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[V:MP] Winter 2021 Development Update
Hello,
Read on for the latest Developers news from the V:MP team. We hope you are in good health and feeling optimistic as 2021 comes to a close and 2022 is only a stones throw away.
The last major news: Argonath 2021 Development Announcement (https://www.argonathrpg.eu/index.php?topic=129531.0) outlined our plans for the type of server we set out to build - with the team, the vision and the features. We are still very set on this vision.
Let's get straight to it. It was a bit optimistic to get to an alpha stable build from the ground up in 1 year and at this stage we are unlikely to release to the wider community for at least 6 months. For the steadfast members of the community still following us on Discord (https://discord.gg/2UXxBDq)this might not be too shocking given the lack of updates in recent months - but I'm happy to share some progress and let you know we are making movng forwared with development every week now.
Moving to FiveM
The biggest news we have - we have decided to move development from Rage multiplayer to FiveM. This section covers the logic and background behind this move.
At the start of 2021 we were effectively starting development from scratch, completely seperate from the legacy server that is currently live due to incompatibility with the scripting language.
We reviewed the reasons why RAGE V:MP was originally chosen for Argonath: at the time it had a larger player capacity than FiveM, and the legacy server (which was effectively ported from IV:MP) was written in C++ and only compatible with Rage Multiplayer.
At the point at which the FiveM conversation came up, we had already spent several months of development on RAGE:MP and issues were arising with the features we wished to implement. We tried to building from existing scripts and unfinished resources available online, but due to the scripting quality and bad optimisation we were effectively having to start from scratch for every single feature.
We started to question why we were using Rage Multiplayer when it seemed the vast majority of English speaking GTA V online RP was broadcast from FiveM servers. Those active on Twitch might know what we're talking about.
We know there are some misconception that FiveM is slow and laggy and these seems to stem from servers popping up all over the place using copy and pasted scripts banged together without any thought or optimisation. Our development team is very experienced in creating real world solutions and we are sticking with our development plan and ensuring the scripts are optimised and work properly. The whole point is to make a good gaming experience for our community and build something we enjoy ourselves. I've tried to summarise the advantages below.
Advantages and Features of FiveM compared to Rage Multiplayer
- The FiveM framework is updated regularly.
- Dynamic NPC pedestrian & vehicle traffic spawns.
- Largest GTA V streaming platform that isn't Russian.
- We are building most scripts from scratch to reach our quality requirements so the port to FiveM hasn't completely reset development.
- Scripts can be loaded as modules - we can updated scripts and fix bugs without having to reset the entire server each time.
- Better mod compatibility.
- Comparable sync to the latest Rage build.
In terms of RP features - NPC traffic have the advantage of offering more realistic, RP-friendly reports of illegal activity (e.g .alerting authorities if shooting in in a populated area), and also offer opportunities to criminal enterprises (e.g. carjacking, vehicle breaking & illegal ownership). We will find many ways for NPC interaction to benefit players in later iterations of the scripts. It will be a big change from Rage multiplayer - Feel free to let us know how you feel about it.
Development Progress
Please refer to the previous Development Announcement (https://www.argonathrpg.eu/index.php?topic=129531.0) for a more complete look at the planned features and development.
There are 3 major systems that are in development currently that form the core of the server.
1. Inventory System
2. Faction System
3. Business and Economy System
Inventory System
As the name implies, this is how we handle pretty much all items in-game. How they appear in your players inventory, vehicles, properties, objects etc. From loading goods into your vehicles to your business, to other players, or hiding on the ground somewhere... Chase has been hard at work developing this system to integrate across the game, the databases, the ingame UI and web interfaces. It's not a simple process and there isn't anything flashy to show for now as he's working on the back end. We need to get this right so we can easily expand in the future as new ideas and scripts are developed.
Faction System
The Faction overhaul is going to be one of the pinnacle features of the new server and you may have seen Wdoyle livestreaming some progress in this a few months ago.
We will be providing every faction the tools and resources to form, grow, manage and control their group/gang/clan/business/crime syndicate/empire. Rather than have limited functionality for "official" factions like we have seen in the past - we are giving you the power to do everything from the start.
You will be able to manage all of the following ingame and out of game through web interfaces:
- Faction Vehicles - spawn faction vehicles at your properties and control which members can access them.
- Faction Weapons - stockpile weapons and control who can access them.
- Faction Business Properties - Check your inventory and stock across all of your warehouses and businesses and create restock jobs for members to carry out.
- Faction Houses
- Faction inventories
- Faction Banking - set up various accounts for different purposes and control who has access.
- Faction payment systems - set up repeat payments to members based on activity, time or other criteria.
- Player ranks & permissions:
You will be able to create up to 10 ranks and customise permissions. Permissions will control things like: specific door access within faction properties, vehicle access, weapon access, clothes access, faction bank access (deposit/withdraw etc), faction administration (controlling all of the above, paying taxes, vehicle maintenance, weapon & item access etc.
This isn't a complete list of what will be available. The system in mind will be designed to allow easy management of large groups with some automation and easy access ingame and out. Government agencies will be using the same system so it's being built in a modular fashion with expansion in mind. Faction leadership will have real work to do in managing properties, taxes, vehicle repairs & upgrades, weapon & ammo costs, inventory of goods (legal and illegal). This way you can set real responsibilities and duties to higher level members and get a good idea of how wealthy your faction is. Sorry to LSPD and other government branches on this... but you guys are going to have to learn to budget and not destroy so many vehicles!
As an example with LSPD (as I am most familiar with this faction - but this can be applied to ANY faction): The faction system would allow them to set our different ranks and permissions. Certain ranks will be able to unlock and lock doors within the faction building (such as jail cells, locker rooms, offices), take out certain weapons and ammo from the armoury and take out specific vehicles from the garage. The faction leaders would be able to see what vehicle was taken out, and what was brought back in by that member. Although LSPD will likely recieve funding from the Government - it will not be infinite. The leaders will see what cars are damaged or destroyed and have to hire mechanics to repair them, or import more from car dealersips. You will see who keeps taking out guns every day (why is that officer losing his pistol every day???). They would probably set up some payment that gives a bit of money every day, +$$$ for every hour active whilst on duty, or they could manually give bonuses based on their activity levels. If the faction is poorly managed, the vehicles and weapons will run dry. Maybe they will need to vote for a Mayor that will increase police funding? Maybe they will have to cut some deal with business factions to buy cheap service weapons?
Business properties will be tied into the faction system, so whether you own a single shop, or own an entire block of houses at Grove St, you will be able to log into the faction system and manage everything you can think of - ingame or out. The current route we are going is to have business owners create a faction when purchasing businesses or multiple houses (like registering a business IRL) so all the features can be accessed in one place. As usual let us know what you think.
Much of the Faction system is now pretty much ported to FiveM and a good chunk of the UI is complete thanks to [R*]Wdoyle's late night work. The next part is linking it in with the inventory systems, databases and web interfaces... which is beyond my technical understanding and isn't likely to give us any flashy things to show you guys soon.
Business System and Economy
The business overhaul is centred around creating raw materials, transporting them, crafting them to items and selling them to players. All the items will have inherent value - they are useful to players in one way or another so people actually want to buy them - and prices will be somewhat controlled by government markets which will buy and sell at different locations. The government markets will buy low and sell high (and be taxed) so it will always be more profitable to buy/sell between players, encouraging players to work together, create supply chains and interact as much as possible... The markets will allow players to make some quick money through their own efforts at the start through some basic jobs (such as farming & mining), and the progression system will unlock various technologies and benefits as players gain experience in various industries.
[R*]Tai has been working on this and he has made some excellent progress in the raw materials processing jobs so far. We've got a fair way to go with the business systems overall as it requires the near completion of the inventory and faction systems to work + a load of GUI work, but when we start showing off how the economy system works you'll know we are close to release.
As for me... I am the one the one balancing the costs, weights of items, inventory capacities, market prices, XP, levelling requirements & unlocks to create a fun and balanced RP gameplay experience that offers something for all types of players.
If you got this far - thank you for reading and I hope this has helped inform you of our progress. There have been delays in this past year related to Coronavirus, the mental and physical health of our development team and their families.
We've pretty much transferred all the scripts that Wdoyle, Chase and Tai developed earlier to FiveM now and have been building from there so hasn't been a start from zero - it's just took a while to get used to the new features and system... which hopefully explains why we haven't released too many leaks or livestreams lately.
We are still firm in our vision for a modern server for Argonath that has the potential to make it big.
We really appreciate your support so far and it is always helped drive and uplift the development team when they have the positive backing of the community. Engage us any time on discord (https://discord.gg/2UXxBDq) or through these forums.
- [R*]Jcstodds, V:MP Division Leader
Media
https://youtu.be/fMaFUqpPzhk
https://youtu.be/MRW0OZ9fzwQ
https://youtu.be/RtmHRhTNfVg