven't really looked into it. There used to be a site that you could "pledge" to donate X amount without actually donating so people could see how much they could reasonably get, but I don't remember the url and can't seem to find it in a google search. So yeah. suggestions?

Try kickstarter, it works, and you can do it for anything.

Also, if you do, get the word out.

But 200-500 bucks for hosting? That's expensive man!

[North Mack]

But 200-500 bucks for hosting? That's expensive man!

Very. Mindset's map is SUPER server intensive. Very poorly optimized. His old host had unlimited most everything. But apparently it went out of business. And most decently priced servers nowadays have issue with you taking up over 50% of the CPU meant for dozens of hosts for significant periods of time... which mean we need highCPU hosting. Which is usually reserved for running scripts or doing large number crunching.

[CoolBoyGcp]

But 200-500 bucks for hosting? That's expensive man!

Very. Mindset's map is SUPER server intensive. Very poorly optimized. His old host had unlimited most everything. But apparently it went out of business. And most decently priced servers nowadays have issue with you taking up over 50% of the CPU meant for dozens of hosts for significant periods of time... which mean we need highCPU hosting. Which is usually reserved for running scripts or doing large number crunching.

Oh...

Well thank you for giving me the info about it.

But try Kickstarter, I would give you the money but...

I don't know your address or paypal.

[North Mack]

After some investigation, I don't think kickstarter is going to work. For one, this would be barely skirting the edge of their acceptable project policy. For two, there's no way to restrict the project in any way. I don't want people from kickstarter going and seeing this project to host a random map for some random site they've never heard of.

So... yeah. other suggestions? I don't actually want to take money yet. I just want to see if we'd have enough interest to even consider it. I don't want to be taking peoples money for something that might never happen if we don't get enough. I guess, for now just post if you'd be willing to donate and how much?

[Tuthina]

Well, maybe we can try the most primitive way, known as posting the amount of money you would like to donate here. Also, I think kickstarter for a year's rent would be too high, maybe we can consider a month or three? It seems more reasonable for me.

I think I can donate, at most, USD $30, assuming PayPal is available.

[Of The Arch ilands]

After some investigation, I don't think kickstarter is going to work. For one, this would be barely skirting the edge of their acceptable project policy. For two, there's no way to restrict the project in any way. I don't want people from kickstarter going and seeing this project to host a random map for some random site they've never heard of.

So... yeah. other suggestions? I don't actually want to take money yet. I just want to see if we'd have enough interest to even consider it. I don't want to be taking peoples money for something that might never happen if we don't get enough. I guess, for now just post if you'd be willing to donate and how much?

I wish I new JavaScript :/ and PhP it would make life so much easier id happily take up the mantel. I think what should be done before donating is seeing if someone else has the necessary skills to optimize the code ad so on.

[North Mack]

After some investigation, I don't think kickstarter is going to work. For one, this would be barely skirting the edge of their acceptable project policy. For two, there's no way to restrict the project in any way. I don't want people from kickstarter going and seeing this project to host a random map for some random site they've never heard of.

So... yeah. other suggestions? I don't actually want to take money yet. I just want to see if we'd have enough interest to even consider it. I don't want to be taking peoples money for something that might never happen if we don't get enough. I guess, for now just post if you'd be willing to donate and how much?

I wish I new JavaScript :/ and PhP it would make life so much easier id happily take up the mantel. I think what should be done before donating is seeing if someone else has the necessary skills to optimize the code ad so on.

The code is so obfuscated though it's difficult to even know what section manages what part of the map. It wouldn't be optimizing so much as entirely redesigning. Which is why I was HOPING mindset could work on it, since he (obviously) already knows the code...

[Of The Arch ilands]

I wish I new JavaScript :/ and PhP it would make life so much easier id happily take up the mantel. I think what should be done before donating is seeing if someone else has the necessary skills to optimize the code ad so on.

The code is so obfuscated though it's difficult to even know what section manages what part of the map. It wouldn't be optimizing so much as entirely redesigning. Which is why I was HOPING mindset could work on it, since he (obviously) already knows the code...

Despite lack of documentation it shouldn't be to hard for someone who knows there stuff to pick it up, or you could salvage parts of the code that you know works well in Mindsets and start over. Assuming he allows you to do that.

[SquareDisc City]

I don't know too much about it, but would it be possible to cache the map in some way, so the caching server handles the traffic itself and only needs to make far less frequent requests to the CPU-intensive backend.

[Thrashia]

Much as I enjoy looking at the prettiness that is the Mindset map, the fees and such are what make me happy that I enjoy the regular 2-D map we've had since the beginning.

[Premislyd]

I think I might create an FT nation just to use this...

[Of The Arch ilands]

Much as I enjoy looking at the prettiness that is the Mindset map, the fees and such are what make me happy that I enjoy the regular 2-D map we've had since the beginning.

Aye but the 2-D regular map just doesn't have the scope and the scale like mindsets map did :/

[Vocenae]

The only thing this map had over the static map is ease of editing and ability to create systems maps, which is something you could do yourself if you sat down with mspaint for a couple hours.

Yeah it was shiny, but let's be honest, it didn't provide anything all that different than what we already have.

If they get it working (which I'm not even sure if mindset is still talking to mack or not), then that's good news but if they don't we're not out anything.

[Of The Arch ilands]

The only thing this map had over the static map is ease of editing and ability to create systems maps, which is something you could do yourself if you sat down with mspaint for a couple hours.

Yeah it was shiny, but let's be honest, it didn't provide anything all that different than what we already have.

If they get it working (which I'm not even sure if mindset is still talking to mack or not), then that's good news but if they don't we're not out anything.

This is very true, we dont stand to loose anything by trying to get it back up. But that's also not a reason to not try.

[The Mindset Reborn]

Sorry guys, I've been very busy at the tail end crunch time of a project. It's not done yet, but it should be wrapping up in a week or so, and then I really honestly actually can take a look at the source code to see what I can do. I can offer no promises in terms of timescale, but it's something I will get around to eventually, especially since people seem interested.

[North Mack]

Sorry guys, I've been very busy at the tail end crunch time of a project. It's not done yet, but it should be wrapping up in a week or so, and then I really honestly actually can take a look at the source code to see what I can do. I can offer no promises in terms of timescale, but it's something I will get around to eventually, especially since people seem interested.

:­D

maybe try not to get deleted for trolling this time <_<

[Dansbruck]

I think the link is broken.

[Holy Trek]

I think the link is broken.

It is. I tried to get into it, and got an error message