Ideas to attract new players.

MMaster · 2014-04-21 15:10:21

Cylence wrote:

DaVinci, MMaster
Any way you can setup the server to load the neighborhood with retired houses? I figure plenty of people have shared their designs with both high value and low value (cost, not listing). This would give a sense of a fuller neighborhood complete with houses built by the community for free to play sampling. (the harder the house, the more reward)
They might not get robbed a lot as a protector, but there would be plenty for them to explore as a robber.
Also, a tutorial would go a long way into introducing anyone who's interested in the game but can't get over the hurdle of learning from the wiki or building traps themselves to test.
Hmm... maybe some houses that are specifically tutorials.
Like a house named Tutorial Drug Meat. And have the house only protected by dogs.
And so on. Tutorial Water, Tutorial Switches, etc.

I'm really sorry, but I don't have too much time. Improving registration process is one thing, changing the game / server to add trial time (is that really necessary?), tutorials and/or retired houses is another thing. If someone would have time and also be able to write the code and provide a patch I'm willing to do any provided patches on free server (after my review). The server has enough bandwidth, CPU power and memory to be able to hold much more users than main server currently has. It is completely dedicated to community so if you want to use it to get new players I'm really happy! I just don't want it to be payed server so any proposed changes should have that in mind.

walter-white · 2014-04-21 15:27:30

I personally brought the game because im a fan of RoosterTeeth and they put up a lets play of it. After seeing it i figured the game looks like fun and tried it out. I can see a lot of people do (or used to do at least) used Aavak's house designs. I think that their videos are the best advertisement and anyone with plenty of subscribers somewhere on the internet that posts a positive review of the game will likely bring in a new bunch of players?

StefanLindskog · 2014-04-21 16:19:42

I have a passable voice, but only shoddy mics. I can give it a go if I get text and melody - if someone can clear up the audio.

Cylence · 2014-04-21 17:01:26

walter-white wrote:

I personally brought the game because im a fan of RoosterTeeth and they put up a lets play of it. After seeing it i figured the game looks like fun and tried it out. I can see a lot of people do (or used to do at least) used Aavak's house designs. I think that their videos are the best advertisement and anyone with plenty of subscribers somewhere on the internet that posts a positive review of the game will likely bring in a new bunch of players?

I do agree that anyone with a following can bring users in. However, I have no connections with any of those people. If you do, please let them know.

What we really want is an influx of players that will stay (are interested in putting in time to learn and play at a higher level). Hopefully the free to play, tutorial server can hand hold these new players into mid level players willing to stay and learn more. Of course, we'll need the the advertising and marketing you are talking about to generate a pool of new players to throw into the server trap.

MMaster wrote:

... changing the game / server to add trial time ...
tutorials and/or retired houses is another thing. If someone would have time and also be able to write the code and provide a patch I'm willing to do any provided patches on free server (after my review).

DaVinci243 has offered to help with the trial stuff.

iceman just posted that he can get a map from castle draft to become a house on his server (in this thread: http://thecastledoctrine.net/forums/vie … p?id=2861). Hopefully he can chime in and let you know how to do it for the free server. If it works out, maybe we can crowdsource fully tested castle draft tutorials to explain how common traps work and/or how to use tools/multiple runs to defeat them.

StefanLindskog wrote:

I have a passable voice, but only shoddy mics. I can give it a go if I get text and melody - if someone can clear up the audio.

Stefan, the text is provided on the thread (http://thecastledoctrine.net/forums/vie … hp?id=2377), however I'm not sure how to get the melody without the original lyrics. Gyuri any help here?

StefanLindskog · 2014-04-21 17:11:30

The video in the original + the text provides me with everything I need. That song is kinda catchy. I'm not used to wording this fast, but I think I'll handle it. If we want to nail this we can have TheRealCheese do the second voice. I know he's good for it. His tuna song is epic.

Cylence · 2014-04-21 17:29:04

StefanLindskog wrote:

The video in the original + the text provides me with everything I need. That song is kinda catchy. I'm not used to wording this fast, but I think I'll handle it. If we want to nail this we can have TheRealCheese do the second voice. I know he's good for it. His tuna song is epic.

Sweet! If you want to change any of the wording go ahead, my lyrics were only a suggestion and I tried to match the syllable count. If you've got something better or easier for you to get through, go ahead and run the change. I'm not sure what you mean by a "second voice." I know the original has a reporter and a sister (victim) talking, but the version I wrote is a shorter one only requiring one person. I'm all for more voices though if you write out the rest of the song

Edit: and what tuna song are you referring to? link please.

Last edited by Cylence (2014-04-21 17:32:39)

StefanLindskog · 2014-04-21 17:45:35

I realize that my english is feeble when it comes to musical stuff. By second voice I mean the other voice in the chorus, entering at the second "hide your kids...".

TheRealCheese has to voluteer that link himself. I know he'll read this.

iceman · 2014-04-21 19:32:07

MMaster: I've been playing around, and I've figured out a really, really easy way to import maps from CastleDraft into the game (thanks, DaVinci, for showing me how to do that). Would you mind letting your server be the "test" server, where people can quickly test a map they've scouted in the main server, or where they can rob a retired house like Cylence was saying? You wouldn't even have to do anything- just say yes, and I'll put up the download code for it. Then, anybody who wants to can put up a retired house, instead of you having to make them.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like the server checks how much the house you built cost, even if the client says it costs 0. So, all you have to do for this to work is to set all of the building prices to 0.

Last edited by iceman (2014-04-21 19:43:30)

TheRealCheese · 2014-04-21 20:37:03

I might be interested to put voice to something, as long as it takes minimal effort from my side
The tuna song, hit of the future, voice of a generation, can be sampled right here.

Last edited by TheRealCheese (2014-04-21 20:37:32)

Lord0fHam · 2014-04-21 20:48:54

is that you cheese??? so scared

Cylence · 2014-04-21 21:22:12

TheRealCheese wrote:

I might be interested to put voice to something, as long as it takes minimal effort from my side
The tuna song, hit of the future, voice of a generation, can be sampled right here.

Man, that tuna song is hilarious. Guess you are my generation because I actually know who Scott Baio is. If he had a house, his name would be Charles I. Charge.

Please sync up with Stefan to get a recording, and hopefully Gyuri can take the recording clean it up and then we can see where we can go from there.

gyuri · 2014-04-22 01:20:14

Stefan, just record it a couple of times, don't care about mistakes. You can listen to the song through your headphones and record only your voice. Anyone else interested do the same please, I'll check what can be done with those recordings. I need only your voice, nothing else, especially not the playback.

MMaster · 2014-04-22 04:03:08

iceman wrote:

MMaster: I've been playing around, and I've figured out a really, really easy way to import maps from CastleDraft into the game (thanks, DaVinci, for showing me how to do that). Would you mind letting your server be the "test" server, where people can quickly test a map they've scouted in the main server, or where they can rob a retired house like Cylence was saying? You wouldn't even have to do anything- just say yes, and I'll put up the download code for it. Then, anybody who wants to can put up a retired house, instead of you having to make them.
EDIT: Actually, it looks like the server checks how much the house you built cost, even if the client says it costs 0. So, all you have to do for this to work is to set all of the building prices to 0.

Sure. If you mean the client modification then I already have that implemented for some time even with change cost computation. Yes server checks the price of the changes by itself (client does not even send that) so changing house prices to 0 would probably allow you to load any map. I will have to search for the patch where I have that.

Do you want me to provide custom client for free server (with changed shared secret) that allows you to load map from savedHouse.txt in game dir? I just looked up the patch and I have it implemented so that when you press 'L' it loads that file (there is no undo of that as I didn't have time to look into that yet). If you have something better please share it.

I would prefer some server side solution where you can open some web page, paste the house map and it creates new character with that house on the server and tells you his name .. I think that would be really cool feature, but there is problem with self-testing and the fact that each house should be solvable, so I guess allowing people to load map and self-test it themselves afterwards is easier solution.

I will have to look into the registration process and sending emails with download link and then we can put any client files for download. I can provide linux and windows versions, but I don't have mac so someone else will have to compile it for mac.

I just thought about it and I can probably setup test server separately so it does not break the free server buildings pricing. If we want to attract new players, I think the cost of building a house is important part of the game (I think having it free makes a completely different gaming experience).

EDIT: If you have time to test it / improve it here is the diff:
http://tcd.bitbix.com/loadhouse.diff

just get into your directory where runToBuild is and execute this:
patch -p0 < loadhouse.diff

It will patch your sources with this new functionality (unless you have them modified where conflicts might happen).

How to use it:
create savedHouse.txt in your game directory and put house map on first line of this file
run the game and in edit mode press 'L' (shift+l), it will automatically load your house from savedHouse.txt and recalculate how much would it cost to change what you have currently to what you have in savedHouse.txt (just like if you would build it manually)

Couple of problems that need to be fixed eventually:
- it is not possible to undo the house change so the easiest way to get back to your old house is to restart the game
- buttons on the right (tapes, highlight changes, done) can overlap in some cases (highlight changes will be on top of tapes button)

I didn't use it at all (other than testing) so I'm not sure if it will work in all cases, but it should. Also I'm not sure what it will do if you put different wife or kids to the map than you had originally (if the server will accept it).

Last edited by MMaster (2014-04-22 05:00:49)

iceman · 2014-04-22 08:52:17

Wow, MMaster- you went a bit further than I did. I just had DaVinci's code, but using the settings folder instead of having to deal with all the hassles of dealing with files on your own. I don't see code for checking the cost of the house- where does that come from?

I've been messing around with UI for Fortress Theory, and I think that I can make a button that lets you load your house from a file. The main issue would be finding room for it Another idea I had would be to let people turn off death- I could have a toggle button that lets them choose whether they want to die or not. It would be great for testing your own houses, but might be a bit OP for robbing other people's

One issue with having retired houses on the server is that only the first person to rob them gets to experience it. Normally, I would make a movement blocking tile that you can use tools on, and put it around vaults that I want to protect, but if I did that on your old server, it would crash anybody's game who was playing with the default client. If you make a brand new server, though, that isn't an issue- you can force everyone to use the same client.

I have a file on my server where I can turn full house maps to the hashMap (that's what I had been using to steal old maps and get them up relatively quickly). I think that I can modify it to let you make a map from a browser (by copying the map code), but won't let it show up in the neighborhood until you log in and complete the self test. There are 2 options for doing this. The first is to have the user paste their download code as well as the map code, then just log into that download code afterwards. The only issue with that is that it takes a bit longer to make a map. The other option is to just create a new account every time they make a map, and give them the account information. That makes it quicker to make a map, but will fill up the server with unused houses, and I feel like it's going to be pretty hard to implement(since the game and ticket servers are on different files).

When I have time, I'll play around more to see if I can fix those issues/potential issues you pointed out.

MMaster · 2014-04-22 09:26:50

iceman wrote:

Wow, MMaster- you went a bit further than I did. I just had DaVinci's code, but using the settings folder instead of having to deal with all the hassles of dealing with files on your own. I don't see code for checking the cost of the house- where does that come from?
I've been messing around with UI for Fortress Theory, and I think that I can make a button that lets you load your house from a file. The main issue would be finding room for it Another idea I had would be to let people turn off death- I could have a toggle button that lets them choose whether they want to die or not. It would be great for testing your own houses, but might be a bit OP for robbing other people's
One issue with having retired houses on the server is that only the first person to rob them gets to experience it. Normally, I would make a movement blocking tile that you can use tools on, and put it around vaults that I want to protect, but if I did that on your old server, it would crash anybody's game who was playing with the default client. If you make a brand new server, though, that isn't an issue- you can force everyone to use the same client.
I have a file on my server where I can turn full house maps to the hashMap (that's what I had been using to steal old maps and get them up relatively quickly). I think that I can modify it to let you make a map from a browser (by copying the map code), but won't let it show up in the neighborhood until you log in and complete the self test. There are 2 options for doing this. The first is to have the user paste their download code as well as the map code, then just log into that download code afterwards. The only issue with that is that it takes a bit longer to make a map. The other option is to just create a new account every time they make a map, and give them the account information. That makes it quicker to make a map, but will fill up the server with unused houses, and I feel like it's going to be pretty hard to implement(since the game and ticket servers are on different files).
When I have time, I'll play around more to see if I can fix those issues/potential issues you pointed out.

The cost calculation is already part of the existing code recomputeChangeCost() in EditHousePage which uses getEditDiff from HouseGridDisplay. The real deal was custom function setHouseMapInProgress in HouseGridDisplay which doesn't overwrite the start map that is being held in separate variable. That variable is being set by setHouseMap call so thats why I needed separate function for that (it's mostly just copy paste code). I think that was all that was needed to get it working, but I'm not sure as it's already some time since I did that one.
I used classic "C" way of loading file as it does not require any additional libraries to be linked into the final binary (as I briefly looked at what DaVinci posted he used 3 includes that I think would increase the final binary size by something around 1MB) and it was more compatible with how strings are handled in existing code.
Now that I think of it, it will be probably better to give people custom client that allows them to load the map from file (it would be better if they could paste the house map right in the game, but that's more complicated).
You should be able to do the buttons easily just by copy pasting the code from other buttons adding the listener and handling the action in action callback (you will get to it quickly when you look at existing code). As you said the issue is where to put it.

Also I had simple solution to the 'undo' issue in mind - if the client is in a state where there is no undo step available, but map is not the same as stored start map, and player press Undo just rollback the map back to the start map (stored in HouseGridDisplay). Moving the buttons to correct places when they overlap should be already handled somewhere in the code so I think we just need to find it and use it.

There are some things that would need to be checked yet - there are variables that hold if backpack or vault changed, if all mandatory objects are placed, etc - all of those are set to the default values from setHouseMap, but I don't think it's correct for all of them and needs to be handled somehow for it to not be so 'hacky'.

Last edited by MMaster (2014-04-22 09:29:10)

Cylence · 2014-04-23 11:38:16

gyuri wrote:

Stefan, just record it a couple of times, don't care about mistakes. You can listen to the song through your headphones and record only your voice. Anyone else interested do the same please, I'll check what can be done with those recordings. I need only your voice, nothing else, especially not the playback.

StefanLindskog and TheRealCheese,
When will we get to hear your doctrine duet?

MMaster and Iceman,
Thanks for collaborating together. I'm hoping you too can find an easy solution.

gyuri · 2014-04-23 12:01:28

I had another idea for a video. The music would be Clubbed To Death by Rob D. from The Matrix OST and the video could be a compilation of scenes recorded in game dealing with a guy losing his wife to a clubber and seeking revenge. It would be quite easy to do it if some players collaborate on it and kill each others wives, all we need is a script and then some editing of the recorded material. Anyone interested in doing this together?

StefanLindskog · 2014-04-23 12:40:06

Cylence wrote:

StefanLindskog and TheRealCheese,
When will we get to hear your doctrine duet?

You will. It's proving harder than I thought to get it right. I've yet to nail the last two lines - and it sounds really dorky when I'm singing with doubt.

gyuri · 2014-04-23 12:59:13

You can record it in pieces as well, and if some part is too fast or too high, I can make a slower and/or deeper plackback for you with two clicks.

Cylence · 2014-04-23 13:51:10

gyuri wrote:

I had another idea for a video. The music would be Clubbed To Death by Rob D. from The Matrix OST and the video could be a compilation of scenes recorded in game dealing with a guy losing his wife to a clubber and seeking revenge. It would be quite easy to do it if some players collaborate on it and kill each others wives, all we need is a script and then some editing of the recorded material. Anyone interested in doing this together?

I've got a well established house, but I could contribute with the script.

gyuri · 2014-04-23 13:59:25

Write a script and we can discuss it here.

Cylence · 2014-04-23 14:05:05

gyuri wrote:

Write a script and we can discuss it here.

Would the house have to be a common one. or can it be made up?

gyuri · 2014-04-23 14:11:28

As you wish, I think a nice evolution from a starter house to a madman's house would be nice. Listen to the music to get in the mood and give it a nice build-up.

Cylence · 2014-04-23 14:20:44

gyuri wrote:

As you wish, I think a nice evolution from a starter house to a madman's house would be nice. Listen to the music to get in the mood and give it a nice build-up.

I already did listen and got a nice intro planned out. Wasn't sure if I was gonna do it over multiple lives or if i was gonna have him build up. Mostly likely have him build up. But, I'll finish it after we get the Hide Your Wife up. Don't want you to be distracted .

gyuri · 2014-04-23 14:27:05

I can't do anything with Hide Your Wife without the recordings so I have time to discuss your script.

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#26 2014-04-21 15:10:21

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#27 2014-04-21 15:27:30

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#28 2014-04-21 16:19:42

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#29 2014-04-21 17:01:26

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#30 2014-04-21 17:11:30

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#31 2014-04-21 17:29:04

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#32 2014-04-21 17:45:35

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#33 2014-04-21 19:32:07

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#34 2014-04-21 20:37:03

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#35 2014-04-21 20:48:54

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#36 2014-04-21 21:22:12

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#37 2014-04-22 01:20:14

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#38 2014-04-22 04:03:08

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#39 2014-04-22 08:52:17

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#40 2014-04-22 09:26:50

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#41 2014-04-23 11:38:16

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#42 2014-04-23 12:01:28

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#44 2014-04-23 12:59:13

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#45 2014-04-23 13:51:10

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