Visual configuration interface

Setting up and administrating a Manaserv server is currently a task which requires to learn a lot of knowledge. To create a server with really basic gameplay, a server administrator has to know how to edit various XML files, learn the LUA scripting language and some basic SQL. To make the learning curve mre newbie-friendly and also allow seasoned system administrators to perform simple changes more quickly, we should start a new project to create a configuration tool for Manaserv with a graphical user interface as soon as the configuration files have reached a stable state.

The goal is that an inexperienced user is able to set up a basic game world without having to edit any XML or LUA code by hand.

• GUI-Based
• Remote-capable (run the GUI on a client machine)
• Capable of handling user with reduced privileges so that server admins can delegate tasks
• Platform-independent
• Can auto-generate updates on an update server

• Overview of server network and its status
• Basic Server, Network and database settings
• Remote starting, stopping and restarting of servers

GUI for viewing and manipulating the most important data in the database. Should hide the used database backend from the user.

• User accounts
• Characters
• Global variables
• …

• Viewing and manipulating gameplay-related settings in manaserv.xml
• Visual editor for configuration files like attributes.xml, equipment.xml, runes.xml and other gameplay configuration files.

• Edit News.txt file
• Edit MotD
• Make global announcements
• Schedule global announcements to be made at a later date or at regular intervals
• Create and administrate public chat channels
• Edit permission groups and their members
• Assign permission groups to players (promoting and demoting game masters)
• View GM transaction log

• Viewing, editing, creating and removing items from items.xml
• When removing an item, offer to also delete it from the inventory of every character in the database
• Cross-integration with monster and NPC components to control drops and shop prices.

• Viewing, editing, creating and removing monster types
• When removing a monster, offer to also remove any spawn areas with this monster on maps

• Assign maps to game servers
• Add, deactivate and remove maps
• Graphical “World Viewer” which auto-generates a world map from the warp connections defined in the map files.
• Show active and inactive player population in the world viewer (maybe even allow statistical analysis of map population?)
• Edit monster population and map properties
• Integration of Tiled for opening and editing map files

• Visual editor for simple shop NPCs
• Visual editor for NPC dialog trees which auto-generates LUA code
• Edit sourcecode of NPC scripts in an embedded text editor with syntax highlighting, syntax checking and auto completion for LUA (is there a usable 3rd party solution?)

Bertram 2010/12/30

 Hi Crush,
 Thanks for the conceptualization here. IMHO, most of the features proposed can be done through the ManaWeb project, as there is nothing more remote-capable and platform  independent then a web-based interface.
 On the other hand, the editing part seems to bring the most work, when it's about making specialized visual editors.
 I'd say we need priorities upon the features needed here (keeping in mind that the basics are to be here, first), and I'll add that the interface installation and configuration process should be made easy, which is a not-so-easy feature to add, also.
 As for me, the first priority would be to start a php implementation of the enet protocol to permit heartbeat, and web-based communication with the server(s).
 We'll then see exactly what we need to send and receive in a second priority row.

Crush 2011/02/03

 This whole concept is currently pretty low priority.
 IMO it doesn't make sense to work on this before we can be sure that we needn't make any 
 major changes to the affected files and database tables. I just wanted to write this down
 so that we keep it in mind.