New pre-kunark server coming to an EMU near you!

[xicross]

That's right folks. Redmonkey Gaming Server is under construction.

This is an outline of ideas right now. nothing is set in stone and we would love input.

The goal of the server is to deliver a legit play envoriment set in pre-kunark Everquest. We plan to impliment opt-in PvP (just like on most EQ live servers)

-Player levels will be restricted to level still be 50 or 55.

-Only the original Everquest races will be available.

-Only the original Everquest Zones will be available

There will be some small exceptions for example we would like to include the Bazzar and possibly the Plane of Time.

Currently the server has a staff of 3 GM's working hard to make it a playable world. We are not looking for new GM's at this time.

The server is running on the following hardware:

Server 1 (world server and zones)

AMD Duron 1200 MHZ
768 Megs of Ram
30gig Hard Drive

Server 2 (zone server)

Intel Celeron 400 MHZ
384 Megs of Ram
5 gigs Hard Drive

The servers are currently on a cable modem uplink using a Motorola Surfboard. I'll upgrade to a higher uplink bandwidth DSL if it becomes necessary.

Both servers and the 2 client machines used locally are connected via Intel Pro 100 network adapters running at a switched 200mbps.

Both of the servers are 100% dedicated machines so there should be a very small amount of downtime.

Right now the server is running 5.0 DR5, we plan to upgrade after we get some things finished. Right now theres noone actually PLAYING so it's not necessary at the moment.

We are also developing a number of quests. This is also a reason for only having pre-kunark zones and races. It allows us to deliver a much better play enviroment if we have a reasonable server goal in mind.

The server will debut as an open beta after we are satisfied we have a near complete world spawn and probably quests for most races up to level 20.

Let us know what you think.

http://www.redmonkeygames.com
(page isnt up yet as we are working on the server itself at the moment, but look there for future updates!)

[arkaria]

Sounds like a great idea.

I must say though your Hardware and connection are not going to handle too many players.

I also hope that if you spend the time and get alot of the original zones populated and working (DB) you would consider contributing it back to the community.

[xicross]

Yeah well it is an EQEmu server so im not expecting a huge mass of players, maybe 10 or 15. no biggie.

I definetly plan to release my databases to the public. I'm still debating on whether to do custom quests or start adding in the real everquest scripts.

If you are planning on staying around and putting all the effort you say you are, you can expect a LOT more then 10-15. Good servers that stay around get a huge following. Guild Wars was hitting 120+ on at one time when i first came here, Krushers was hitting 80+ Winters Roar and Raid Addicts were hitting 40-50+. Once again these arent the totly player base just what was one at one time.

I am not trying to discorage you just letting you know that If you build it they will come expecialy since the player base is a lot bigger now then it was a couple months ago when 4.4 was going strong.

[xicross]

I guess I should plan it to be a bit more scalable then.

Any idea how many connections a cable modem can withstand?

I have a cable connection at another house with anoither dedicated server there, I can probably have it running some more Zone servers as well.

Its not feasable to run a server with zones / world / DB connection over the net. There was discussions about this in the past and I do know of 1 attempt and it was so laggy 1 person couldnt get on.

With me running my test server on an AMD 2.4GH with a Gig of ram and a cable connection i could hold aproximetly 12-15 people befor it got realy laggy, that was on 4.4 tho so it may be a little better on 5.0.

[xicross]

Right now the big trouble im having is with the "attack one mob the entire zone attacks" bug that causes some horrible lag and crashes

[xicross]

Fixed. now working on deleting duplicate spawns.

[Frienzied]

Couple of questions. Why the Plane of Time, that's very high end. Plane of Knowledge too maybe? Will there be raiding type deals? Will it be customized or will you be using EQlive DB? I am very interested in your server, do tell.

[Mongrel]

Was gonna ask about PoK as well. Even though it's a legit pre-Kunark server, you should consider including PoK because of the port stones. Running around sucks, especially on an Emu where things could be different.
Either PoK or NPCs that port you around.

And yea, why Plane of Time? Naggy, Vox, PoF and PoH should keep everyone busy for a while.

If you use NPCs for porting (or no porting at all) you should make the server entirely pre-Kunark. So no PoTime, max level == 50, no bazaar, etc... (ok, the bazaar IS tempting)

[Frienzied]

Originally Posted by Mongrel

Was gonna ask about PoK as well. Even though it's a legit pre-Kunark server, you should consider including PoK because of the port stones. Running around sucks, especially on an Emu where things could be different.
Either PoK or NPCs that port you around.

And yea, why Plane of Time? Naggy, Vox, PoF and PoH should keep everyone busy for a while.

If you use NPCs for porting (or no porting at all) you should make the server entirely pre-Kunark. So no PoTime, max level == 50, no bazaar, etc... (ok, the bazaar IS tempting)

I agree. But maybe he should have custom mobs and items. That would make it more fun and interesting, quests too!

[xicross]

Sorry folks, been busy latley havent had a whole lot of forum time.

Plane Of Time will not be like EQLive POT. It's going to be reworked to a lower level and easier encounters. It will also be much more of a "cool factor" zone where you can go to see the gods of everquest in the flesh. It's just going to be a kind of personal touch to the server, not so much a super high end uber encounter zone.

The way to get to the Plane of Time will also be a new secret that you will have to quest to find.

As for database. We used the EQLive collected database but so far alot of that is bieng scrapped just due to so many innacuracies. Even though our database is originally based on the TCSmyworld, it has since been pretty heavily modified and we feel pretty sure our server will be different from all the others just based on our new proper mob placement.

There are still alot of duplicate mobs and mobs in the wrong places to fix, but we have a good start.

We are still considering Plane of Knowledge. Our original goal was to stick with only the original 2 contenents which would be a much much smaller playspace than EQLive. This is a GOOD thing though because we will be able to deliver a more "finished server" feel.

As a side effect of only hacing (mostly) EQClassic zones, we also feel NPC porting and the such would be uneccesary and deters from our goal of a EQClassic feel. We want to bring back the challenge of going back and forth and having to use the boats. Probably one of the few strange things I enjoyed in the old days.

It would also allows us to have freeport as a more critical zone in the game again, which would allow for more interesting quests and more full content.

The Bazaar is still up for grabs. Before we decide whether to implement it or not we feel it would be better to make sure it's stable and not easily exploited. There are enough GM's that we will be closely monitoring players for suspicious activity and we will crack down hard on bug exploiters without exception. However, we would like to see how well the Bazaar works first before we even consider it because it opens up a whole new set of possible exploits and is another large load for our GM's to carry.

[Frienzied]

But, do you plan on this to be a raid server? IMO I love the sound of your server. How are you coming along?

[DannMann99]

with a cable isp raiding might be tough imo. Alotta lag comes with raiding and i think his connection would be the problem.

~Dan

[Jicksta]

Personally, i think this is an AWESOME idea... if there'd be any way to disable anyone from using the Luclin models, that'd be even better

If it were my server, i'd make it a pre-Luclin server (kunark and velious are just so captivating) back when i played, i was probably level 35 when luclin came out and i still dislike it.

great idea, keep building on it!