So far my plugin is pretty much ready to go live. The core plugin has undergone thorough testing and has done really well. It seems to be bug free (although having a full server of player might reveal a few more things).
The latest things added to the plugin have been the inner doors and automated vip door systems in one module. Another module now adds props, kind of like what we have right now, but more advanced yet simple. Players will be able to spawn, place, save, pickup, and steal furniture props. The prop limit is automatically enforced by the plugin, and accounts for your VIP status. Additionally players have a really cool placement tool they can use for placement of props. These props will also disappear when the player goes offline to save ents and fps on low end PCs. The core plugin is also modular now, so things can be easily added to it by coding a module for it. So it's really cool, although further testing is necessary with those two plugin modules.
So now the next thing on my list is to create more jobs for the plugin. This is where the players come in. I need job suggestions, and if your suggestion is good enough, I'll code it.
So in order for a job to be good enough to be added to the game, you must include a few things in the job description:
(some of these are more advice than requirements)
1) What do you do in the job?
2) What tools are used in the job, what is their purpose, any details about the tools?
3) Do the tools have weight/mass. For example, the new planting and printing jobs. The printers, planting 'ingredients', etc have weight. Your inventory can only hold a certain amount of mass, thus limiting the total amount of stuff you can carry.
4) How is the job balanced?
5) It is recommended that the job not rely on other players, but rather on non-player elements such as the NPCs, etc. Perhaps the job can earn you close to the same amount of money as a robber, but more active players online will increase the earnings. But you don't want the job to fully/heavily rely on other players.
6) How much crime is given for each action? What are each of these actions? Also, crime cannot be the only balancing factor for a job.
Here is an example of a job suggestion that I would write. You do not need to follow this format, but this is how I would personally write it:
Job Name: Sanitation
Description: The job involves trash that appears around the map. This trash will spawn in automatically if at least one person is using the sanitation job. Players will also drop trash if they use a food item and at least one person has the sanitation job. The automatic trash spawning will also scale up based on the number of players that have the sanitation job. To pick up trash, a player must simply press E on it. All trash that is picked up will become an item called "Trash" in the sanitation worker's inventory. The worker may walk to a sanitation zone. sm_garbage will create a temporary beam pointing to the garbage zone, and using the trash item from the inventory while in a sanitation zone will give the player $7 per unit of trash 'sold' to the dumpster. This job is a legal job, and no crime is given for any player actions. The balancing factor is the quantity of trash that spawns, and where it spawns. Also, the plugin will only spawn trash at predetermined trash spawn locations, which can include the player spawn locations pulled from the plugin core. The quantity of trash spawned per minute should be worth about 1.5 times the amount of money a player can earn per minute when robbing. This is multiplied by the number of players using the sanitation job. As part of garbage cleanup, garbage all despawns, and will not continue spawning for any reason if the last sanitation worker changes jobs, or if there are no sanitation workers to begin with. Since this job is a legal job that creates no crime, killing a sanitation worker will be double the crime added to the killer. Additionally, sanitation workers will not drop trash. They will continue to drop money like any other player though.
The latest things added to the plugin have been the inner doors and automated vip door systems in one module. Another module now adds props, kind of like what we have right now, but more advanced yet simple. Players will be able to spawn, place, save, pickup, and steal furniture props. The prop limit is automatically enforced by the plugin, and accounts for your VIP status. Additionally players have a really cool placement tool they can use for placement of props. These props will also disappear when the player goes offline to save ents and fps on low end PCs. The core plugin is also modular now, so things can be easily added to it by coding a module for it. So it's really cool, although further testing is necessary with those two plugin modules.
So now the next thing on my list is to create more jobs for the plugin. This is where the players come in. I need job suggestions, and if your suggestion is good enough, I'll code it.
So in order for a job to be good enough to be added to the game, you must include a few things in the job description:
(some of these are more advice than requirements)
1) What do you do in the job?
2) What tools are used in the job, what is their purpose, any details about the tools?
3) Do the tools have weight/mass. For example, the new planting and printing jobs. The printers, planting 'ingredients', etc have weight. Your inventory can only hold a certain amount of mass, thus limiting the total amount of stuff you can carry.
4) How is the job balanced?
5) It is recommended that the job not rely on other players, but rather on non-player elements such as the NPCs, etc. Perhaps the job can earn you close to the same amount of money as a robber, but more active players online will increase the earnings. But you don't want the job to fully/heavily rely on other players.
6) How much crime is given for each action? What are each of these actions? Also, crime cannot be the only balancing factor for a job.
Here is an example of a job suggestion that I would write. You do not need to follow this format, but this is how I would personally write it:
Job Name: Sanitation
Description: The job involves trash that appears around the map. This trash will spawn in automatically if at least one person is using the sanitation job. Players will also drop trash if they use a food item and at least one person has the sanitation job. The automatic trash spawning will also scale up based on the number of players that have the sanitation job. To pick up trash, a player must simply press E on it. All trash that is picked up will become an item called "Trash" in the sanitation worker's inventory. The worker may walk to a sanitation zone. sm_garbage will create a temporary beam pointing to the garbage zone, and using the trash item from the inventory while in a sanitation zone will give the player $7 per unit of trash 'sold' to the dumpster. This job is a legal job, and no crime is given for any player actions. The balancing factor is the quantity of trash that spawns, and where it spawns. Also, the plugin will only spawn trash at predetermined trash spawn locations, which can include the player spawn locations pulled from the plugin core. The quantity of trash spawned per minute should be worth about 1.5 times the amount of money a player can earn per minute when robbing. This is multiplied by the number of players using the sanitation job. As part of garbage cleanup, garbage all despawns, and will not continue spawning for any reason if the last sanitation worker changes jobs, or if there are no sanitation workers to begin with. Since this job is a legal job that creates no crime, killing a sanitation worker will be double the crime added to the killer. Additionally, sanitation workers will not drop trash. They will continue to drop money like any other player though.
