A Sandmans Replacement
 

A few days ago I started work on a replacement for Sandmans, as an extension of my Merlin project. The Arthur/website end of the project already has a lot of features that are very similar to Sandmans (not to mention the highly efficient ticker Excalibur!), so there's a lot of work already done as a result. Several hours were required to adapt the Arthur core to make it more suitable for a public site like Sandmans; anyone running a copy of the Merlin toolset can choose to run this code however the public site can be completely disabled by a configuration setting, and this is the default while in this early development stage.

CarDinaL has been kind enough to agree to trial the new code, you can view my work so far here: http://apprime.lt/ (please don't swamp the server or I'll disable the public tools).

Obviously there's a huge amount still to do, so why am I showing this now? I have essentially been putting all the necessary building blocks in place in order to develop the rest of the tools, and I'm now hoping that other members of the community will step up and help out with development - I don't have time to do this all myself. As with the rest of Merlin, the code is written in Python and is freely available under the GNU GPLv2; please take a look at the code and contribute back. Development will be discussed in #munin on IRC.

What can the rest of you do? Firstly I'd love a logo: it'd have to be similar dimensions to 230x60, and I'd like to see Merlin and maybe Arthur and a watermelon. Yes, this little sleep and that much coding in such a short space of time does make you slightly crazy :). (Each alliance running a copy of the tools could replace this with their own logo.)

If people could let us know what features are most important it will allow us to focus and prioritize development. My first thought is to add searching, but after that I don't know. I'm planning to leave the graphs till absolute last, unless anyone with experience or a particular desire to implement them gets involved. Also if you have any screen shots of Sandmans saved, it would really help us keep the feel and class of the design.

I am also working with the guys in #scans to provide an alliance-neutral host. A copy of Merlin will be replacing their IRC bot and their scan database will be linked into the new website tools. More info on this as it develops!

-ell

PS. thanks to Kenny for his help with some early design decisions <3

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Awesome. Also, yes, searching should definitely be first priority.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

kudos for this, maybe link your tools in OP though ;)

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Are you going to release this on Open Source?

Sad that sandman didn't release his code in the end...

Btw I saved as many pages from sandmans that I could think of, just in case the code wasn't released.

http://www.fresh-lobster.co.uk/media/sandmans.zip

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Merlin is open source, yes.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Thanks MrLobster, those saved pages are perfect!

The development branch for this work is available (under the GPLv2 license) here: http://github.com/ellonweb/merlin/tree/sandmans

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

I wouldn't trust anything that Cardi or Apprime were involved in.

caveat empor

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

I've spent the last hour or so whipping up a first attempt at searching. There's no front-end for picking search criteria yet, you have to do this in the URL for now. I'd really appreciate all feedback but especially on the options available and how to better present the returned data.

Each filter is separated by /, and starts with the name of the filter followed by a :

Number filters:
score, value, size, xp, galscore, galvalue, galsize, galxp, idle, x, y, planets
You can specify an exact value (/x:1/ for cluster 1), up to a specific value using |val (/planets:|7/), above a specific value using val| (/size:300|/) or between two values using val1|val2 (/score:500000|700000/)

Rank filters:
rank, valuerank, sizerank, xprank, galrank, galvaluerank, galsizerank, galxprank
These work similarly to number filters except that they are inverted. /rank:|10/ limits to planets outside the top 10, /sizerank:10|/ limits to planets with a roid rank in the top 10.

Sorting:
You can apply as many orders as you like using /order:.../, seperate each filter with a | character. Any of the number or rank filters will work; prefix them with a ^ character for ascending or a _ character for descending. For example: /order:_size|^score/

Word filters:
You can look for specific rulername, planetname or galaxy name using the filters ruler, planet and name respectively. For example, all planetnames containing "the": /planet:the/

Race:
When you specify the race filter it limits it to specific races. You can use more that one race with a |. For example: /race:ter|cat|xan/

Pages:
Only 50 results are shown at a time. You can look at the next page with /page:2/

An example: http://apprime.lt/search/planets:|6/...0/order:_size/
Enjoy!

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Not that I'll be able to contribute one bit, but great job!

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

the menu is rather horrible!

p.s. self irony

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

You think they could add a feature to release a bunch of intel on the site too?

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

lolling :)
(that feature can be enabled in the settings :p)

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

there has been rumours that he's turning soft... but guess its confirmed now..

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

found a much cooler site

http://pastats.cheleb.net/

ALL HAIL MORROW

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

"found" :rolleyes:

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Sigh. One of the main reasons Merlin (and Munin before it) and now these new web tools are open source is to stop everyone from wasting time constantly replicating each other's efforts. I do wish we could all work together and ultimately build a better set of tools for everyone.

Anyways, I've just finished this: http://apprime.lt/search/
Bash filtering is available if you've set your planet. If you're logged in and have intel access you can also filter based on nick or alliance, one of the benefits of being hooked into the existing Merlin backend.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Notwithstanding m0's little embarassing outburst, I can

a) understand that people want to do their own stuff so they have total "creative control" (for lack of a better word)

and personally am of the opinion that

b) a monoculture of any sort if never a good thing.

I know that people might disagree on this point arguing that a single unified project can implement more advanced features (simply by virtue of having more man hours available), but this comes at a price of diminished personal control.

And since people do this for a hobby, I think the desire to choose what they want to do (and how they want to do it) with their own merry projects weighs heavily.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Thank god for branches.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Yeah the main reason I made our alliance tools is because it was more fun than copying current models. I didn't even look at munin's code so I could try and make something new xD

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

No matter how much some people love and enjoy the idea of an open source world, there will always be propritiery technology.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

First off, thanks for all the work which already has been done.

For the Apprime tools, why is there a login required to view planet details?
(User / pass for getting easy intel? - i cant think of another reason...)

It should be easy to use, and if it is made public that should be first priority.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

The code is fully public, there is no reason for distrust.

The reason why viewing a planet's detail currently requires a login is because there is no Sandman's style planet page yet. If you're logged in you'd see intel and history of fleet movements; this is because the code is part of a bigger set of alliance tools. My next priority is making a public planet details page.

I do hope to get an alliance-neutral host up soon, but for now you'll have to just trust me when I say that an Ascendancy player isn't making tools for Apprime to steal all your intel. Or you could use the DLR version. Or you could download the code and set up your own host...

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

It's going to be hard finding an alliance neutral host if most of the active players of the game are in alliances and as such are not alliance neutral...

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Thankfully there's no particular need for a neutral host that everyone trusts, just for everyone to know one host they trust. Yay for open source.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

:up:

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

also, morrow's tools lack an awesome design document.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Ok that it isnt fully implemented yet could be a reason :)

I am looking forward once its fully finished!
Thanks again!

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Sorry dude, my laptop sucks and my art skillz aren't what I once told people they were.

Here's my submission for logo contention:

http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/4253/merlinsmall.png

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/5046/rockmanlogobg.png

You can guess the rest...

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

You even copied the slogan?

Score 0 for original thought :(

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

if it aint broke dont fix it.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

If it hasn't been plagiarised; plagiarise?

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

"we copy with pride"

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

http://androx.vision-hq.com

Sandmans clone in the making.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

What's up with the average size for alliances? Measuring it over 50 members?

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

It's based on alliance cap. So maxed it at 50 for this round yes. Will add another row that will show avg based on ALL members

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

You're dividing total roids by 50 instead of by total alliance members. The problem isn't that we want both numbers, it's that one is wrong and the other is right.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

fixed that one, but it won't show accurate growth on that untill tomorrow/after midnight.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Heh.. I like that one. Looks more familiar than the Merlin site (no offence, ellonweb :) )

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Ah so you want a boring clone replacement rather than an innovative remake! :P

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Ellon, also I doubt most of the people making the clones are full time coders with the ability to be innovative, so this is their chance to try things

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

No, I miss a lot of functions on the Merlin site I got on the clone. Like, looking up specific planets and the planet details. Information that is not available on apprime.lt.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

http://knowitall.cthq.net/index.php

our one is taking a lot of remy's time, coming along nicely.

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Will be done in time for the new round hopefully! I've been without access to apprime.lt the last few weeks so unable to keep it up-to-date. Currently very busy with job applications though so not much progress :(

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

Good luck. Take your time =)

Re: A Sandmans Replacement
 

http://winterkia.cthq.net/index.php

remy has set up a winter round one.