EQClassic - Starting to See the Light!

The quality assurance tests for both the netcode and spell system were completed today. Finally, after years of work, it is beginning to feel like this project has some downhill momentum behind it! With the spell system behind us, I will be returning to the combat system this week, and I anticipate to see its completion by early June.

EQClassic - Packet Manager

Our packet manager has been a thorn in our side for quite some time. Its ability to somewhat support a single connection for a limited amount of time was a miracle. Obviously, this presented serious implications for querying all of the stacking data from the client, as I could only get a sixty to ninety minute dump at a time. I had been dealing with this lousy packet manager for years and I just could not take it anymore last week.

I only set out to fix an issue with the number of packets the client could receive from the packet manager (2^16), but I ended up rewriting the entire system in a very short period of time. I was very fortunate the original author's (Quagmire from EQEmulator) documentation survived the number of vain attempts made on this system by past developers. Without this documentation, there is no way I would have been able to rewrite and complete this system, especially in seven days.

Our new packet manager solution is ridiculously fast and rock solid stable. On a loopback connection, I can abuse the client with millions of UDP packets per minute and it does not miss a beat. Over a remote connection, the client is capable of receiving and answering thousands of TCP emulated (ARQ/ARSP) packets per minute. Packet loss is also now handled properly as the client is capable of making it into a zone server with upwards of 75% packet loss.

I am quite satisfied with our new packet manager solution and once these last few quality assurance tests are complete, I can chalk up this feature as 100% complete and get back to testing the spell system.

EQClassic - Wrapping up Spells

I am quite happy to say the spell system is just about finished (I believe I have logged north of 1,500 hours in this one area). All that remains are quality assurance tests (mainly revisiting all spell types to ensure they did not break over time) and I can finally chalk up the spell system as complete.

During a fifty-thousand-cast, stacking test, I noticed several disagreements between the client and the server. The reasoning behind the discrepancies is eluding me, so I have turned to simply asking the client which spells stack with which other spells (cast two spells, request the client's player profile and inspect its buffs). This entire process will require roughly four strait days of Q&A with the client, at which point the spell system testing will resume.

Once the testing of the spell system is complete, I will return to revamping the combat system, which should require no more than six weeks to complete. Following the combat system, I will return to the NPC AI system, which may require anywhere from three to six months (the NPC AI system is large and complex, but not nearly as massive as the spell casting system).

Change in Direction III

Since the middle of November, I have been dedicating seventy to eighty hours per week getting my company up off of the ground and I am now taking my foot off of the accelerator a bit. I am transitioning into a forty to fifty hour work week, which leaves twenty or so hours per week for EQClassic.

My work left off with pets, but my return will be focused around aiding Harakiri with a side project that does not yield source revisions. This side project requires anywhere between a four to eight week commitment, so it may be another month or two until the revision log heats up again.

Change in Direction II

My estimation of a six to eight week removal from personal projects was a bit too conservative. Today marks the eighth week from my announcement and I believe I have another four to six weeks to go until I may safely invest time into other projects.

Change in Direction

Myself and a few others are in the process of starting a business and a couple of those participating are leaving their current jobs. It is imperative that we do not fail, thus, to ensure that we hit the ground running, I am removing myself from all other projects for the next six to eight weeks.

EQClassic - Source Organization

Shortly after making the appropriate changes for spawning our new pets, I have decided to dedicate some time (five to seven days) to clean up and reorganize our source. A majority of the source is poorly organized and I cannot stand to look at it anymore.