The Future Of VC:MP

[SugarD]

Well, just as the title says, what does the future hold? From what I'm seeing, even most of the developers have moved on from the mod, or are just too busy to get around to working on it right now. It's understandable, it happens to everyone, but why hasn't someone else stepped in to try and keep the ball rolling? Surely even minor updates right now would be better than nothing. I get that the security and privacy of the code is a big deal based mainly on trusting someone, but with the way things are going, that isn't going to matter much longer if the mod dies.

In all honesty, I'm to the point where I'm asking, as a fan, user, and community member, what can I do to help the development of this mod? Don't tell me "just keep playing it", or "nothing", because I've heard that so many times now and it only seems like things are getting worse. I'm not asking for your trust, or to see the code here...I just want to do whatever I can to assist in the continuation of this project...and I'm sure that I'm not the only one. If a developer could respond, why not let us know what you are looking for, besides programmers, and maybe the community can help you find exactly what you need. Afterall, this mod was made for people to have fun, right? Well we can't have fun if it's dead...but we can have fun if we work together to save it and help it prosper!

As for my personal part of this topic, I'm curious, who does the webmastering? There's a lot of conflicts across the site and forums I noticed. For starters, you have absolutely no link leading to the forum from the website, or vice versa. Secondly, the forum's mail system is broken. Thankfully I figured out which password I used, because it failed to mail me a new one twice. Third, (and I just noticed this one), the FAQ that's pinned in the Documentation section of the forums is not only highly outdated, but it states you can get older versions of VC:MP on the website directly, which is absolutely not true one bit. If you guys are lacking in assistance with webmastering, I can offer up my assistance if you want, considering I have quite a bit of webmastering and administrating experience, but I'm by no means trying to ask for the position. I just want to offer help wherever I'm obviously capable in order to keep this great mod alive.

Speaking of website stuff, how come you guys haven't considered a wiki? Considering the massive amounts of information you have obtained over the years, it might be easier to just make pages based on that information that is linked to specific versions so that when a new release is made or there is an update, you simply update that specific page's information and call it good. It even adds a better search functionality for users, and is easier to reference because it's all in one place, rather than across multiple stickied topics in various forum sections. Again, just a suggestion, but as I said before, I'm willing to help in any way that I can, even if that just means giving advice or technical assistance to you guys.

Anyway, I'd love to hear from the developers and other forum users. What do you guys think? What are your skills? Is there anything else I didn't cover that you think we could easily obtain or do as a community to help the developers?

Edit: Adding to the list, SMF is horribly out of date and actually presents itself with some very large security flaws because of it's lack of updating, and the forum itself also seems to have a spam-bot issue, both of which are easy fixes and I'm not too sure why they haven't been done yet...

[StriKe]

Developers are still working on mod and you can find a release or public beta soon.
If you find any outdated topic in the forum just PM me or any other mods.
I will inform the developers about the mail system in the forum.

[SugarD]

How about the website issues? And how come nothing has been announced? The forums are still in the same state they have been for the last two years or so. Are you sure they are still working towards an update? I'm not your usual "newbie" user my friend, don't worry! I'm not going to just disappear because I think nothing is happening

[StriKe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlxGQ_-YEHY&feature=channel_video_title

We are testing on daily basis on mod.
Only the website needs huge improvement and i will speak with maxorator today.


April 3rd Testing video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBm0sLcudU&feature=channel_video_title

[SugarD]

Well that is definitely great news! Why hasn't any of this been publicized yet?!?

Also, for the website, if anyone needs help or advice, just contact me, seriously. PM or MSN is usually the most successful route. I'd be really interested in helping out if it's needed. Again, not trying to rankhunt, just excited to see progress, and I want to help in whatever way I can so it continues!

Edit: By the way, I noticed the hosting service is extremely glitchy. It's constantly going up and down. Anyone know what the cause is?

[Charleyutton]

I think I must be getting dé ja vu.. oh no wait http://forum.vicecitymultiplayer.com/index.php?topic=2392.0

In a short answer to one of your questions, VC:MP actually has 3 wikis, here, here and here.

As Strike said there is continued work on the project, but I'd agree the amount of publicity or communication with the public has been pretty minimal.

VC:MP is still progressing, the most popular servers are improving and changing to more stable builds and there are a few new promising servers on their way. Hop on irc sometime and ask around about it there, there's probably a lot you could learn that way.

As I believe I said in your other mirror topic (I might not have, cba to read through it all again) the hosting is an issue that we just can't resolve. We've even offered financial support to keep up mirrors of the site incase this one goes down. The most common problem with the website and consequently MSL going down in the past have actually not been the host's issues, it's been with delayed payment and break downs of communication.

I personally think this forum gives a very gloomy perspective on VC:MP, if you were to play it and get involved with the community I think perhaps the preconceptions that you have formed are slightly misplaced.

Having said all this, I think it's great that you wanna help, and the more people enthusiastic about this mod the better. All the points I made in that topic still stand, you have more power to affect this mod on the unofficial side than the official side, so if I were you I'd put my energy into that.

[Skirmant]

As Strike said there is continued work on the project, but I'd agree the amount of publicity or communication with the public has been pretty minimal.

Speaking of communication. Why is the link to the forum not in the main page? I remember pointing that out like a year ago and it got added. But now it's gone again. Will a few extra bytes of bandwidth put the server on fire? I know it's not too hard to find it to a newbie (google), but still.

Another things is that MORE stuff should be pinned and documented. People keep asking where to find the mIRC dll, mIRC server ect...
For example http://forum.vicecitymultiplayer.com/index.php?topic=1586.0 should be definitely pinned.
 

[SugarD]

As Strike said there is continued work on the project, but I'd agree the amount of publicity or communication with the public has been pretty minimal.

Speaking of communication. Why is the link to the forum not in the main page? I remember pointing that out like a year ago and it got added. But now it's gone again. Will a few extra bytes of bandwidth put the server on fire? I know it's not too hard to find it to a newbie (google), but still.

Another things is that MORE stuff should be pinned and documented. People keep asking where to find the mIRC dll, mIRC server ect...
For example http://forum.vicecitymultiplayer.com/index.php?topic=1586.0 should be definitely pinned.

Exactly my point. This is all simple stuff. People say the information exists, but why is it so hard to find? Why are there no links to the forums? Why is nothing be publicized? Why are there THREE wikis? Why deal with communication issues with the host instead of switching? All of this is simple to fix. It just takes some dedication.

@Charleyutton: I already answered the "you can help by playing the mod" thing in my original post. I do play, but it's extremely difficult for me to because of all the bugs in it. Most other users would have given up by now. The few that don't would turn to the forum for help, but they can't find it. You guys are losing an unbelievable amount of players just by not fixing such small things. Most people don't even know what URL the website uses. You mentioned for me to ask around in IRC, but I can't even find the information on it. I ended up entering SA:MP's IRC and all they could tell me is that VC:MP is at a standstill, which isn't useful to me at all. All these huge things only need simple fixes, and would improve the mod's playerbase immensely. Right now you only have dedicated users playing, and that can only last so long with all of this information hidden.

[BIG[H]]

@all This Means that 0.4 will be released??

[OutlawZ]

For IRC:
GTANET
#vc-mp

[Charleyutton]

Why are there THREE wikis?

Each serves its own purpose. One is the official one, that supports PAWN primarily. The other is one which support Squirrel primarily (something that is not backed by the VC:MP devs and therefore cannot be included in the first). The third is an independently made polish wiki, something completely outside of the dev's or anyone else's control.

1) I already answered the "you can help by playing the mod" thing in my original post. I do play, but it's extremely difficult for me to because of all the bugs in it. Most other users would have given up by now.

2)You guys are losing an unbelievable amount of players just by not fixing such small things. Most people don't even know what URL the website uses. You

3) All these huge things only need simple fixes, and would improve the mod's playerbase immensely.

4) Right now you only have dedicated users playing, and that can only last so long with all of this information hidden.

1) I didn't actually say that  you can only  help by playing, I was more pointing towards learning to increase the quality of the experience for new players by doing something like starting a clan, making a new server or make an event to spur on those half-regulars to be full regulars.

2) 'Us guys' aren't losing players at all. We may not be gaining players as fast as we could be, but as I pointed out in the aforementioned the playercount is enjoying a steady rise at the moment.

3) I agree with this, but why do you think that after years of asking it's all of a sudden going to happen now? What I tried to put across in the last topic and what I'm trying to say here is that the making of these kinds of discussions is futile. The dev's either don't give a fuck or don't have time to give a fuck about reading through all this shit when they consider putting the small amount of time that they can dedicate into actually developing the game, instead of listening to its players. It's been the story of VC:MP for the last few years and if you played it regularly then you'd understand that too.

4) Just plain and simply wrong. Again, if you played VC:MP more you'd realise actually dedicated players are in a tiny minority compared to random one or two time players who pick it up, get bored of it and move on. The real problem is that there is not currently a server that balances newbies and regular players to an effective level. Currently all servers are balanced more or less either one of two ways. This means the servers balanced towards regulars are deserted, and the servers balanced towards newbies are full of just that: newbies. Of course there are a couple of exceptions to the rule, some regulars still enjoy the more newbie gameplay balance and that is why we're still here. Some of us are actually working towards improving this situation by making servers that have long term playability coupled with short term basic freedom-based enjoyment.

As I said before, I like the fact that you're motivated enough to complain about such issues, I just wish that you would learn more about VC:MP before you make snap judgements about its situation. I must say I have become a pessimist in regards to the official side of VC:MP. But as I've said time and time again, the unofficial side is growing and growing.

[SugarD]

Why are there THREE wikis?

Each serves its own purpose. One is the official one, that supports PAWN primarily. The other is one which support Squirrel primarily (something that is not backed by the VC:MP devs and therefore cannot be included in the first). The third is an independently made polish wiki, something completely outside of the dev's or anyone else's control.

That makes sense, but why is it that the official one is so hard to find then?

2) 'Us guys' aren't losing players at all. We may not be gaining players as fast as we could be, but as I pointed out in the aforementioned the playercount is enjoying a steady rise at the moment.

The playercount rising doesn't necessarily mean players are staying to play.

3) I agree with this, but why do you think that after years of asking it's all of a sudden going to happen now? What I tried to put across in the last topic and what I'm trying to say here is that the making of these kinds of discussions is futile. The dev's either don't give a fuck or don't have time to give a fuck about reading through all this shit when they consider putting the small amount of time that they can dedicate into actually developing the game, instead of listening to its players. It's been the story of VC:MP for the last few years and if you played it regularly then you'd understand that too.

I do understand that. You are assuming I've never played it before lol. Trust me man, I know where you are coming from, and I know the devs don't have time to read our complaints and comments, but why sit here and do nothing? Atleast if we post about it, there's a chance they may run across this stuff. It's better than sitting around and not saying anything and never letting them know what we do.

4) Just plain and simply wrong. Again, if you played VC:MP more you'd realise actually dedicated players are in a tiny minority compared to random one or two time players who pick it up, get bored of it and move on. The real problem is that there is not currently a server that balances newbies and regular players to an effective level. Currently all servers are balanced more or less either one of two ways. This means the servers balanced towards regulars are deserted, and the servers balanced towards newbies are full of just that: newbies. Of course there are a couple of exceptions to the rule, some regulars still enjoy the more newbie gameplay balance and that is why we're still here. Some of us are actually working towards improving this situation by making servers that have long term playability coupled with short term basic freedom-based enjoyment.

The player dedication I've seen has been overall from the same general users in the same servers for some time. Newbies or not, they are the same users that keep coming back. It's the new players I'm worried about. They are becoming dedicated because they are getting so frustrated by these unresolved issues.

As I said before, I like the fact that you're motivated enough to complain about such issues, I just wish that you would learn more about VC:MP before you make snap judgements about its situation. I must say I have become a pessimist in regards to the official side of VC:MP. But as I've said time and time again, the unofficial side is growing and growing.

I know quite a bit about VC:MP. Obviously I'll admit I don't know as much as you do, but if it's fairly obvious to me, then it's going to be extremely obvious to new players that can't get the help they need when they run across these bugs. I know it all takes time and effort, but the only way we can resolve this is by being a community and helping the developers, administrators, webmasters, etc. in whatever way we can, even if that means just giving suggestions or criticism. Positive, negative, or just plain neutral, that feedback is what feeds the development, and brings about new features, bug fixes, and information.

[Charleyutton]

The playercount rising doesn't necessarily mean players are staying to play.

The player dedication I've seen has been overall from the same general users in the same servers for some time.

You seem to be contradicting yourself, how can a playercount rise if it is only dedicated players that are filling it? For that to work, exactly the opposite of what you said in that first quote would have to happen.

Anyway I agree with you that we need to keep offering support to the devs in any way possible. I've just seen the intention of support fall on dead feet so many times that it is hard for me to think that any of this can make a difference.

On a lighter note, however, check out the official site: http://www.vicecitymultiplayer.com/

Whoever did this deserves a medal. The next step imo is to completely reshape the forum, and make an up to date official server list. Then the devs should hire some more mods to keep the forum in line. This forum and its boards were built in 2007 and has scarcely been edited since then, and it shows.

[SugarD]

Wowzerz at the site! That had to have happened within the last few hours. That's amazing!

As for the forums, yes, they are extremely out of date, and actually pose a security threat.

[StriKe]

SMF 1.1.11 is just 1.3 years old and yes it needs a update..
As you said frontpage has been updated quite well and i will make sure IRC infos are added to it.
When 0.4 is released we will be have a updated forum(1.1.13) and topics.

We will be having a wiki up and running shortly..