Ezlo
Level: Smitemaster

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Okay, I copy my hold Big Wide World every week to bring over to my Grandmother's so I can continue to work on it there. But since I never exported my player data, it thinks that I'm editing someone elses hold. So then I had the message, (This hold was originally authored by Ezlo.) in the Select hold menu. I thought it would go away when I got home, but it got worse. Because I edited a hold that was already edited, I got two messages! So I did the only thing I thought was possible, I started a new hold, called it Big Wide World 2, copied all the levels to it, and remaped all 113 of the staircases again. To avoid such a thing happening again, could someone tell me how to export and import player data so it won't happen?

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

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Simple - just go to the "change player" screen and use the button marked "export player". It works just like the hold export. It will create a file called "ezlo.player" or whatever, you can just transfer that file over and import it from the same screen. You only need to do this once - after that, both computers will be using the same character.

Note - If you have caravelnet, I'd strongly recommend using it only on one computer and not on the other. If you try using it with both, you'll keep losing your key.

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[Last edited by eytanz at 03-16-2006 02:19 AM]

Briareos
Level: Smitemaster

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eytanz wrote:
Note - If you have caravelnet, I'd strongly recommend using it only on one computer and not on the other. If you try using it with both, you'll keep losing your key.

Huh?

Granted, I don't play that much at work , but that happens very rarely...

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Tuttle
Level: Smitemaster

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eytanz wrote:
Note - If you have caravelnet, I'd strongly recommend using it only on one computer and not on the other. If you try using it with both, you'll keep losing your key.

I switch between home and work machines pretty much daily, and I only have key problems once every couple of weeks.

michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
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I use different installations to keep my player files relatively small (otherwise the game slows down painfully), and I have key problems pretty much every day. I often lose my key even when I don't switch between installations.

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[Last edited by michthro at 03-16-2006 12:26 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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I agree with what's been said above, namely:

- When you're going to start authoring a hold(s), I recommend first exporting your player profile to disk. Then, if you want to work on your hold on a different DROD installation, you may import this player file to have the same author information available at will. (Just making a new player with the same name as your old player is not enough to make the game think it's the same player as the old one. Otherwise, anyone could use this trick to gain access to holds made by another player.)
- Having your player profile on disk is also useful in case DROD's data files ever get corrupted and you have to reinstall the game. You'll still have your old player profile around to import into the new game installation.
- Exporting your hold to a file on disk at the end of each day you work on it (to a different file name on disk) is a good preventative measure.
- We specially built the CaravelNet system so a user may log in on two separate installations. This should never affect whether they lose their key, as long as they request a separate CaravelNet key for each install.

Hmm...this info might be useful in the architects FAQ, if not there already.

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michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
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mrimer wrote:
- We specially built the CaravelNet system so a user may log in on two separate installations. This should never affect whether they lose their key, as long as they request a separate CaravelNet key for each install.

Well, I keep losing my key, and it's becoming extremely annoying. I often have to replay a room (or upload all my scores) because something went wrong between the time I connected and the time I complete the room and the demo is supposed to upload.

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

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michthro wrote:

mrimer wrote:
- We specially built the CaravelNet system so a user may log in on two separate installations. This should never affect whether they lose their key, as long as they request a separate CaravelNet key for each install.

Well, I keep losing my key, and it's becoming extremely annoying. I often have to replay a room (or upload all my scores) because something went wrong between the time I connected and the time I complete the room and the demo is supposed to upload.

I agree. CaravelNet has been close to unusable for me lately. I've been losing my key right after requesting a new one several times in a row without doing anything that should do it. (No crashes, no downloading corrupted holds, etc.) Actually, I think I'm seeing a pattern with this.
Edit: It seemed like a pattern, but I wasn't able to corrupt my key at will. It happened something like half of the time when I started DROD after changing locations before exiting. But not consistantly.

I'm also waiting for the possibility to reupload all scores. (Unlike the current option which uploads only "new" scores and leaves a lot of missing scores untouched)

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[Last edited by Doom at 03-16-2006 08:02 PM]

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
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michthro wrote:

mrimer wrote:
- We specially built the CaravelNet system so a user may log in on two separate installations. This should never affect whether they lose their key, as long as they request a separate CaravelNet key for each install.

Well, I keep losing my key, and it's becoming extremely annoying. I often have to replay a room (or upload all my scores) because something went wrong between the time I connected and the time I complete the room and the demo is supposed to upload.

I agree about losing my key often too, though my ISP yoyo'd a lot, and deosn't do so much anymore... It seems like if the connection drops during a room completion, it *won't* upload unless you hit "Upload all my scores".

*However*

This will upload only *new* scores but the room which was completed at the time of the lost key *will* be uploaded as it still counts as new since the server didn't receive the original submit.

The percevied issue I believe here, is that it takes longer to appear online as these scores are batch submitted, and need to wait for the spider to check them. I'd suppose this is run on cron every x minutes, so it would take x/2 minutes on average to appear online. However, I can certify that they do get processed eventually so (in response to michthro and Doom):

a) no need to repeat the solution - it *will* appear
b) the "crashed" solution is still considered new so no need to implement an "add all solutions" button

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

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Longer than six months?

http://forum.caravelgames.com/highscores.php?action=holdlevels&id=125

I'm pretty sure I've got others as well.

michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
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Syntax wrote:
The percevied issue I believe here, is that it takes longer to appear online as these scores are batch submitted, and need to wait for the spider to check them.

Oh, no, it's not that. I'm aware of the delay with batch uploads. The reason I avoid batch uploading is that I have this thing about uploading scores for rooms I hate. I prefer to only upload scores for rooms I'm prepared to replay in order to improve my score. For one reason and another, there are always a lot of demos I don't want to upload around (having to play them at least once, having imported from an old player file etc.), so I have to replay, or first delete all demos I don't want uploaded, which is a hassle.

Anyway, the main reason the unreliability of CaravelNet is annoying, is that it detracts from my enjoyment of the game. I want to be able to play a room, and move right on to the next one, safe in the knowledge that I can rely on my score being uploaded. As it is, before I can move on, I wait for the "n'th place" message, which half the time doesn't appear. If it doesn't, I have to check whether the score did upload anyway. Half the time it didn't, and I have to request a new key, wait for it to actually arrive, feel my blood pressure rise with each passing second, paste it, wait for connection to take place, and then replay or get rid of unwanted demos.
So I sometimes tend to a little impatience, but I don't think reliability is a lot to ask for. Reliability should be, in fact, the number one priority for a service like CaravelNet. And remember that it is, after all, not free.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not even talking about the times when I simply can't connect at all, such as shortly after the release of the recent SS holds (as I mentioned elsewhere, where it was ignored).

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[Last edited by michthro at 03-17-2006 09:51 AM]

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
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Ok I second that.

I too wait for the "nth place" sign, and I too get frustrated if it doesn't appear. The only difference is I will play a room until I get a score which I'm proud of, and then move to the next, even if I hate the room. Guess that makes it slightly less stressful as I don't need to worry about deleting demos and what not.

I have actually wondered if you were skipping demo uploads as I'd noticed rooms which you had to conquer but without one of your high scores), and was gonna ask the question in a new thread just last night, with the possible title of "Is michthro human?". How the hell you caught up on Rabscuttle's number 1s beggars belief, and that's not even taking into account the speed at which you did it!

Anyways, I digress.

I've had similar issues to yourself in the past, but I do find that since .12, it's become a lot more stable. Furthermore, I believe the constant effort made by dev to improve the situation can only be a good and remarkable thing.

I concede it's not free, but it ain't far off. Even if I had to request a new key after *every* room I solved, I'd still consider it good value...

I guess, as an interim solution is to play offline, check best move counts via the site, delete demos for rooms you hate, and batch upload on a regular basis... just a thought.

[EDIT]

Just realised that process would only work for holds which show best scores online even if you haven't conquered the room yet. Maybe not very practical then...

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[Last edited by Syntax at 03-17-2006 03:28 PM]

Andy101
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 222
Registered: 07-22-2005
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With all this criticism of CaravelNet I feel I have to step in and say something to support it. I have not had to request a new key for several months now and have never had any problems with the service being unavailable. The only slight problem that I have had is that occasionally in game it will fail to upload highscores but I find that simply going back to main menu and then continuing to play almost always causes the scores to be uploaded.

I agree that CaravelNet is not perfect but it is not bad and is constantly improving.

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michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
Rank Points: 679
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Syntax wrote:
I have actually wondered if you were skipping demo uploads as I'd noticed rooms which you had to conquer but without one of your high scores), and was gonna ask the question in a new thread just last night, with the possible title of "Is michthro human?". How the hell you caught up on Rabscuttle's number 1s beggars belief, and that's not even taking into account the speed at which you did it!
.
.
I guess, as an interim solution is to play offline, check best move counts via the site, delete demos for rooms you hate, and batch upload on a regular basis... just a thought.

I've mainly been replaying holds I conquered long before I ever uploaded any scores (I've been playing for over two years), so the solution you suggest is precisely what I mostly do. (The great thing about replaying is being able to restore anywhere.) Of course, as more and more new holds are published, I tend to play online more and more, which I do prefer.

Anyway, now you know why I don't have scores uploaded for rooms I must have conquered. It's not always to say that I hate the room, though. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for a particular room, and I get back to it later (or more likely, I completely forget about it). As for my #1s: I think the main reasons I actually caught Rabscuttle (which I never dreamed possible four months ago) are:
- As frequently observed by my wife, I spend far too much time on DROD.
- I prefer shorter rooms, Rabscuttle seems to like long rooms. Obviously, it takes much more time to get #1 scores for long rooms.
- I skip a lot of rooms (as in not replaying them), so time I might have spent getting a reasonable place for one room goes to a first place for another room. Not that I'm interested in only uploading 1st place (tie) scores. I have a lot of higher placed scores, and I don't mind them, but to some extent my playing style and preferences cause me to have a low average rank and lots of #1s.

I've had similar issues to yourself in the past, but I do find that since .12, it's become a lot more stable. Furthermore, I believe the constant effort made by dev to improve the situation can only be a good and remarkable thing.

I concede it's not free, but it ain't far off. Even if I had to request a new key after *every* room I solved, I'd still consider it good value...

Agreed. I, who seldom feel that a game is worth the price (they just don't last long enough), would pay a LOT more than $20 for DROD, and consider it a bargain. And yes, Caravelnet is excellent value for money. I didn't mean to run it down, but problems are problems and should be sorted out.

Stefan
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Well, as a player who oesn't really care about hidhscores (except for having one for each room available), I must say that I'm not really annoyed by losing my key, even if it happens about once or twice a week. I'm more annoyed by the fact that I haven't been able to successfully batch upload any (I think) of my scores for quite some time now. The progressbar just kind of stops at ~1% and then goes quickly to 100. This has happened every time I've tried so far. I think it has something to do with having too many scores to upload, but I'm not really sure about that (I've never been able to prove it). Nevertheless, I'd say that CaravelNet is relatively stable, although I do think it was more stable before the task to check the demos was put in the hands of the spider instead of each user.

I guess I don't really have a point to add (too much C2H6O in the bloodstream again...), but what I basically want to say is that I liked the old system better - even if it took several hours to upload all your scores.

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michthro
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Stefan wrote:
...although I do think it was more stable before the task to check the demos was put in the hands of the spider instead of each user.

I guess I don't really have a point to add (too much C2H6O in the bloodstream again...), but what I basically want to say is that I liked the old system better - even if it took several hours to upload all your scores.

You may be interested in this then, although I've thought about it again, and have something to add, but I'll rather do it there.

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[Last edited by michthro at 03-18-2006 10:38 AM]