Starting a Brand new server (Finished)

[TomUjain]

Server going live on May 1st 2018

 

 

Hey guys,

Over the last year or so I have been posting very controversial threads -- most recently the 'teamstacking' thread, which has netted me a few private PMs (yet no offical replies). As i've stated before I want this community to thrive and do well and that is the motivation behind a lot of my ideas I put forward.

Although I have my theories (which I will not get into here); the data suggests that we are losing players, not gaining them -- the plain fact is we are not keeping fresh blood, and this has prompted me to look deeper into the core of this issue.

The future for Ren-X is not sustainable and I would like to try and tackle this myself, by having a server catered more towards the community (not knocking server admins in any way) I am open to feedback on the below features.

I will be paying for this server, and I'll be ensuring it is A class quailty (no lag) DDOS protection is also something I want at the heart of the server as well. It'll be setup very similar to AGN (though less modded) the core of the changes will be gameplay related

My server features will include;

Vanilla gameplay

• Total team randomize each session - All players will be evenly scrambled at the start of each session to avoid team stacking. (done)
• Team switching will be disabled for first 20m -- unless a spot opens due to uneven teams. This is another safe-lock to try and prevent stacking (VOID)
• Buildings will stay unkillable for first 5 mins -  All buildings can only sustain damage (upto 50% perma) and not be destoryed for first 5 mins -- this will ensure early rushes can still take place and have results but not take out the building fully. (in progress)
• Ref will maintain a 2 credit tick when destroyed however the Harv will be gone. This ensures that players can still contribute to the session without being forced to use free units, or punish joining players with 0 credits (DONE, THANKS TO SERAH FOR CODE)
• Players will be able to buy (lights) and (meds) with the addition of ABCs and basic buggies as an option in the cooldown menu (VOID)
• Players will be able to buy Hotwires / techies in the menu with a price increase. Basic snipers will also be able to be brought with a price increase (VOID)
• AGT / Obbi will still work without the power plant, with a 50% damage reduction this will give 'some' use to the building when the PP is down; instead of it acting as a monument. (in progress)
• Automatic recordings sent to admin for review (me) when player reaches a specific score; 9 times out of 10 this will lead to nothing, but its purpose is to try and keep up-to-date with any recent cheats if they arise. (in progress)

My duty to you (the player)

• Not to abuse my powers - i.e. reset server / change map because I am "fed up" democracy (voting) will determine that right, not me
• Not to favor players
• Maintain netural to all parties playing in and out of game
• Ban / kick players who break the sever rules or cheat; warnings will be issued beforehand
• Be open to talk to outside game to address concerns or worries put forward
• Ensure the server is fine tuned to ensure player fun, fairness and smoothness are at the heart of each session

When will the server be out? I'm aiming to get this server up and running, on the Ren-X menu within the next 2 - 3 months; having already got the basic foundations down. This server will focus heavily on the community and its needs thus options may be added / removed / tweaked if needed. The core gameplay, however will remain Vanilla.

Reliabilty, speed and DDOS protection will be at the core to ensure players can enjoy the game as smoothly as possible.

 

Edited April 28, 2018 by TomUjain

[roweboat]

Interesting!! 

 

Look forward to see what develops with this!

 

Also, I think this will be a great way to test out your ideas, to see how well they play out in practice.

Edited March 14, 2018 by roweboat

[NodSaibot]

I would be happy to help you if you're looking for that... I helped run/admin the AGN RenX Server from the beginning until about last week. Didn't really write any useful code, although I do know the basics of UnrealScript and I am currently developing a personal RCON bot; but I kept the configs and Jupiter up to date, monitored IRC for admin requests and seeded the server. I was also one of the first mods and members of CT. I stepped back from both of those communities for personal reasons.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to PM on Discord or on here, however I don't check the forums as often.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Sarah!

[Sn4ke]

I'd love to see a successful community server. Though there is - officially - no official RenX server, we all know there is a de facto official one....

On 13.3.2018 at 8:30 PM, TomUjain said:

It'll be setup very similar to AGN (though less modded)

well, looking at your gameplay changes / suggestions

Spoiler

On 13.3.2018 at 8:30 PM, TomUjain said:

• Buildings will stay unkillable for first 5 mins -  All buildings can only sustain damage (upto 50% perma) and not be destoryed for first 5 mins -- this will ensure early rushes can still take place and have results but not take out the building fully.
• Ref will maintain a 2 credit tick when destroyed however the Harv will be gone. This ensures that players can still contribute to the session without being forced to use free units, or punish joining players with 0 credits
• Players will be able to buy (lights) and (meds) with the addition of ABCs and basic buggies as an option in the cooldown menu
• Players will be able to buy Hotwires / techies in the menu with a price increase. Basic snipers will also be able to be brought with a price increase
• AGT / Obbi will still work without the power plant, with a 50% damage reduction this will give 'some' use to the building when the PP is down; instead of it acting as a monument.
• Automatic recordings sent to admin for review (me) when player reaches a specific score; 9 times out of 10 this will lead to nothing, but its purpose is to try and keep up-to-date with any recent cheats if they arise.

 

the server would be heavily modded. There are many good reasons for these changes, but please consider to setup a pure Vanilla server as well (except for the team scrambling ofc).

Edited March 16, 2018 by DarkSn4ke

[TomUjain]

@DarkSn4ke

The mods I intend to use are subject to change,  and may or may not stay depending on feedback and community responce. I do understand your concern, which is why the mods I intend to use will be going through a trial to determine if they should stay or not. Remember the purpose of these changes is not to be unique or different, it is to enchance gameplay and promote community -- not to be fancy and have new features for the sake of new features. The core gameplay, will heavily remain vanilla.

The server is up, as promised and is titled 'No Stacking - No Stress - Auto Balance' Currently the server is running vanilla; with a team shuffle to help remove team stacking between sessions.

The ETA for us going offically live is in May (though it could be before then) this ETA will give us time to apply the required features as I spoke about in my first post above.

As I stated before, this will be a full community server - with the focus being on making the game as fun and fair as possible, my ultimate goal is to;

1.  Make each Ren X session as fun as possible - taking out the stress and hassel
2. Reduce stacking as much as possible via tweaks and settings
3. Promote the community of Ren-X (see below)

In addition; I will be dishing out monthly prizes to players / teams in the form of:

• Steam Games / Credit
•  Unique C&C skin unlocks (locked to player)
• Gift Cards
• Trophies; aka server shouts during login (unique, tied to player)

This will be expanded upon when the server offically goes live; but to sum it up briefly - the prize 'session' will run during set games / times during the week where prizes will be earned for

1. Teamwork
2. Points
3. Overall wins

Prizes will also be earned with the admin (me) offline by achiving specfic goals in game; which will be sent to me via server data -- for this reason I highly recommend you have a forum pressence for me to be able to contact you, again more details of this will be written up closer to the server deadline. I am debating if a time limit of 3.5 hours should put on to reward good defending teams holding off one building; 3.5 hours I believe is a good session though I would like your view on this idea, or if time limit should remain turned off.

What I need from you, the community

• Reliable mods to monitor server health and to address player feedback / problems / bugs
• People to help write up the code for the mods (listed above) -- willing to give out a few steam games as a thank you, a few Amazon giftcards are also on the table for people who want to write any mods for us as well.
• Server Admins; to regulate and do regular maintaince on the server as required.

If anyone can help in the areas I highlighted above, shoot a PM myway. Looking forward to hearing from you!

- Yumi / tomujain

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by TomUjain

[[B]Veyron]

please less talk more doing.  sorry for the bichy comment.  should get opinins firsr ask how people will like it how do ppl already like agn server modified ? all dpsb 

[Guest once upon the time]

It is a difficult way to design a Server that many ppl like.

I wish you much success and that is meant seriously. 

[TomUjain]

Thank you guys for your feedback. Just to keep you all in the loop; we will be going live fully in May.

However, I realize I may have been a little too ambitious with the mods I wanted -- with very limited coding myself it has been a struggle to find the people willing to lend us a hand in that regard; anyone who does want to step in then I am totally happy to throw in a few steam games (of your choice).

This means that we will most likely be launching as a totally Vanilla server, but the mods may / maynot be added on later; which is something I wanted to avoid as people 'settle' only to switch things up drastically. I will prioritize the 2 tick ref mod first (without harv dump, when building is destroyed) to allow players to -- well, play. Having to wait X amount of mins to buy X unit seems counterproductive to gameplay, and is highly aggressive to new users joining with 0 credits. Everything else is still on the table, but I am doubting any serious progression, if any until the following year.

I want this server to be a community server, not a power ground for admins or mods. Furthermore competitions and weekly 'team games' (unannounced and unplanned) will be taking place where steam credit, gog / Orgin games will be arwarded to top players aka best sniper, def, etc... etc... Winning teams (everyone in it) will get smaller rewards aka steam card collection or other tradable items which will be credited at the end of each month. £15 a week will be going into the prizes / rewards section where £5 will be going into promotion and utlities; the rest of the budget will be going to fund the server -- all, out of my pocket, so yes it is all free. I will go into a lot more detail on this when we go live in May.

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by TomUjain