Request for Data Analyses regarding Bases

[ArchVileTerror]

A suggestion ( https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/17519-text-based-suggestions/ ) in the Suggestions board just got me thinking . . . 

How many Group Bases are there currently per Shard, and how much data are they using?  Are we at risk of hitting critical mass any time soon?  What happens when the game surpasses the Group/Base data quota limits?

May we have that information data mined and shared, please?  Any OuroDev'y members out there able to predict an answer based on their own knowledge of the I24 codebase?

[SpookTheHerd]

Given the amount of characters I see that are walking around that aren't even in a supergroup, things certainly aren't as bad as they could be. (Same goes for all the blank character bios, if we were to implement global bios---most people would possibly not use either!)
And a base is only a strain on the server if there are people walking around in it. Otherwise, a base is probably just a list of object coordinates and settings saved somewhere, This is also the game that allows people to write and upload their own missions with custom enemy groups, so if someone's going to run a server for it they probably should have allotted for heavy use, set a limit, or disabled taxing features like AE and bases if they lacked the resources to run them. I think HC is likely doing fine, given that the monthly fundraising goals are generally met within a day of being announced.

[SurfD]

I doubt bases take up even a fraction of the amount of info space that AE takes up.

 

I mean, think about it:  Creating a really elaborate base takes a lot of time and effort, and is going to be well beyond the scope of the needs of the average player.  As well, the average player is not likely to have more than 1 base.  A single base is more than enough space to set up a a decent sized communal stash for shuffling Enhancements/Salvage around on your alts.  So at worst, you might have one SG base for every player in the game, and most of them are just going to be large, mostly empty rooms with a dozen or so containers and maybe the Trainer/Vendor NPC.   Maybe slightly higher, but I doubt it.

 

AE on the other hand, a single player can easily have multiple missions, and those missions can easily contain WAY more stuff than a typical SG base.

[ArchVileTerror]

Except that AE content is (on the surface) pretty well optimized and readable as pure text.  Have you ever taken a look at your AE missions as text files?  It's not amazing, but it's pretty solid for keeping things compact.

Bases, however, have been modified to have all kinds of new data in them, with the original blocky restrictions lifted.  Unless there's a really nifty compression algorithm working behind the scenes, I have a feeling that Bases (like Karma-508 or Veacor's Castle on Everlasting) take WAY more raw data.

 

But, eh.  I could be quite wrong.  I'll take a jab at a pigg viewer later and compare the sizes of zones like Echo: Galaxy and Kallisti Wharf to see what those look like.  I mean, if Kallisti is a smaller file than your average non-Farmer 5-part AE arc, then I'll be pretty shocked . . . but I'll eat my pie.

[Clave Dark 5]

On 4/30/2020 at 8:46 PM, SpookTheHerd said:

Given the amount of characters I see that are walking around that aren't even in a supergroup, things certainly aren't as bad as they could be.

Yeah, taking the time to learn and use all that is just... not a thing I'd care to mess with, although I'm sure people enjoy it.  Meanwhile I get most of the functionality of a base from the public node bases people have set up for anyone to use to TP from zone to zone.

[Oubliette_Red]

Well, if I recall correctly bases, like missions are instances so if it's not in use it goes into Hammerspace.

 

There are probably more players that use them as storage and transfer points than those that spend countless hours base-building.

[Coin]

I have a single supergroup and base for all my characters on Torch. It's a very simple, three room thing that has the basics in of what I want. I've been using it more to travel around the city faster after noticing how I was being left behind in missions and TF's especially.

 

I'm hoping that it's not using too much space as I'm only ever in it for a few seconds, usually.

[ArchVileTerror]

I will point out that I was talking about storage memory, not active memory in my original query.  Something else to bear in mind related to bases are the items stored within bases, such as Salvage (likely low impact) and Invention Origin Set Enhancements (potentially more).

 

Also also . . . I play on Everlasting.  It appears my perspective on the number of bases is skewed compared to other Shards.  By the sounds of it, there may be more bases on Everlasting than all the other Shards combined.

[Greycat]

31 minutes ago, ArchVileTerror said:

I will point out that I was talking about storage memory, not active memory in my original query.

Of the two, physical storage is insanely cheap. And when I look at demorecords of old bases - some of which could get pretty complex - none of those (uncompressed text files, honestly) even approach 1 Mb in size. Mind you, 1 Tb hard drives are under $100. So even if we had everyone back from live (what was the max, 250-300,000 players) and each of them managed to build three massive bases, and they were stored they way demorecords are (mind you, they're probably compressed instead,) we'd ... still be able to have them all on one cheap drive. Even if we found the most expensive 1 Tb drives with all the enterprise relaiablity features, etc, *plus* backup drives that were complete images... it'd be cheap. 

 

I don't think space taken by bases is honestly an issue.

 

(Oh. Looking at a demorecord? After a header filled with gibberish (to us,) you see things like:

0   1   NEW "Mystic Advisor"
0   1   NPC v_base_object
0   1   DYNLIB basecntrlauxarc_advisor01_f_N_P
0   1   POS 328 0 360
0   1   PYR 0 -2.343922 -0
0   1   MOV READY 0
0   2   NEW "Magic Axis"
0   2   NPC v_base_object_unselectable
0   2   DYNLIB basecntrlarc_sngstones_f_N_P
0   2   POS 334 5 384
0   2   PYR 0 1.583068 0
0   2   MOV READY 0
0   3   NEW Carolyn
0   3   NPC Citizen_Biz_Fem_33
0   3   DYNLIB Vanguard_TrainingDummy_Rikti
0   3   POS 310 0 377
0   3   PYR 0 -1.570796 -0
0   3   MOV READY_2HIPS_LOOK 0
0   4   NEW Gregory
0   4   NPC Citizen_Biz_Male_05
0   4   DYNLIB Vanguard_TrainingDummy_Rikti
0   4   POS 310 0 391
0   4   PYR 0 -1.570796 -0
0   4   MOV READY_XARMS_LOOK 0
0   5   NEW "Icon Employee"
0   5   NPC Model_IconEmployeeB
0   5   DYNLIB Vanguard_TrainingDummy_Rikti
0   5   POS 311 0 384
0   5   PYR 0 -1.570796 -0
0   5   MOV READY_XARMS_LOOK 0

... and so forth.

 

Oh, but what about storage? That's likely not adding that much - just databases saying what's where and who can get it.)

 

[ArchVileTerror]

Thank you for looking in to that, @Greycat!

 

So . . . circling back to the original reason I wanted to have this question answered . . . 

 

OPEN THE FLOODGATES!

Let's get some bulletin boards set up in Group Bases!  And some Souvenir Trophies!  And all kinds of other fun stuff!

[Ironblade]

On 5/6/2020 at 8:58 AM, Greycat said:

Of the two, physical storage is insanely cheap. And when I look at demorecords of old bases - some of which could get pretty complex - none of those (uncompressed text files, honestly) even approach 1 Mb in size.

Yep.  Before shutdown, I took demorecords of all of my (five) bases and all the other (21) bases that I had access to.

The largest file is 178KB.

[Ironblade]

On 5/6/2020 at 9:34 AM, ArchVileTerror said:

OPEN THE FLOODGATES!

Let's get some bulletin boards set up in Group Bases!  And some Souvenir Trophies!  And all kinds of other fun stuff!

I've previously mentioned bulletin boards (along with MANY other people).

As for souvenirs, I think it would really cool if we could get a display on our own computers of all of our souvenirs like we have for our badges.  Of course, someone would have to create artwork for all the mission souvenirs.  On the other hand, storage requirements would be trivial since it already stores souvenir names and text.  It would just need to add an ID to reference artwork.

[Michiyo]

11 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

Yep.  Before shutdown, I took demorecords of all of my (five) bases and all the other (21) bases that I had access to.

The largest file is 178KB.

 

And that demo record, INCLUDES the contents of EVERY storage item in your base. If you were to unpack the zipped header you could see everything you had stored.

[Ironblade]

Yeah, a big chunk of the file looks like this "H²?z_g\qú;0üòi»±/~“µØž±g|,÷xnß"

 

Then each item has an entry, like:

0   1   NEW "Dimensional Anchor"

0   1   NPC v_base_object

0   1   DYNLIB base_anchor_arcane_w_N_P

0   1   POS 160 17 256

0   1   PYR 0 1.583068 0

0   1   MOV READY 0

0   1   HP 8032.00

0   1   HPMAX 8032.00