Mobs
Anyone who has been active on the main forums in the last few days must surely have already heard the news.
I'm not going to comment on why and how, but the short version is that Bukkit is almost certainly not getting passed this.
Consequently, the future of BukkitDev is very uncertain. Even if the legal matters were resolved tomorrow there isn't really anybody left to deal with file submissions anyway. There's no indication about how long the site will stay up and what will happen to the files.
Anyway, while I will continue updating and developing my plugins you will need to look for updates somewhere else, namely the wiki. I will be updating this wiki in the next few days to facilitate better communication (forums, email, etc.) and adding any documentation that's missing. I will also, of course, be looking into porting the plugins over to whichever API emerges from the ashes!
If you're penniless or like Mobs but not that much I'm also partial to TF2 items. Send any you don't want my way! STEAM id: coldntired
If you don't know what TF2 is, then start playing! It's free and fun!
Anyway, while I will continue updating and developing my plugins you will need to look for updates somewhere else, namely the wiki. I will be updating this wiki in the next few days to facilitate better communication (forums, email, etc.) and adding any documentation that's missing. I will also, of course, be looking into porting the plugins over to whichever API emerges from the ashes!
Introduction
Mobs gives you the ability to control almost every aspect of the mobs on your server, and a few other things on top. The concept is simple - as your server is running, things are constantly happening. Players are mining, mobs are spawning, the sun is going down, it's starting to rain, etc. Behind the scenes, CraftBukkit is sending messages to all interested plugins about these events. Player John broke a block of stone in world at location 55, 23, 137; A sheep died in world at location 209, 77, 22, etc. There are dozens of events, and thousands of these messages are sent every minute. Most plugins listen for a few of these messages and act upon them. Mob-blocking plugins, for example, listen for new mobs spawning somwehere, and then look at the config to decide whether to allow or block the mob from spawning. Chat filtering plugins listen for the player is chatting messages and block/edit them according to the config. Mobs listens for most (eventually all) of the mob-related messages, and a few extra ones, and gives you the option to block, allow, or alter the effect of the event. However, it goes beyond that in that it allows you to use the event to perform one or more actions. So, while you may not want to interfere with creepers spawning, you can use this event to change the weather, set the time, drop an item somewhere, give someone some experience points, or as many of the dozens of possible actions that you want. Additionally, it's possible to use conditions to filter the events you act upon. Want to give creepers a 1 in 1000 chance of taking out half your house when it explodes? Not a problem (except for the house).Config.yml
checkfornewerversion - set to yes to allow the plugin to contact this site and see if there is a newer version available. Note that it onlys checks, and doesn't download anything. generatetemplates - set to yes to have the plugin create empty config files for every possible event. Alternatively, simply look up the names on the tutorial and create only the files you want. worldstoignore - a list of worlds in which the plugin will be effectively disabled, ignoring all events in those worlds. allow_debug - set to yes to enable other plugins to access the event API (for logging, debugging, etc.)Commands
There is one only command in the plugin, which is /reload_mobs, or /rm. The reloads the config without reloading the plugin itself. Users need the mobs.canreloadconfig permission, or to be an op.Update checking
If you like, you can set the plugin to check for any newer versions that get released. To do this use the checkfornewer_version option in the config file. This only works for release builds so you won't be bothered by any beta or dev builds. Note that no update will be downloaded even with this set.Tutorial
Start the tutorial here to read up on how the plugin works The tutorial for the old config can be downloaded from here for offline viewing.Updates
Updates for all my plugins will be announced via Twitter, which you can find here.Dependencies
Mobs has another plugin as a dependency called Extra Events. Read more about it here. Make sure you install Extra Events as well otherwise you will get errors on startup!Donate
Mobs takes a lot of time to maintain, so if your server is enriched by it and you have some spare donations please consider sharing!
If you're penniless or like Mobs but not that much I'm also partial to TF2 items. Send any you don't want my way! STEAM id: coldntired
If you don't know what TF2 is, then start playing! It's free and fun!
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Posted May 28, 2012As others have stated here, the config generator is an appreciated next step to setting up this plugin, but is a nightmare to use.
The simple fact that people NEED to use your guide in order to use the generator is very unfortunate. If new users needed to read a guide on how to use a Mac, Steve Jobs would of died of starvation instead.
I implore you to Google "user interface design tips" as just about every page you'll find is relevant to making the generator easier to use. Here's a great example: http://thinkvitamin.com/design/10-user-interface-design-fundamentals/, specifically:
4. "Use visual hierarchy." There's no way of knowing where to start and how to finish. With the exception of mouse-overs, there is nothing marking each section and in which order it needs to be accomplished, or if it's even needed at all. You could get around this by having each section very literally within steps - 1) Create an autospawn, 2) Choose how it works by default, 3) Choose what happens if the above conditions aren't met. I realize I'm missing a lot of details in my example, but you get the idea.
8. "Speak their language." The cake's mouseover says "The mob will spawn". Does that mean it's currently set so that spawning is "on", or that clicking on the cake will turn it "on"? I'm guessing clicking on the cake is turning mob spawning ON, since clicking on something to make it appear colored, filled in, etc in every program ever made implies that that option is enabled. Very simple fix: Mouseover says "Click to enable spawning" or "Click to disable spawning". Another alternative: "Spawning = ON" or "Spawning = OFF", which goes hand in hand with "3. Stay consistent", since you have other mouseovers doing the same.
This post is NOT intended to demean you in any way, but instead was made as a constructive way to provide feedback. I hope it is taken in the way it was intended.
P.S. I just noticed your plugin update to b14dev, and it looks like the generator screen is now blank white. I'm guessing you're working on it though, since your post mentions a lot of config changes. Thank you.
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Posted May 28, 2012b14dev is up - direct link
This was a big big update so read the changelog for more details. I'm also expecting a few small problems as so much was changed backend. If something suddenly doesn't work like it used to please let me know.
A lot had to change with the config app so all configs will need to be remade (probably. It's definitely safer to recreate using the latest version).
I'll try and update the tutorial tonight but the biggest changes are that the conditions window is completely new, and much nicer (and more efficient) :)
Also new is a new reload behaviour option in the mob settings window. This controls what happens to mobs when the plugin starts.
There are five options (I can't remember how I called them in the app):
See this thread for more info.
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Posted May 28, 2012@coldandtired
Thank you for the reply. That's really unfortunate and i hope you can fix that. Does that have something to do with how setting the mobs health in the config changes how they receive damage? Oh well, for now It's not too big a deal. I can just double or triple their health to make up for the spam clicking attack style. I looked through a lot of plugins similar to this and that's really just a minor flaw compared to how much better this plugin is compared to many similar ones. Really really useful. Thanks for making this!
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Posted May 28, 2012@jbandhisguitar The damage thing is an old bug that was reported before. I thought I'd fixed it but it seems to be unreliable. Sadly, the Bukkit documentation on this area is completely useless so it's a lot of trial and error :(
I'll have another look at it though.
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Posted May 28, 2012@coldandtired This plugin is really awesome. I managed to spice up my server with really intense night time. Almost like a very hard mode.(iron armor is no longer enough to "Beat the game") Really unique stuff you can do with this plugin. It was a lot of trial and error to get everything working and understand it. But the WIP tutorial is pretty straight forward and helpful. Can't wait until it's fully finished and i can get a good understanding of every function. The config generator is amazing. I wish a lot of complex plugins had something like this :D
My only complaint is that mobs seem to take damage as fast as you can click your sword. So killing them is easy regardless of what i set the health. Is there a way to turn the "white flash" back on where they are invincible for a small period before you can hit them again? like how default mobs react to damage?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r8jlrx My data file in case i maybe set something wrong. Thanks!
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Posted May 28, 2012@PachirisuxD You should be able to. There's nothing in the code that blocks anything if it finds Heroes, it's just that they both try to do the same things and it's impossible to guarantee which one gets the final say. I think it's only HP and exp that are affected.
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Posted May 28, 2012@LucidLethargy Very likely this is because the check_interval (in the global settings is set too high).
I try not to waste server resources knowingly, so most of Mobs is very modular. Whole sections of the plugin don't ever get run unless certain parts of the config are active.
The autospawn section and the outcomes section are completely separate. The outcomes section just reacts to events (mob spawning, mob getting hurt, mob burning, etc.), looks at the config, and does what it needs to do.
The autospawn section sets up a recurring timer that counts down, and when it gets to 0 it goes through all the autospawns and spawns them (if the time conditions are met). Then it starts counting down again.
The check_interval is the number that the timer starts from every time.
This way is less expensive than each autospawn having its own timer, but it means you have to set the interval low enough to be relevant for your settings.
I think I'll try the other way and see what effect it has.
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Posted May 28, 2012@timmin I'll try to look at this tonight. I've made a lot of changes in the backend the last few days so I would like to try it with the updates to make sure it's working as expected.
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Posted May 28, 2012@jbandhisguitar Good catch :)
I guess the download button only gets the latest full release. As I'm calling this new version beta until I finish adding all the things I know where possible in the old version (pretty much everything except the item conditions are done now) it looks like it gets ignored by the system.
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Posted May 28, 2012@rahlzel Not sure how much simpler I can write "The mob won't spawn" :)
The reason you can't save the config (as pointed out below) is that there was missing information. There's no point at all in saving a config that allows pigs to spawn, as they do that anyway. All that does is waste server resources checking every pig and letting it through.
Outcomes need at least one condition + something non-vanilla (drops/properties, etc.)
Default outcome just needs something non-vanilla (as above).
Autospawns need a location, and either a time or to be set to manual.
Note that you can save a config with the whole left side empty as long as there is at least one valid autospawn. This is because you can spawn extra vanilla mobs if needed.
The cake has been replaced by a no-entry sign for the next release (hopefully some time today).
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Posted May 27, 2012@rahlzel
I downloaded your config. The reason you can't save unless you have the cake activated is you have not set all the required functions for the plugin to operate. So the only way you can save is to turn that mob off (cake on). To be able to save with the mob able to spawn (cake off) you need to finish setting all of the functions. In your case, "Cave Spider".
You set drops for cave spiders naturally but didn't provide that same matching condition above. Changing the above to also drop diamond lets you now save. Now the reason you are receiving that error in the server code is because you need to add a max range for your near players condition. (I recommend y 5 min, y 10 max. The others are up to you.). =D
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Posted May 27, 2012@coldandtired
So technically, I should be able to run both heroes and mobs on one server given that I don't edit either plugins' mob handleing nodes. Or did I read that wrong?
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Posted May 27, 2012@jbandhisguitar
thanks a lot, it worked
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Posted May 27, 2012First off, I love your plugin - it's downright brilliant and an unprecedented and awesome replacement for custom difficulty, but I am having some trouble with it...
I am attempting to make dragons spawn on a specific island on my server. I set up the config as follows:
Spawn: 1 Time: 30 (tried 1 but nothing changed)
Area: World Name: Aquadia (my world name) Region: testregion (the region I am testing in) (tried both all over and Near Players) Loaded Chunks Only Above Ground
I then thought perhaps I need conditions, so my last test included a chance: 100 setting
I have seen one dragon spawn... but it was pretty strange since I have it currently set to 1 minute, meaning a spawn every minute. Any idea what I may be doing wrong?
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Posted May 27, 2012@deathrow0777
More than likely you clicked download without choosing the version. So you downloaded the old 1.2.4 release of mobs that doesn't support the new config. Go to recent files on this page and download the most recent version. Run your server and hopefully it should create a Mobs folder. (it didn't for me any of the times i tried). If it didn't, create a "Mobs" folder and stick the data file in there.
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Posted May 26, 2012i did the config generator but only edited two mobs, and saved it into the mobs folder. but when i start up the server it says "no mobs found in the config-stopping!" what am i supposed to do to fix that?
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Posted May 26, 2012@coldandtired
@coldandtired
Thank you very much for your quick response. Changing the interval did not help unfortunately. I have now uploaded my world + mobs + worldguard if you would like to see what's happening. Also, when I manually try to spawn them, I get a message that they were spawned, but no mobs are actually spawned.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cuka01
Agian, thank you cold for taking the time to reply :)
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Posted May 25, 2012This plugin looks absolutely perfect for what I'd like to use it for, but I don't think the config generator is going to get me there. The generator was really exciting (although still confusing even with the tutorial) to use, but its implementation seems to have fallen short.
The only time I got a data.mobs working was when my config spawned 50 mobs every 10 seconds, even though I had it set to 1 mob every 10 seconds. Now, after messing with it for over an hour, nothing spawns except for this warning in my server.log:
I noticed the check_above_ground function and set the config to "Either", but it gave me the same error. I'm using Bukkit 1.2.5-R1.0, and Mobs 1.2.5 b12dev.
And here's my current data.mobs: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6656644_4141220_99949
It's so hard to tell if clicking on an option turns it on or off. For example, the cake icon. If it's faded out, the mouse-over says "The mob will spawn", but I can't save the config. If I click on the cake to make it opaque, the mouse-over says "The mob won't spawn", but I can save it?
I would love to see a simple, basic data.mobs that we can download and import so that at least we have something that starts working.
Thanks for this. I look forward to seeing this plugin in its full form.
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Posted May 25, 2012@timmin Your check interval is set too high (currently 300 seconds). If you want to autospawn mobs much more frequently you'll have to lower it a lot.
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Posted May 25, 2012@AlexOfWar The way it works is that the outcome list (the big section on the left) is a collection of 'what-ifs' for the mob. Each outcome has conditions which if met will select that outcome and use the rest of its values for the mob (drops, stats, etc.)
The section at the bottom-left can be seen as the 'all the other outcome conditions were false' outcome (which is why it doesn't have a condition section).
In pseudocode it looks like this:
if outcome1 conditions == true, use outcome1;
else if outcome2 conditions == true, use outcome2;
else...
else use bottom-left section.
So if you want to affect all mobs of a certain type you only need to set the bottom-left section.