New FFXI private server being developed

[Priran]

don't you need to be subscribed to ffxi to use pXI and ostensibly this as well? I don't see the point

[Indalecia]

Oh sorry

So'kay, you're forgiven

[urat]

It is exactly as difficult as I think.

Making a program is always twice as difficult as you think it will be sir!

"The community" has nothing to do with it. Succeeding is entirely up to the handful of people working on it, not "the community".

Valid point here, not entirely sure why Mojo keeps talking about "The Community". Referring to the modding community building this or the entire ffxi community as a whole.

Both are valid references. As much as you might not think it, the community itself does have an impact on the success of something like a server emulator.

People working on it will get discouraged and start quitting if all their efforts are in vain because no one even wants to use it. Some may persevere yes, but it IS discouraging and it is very possible some members of said team will quit because of it.

And on the same token the community actually working on the program have the hugest impact, obviously. I'm sure their are examples of teams building huge projects that will never actually see the light of day, and only ever be used by those who built it.

So it goes both ways. It boils down to the perseverance of the programmers, not the size of the community, not the size of the project, etc.

[Kohan]

Again, it's not nearly as easy as you think, it's not a realistic goal given the state of the community. If you're so intent on being so enthusiastic on something that you have seemingly no experience in, well then by all means go try making one yourself and see how far you get. You'll flounder out from disinterest long before you finish, just as this project will.

Bitter, much? Personally, I'm disgusted that someone who works in any aspect of the industry would make such a vehemently discouraging post (not to mention the others you've made). While I don't expect you to be a cheerleader, if you've ever spent sleepless nights working on perfecting a single flaw in a piece of software, you understand what a grueling, thankless job it can be. As you did so, there's a fair chance you had superiors breathing down your neck, while deadlines and budget limits loomed, and you felt constantly under pressure, and completely unappreciated.

I absolutely understand that, and if you do too, then why would you be such a relentless douche to individuals who are trying to start something they aren't even going to be paid for? Yeah, there's a fair chance they'll fail. It's especially thankless in their case because they aren't going to be paid for it. Nonetheless, what is the point of damning them to failure? What good is that? Would you have appreciated it? In fact, if you had an awful boss or anything of the sort while you were working who was endlessly critical of you, did you appreciate it then?

Miserable. Just miserable.

[Invader]

don't you need to be subscribed to ffxi to use pXI and ostensibly this as well? I don't see the point

Godmode? Oh wait, we already have Abyssea...

[raginbull]

Sorry for the necro but I have some stuff I would like to post, and I don't feel like making a new thread. I actually played on a working FFXI private server named "Azure Sky" a few months ago. Don't know if you guys have heard of it, but when I played on it, I was surprised at how stable it was. It had almost everything that retail FFXI has except for working quests and missions. Also, there was no requirement to have an active FFXI subscription to play on Azure Sky. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the guy who operated the server, xworndownx, decided to shut it down a few months ago. There are currently no other active FFXI private servers that I know of, and the prospects of any emerging in the future looks slim. I guess I would just like to have a better understanding of why it's so difficult to create a private server for FFXI. It can't be impossible, because Azure Sky would never have existed if it was.

[Tiesto]

It's actually not that bad.

AzureSky was operated by the guys behind DarkStar project.
They decided to shut it down so they could focus on developing their all new Dark Star server.

AzureSky was based on old scripts.

The Dark Star-forum moved to http://dspt.freeforums.org/

[nitsuj]

It's not AT ALL impossible. It's just very tedious, and very much an uphill legal battle.

The concept of making a private server is simple. You monitor every packet that comes out of FFXI and sent to the server (by writing a middleman plugin, windower uses something similar for development). You will have to then figure out what every packet means (i.e. every packet with ID 02 is sent to update my HP!) and then figure out what every other parameter in that packet means (It's not like it'll say 02 1050/1050... you will have to decode the hex numbers that correspond to ever packet, every zone, every job, etc).

Then, you have to write the server software to respond to the packets. So you'll have to monitor all the packets FFXI sends BACK to the client, and do the same thing. Your server could be written in C, Java, Python, it doesn't matter. It just needs to take a packet (that you've figured out) and run the logic and respond. So when you swig your sword at Fafnir, your server software needs to be able to decrement Fafnir's hitpoints (server side) and then alert all players in range of his new HP (using the proper hex packets). You also have to write all the logic for enmity tables, decay, abilities, etc.

So it's a 2 step process, and both of them are VERY tedious. Keep in mind all the logic would be written using "accepted blue-gartr-approved logic" since we don't have the ACTUAL formulas for weaponskills/cures/etc, just the ones the community has figured out.

So even with a few very smart MMO reverse engineers (and in all my years of playing, I think I've met < 15 people capable of doing this regularly) it would take quite a while, and most likely SE would shut you down as soon as you open it up to your friends to try out (because SOMEONE will post on it BG...)

Hope that explains a bit more of how the process works, at least. Honestly, just pay your $15 and enjoy the game. When SE shuts it down, then we'll talk about making a private server (because you have no "better" options and SE won't care at that point...)

[raginbull]

Azure Sky is back online, in case anyone is ineterested. I was just playing on it and I was the only person online on the server. Surreal feeling. There are a few bugs, but most things are working quite well.

[Deader2818]

How do you get on this? I guess if Iread back its dicussed in t his thread?

[Jeryhn]

I want to know why they aren't doing this project on a game that might actually become good if SE wasn't developing it: FFXIV.

[Khamsin]

I want to know why they aren't doing this project on a game that might actually become good if SE wasn't developing it: FFXIV.

Have people decrypted FFXIV's packets and all that jazz? FFXI has been figured out for ages. You probably won't see FFXIV private servers for quite some time. At least until SE has stopped doing major updates all the time, and after they get their expansions out of the way.

[Draylo]

I'm sure something like that would be shut down very quickly.

[bechyni]

So I haven't really looked into this, but how does a private server work exactly?

[Tagus]

I think you pay 200 bucks for the table, and a bottle comes with it. It's pretty nice for birthdays and saves money on drinks for the group.

[bechyni]

Sounds perfect

[Kohan]

I want to know why they aren't doing this project on a game that might actually become good if SE wasn't developing it: FFXIV.

They aren't working on FFXIV because no one with half a brain would pour themselves into an established failure, just as no one with half a brain would defend the fact that they play it.

[Noob]

I think you pay 200 bucks for the table, and a bottle comes with it. It's pretty nice for birthdays and saves money on drinks for the group.

I lol'd

They aren't working on FFXIV because no one with half a brain would pour themselves into an established failure, just as no one with half a brain would defend the fact that they play it.

^This.

[Ayr]

I tried some of the XI private servers (theres about 4-5) and also fiddled around with my own I hosted on a LAN. The problem i had with the one on my LAN though is the server crashed if someone performed a melee attack, so me and my friends had to manaburn everything :D. The private servers kinda fun, but tbh itd be better if SE just scrapped their test server and made it a "Pre-Abyssea" server.

I love XI but Abyssea ruined the game.

Oh and as a side note the largest server i found was Azure Sky, had like 100ppl online most of the time.

[Kohan]

I love XI but Abyssea ruined the game.

While I personally feel that the opposite is true, this highlights the beauty of private servers and what they make possible—namely, presenting the same content in various ways. If the community ever accumulates the time and resources necessary to master it, everyone can have what they want.