Primary Zelda Hacking

This is the development log for ZOLE Live. Please note the dates don't show only all that happened on that day. They tell about the progress from the last day to this day. For example, after 5/6/11 to the end of 5/8/11, I did what 5/8/11 displays.

4/30/11
Client: ZOLE can no longer open files or launch applications. There's the chat and networking interface on the right, and users can connect to servers. Still a lot to patch up and make look nice. When connecting to the server, the server will stream the ROM and ZOLE will load that data as the ROM, but before it does that, it sends the user's name to the server.

Server: Server accepts connections, feeds the ROM to connecting clients, and requires the name from the client before doing anything. The settings are loaded from a file called "settings.ini", where the server owner can specify his or her name, the hack name, and the name of the file to be fed. Clients are created with their own thread since there will only be a few people to a server. Clients can accept data, send data, and send data to all other clients. The only client > server packets are 00 (Ping) and 01 (Chat message). The 00 packet is sent 10 times per second, along with the cycling of clients. The core is done and all that's left is for the packets.

5/1/11
Client: Now connects. Big packet improvement, and added chat and a real connect window. Also fixed ROM streaming.

Server: Big packet improvement, better speed, more reliable.

Image: http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/5003/live1g.png

5/6/11
Finished map editing. Mainly fixed crashing and big sync issues. Now all is good though. Also, today was the biggest testing day. With 6 people on and editing, the server was using 0% CPU, using 22MB of RAM, and no lag at all. I'd say anyone can host one.

(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1559/mapnw.png)

5/8/11
Fixed a small editing bug from left over code (the random crash issue), implemented full interaction editing (editing, adding, deleting), music editing, area id/property editing, and added dungeon room arranging. Also implemented a feature system, where only one feature can be edited at once (and by one person) aside from area/map editing. For example, interaction editing is 0, dungeon map arranging is 1. These also include status updates. The server also saves the ROM upon closing.

~Lin

So far this looks promissing lin and I hope you can get a beta so we can try it out soon.