leroy00
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 155
Registered: 09-30-2003
IP: Logged

This has been talked about a lot, and there are some optimisations in place/in the works, so I hope I am not being to repetitive here.

I've played very few user holds in DROD:AE since completing KDD and for most of them I didn't have the option checked for saving victory demos. Since installing DROD 2.0, I both demo options checked, i.e. in the case of victory and death. I've died a lot, but so far I am only on Level 6. When I try to upload my scores, it takes a long time, and the longest I ever waited before killing DROD was around 45 min, and I have a 100Mbit connection. I think most of the time was spent checking the player info, though, and not communicating with CaravelNet. Obviously, it shouldn't take that long with so few victory demos.

So my questions/suggestions respective reducing the time needed for score uploading, keeping in mind I have no idea which algorithms are used:

- Have only victory demos be checked, obviously. Maybe have a list in the player information pointing to rooms completed. Probably this is already done, but I can't really imagine why it takes so long for so few holds. I have a suspicion part of the problem is that I downloaded lots of holds from CaravelNet after installing DROD: JtRH, but I have't played most of them.

- Allow the user to have DROD 2.0 prepare the score information without needing to be connected to CaravelNet. I.e. for dial-up users and impatient people who just need to optimise their computing time and go do something else for a couple of hours. Then at a later time, you can just connect and upload the information required.

- Finally, to help me organise my demos without having to check each room individually, have an option "Delete all non-victory demos for current hold." Basically, these are only there to help me remember a good strategy/how I lucked up for an ongoing room. Especially since my play time is sporadic. After the room is complete, there are rarely of interest or can be exported if needed.

I realise that the procedure probably only takes so long the first time, so it may not be worth the effort to optimise this process. What is the real reason that it takes so long to upload scores in general and in such a case as mine in particular? On a related note, what does CaravelNet do with holds marked as conquered but for which no victory demos exist? Also, what is the best way to merge all victory demos for two separate copies of DROD:AE? I had it running on two computers playing (mostly) different holds.

--leroy

____________________________
You can hear happiness staggering on down the street -- footless, dressed in red.
-Jimi Hendrix, "The Wind Cries Mary"

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5064
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

leroy00 wrote:
When I try to upload my scores, it takes a long time, and the longest I ever waited before killing DROD was around 45 min, and I have a 100Mbit connection. I think most of the time was spent checking the player info, though, and not communicating with CaravelNet.

That's correct.

Obviously, it shouldn't take that long with so few victory demos.
...
- Have only victory demos be checked, obviously. Maybe have a list in the player information pointing to rooms completed. Probably this is already done, but I can't really imagine why it takes so long for so few holds.

This is a problem. Saved demos aren't explicitly marked as conquer or death demos, so DROD has to check all the demos to decide which of them are victory demos. I'm fixing this problem with better data organization in DROD 3 so death demos will all be ignored. Not saving death demos in JtRH allows this process to take less time.

I have a suspicion part of the problem is that I downloaded lots of holds from CaravelNet after installing DROD: JtRH, but I have't played most of them.

No, that's not a large issue.

I realise that the procedure probably only takes so long the first time, so it may not be worth the effort to optimise this process. What is the real reason that it takes so long to upload scores in general and in such a case as mine in particular?

This mostly depends on how many demos you have recorded (and, with 2.0.6+, how many of these have not been scanned for upload yet). I'm going to make this process more user friendly -- in the next patch, DROD will allow you to interrupt the upload process at any time you want to take a break uploading demos. And you can continue uploading where you left off at any later time.

On a related note, what does CaravelNet do with holds marked as conquered but for which no victory demos exist?

If they are marked as conquered in your installation, this info will be uploaded to CaravelNet.

Also, what is the best way to merge all victory demos for two separate copies of DROD:AE? I had it running on two computers playing (mostly) different holds.

Hmm...you mean to merge them into a single JtRH player profile? If you were playing with the same, identical player profile in each AE installation, you can export both versions of your player profile and import them, one over the other, into JtRH, and it will merge them. If they are different player profiles, I can't think of an easy way to make the demos belong to the same player now.

If you're solely interested with uploading the two sets of demos to CaravelNet, then just import each player profile and upload the demos from each using the same CaravelNet user information in each player profile.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:
If you were playing with the same, identical player profile in each AE installation, you can export both versions of your player profile and import them, one over the other, into JtRH, and it will merge them. If they are different player profiles, I can't think of an easy way to make the demos belong to the same player now.

out of curiosity, what makes a player profile identity unique?

say I created a hold in AE under user "silver" (I know of no other idenitifer _I_ entered besides the name).

When I got JtRH I started playing immediately (silly me) and now I have some 2500 rooms conquered... but also under the name "silver". But I never exported the AE silver into JtRH.

Is "name + samecomputer" enough that I can, say, NOW export silver from AE and import it into JtRH? or am I screwed because I can't import a player with the same name as an existing name into JtRH and I find the option of removing my 2500 rooms conquered unpalatable?
I just want to have edit permissions on my hold under the new editor, so renaming my AE player would be fine, too.


____________________________

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5064
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

silver wrote:
out of curiosity, what makes a player profile identity unique?

Every new player profile you create is unique.

say I created a hold in AE under user "silver" (I know of no other idenitifer _I_ entered besides the name).

Yep, it's unique. (Thanks to Adam/AlefBet for the inspiration behind this system.)

When I got JtRH I started playing immediately (silly me) and now I have some 2500 rooms conquered... but also under the name "silver". But I never exported the AE silver into JtRH.

These two profiles are and will always be distinct.

Is "name + samecomputer" enough that I can, say, NOW export silver from AE and import it into JtRH? or am I screwed because I can't import a player with the same name as an existing name into JtRH and I find the option of removing my 2500 rooms conquered unpalatable?

You can import this older player profile into JtRH. You may change the player name at any time and it will retain its distinctness.

I just want to have edit permissions on my hold under the new editor, so renaming my AE player would be fine, too.

Yep, that'll work fine.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

leroy00
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 155
Registered: 09-30-2003
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:

leroy00 wrote:On a related note, what does CaravelNet do with holds marked as conquered but for which no victory demos exist?

If they are marked as conquered in your installation, this info will be uploaded to CaravelNet.

I have found this to not be true. I imported my player file from DROD 1.6, in which I almost never saved victory demos. For holds which I defeated in 1.6 and for which no victory demos were saved, they are shown in the holds list in DROD 2.0 with (100%). However, these holds do not appear in my stats page, neither as conquered or explored. It's not that big of a deal, because you can never have high scores for these rooms anyway, but I assume it is possible to extract this information, as importing to JtRH did exactly this. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that your assumption is not correct.

-leroy

____________________________
You can hear happiness staggering on down the street -- footless, dressed in red.
-Jimi Hendrix, "The Wind Cries Mary"

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5064
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

leroy00 wrote:
For holds which I defeated in 1.6 and for which no victory demos were saved, they are shown in the holds list in DROD 2.0 with (100%). However, these holds do not appear in my stats page, neither as conquered or explored.

Oh, maybe I wasn't clear? More specifically, this information is only uploaded when (1) the hold is the same as the version on CaravelNet, and either (2a) you reconquer the hold by using the exit stairs again while connected to CaravelNet, or (2b) you click Upload My Scores to explicitly upload the hold's conquer info.

Hmm...let me check something...yep, there's a problem with part 2b: it only works if you also have a game currently in progress on your installation. I'll fix this in 2.0.8.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

leroy00
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 155
Registered: 09-30-2003
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:
Hmm...let me check something...yep, there's a problem with part 2b: it only works if you also have a game currently in progress on your installation. I'll fix this in 2.0.8.

Okay, that was the loophole. Restoring to a random checkpoint within the games seems to have solved the problem. Thanks, Mike!

-leroy

____________________________
You can hear happiness staggering on down the street -- footless, dressed in red.
-Jimi Hendrix, "The Wind Cries Mary"