The Ned Collabing Tool (Idea)

[Universezero]

Ned Collabing Tool Mockup

This would be a great idea and a huge inprovement for the collab community. Anyone who thinks they may be able to help make this, please contact me.

NOTE: This can include programmers, pixel artists etc. Also, anyone familiar with LAN and Internet game setups would be welcommed.

[Universezero]

You could possibly work this into AltArc

AltArc? I haven't heard of it.

[jackass]

That would be fully awesome, so would it be like an online ned were there are servers for different collabs?

[Universezero]

That would be fully awesome, so would it be like an online ned were there are servers for different collabs?

Exactly.

[Amadeus]

I think this would just cause bickering, honestly. It's a cool idea, but everyone would take initiative and do things their self and contradict each other. People's progress could be lost when another user undoes it.

[jackass]

I think this would just cause bickering, honestly. It's a cool idea, but everyone would take initiative and do things their self and contradict each other. People's progress could be lost when another user undoes it.

That could happen anyway, they could send back the map data with half his work gone, no dif exept its easier to fix up ''Uz's way''
And Why would someone collab if theyre not going to accept eachothers ideas?

[Minion_of_Pi]

Good idea to allow for interactive, real-time, easy creation of collabs.

[Amadeus]

I think this would just cause bickering, honestly. It's a cool idea, but everyone would take initiative and do things their self and contradict each other. People's progress could be lost when another user undoes it.

That could happen anyway, they could send back the map data with half his work gone, no dif exept its easier to fix up ''Uz's way''
And Why would someone collab if theyre not going to accept eachothers ideas?

Yes jackass, it would be different.
Firstly, what if two people put a different tile in the same place. People would start getting frustrated, because they couldn't completely show their ideas.
Also, data would be lost and not saved (in a traditional collab, there is the data from the older version, whether in pastebin or notepad). Here, it would be lost if someone accidentally deleted or replaced it.

[Unreality]

:O :O :O

why flash player 7? Cause flash 2004mx is the only program that can recompile N source? XD

will the tool supports NReality map editing? XD

should I join? arrr I should focus on NReality. By the way I have the multiplayer experience ... my multiplayer flash online game http://www.infunity.com I write the server by myself

[Universezero]

why flash player 7?

No reason; it's just a mockup, the finished thing could be in anything.

[TribulatioN]

That's a pretty good idea.
More interaction than exchanging. I'd like to see this work.

Amadeus, the two collaborators would still have to agree on things, it's not like you're with a random person who you don't know and you have one screen to make two different maps... They'd agree on who's making tiles first, who has first object placement etc. etc. regardless of that fact that each person has the power to edit the map at anytime.

[kkstrong]

oh man, what a brilliant idea

it would be cool if you could set it so that each player had a certain amount of time with the map, say like 15 seconds or something. then you could have literally two melding ideas working against eachother. Oh man, this is so cool.

[Pheidippides]

Wow, nice idea. I like the idea of creating a cycle for the authors to follow, although 15 seconds seems a bit short. Maybe two minutes, like the long-forgotten twelve-minute tag-team maps?

Edit: Wow, three hyphenated words in a row. I gotta calm down.

[Adoniseppi]

it would be cool if you could set it so that each player had a certain amount of time with the map, say like 15 seconds or something. then you could have literally two melding ideas working against eachother.

Sounds like a good idea, as it would solve most of the problems mentioned above. Only problem is it might get annoying because you might not get done what you want in 15 seconds. Also, the two melding ideas would be working with each other, hopefully, not against each other. Otherwise those two people need to not be collabing in the first place.

[Kablamo]

nice idea, and excatly why am I the one who is doing the mistakes?!?! :P

[Universezero]

nice idea, and excatly why am I the one who is doing the mistakes?!?! :P

Because you're the one who always makes the mistakes.

[squibbles]

That's a pretty good idea.
Amadeus, the two collaborators would still have to agree on things, it's not like you're with a random person who you don't know and you have one screen to make two different maps... They'd agree on who's making tiles first, who has first object placement etc. etc. regardless of that fact that each person has the power to edit the map at anytime.

What if there were channels that you didn't know who you were doing it with...that would be interesting i think...

When finished though, how would you decide who submits it?

[kkstrong]

Now that it has been established as a cool idea people seem to want to use, who is willing to code it? :P

[aids]

As soon as Robotology is released, M&R should kindly release the source code for N. That would allow people to tamper (legally) with it, but with a new game out, only hardcore (or addicted) players would stick around to take advantage of it.

About the program itself, why not ask Dave to host it on TheRealN.com? It would make collaborating easier since the Internet is already involved, and a simple Flash application wouldn't be that hard to implement (I would assume).

Here...we...go!

Let's say PALEMOON and I want to collab a map, so we both go to therealn.com/collab and enter one of the five available "tables" (more tables could be added as time passes). The table could be password-protected for secret collabs (PALEMOON could simply PM me the password) or be open for viewers who could watch the magic for themselves. (There could be multiple collabers and multiple watchers, depending on how much bandwidth it would use.) On the table would be a simple left-side Ned and right-hand chatroom-style message program. (This is loosely inspired by Pogo.com's game setup.) The first at the table would get control, and could kick watchers or add them to the collabers at will.

The table's version of Ned would follow the same basic principles and setup, but would support collaboration tools. The table "op" could set limits on objects and tiles (if PALEMOON only wanted mines and chainguns as enemies) or a timer (for true five-minute-maps). Other user-suggestions could be added if practical. To playtest a map, a collaber (PALEMOON for now) would click in the upper-right corner of the map on the PLAYTEST button, which would send a message to other collabers saying, "PALEMOON would like to playtest this map" with an allow button or deny button. If they allow the playtest, the other collabers would temporarily forgo access to the map, and give all control to PALEMOON. He would click it again to return control to the users.

After the map is finished, it would be added to NUMA. This is where AltArc could come in with its collab-map feature. A Submit to NUMA button next to the Playtest button would open a pop-up version of the standard NUMA map submission page, which the collabers could fill in. A Submit to AltArc button would do the same, but for AltArc. (This one would support multiple authors, a big plus.) A link would display in the chatroom to the map page to make accessing the newly-completed easier. All the collabers leave the room, opening it up for the next group. (A person joining therealn.com/collab to see all the tables are full will enter a queue for a first-come-first-serve access to tables.

How this Ned would work is out of my hands; UniverseZero's idea for different colors might work. I'd suggest each collaber be assigned a color to show their edits. (I'm sure all of us know the basic look of a mine, and having it displayed in bright blue would not freak us out too much.)

I spent two+ hours thinking about this, so any opinions are appreciated.

[squibbles]

That does sound good, but the timer should definately stop for playtesting time if it is chosen to be set.

[jackass]

Let's say PALEMOON and I want to collab a map, so we both go to therealn.com/collab and enter one of the five available "tables" (more tables could be added as time passes). The table could be password-protected for secret collabs (PALEMOON could simply PM me the password) or be open for viewers who could watch the magic for themselves. (There could be multiple collabers and multiple watchers, depending on how much bandwidth it would use.) On the table would be a simple left-side Ned and right-hand chatroom-style message program. (This is loosely inspired by Pogo.com's game setup.) The first at the table would get control, and could kick watchers or add them to the collabers at will.

The table's version of Ned would follow the same basic principles and setup, but would support collaboration tools. The table "op" could set limits on objects and tiles (if PALEMOON only wanted mines and chainguns as enemies) or a timer (for true five-minute-maps). Other user-suggestions could be added if practical. To playtest a map, a collaber (PALEMOON for now) would click in the upper-right corner of the map on the PLAYTEST button, which would send a message to other collabers saying, "PALEMOON would like to playtest this map" with an allow button or deny button. If they allow the playtest, the other collabers would temporarily forgo access to the map, and give all control to PALEMOON. He would click it again to return control to the users.

After the map is finished, it would be added to NUMA. This is where AltArc could come in with its collab-map feature. A Submit to NUMA button next to the Playtest button would open a pop-up version of the standard NUMA map submission page, which the collabers could fill in. A Submit to AltArc button would do the same, but for AltArc. (This one would support multiple authors, a big plus.) A link would display in the chatroom to the map page to make accessing the newly-completed easier. All the collabers leave the room, opening it up for the next group. (A person joining therealn.com/collab to see all the tables are full will enter a queue for a first-come-first-serve access to tables.

2 Words: FUCK YEAH!

[aids]

That does sound good, but the timer should definately stop for playtesting time if it is chosen to be set.

For this, when the playtest button is pushed, the timer next to the button will pause, and if it is allowed, all time between the first and last push will not be added to the timer.

[EdoI]

I might try to work on this from time to time, I think it would be possible since I saw both chat programs made in Game Maker and I saw multiplayer drawing games. So yes, if I try to make it, it will be made in Game Maker and it will be *.exe. Not flash.

[PsychoSnail]

I think this would just cause bickering, honestly. It's a cool idea, but everyone would take initiative and do things their self and contradict each other. People's progress could be lost when another user undoes it.

That could happen anyway, they could send back the map data with half his work gone, no dif exept its easier to fix up ''Uz's way''
And Why would someone collab if theyre not going to accept eachothers ideas?

Yes jackass, it would be different.
Firstly, what if two people put a different tile in the same place. People would start getting frustrated, because they couldn't completely show their ideas.
Also, data would be lost and not saved (in a traditional collab, there is the data from the older version, whether in pastebin or notepad). Here, it would be lost if someone accidentally deleted or replaced it.

It could work like Google Docs, where if two people do things that contradict each other, one person's editing is rejected, and a box shows up with the stuff that was lost so you can copy it and save it. Maybe you could even have something similar to the revision history of Google Docs.

Edit: After all, if you don't want to use it, it's not like you have to.

[Erik-Player]

Ooooh, great idea UZ. This'll be nice. :)