[MUD-Dev] NWN gets more MUD-like (again)

[Freeman]

Posted by "Herding" to the http://www.sunsword.com/ forums:

  I found this announcement today. For those of you who don't know,
  Neverwinter Nights can't access any kind of database. It has no
  built-in input function for reading in data, and only one very
  limited output (dumping text to a log file). This is very, very
  bad for people trying to produce Persistent Worlds. The best
  current system I've seen works like this:

    Any persistent data (like
    I_Finished_This_Quest_so_don't_give_it_to_me_again_after_the_server_resets)
    is dumped to the logfile when the player leaves the game. When
    the server is reset, the administrator runs a program that
    checks the logfile for those entries, strips them out and copies
    ONLY that data to a new "include" file.  The admin then has to
    manually copy over the older version of that "include" file
    before starting the server again. After restarting, when a
    player joins the game, the OnClientEnter function reassigns any
    data that has accumulated for that character. All this means
    that it is very hard to automate server restarts...and is also a
    huge pain in the rear to admins.

  But the guys listed below my stuff claim to have solved that
  problem, and say they have real-time db access working. This could
  be absolutely huge for NWN online worlds....IF it works. The
  biggest change will be that it will allow multiple server worlds
  to function. Right now each world is a little island, with no
  sharing of information between them...even though they are
  SUPPOSED to be just parts of one big game world. With a working db
  system, all those servers can link to the same db and use the same
  data...big, big, huge improvement. Anyway, here's the info:

    http://boards.blackdagger.com/viewthread.php?tid=9514

--<cut>--
  "Avlis Team cracks the persistance barrier with real-time database
  access!

  Who needs to wait for Bioware? Five days ahead of Bioware's
  database connectivity announcement, the Avlis Team went into a
  secret closed-beta test. In the months since Neverwinternights
  (NWN) went gold, the elusive goal of true persistence has been all
  but achievable. The beginning of that beta test was to finally
  push that effort over the edge.

  We are happy to announce to the NWN Community that the Avlis Team
  has developed a real-time Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
  persistence system which is now undergoing internal-beta
  testing. Unlike current systems, which utilize either tokens to
  hold information or creatively read the log file and re-compile it
  into the module, the Avlis Persistence System (APS) and the
  underlying NWN Extender (NWNX) read information from a database on
  the fly and change special local variables inside NWN in
  real-time. This revolutionary feat was accomplished by Avlis Team
  Member Papillon, a NWN community contributor and resident Avlis
  Team genius.

  In short, the NWNX works by running the NWN server application as
  a child process and tracking some special local variables that are
  set in game. It uses no hakpaks, and the only in-game NWN
  modification necessary is the addition of either the scripts for
  the APS, or your own custom modified SQL functions. Whenever a
  script wants to generate a SQL query, it calls our functions and
  the Extender pulls the query out of the memory of the NWN
  server. It then passes it to the database, and writes the result
  of the query back into the memory of the server. The database has
  been tested with Microsoft Access and MySQL so far. Conceivably,
  any database with a decent ODBC driver will work. Also, because of
  the nature of ODBC logistics, multiple servers can be linked up to
  one database file to produce 100% reliable cross- server
  persistence. A variable can be set on one server and checked on
  another.

  The NWNX application takes up nearly 0% CPU usage and it adapts to
  internal changes in the NWN server application as they occur. It
  does not depend on a specific version of the server (1.27 as of
  this writing) and thus will work with upcoming releases, too. We
  have a version for Windows NT/XP and plan to implement a Linux
  port of NWNX after the initial release.

  Another useful feature of NWNX is the ability to use result sets
  in a query.  This means that for some queries it is possible to
  send back more than one piece of information to the NWN server. A
  good example of where this would be useful is persistent chests. A
  normal chest's contents are wiped out on server restart. With
  NWNX, items in the chest can be set as local persistent objects on
  the chest. When someone opens the chest, a single open chest query
  is made and all the objects inside the chest are returned in the
  query. Again, this is just one example of what can be done with
  this program.

  This technology opens up many possibilities for persistent worlds
  in the NWN Community. The number of possible offshoot ideas are
  limitless.

  Papillon and the Avlis Team will release this software to the
  community and continue to develop and improve it. The release will
  occur after the internal beta-testing is completed. We have many
  ideas of our own about what we can do next, now that the
  possibilities for NWN have just been blown wide open."
--<cut>--

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