LVM, a Custom Gamemode

[MacSto]

Our server uses what is called "Bukkit". Using this instead of the vanilla version of the Minecraft server allows us to install mods and plugins, which we have about 20 of installed at the moment. There are only a handful of plugins, of which you can see at this list. There aren't many developers for these plugins, and quite a few are just buggy or straight up fucked. Now, to avoid using an array of different plugins that conflict with each other, and may not even work all of the time, I thought it would be awesome if we wrote our own gamemode of sorts for our server. Instead of having 20+ different plugins to make things run well, we could have a single plugin that does everything we could possibly imagine, and then some. I have no experience in development, but I do know that the plugins are all coded in Java. I briefly talked about this with thiaZ, and he has already started working on the plugin structure.

Now, as I look at server lists, the most busy servers (50-100+ players) all have one thing in common; they have custom features. If you may or may not know, Minecraft is still in beta stages, yet has tons of players. Viewing the statistics from Mojang, almost 2 million players have bought the game, and more than 11 thousand bought it in the last 24 hours. The community is growing very strong, and with a strong gamemode, I think we could very easily have a popular server. The issue is, the lack of developers that we have whom know/are willing to learn Java. I have no idea where I would even begin, sadly, or I would be all over it.

Anyways, I just wanted to share this idea with the rest of the crew (and Management), to get their thoughts on it. I think if we came up with ideas for it, it would be nice to throw together a small development team. Hell, maybe we could even go open source like LVP:IV is. Just a few of my thoughts

[Rien]

The main issue I have with the plugins we have right now, is that some do more than what we really need them for, and others lack features we need. A custom plugin of sorts would certainly make things a lot easier, as we could potentially add new functions as we need them, and be able to customize them completely to our wishes. But, I really have no idea of how to make a plugin, and I can imagine there being a reason for the relatively small number of plugin developers.

If we do manage to get some developers though, it might be a good idea to make sure we have all the plugins we need first though, before we start on a single, custom plugin (For example; at the moment we still have no way to protect blocks from being destroyed, and to my knowledge there's no plugins made to do just that.)

[thiaZ]

I just checked the Bukkit API yesterday and made some small blocks of code already. There are thousands of functions, hundreds of events and more, the plugins we use at the moment are "fucking small", there are not many events used.

It would be easy to do basic things already, for example creating a user database, raw commands and permissions for them (Saving statistics, IP adress, Name, Last Join, Home Spawn, Level and many many more), every kind of chat message, spawn manipulation, block protection, block permissions, even statistics and achievements are possible to use with plugins.

[Matthias]

I might be able to help out with this. (Only because thiaZ works on it and he's hot).

[Kase]

If you need a hand, I'm always willing to learn some Java and help you guys out. 

[thiaZ]

So I finished the core (finally) events and commands are working, I even started with a account system (but I made it a file based system first because I couldn't manage Databases using Java), I would need the list now Rien.

[Rien]

AdminsOnline - shows which admins are online when you join
AssignPermission - let's you edit the permissions while ingame
Backup - Backs up the world
CraftIRC - the IRC bot plugin that's in .Minecraft
DelayedStop - plugin to stop the server while ingame
Essentials - ???
EssentialsProtect - ???
EssentialsSpawn - ???
HeroicDeath - ???
iChat - ???
InstaBreak - plugin that allows you to instantly break blocks
LWC - ???
MagicCarpet - Plugin that spawns a glass 'carpet' below you
Minequery - ???
MyWarp - lets you warp to specific warp points on the map
Permissions - Creates user levels, to avoid everyone having access to all commands
PvP - lets players enable or disable taking damage from other players
Tombstone - Spawns a chest with your inventory in it upon dying
WorldEdit - ingame tool to edit the world
WorldGuard - used to protect certain areas from griefing and stuff

If a plugin has a bunch of question marks behind it, I don't know what it does, so I hope MacSto can fill me in on that

[MacSto]

MacSto can certainly fill you in on that, in a few hours

[MacSto]

Essentials- Gives us the basic game features and commands, link here.
EssentialsProtect- This allows us to make changes to how creepers and other mobs behave, if TNT, Lava, or Water is allowed, gives warnings if someone places TNT or lava, etc.
EssentialsSpawn- This allows us to set the spawn location for all players
HeroicDeath- lets us make custom death messages depending on how a player dies/gets killed
iChat- Plugin that goes with Permissions which automatically adds prefix tags to players based on their userlevel
LWC- the chest locking plugin
Minequery- Sends updates to Minestatus.net.(which we are pwning on so far )