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lordkator
12-18-2017, 09:23 AM
New Test Center: TC-Prime

December 2017
The SWGEmu Staff


New Test Center: TC-Prime

Since we have completed our move the Dev and QA teams have asked for a new server that will allow us to test numerous things not possible on Nova.

The inspiration for this server name comes from TestCenter/TCPrime getting started and FAQ (https://web.archive.org/web/20110416063629/http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?topic_id=581698).

The goal of this server is to allow people to test the latest code before we push it live on Basilisk.

The reality is people do not test at scale on TC-Nova and we need people to pile on and test new features before we roll them out to Basilisk.

I'm working on a process that will automatically make a snapshot of Basilisk server (All accounts, items, characters etc.) and re-deploy it as TC-Prime.

This means you will see your toons twice on the character selection page, you can still login to Basilisk and ignore the other toons.

If however you actually care about the game getting closer to v1.0 then you can login to TC-Prime with your characters that are 100% the same as your Basilisk characters.

You will have to re-setup macros and keys but those should hold between wipes because they're client side settings.

TC-Prime is the place to test your characters, items, buildings etc. with the project's most recent merged code.

When you first zone into TC-Prime you will get a pop-up on each of your characters, this message will be something along the lines of:



IMPORTANT SYSTEM MESSAGE:

THIS SERVER IS A COPY OF Basilisk AS OF 12/17/2017

THE GOAL OF THIS SERVER IS TO PROVIDE A PLACE TO TEST
NEW PRE-PUBLISH FEATURES WITH EXISTING CHARACTERS.

THIS SERVER MAY BE UP OR DOWN AT A MOMENTS NOTICE.

THIS SERVER WILL BE WIPED EVERY WEEK WITH A NEW COPY OF Basilisk.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


Once you hit OK on the pop-up it will go away until we setup a new message or we re-copy the server from Basilisk.

TO BE CLEAR THIS IS A TEST SERVER, ANYTHING YOU DO THERE WILL BE LOST EACH TIME WE WIPE THE SERVER WITH A NEW COPY OF Basilisk

My goal is to have this process 100% automated and running on a weekly basis, that said we may run the copy earlier to test new things and/or allow the server to stay for longer periods for testing purposes. You'll always get a notice when we make these changes when you zone-in to the server.

Happy testing and enjoy TC-Prime.

algebuckina
12-18-2017, 09:41 AM
This be pretty cool. Nice work

bigevil
12-18-2017, 10:33 AM
Sweeet! These are the droids we've been looking for. :p Even more fun time.

Monoxide
12-18-2017, 01:10 PM
There are no admins besides like, scurby, on this server, right?

Not a fan of having a certain QA member be able to snoop through houses and what not

shadow2kx
12-18-2017, 02:56 PM
You will have to re-setup macros and keys but those should hold between wipes because they're client side settings.

TC-Prime and Basilisk use the same macros.txt file (as well as notes/aliases). So all macros will already be in place, but...any changes you make to macros on either server will affect the other.

You can easily copy over all your settings from Bas to TC-Prime. The guide below explains how to copy settings between characters. However, because TC-Prime is a direct copy of Bas, all the character numbers are the same for both servers. So you can just copy the three files for each character directly, and don't need to worry about which number is which character.

https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=484

nee2earth
12-18-2017, 04:28 PM
There are no admins besides like, scurby, on this server, right?

Not a fan of having a certain QA member be able to snoop through houses and what not

I was fired, so you don't have to worry 'bout me lol

Although anyone who knows me , knows that I barely ever used ANY admin commands, much less /snoop thru tester's houses. I would never, and never did, break 'Rule 1'.

Regardless, you don't have to worry period, cuz neither Farelli nor Hakry would ever abuse 'powers' either. And even if they did, Scurby & TA would notice immediately.

I suspect the actual ADMINS are: Scurby, TA, Lordkator, and maybe Sniffer. Otherwise, it's probably about the same QA/Dev delineations & perms as regular TC Nova (or maybe slightly reduced, cuz Basilisk effect --- And actually, come to think of it, since TC-Prime is essentially a 'mirror' of Basilisk, i'm guessing it also inherits the same Staff toon perms & titles as regular Basilisk) .

Scurby watches & controls everything, so the days of "corrupt" Staff are long gone.

----

On topic: I'm curious to know how Mantis Bug Tracker (https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22463) will be handled, for any bugs found on TC:Prime. Will testers know how to denote when they file? Will Scurby create a new filing catagory? Because as it stands now, most people file under 'SWGEMU: Basilisk' , even if the bug didn't actually occur there.

KhoridonSarin
12-18-2017, 04:39 PM
There are no admins besides like, scurby, on this server, right?

Not a fan of having a certain QA member be able to snoop through houses and what not

Yeah for real. If someone was sifting through my virtual junk on a test server I'd feel really cross about it as well.

Great point.

risenangel
12-18-2017, 05:45 PM
There are no admins besides like, scurby, on this server, right?

Not a fan of having a certain QA member be able to snoop through houses and what not
We can't and won't do that. Rule 1 is quite literally, "don't **** with the players" and what that means is just that. We can't and won't mess with you. If something comes up, we'll simply talk to you and ask you to file a mantis ticket with screenshots of whatever it is we need to see. That way it is entirely your choice as to what, and how much, you share if anything. Admin command usage these days is watched like a hawk by Scurby, Niffer and the devs.

Also, since its a mirror of Basilisk, as Nee pointed out our powers, I expect, are going to be far less than what they are on Nova. If its on par with Basilisk, QA doesn't have permission to /snoop or do a lot of other stuff because we don't need to and aren't allowed to. We can teleport, use setspeed on ourselves, go invisible annnnd maybe one or two other things to get info about the world. That is about it. Everything else is reserved for Niffer, Scurby and the devs.

Thrax989
12-18-2017, 07:07 PM
Good Job lordkator and the rest of the team.

Scurby
12-18-2017, 07:08 PM
We can't and won't do that. Rule 1 is quite literally, "don't **** with the players" and what that means is just that. We can't and won't mess with you. If something comes up, we'll simply talk to you and ask you to file a mantis ticket with screenshots of whatever it is we need to see. That way it is entirely your choice as to what, and how much, you share if anything. Admin command usage these days is watched like a hawk by Scurby, Niffer and the devs.

Also, since its a mirror of Basilisk, as Nee pointed out our powers, I expect, are going to be far less than what they are on Nova. If its on par with Basilisk, QA doesn't have permission to /snoop or do a lot of other stuff because we don't need to and aren't allowed to. We can teleport, use setspeed on ourselves, go invisible annnnd maybe one or two other things to get info about the world. That is about it. Everything else is reserved for Niffer, Scurby and the devs.


QFE.

I'm always watching.

dsrules
12-18-2017, 07:23 PM
Lovin' Prime so far. Definitely a step in the right direction for development.

Hedge15
12-18-2017, 08:21 PM
Why would a staff member even want to look through a player's house, and why would anyone care if they did (assuming they didn't move or delete anything)?

risenangel
12-18-2017, 08:32 PM
Why would a staff member even want to look through a player's house, and why would anyone care if they did (assuming they didn't move or delete anything)?

Full disclosure: In three years of testing for the project as a QA/CT, I've only had to look at a player twice. The first was to verify an issue with vendors when we were updating them a few publishes ago, and the second was with pub 9 and a ticket issue with the corellian corvette. Both times, permission was asked for and granted.

The reason I bring this up is because there are rare circumstances where having visual confirmation of something helps and it requires that the player consent to it due to the invasive nature of it.

Agelk
12-18-2017, 09:26 PM
what you guys got something to hide if ya all want look away i got all the same junk the rest do lol . btw great idea and maybe i missed it but will there ever be any blue frog on prime .

Hedge15
12-18-2017, 09:36 PM
Full disclosure: In three years of testing for the project as a QA/CT, I've only had to look at a player twice. The first was to verify an issue with vendors when we were updating them a few publishes ago, and the second was with pub 9 and a ticket issue with the corellian corvette. Both times, permission was asked for and granted.

The reason I bring this up is because there are rare circumstances where having visual confirmation of something helps and it requires that the player consent to it due to the invasive nature of it.
Understood, which is why this post...


There are no admins besides like, scurby, on this server, right?

Not a fan of having a certain QA member be able to snoop through houses and what not
...was so puzzling.

risenangel
12-18-2017, 09:52 PM
Understood, which is why this post...


...was so puzzling.

In the past before Scurby took over some now former staff members were not so professional and improperly used their position. The paranoia is understandable with that in mind. The current team is much better about how we handle things in general, as above there is auditing/review in place.

Hedge15
12-18-2017, 10:08 PM
In the past before Scurby took over some now former staff members were not so professional and improperly used their position. The paranoia is understandable with that in mind. The current team is much better about how we handle things in general, as above there is auditing/review in place.
Well, this...


Not a fan of having a certain QA member be able to snoop through houses and what not
...makes it sound like there might be current issues with someone specific, which I didn't really think was the case.

lordkator
12-18-2017, 10:14 PM
what you guys got something to hide if ya all want look away i got all the same junk the rest do lol . btw great idea and maybe i missed it but will there ever be any blue frog on prime .

I would prefer not to have Blue Frogs, remember all the vendors and market copy too! Anything your heart desires is most likely on the market or in a vendor.

We have debated on maybe a credit bump on first login. That way newbs or people with low credit balances could go a on buying spree without us changing lots of mechanics.

Very interested in ideas, just remember this is a test server, we want to test as much like Basilisk as possible.

dsrules
12-18-2017, 11:33 PM
I would prefer not having Character Build terminals, though like someone above mentioned, some stuff for newbs would be nice. If anything, a set of "noob" gear would be nice off the terminal. Would be easy to write up a quick char build terminal for that purpose, too.

Only issue I've run into so far is a lack of ent buff bots. But hey, can't complain much.

LQUser
12-18-2017, 11:59 PM
...makes it sound like there might be current issues with someone specific, which I didn't really think was the case.

As of right now, without elaborating, yes, that is indeed the case.

risenangel
12-19-2017, 12:29 AM
As of right now, without elaborating, yes, that is indeed the case.
Given the current team is me, farelli and hakry, that is a heavy accusation. Have you emailed scurby@swgemu.com ? If not, you should. In the end, its his review that matters. That, or pm him.

LQUser
12-19-2017, 12:39 AM
Given the current team is me, farelli and hakry, that is a heavy accusation. Have you emailed scurby@swgemu.com ? If not, you should. In the end, its his review that matters. That, or pm him.

You misunderstood. Myself and monoxide are not implying anything has happened. Rather, an eyebrow has been raised over the potential future possibility. Given the aforementioned strict safeguards though i dont believe we have anything to worry about.

Scurby
12-19-2017, 12:41 AM
you shmucks that wanna call offense on one of my staff (shmuck=Monoxide)...
Make no mistake... your fears are unfounded. I will continue to monitor their actions. as always.
Questions? you know how to find me.

oojzero
12-19-2017, 01:01 AM
Great idea! It would allow for easier testing. One concern I have though is that it would allow people to tune their crystals on prime before tuning on Bas to find out if it is worth keeping or not. Trivial concern as Bas is a test server, but something to keep in mind. I would ask for blue frogs tho (even better if each player could be given a personal frog, as it helps with testing crafting and jedi). Hard to say how many people would take the time to set up buff bots on prime.

Livy2K
12-19-2017, 07:18 AM
If you delete any ill gotten items on basilisk, they wont be on TC prime for staff to stumble upon after the next copy

jeffcue
12-19-2017, 07:51 AM
If you delete any ill gotten items on basilisk, they wont be on TC prime for staff to stumble upon after the next copy

Sounds like guilty people hiding illegal items to me. Is there an active item dupe or something that is not being reported?

Loc-nar
12-19-2017, 10:48 AM
In the past before Scurby took over some now former staff members were not so professional and improperly used their position. The paranoia is understandable with that in mind. The current team is much better about how we handle things in general, as above there is auditing/review in place.

You don't mean private guild events and like do you?

lol, yeah things are much better now. Wish I had more time to contribute but real life has taken a turn.

Monoxide
12-19-2017, 11:22 AM
I was fired, so you don't have to worry 'bout me lol

Although anyone who knows me , knows that I barely ever used ANY admin commands, much less /snoop thru tester's houses. I would never, and never did, break 'Rule 1'.

Regardless, you don't have to worry period, cuz neither Farelli nor Hakry would ever abuse 'powers' either. And even if they did, Scurby & TA would notice immediately.

I suspect the actual ADMINS are: Scurby, TA, Lordkator, and maybe Sniffer. Otherwise, it's probably about the same QA/Dev delineations & perms as regular TC Nova (or maybe slightly reduced, cuz Basilisk effect --- And actually, come to think of it, since TC-Prime is essentially a 'mirror' of Basilisk, i'm guessing it also inherits the same Staff toon perms & titles as regular Basilisk) .

Scurby watches & controls everything, so the days of "corrupt" Staff are long gone.

----

On topic: I'm curious to know how Mantis Bug Tracker (https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22463) will be handled, for any bugs found on TC:Prime. Will testers know how to denote when they file? Will Scurby create a new filing catagory? Because as it stands now, most people file under 'SWGEMU: Basilisk' , even if the bug didn't actually occur there.


We can't and won't do that. Rule 1 is quite literally, "don't **** with the players" and what that means is just that. We can't and won't mess with you. If something comes up, we'll simply talk to you and ask you to file a mantis ticket with screenshots of whatever it is we need to see. That way it is entirely your choice as to what, and how much, you share if anything. Admin command usage these days is watched like a hawk by Scurby, Niffer and the devs.

Also, since its a mirror of Basilisk, as Nee pointed out our powers, I expect, are going to be far less than what they are on Nova. If its on par with Basilisk, QA doesn't have permission to /snoop or do a lot of other stuff because we don't need to and aren't allowed to. We can teleport, use setspeed on ourselves, go invisible annnnd maybe one or two other things to get info about the world. That is about it. Everything else is reserved for Niffer, Scurby and the devs.


QFE.

I'm always watching.

That's actually pretty reassuring. Thank you.


Well, this...


...makes it sound like there might be current issues with someone specific, which I didn't really think was the case.

Yes, someone specifically was thought of. :P


you shmucks that wanna call offense on one of my staff (shmuck=Monoxide)...
Make no mistake... your fears are unfounded. I will continue to monitor their actions. as always.
Questions? you know how to find me.

I'm not saying any staff actually abused anything... I just thought there was potential for abuse due to certain situations, which I won't go into detail here. No wrong doing has been done afaik, it was just about potential. I'm well aware of rule

3.3.1 Attempting to Defraud a CSR - Petitioning with untrue information with the intention of receiving benefits as a result. This includes reporting bug deaths, item loss, or fraudulently accusing other players of wrongdoing.
It's all good in the hood, mayne.


Sounds like guilty people hiding illegal items to me. Is there an active item dupe or something that is not being reported?

Nah.

algebuckina
12-19-2017, 11:26 AM
I would prefer not to have Blue Frogs, remember all the vendors and market copy too! Anything your heart desires is most likely on the market or in a vendor.

We have debated on maybe a credit bump on first login. That way newbs or people with low credit balances could go a on buying spree without us changing lots of mechanics.

Very interested in ideas, just remember this is a test server, we want to test as much like Basilisk as possible. yeah I see a character builder terminal with full use being problematic. But maybe just buffs and credits being available so one can acquire testing material. Cause I'm pretty broke on basilisk and don't have the credits for a good suit of armor or a weapon that has a chance against anything higher level.

Scurby
12-19-2017, 11:17 PM
That's actually pretty reassuring. Thank you.



Yes, someone specifically was thought of. :P



I'm not saying any staff actually abused anything... I just thought there was potential for abuse due to certain situations, which I won't go into detail here. No wrong doing has been done afaik, it was just about potential. I'm well aware of rule

3.3.1 Attempting to Defraud a CSR - Petitioning with untrue information with the intention of receiving benefits as a result. This includes reporting bug deaths, item loss, or fraudulently accusing other players of wrongdoing.
It's all good in the hood, mayne.



Nah.

I ask you once. Trust what I do. I will do what i do regardless.... yes?

Scurby
12-19-2017, 11:19 PM
Also... no frogs on TC Prime. That would defeat the purpose...

Monoxide
12-20-2017, 01:46 AM
I ask you once. Trust what I do. I will do what i do regardless.... yes?

You chiming in was all I needed, man.

bigevil
12-20-2017, 10:34 AM
I might bust my laptop out and run my doc/ent outta a cantina or sumpin....serious macro to build for both but would provide one outlet i suppose. Have to mega stock up on boofs. hehe.

oojzero
12-21-2017, 07:26 AM
Also... no frogs on TC Prime. That would defeat the purpose...

:icon_cry2:

Agelk
12-21-2017, 12:04 PM
my only thought on the frogs on prime was maybe testing a heavy load on something specific before it is pushed to bas can be done a week before or so just a thought nothing more
.

roangg
12-21-2017, 07:26 PM
All I can say is thanks for the excellent job you folks do , to the rest of the peeps , remember its here and working , Thanks guys

risenangel
12-21-2017, 07:37 PM
:icon_cry2:
when it comes to buffs, the real answer here is what scurby said: no character builder terminals. You have two options:
a) Make your own doc alt and ent alt on Basilisk. This option isn't necessarily a bad idea to start with, it allows you to be free from being reliant on buffbots for what you want to do. You have ten character slots for testing for this reason. We want people to try as many professions as they can. It helps find issues.
b) make friends with someone that has them and ask them to log them in to TC Prime. Its an MMO. You're supposed to make friends with others. Most people on the team would argue that the people you meet are the entire point for playing.


my only thought on the frogs on prime was maybe testing a heavy load on something specific before it is pushed to bas can be done a week before or so just a thought nothing more
.

When it comes to mass testing and getting people to pile on and do things for testing in large numbers, we have in the past simply made an event out of it and asked people to pile onto nova. TC Prime can serve a similar purpose in the future, as LordKator's original post mentions.

xirad
12-31-2017, 03:05 PM
I have 2 Ents for simultaneous buffing I'd be happy to run from my laptop. They don't have the tapes for +125% but I've tweaked their HAMs so they do fast 2 minute buffs.

But we're really going to need to have a Doc buff. No one is going to want to log in to do missions and run all over the place trying to find a buff. It's fine to say make your own on Bas but unless you're rolling in a lot of credits and/or a LOT of free time, buying the buff packs or harvesting all the high quality resources to make the buff packs is going to filter out a lot of players.

Regarding testing, I myself don't have a lot of free time to play on Bas as it is but if there could easy access to a list of what to concentrate testing on, I'd be happy to help as much as I can. I think for many the idea of doing things twice is what's keeping folks off Nova. HOWEVER, the fact that on Prime we now have our toons at nearly the same level as on Bas makes a HUGE difference!

Regards,

Xir

EDIT:

I just saw RisenAngel's post to TheMadCow about how to help test and where to look for what to test. As well as the big fat sticky... So on that topic, neVERmind. ; )

stevengw
01-07-2018, 05:27 PM
Like, was some one actually sneaking into peeps houses and going through their underwear drawers!!!!

This is soo funny I'm killing myself here... ooooh man life never ceases to amaze me..

Can I volunteer myself as SWGEmu security member?

I'd love to break a few heads with a big hammer (it would have to be a 50 mill credit hammer for this job) for snooping through underwear drawers...

Leylyah
03-19-2018, 10:16 AM
Just got back to this server after visiting other places, so did not know what was happening here. As my time is limited when playing, doubtful I'll be going to TC: Prime.

Superser
12-12-2019, 05:14 PM
I cannot login on TC-prime. Known issue or it's just me?

Lolindir
12-12-2019, 07:41 PM
It should be back now.

Someone took out cash from the bluefrog 68321 times in a very short time and It caused the server to crash.

To stop anyone to get ideas, the account that did this, is no longer a part of this community. We have tools in place that tracks stuff like this.

Walking carpet
12-12-2019, 09:44 PM
It should be back now.

Someone took out cash from the bluefrog 68321 times in a very short time and It caused the server to crash.

To stop anyone to get ideas, the account that did this, is no longer a part of this community. We have tools in place that tracks stuff like this.

cant understand people doing stupid things like that
good catch staff :)