Technical Contributor

[Wraythian]

Project 1999 Staff,

I would like to start contributing more in a technical manner both here on the forums and on the wiki, but before doing so, I need to gather some information.

1. Is a test P1999 account for a lab box recommended or do I use my current player account?

2 If a test account is recommended, do I fill out the IP exception if only one account is connecting, or is it preferred to just fill it out to be standardized?

3. I currently try to help in the forums, but I'd also like to help with the EQ on Linux wiki documentation by testing Linux builds/wine configs and updating as needed.

Aside from creating the wiki account, what else is required to get started?


-Fryeday

[loramin]

Ok first off, I'm not a member of the staff, just to be clear. That being said, I think I can answer your questions; let's begin at the end:

Originally Posted by Wraythian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Aside from creating the wiki account, what else is required to get started?

As far as the wiki goes, absolutely nothing! Create an account and dive right in.

The one thing I'd warn you about (and which I've been meaning to make a wiki page about one of these days) is that the wiki has various customizations which aren't covered by the media wiki documentation. In other words, you can make a wiki link with:

[[Barbarian Hunting Spear]]

and the Media Wiki site will tell you as much, but it won't tell you that you can make "item links" (which show the item's stats when you mouse over them) by doing:

{{:Barbarian Hunting Spear}}

It also won't tell you that you can't do that inside another wiki construct, eg. you can't make a list item with an item link using:

* {{:Barbarian Hunting Spear}}

Unfortunately all that information has just been learned by wiki editors as they go, so the best I can offer is that if you have any questions feel free to PM me or any other regular wiki editor. And again hopefully someone (maybe me, maybe you) will make a page that lists and explains all of our wiki customizations one of these days.

Originally Posted by Wraythian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

3. I currently try to help in the forums, but I'd also like to help with the EQ on Linux wiki documentation by testing Linux builds/wine configs and updating as needed.

Huzzah! So here's where we're at right now; there's a page in the wiki for Linux: http://wiki.project1999.com/EverQuest_in_Linux_Guide。 I made it, but someone named Dedes (as well as a few others) did a lot of work on it (gotta <3 wikis amiright?). However, the information on that page still pales in comparison to the information in the forum, particular the information in this 28-page thread.

So while there's nothing wrong with starting from scratch and doing an overview of distros and WINE configurations, if you're up for it there is already a TON of great info (including stuff like WINE configs) sitting in that thread that could help a lot of people ... but right now no one is taking advantage of it (because it's buried in a 28-page thread).

But again, if that thread scares you and you have other ideas for how to help with Linux, by all means go for that.

Originally Posted by Wraythian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

1. Is a test P1999 account for a lab box recommended or do I use my current player account?

You should in no way need a test account for anything forum or wiki related; you can do all the testing with your main account (but then again, accounts are free, so if you want a test one I won't stop you).

I'm not sure, but that question makes me think you might be wanting to do development work for the server itself. That route is very different from forum/wiki work (which is 100% player-driven). If you want to become a developer you can try applying (I'd suggest using the guide application forum since there is no dev application forum) ... but you'd better be an excellent C++ (I believe that's what they use) programmer who has already fixed a bug or two in the open source EQ Emulator software.

If that's not the case you could still apply, but my understanding (which could be wrong) is that bringing new devs up to speed is a pain, and they're not hurting for devs at the moment, so if someone wants to contribute they're really looking for that person to prove that they are capable of contributing first.

Originally Posted by Wraythian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

2 If a test account is recommended, do I fill out the IP exception if only one account is connecting, or is it preferred to just fill it out to be standardized?

Again you won't need anything like that unless you become a dev, and if you do become a dev I'm sure Nilbog and the rest will give you all the info you need about their development servers and such.

Hope that helps, and again if you're feeling the urge to help the wiki and either have questions or need ideas for things to work on, by all means please PM me.

P.S. One other way you can contribute, which is more technical than wiki work but is still player-driven, is with visualization enhancements. There are several projects (which you can find reference to in this forum) for enhancing the look of this rather old game. The primary one I'm thinking of is https://www.project1999.com/forums/s....php?p=2577084.

Yet another way you could contribute is with a website. For instance this guy made a cool map-viewing site, and several people have made "auction house" sites over the years.

[Wraythian]

Loramin,

Thanks for all of the fantastic info. In reference to the test account I should have been more clear, as it was in reference to testing EQ on Linux stuff. I wasn't sure if it was frowned upon to use your player account or not. The other aspect of it was second person visibility. What does the PC look like to others with regards to settings in Wine, etc, so I wasn't sure if a second account was used for such purposes.

While I do some dev work IRL, I wouldn't have enough time to devote to any other projects while also being a technical contributor and besides, I've not been here long enough nor am I known well enough to warrant anything like that.

I will take a look at the 28-page thread and compile any and all useful resources and try to put together some sort of compendium together for the Linux users out there.

I won't have much time this week as I'm in the middle of some critical Linux server upgrades at work, but I will have time starting this weekend. If I have any issues, I'll definitely reach out with any questions.

Thank you for the response,

-Fryeday

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Wraythian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In reference to the test account I should have been more clear, as it was in reference to testing EQ on Linux stuff. I wasn't sure if it was frowned upon to use your player account or not. The other aspect of it was second person visibility. What does the PC look like to others with regards to settings in Wine, etc, so I wasn't sure if a second account was used for such purposes.

Gotcha. The only rules are that you can't play two accounts at once and can't buy/sell accounts. Other than that you can have and/or play as many accounts as you want, and some people even keep separate accounts for each character (I don't as it's less convenient). But again, you shouldn't actually need more than one account for whatever you want to do.

Originally Posted by Wraythian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I will take a look at the 28-page thread and compile any and all useful resources and try to put together some sort of compendium together for the Linux users out there.

I won't have much time this week as I'm in the middle of some critical Linux server upgrades at work, but I will have time starting this weekend. If I have any issues, I'll definitely reach out with any questions.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]