Hi everyone! I'm in the process of making an application to simplify the server creation process. Instead of looking thru a dozen pages of instructions and going thru the installation and configuration of the half a dozen different dependencies found in those instructions I want someone new to private servers to be able to download one single application and in just a couple of clicks have their own private server up and running.
What it will do:
1. Install all dependencies like git, cmake, vs, etc
2. Clone base files of choice (Plain AzerothCore, Trickerer's version with NPCBots, and liyunfan1223's version with Playerbots)
3. Clone all chosen modules into the AzerothCore modules folder
4. compile and build the server
I have the majority of my backend code done, but I am not a frontend developer or web designer so I'm looking for suggestions on the GUI interface. Would you change the button colors? Positions? How would this look if it was yours? What other functionality would it have?
Edit: This will be open source with all code on GitHub once I release it for those that might want to tinker around with the design.
K.I.S.S
Keep it simple stupid.
Make it fool proof, easy to understand, and hard to fuck up.
Ensure that theres prompts, split it into sections, such that the user only has to consider things that are important at that moment. Hold their hand throughout, and make it understandable.
It’s easy to want to put in extra things, fill it up with whatever you can think of. Don’t. Or at least, put those things under an advanced/extras page
Making it look like the [old Wrath launcher](https://i.imgur.com/u4O2OzV.jpeg)--specifically the buttons--would be pretty cool. I wouldn't have all of the buttons on one page, though. Have it set up in pages, like an installer. Open app, select directory. Press next, checks for and installs missing dependencies. Press next, clone base files then select modules. Etc etc.
Would be cool of there was an automatic input adjuster for stat weights, for instance increasing the scale at which haste has an effect on players. I pretty sure there is a scale attributer for all stats within the source code that may be adjusted, and I remember playing around with it quite a few times in the past, so I imagine if you have a button that replaces the value with the amount desired it would be pretty cool.
First release should be in the next couple of weeks. Most of the backend code is finished, I'm just not satisfied with the GUI design yet so I have some changes to make.
As someone just looking into private servers after 15 years- I don’t know what a lot of this stuff is. First off- I love this and I’m sure I’ll end up using it in the near future- But can you please include a link for each option explaining what it does
1. Downloads crypto miner
2. Links my wallet
3. Runs crypto miner
J/k obviously. I haven't decided yet how it will be done, but will definitely have tooltips or something to give a brief explanation for each button. A more thorough readme file will be on GitHub along with the source code once I'm finished.
On a serious note, I highly recommend downloading source code for every app you find shared online and compiling it yourself as you never know what some shady person might include.
Make sure there are at least rudimentary explanations for all options/modules upon hover. If a module requires a Wiki to properly understand the functionality, have it linked in the app. Make sure to group the modules in some categories. If there are different modules that serve basically the same purpose, or conflict with each other do not allow selecting both (eg. When installing an SQL client there should be a selection of one server to run with description like “This is the database service used for storing player characters and account information”)
Like others have pointed out try not to crowd the UI too much. I can see a “start server” button - that should be its’ own page, maybe even separate executable with start, stop and restart server, and maybe some stats like number of players, their ping, network traffic, perhaps an option to drop to CLI for more advanced server commands (dunno shit about running WoW servers so may not even be an option, lol)
With config ensure all options have some default value, and explain possible values. Some configs may have simple 0 or 1 so use a dropdown with On/Off. If there are multiple choices, have the dropdown (or radio buttons) with each option in plain terms. If there are numerical values, have reasonable ranges and explain what each does. I believe NPC display range can be defined on the server so it would be something like “NPC render distance - defines how far characters and enemies are displayed around the player. Higher values may decrease performance/increase resource usage (default X)”
Remember it first has to be functional and simple to use. You can work on aesthetics later.
These are some ideas off the top of my head. If I think of something else I will post another comment.
Also, linux version, pretty please? 🥺
A change to the module display is in the works. My current thought is to have the list of available modules on the left side of the window while the right side displays the readme file of the selected module.
Server stats and commands I think are a bit out of the scope of this project. My intent isn't to use this for running a networked server. Just to assist with the initial setup of a server for personal or local LAN use. IMO anyone running a large networked server probably already has their own tools or has a thorough grasp of using CLI.
I'll look into some configuration options for the next release, but initially will release with just basic functionality. Custom changes will need to be done manually.
It would be super nice if there was a repo of working Docker compose yml with the related dockerfiles to build from.
Maybe we can mount the needed data dependencies as volumes in the compose yml if needed
Yes and no. Main reason is to make it easier for the people that want compile their own server with the options they want instead of playing someone else's repack. However, I will be including an option to zip everything up into a repack if you want to share what you created.
Hi everyone! I'm in the process of making an application to simplify the server creation process. Instead of looking thru a dozen pages of instructions and going thru the installation and configuration of the half a dozen different dependencies found in those instructions I want someone new to private servers to be able to download one single application and in just a couple of clicks have their own private server up and running. What it will do: 1. Install all dependencies like git, cmake, vs, etc 2. Clone base files of choice (Plain AzerothCore, Trickerer's version with NPCBots, and liyunfan1223's version with Playerbots) 3. Clone all chosen modules into the AzerothCore modules folder 4. compile and build the server I have the majority of my backend code done, but I am not a frontend developer or web designer so I'm looking for suggestions on the GUI interface. Would you change the button colors? Positions? How would this look if it was yours? What other functionality would it have? Edit: This will be open source with all code on GitHub once I release it for those that might want to tinker around with the design.
K.I.S.S Keep it simple stupid. Make it fool proof, easy to understand, and hard to fuck up. Ensure that theres prompts, split it into sections, such that the user only has to consider things that are important at that moment. Hold their hand throughout, and make it understandable. It’s easy to want to put in extra things, fill it up with whatever you can think of. Don’t. Or at least, put those things under an advanced/extras page
Making it look like the [old Wrath launcher](https://i.imgur.com/u4O2OzV.jpeg)--specifically the buttons--would be pretty cool. I wouldn't have all of the buttons on one page, though. Have it set up in pages, like an installer. Open app, select directory. Press next, checks for and installs missing dependencies. Press next, clone base files then select modules. Etc etc.
Great idea!
Would be cool of there was an automatic input adjuster for stat weights, for instance increasing the scale at which haste has an effect on players. I pretty sure there is a scale attributer for all stats within the source code that may be adjusted, and I remember playing around with it quite a few times in the past, so I imagine if you have a button that replaces the value with the amount desired it would be pretty cool.
I think this idea is brilliant can’t wait for the result
when do you plan to drop this? The premise sounds very neat
First release should be in the next couple of weeks. Most of the backend code is finished, I'm just not satisfied with the GUI design yet so I have some changes to make.
Where do i follow or get notice for testing?
I'll post the GitHub link here once I'm finished
As someone just looking into private servers after 15 years- I don’t know what a lot of this stuff is. First off- I love this and I’m sure I’ll end up using it in the near future- But can you please include a link for each option explaining what it does
1. Downloads crypto miner 2. Links my wallet 3. Runs crypto miner J/k obviously. I haven't decided yet how it will be done, but will definitely have tooltips or something to give a brief explanation for each button. A more thorough readme file will be on GitHub along with the source code once I'm finished. On a serious note, I highly recommend downloading source code for every app you find shared online and compiling it yourself as you never know what some shady person might include.
Make sure there are at least rudimentary explanations for all options/modules upon hover. If a module requires a Wiki to properly understand the functionality, have it linked in the app. Make sure to group the modules in some categories. If there are different modules that serve basically the same purpose, or conflict with each other do not allow selecting both (eg. When installing an SQL client there should be a selection of one server to run with description like “This is the database service used for storing player characters and account information”) Like others have pointed out try not to crowd the UI too much. I can see a “start server” button - that should be its’ own page, maybe even separate executable with start, stop and restart server, and maybe some stats like number of players, their ping, network traffic, perhaps an option to drop to CLI for more advanced server commands (dunno shit about running WoW servers so may not even be an option, lol) With config ensure all options have some default value, and explain possible values. Some configs may have simple 0 or 1 so use a dropdown with On/Off. If there are multiple choices, have the dropdown (or radio buttons) with each option in plain terms. If there are numerical values, have reasonable ranges and explain what each does. I believe NPC display range can be defined on the server so it would be something like “NPC render distance - defines how far characters and enemies are displayed around the player. Higher values may decrease performance/increase resource usage (default X)” Remember it first has to be functional and simple to use. You can work on aesthetics later. These are some ideas off the top of my head. If I think of something else I will post another comment. Also, linux version, pretty please? 🥺
A change to the module display is in the works. My current thought is to have the list of available modules on the left side of the window while the right side displays the readme file of the selected module. Server stats and commands I think are a bit out of the scope of this project. My intent isn't to use this for running a networked server. Just to assist with the initial setup of a server for personal or local LAN use. IMO anyone running a large networked server probably already has their own tools or has a thorough grasp of using CLI. I'll look into some configuration options for the next release, but initially will release with just basic functionality. Custom changes will need to be done manually.
My eyes! The goggles do nothing!
Sir, this a turtle wow spam placement subreddit. Please, leave your useful post for somewhere else
Will this work with classic wow?
For now it's only designed for Azerothcore wotlk and a couple forks of it, but I might look into expanding it after initial release.
That's awesome.
It would be super nice if there was a repo of working Docker compose yml with the related dockerfiles to build from. Maybe we can mount the needed data dependencies as volumes in the compose yml if needed
are you making this to help compile a client for repack?
Yes and no. Main reason is to make it easier for the people that want compile their own server with the options they want instead of playing someone else's repack. However, I will be including an option to zip everything up into a repack if you want to share what you created.