UE1 - UT Portal map requires realtime multiple server info for the 'Screen' component.

Hi all, long time no see.

I'm currently building a UT99 Strangelove portal map. No, not the GAME Portal, but a map with 8 teleporters url'd to 7 servers within the UT99 Strangelove ut-slv.com community. The map is 95% complete. All that's left to do is add 7, (there're 7 active servers in our community at the time of typing this), teleporters url'd to the 7 servers.

The thing is though, players entering the portal map need to be able to see the most up-to date server info to see which teleporter, (portal), they wish to enter. At the moment, I cannot add any real-time server info because it's WAY too technical for my little brain to cope with.

I'm pretty sure I want to TRY to use Mychaeel's, 'Screen', component to give real-time info on all of the 7 servers with 7 different screens near a portal, (teleporter). I just have NO idea how to do it all, so here I am asking for help on how to go about it.

My key questions are:

• How do I get the Screen component in to the map? (Just open the .u file into the editor?)
  
• How do I get each screen to read data from each of the 7 game servers to display its info in text in real-time on the 7 screens?
  
• How do I build a screen properly? (like applying the right type of textures etc).
  
• Can I add my own fonts, if so, how? (Scripted textures? This is way beyond my capabilities, I tried making a scripted font texture once, it failed every time I tried and could not at all find any help to create a custom font let alone one that could be turned into something that MIGHT have worked).
  
• I read in a bit of blurb on Mychaeel's Screen website that the data transmission between game server and map with Screen component is minimal, is this true? Would there be any net-lag to potentially cause issues for players while in the portal map?
  
• Are there any better textures that I can use, (I do have the screen component textures, but frankly they're not suitable for my map because they're too traditional looking, [I need a clean, fresh, sexy space-tech look, perhaps made from PhilipK tech textures] instead of the traditional 4:3 TV look).
  
• Would the replacement textures need to be made into scripted textures, if so, which?
  
• How would I know which textures to make into scripted and which not to?

I can't find all the files for the screen component, (I only have one .u file for it in my C:\UT\System\ folder and some textures but am not sure if I am missing any other important files or not), I don't have the Jailbreak mod installed, (Jailbreak maps have the screen component in most of them but I couldn't find the files; lots of download links I found are dead).

My skills mainly are in building the geometry / eye-candy of maps; so any real hands-on help to get this thing downloaded, built in to the map, reading real-time, (as near as instant as possible), server data for the 7 active servers correctly, looking very tidy and lastly bearing in mind that the majority of players all seem to have lower-end rigs, so any graphical and/or net-data otimisations would be very useful too.


Oh, one other thing not really related to this but too insignificant to make another post about - does anyone know what game-type I should set the portal map as? Is it important? If so, what should I do so it doesn't get confused as a game but solely a portal for players to link to as means to get to other servers? Help with this would be cool but is not vital or as important as the Screen component help is.

Please contact me or reply here if you can help me, thank you!

Screenshot of the map as it looked last week, (15th Sept-ish), below:



Peace, R3p'.

Gobbledygook

Wormbo said:

A Screen server info page is set up just like any other Screen page. If you want to monitor multiple servers, just use multiple Screen pages, each with its own server IP.

Click to expand...

Wormbo, hi again, thanks for the reply, but it's gobbledygook to me. I don't understand any of it. I've opened the Screen.u file into the editor, placed a Screen actor but what's really confusing the poop out of me is:

• The textures, they're mostly all blank, how the hell do I know what I'm adding or even how to align it? *I'm not going for a square screen, I want it very thin and very wide at least 2:1 or wider. I also want to create if I can clearly find out how, some custom textures, (fonts mainly), but how do I know what textures should be scripted and which shouldn't? I found a tool that was supposed to help make a custom font scripted texture but it was too old, too out of date and just couldn't get it to make a font texture properly.
  
• The lack of tutorials and forum discussion about it, I can't find anything except the Screen website which I already knew about but cannot grasp.
  
• The lack of files. If I had an example map, it might help me somewhat, but with the links I've found for downloads all being dead, I can't get all the files or even an example map, (I did once have it, not anymore).
  
• The lack of discussion about how to glean specific info from a specified server, and how to add the IP, (as you said), to the screen - and what info will it give me? I need:
  
  Server name,
  Map currently being played,
  Number of players currently on the server,
  Users current time if possible too, (but it's not essential).

How would adding an IP give me that info? Or wouldn't it? I don't understand it because there's so little data out there to help me grasp what I need to know to make it work. If it does give the info I'm looking to incorporate, where would I add the IP? I can't see a field in the Screen actor properties for it.

I'm considering making the screen so it shows up on some, 'frosted glass', that moves apart into two, (2 opposing 'door', movers), or some sexy sci-fi '3D' floating visual panel with the info on it that shows 'always-facing-camera', when a player walks into a specified trigger or zone or area so it fills their PC screen or something,... Just ideas,.. no idea really though what'd be possible with Screen.

I've had almost no experience working with scripted textures and especially not the screen component, so any practical help would be massively appreciated from anyone who knows what it is they're doing.

Thanks!

*EDIT*

I am slowly finding info I need, so stay tuned. - [Some time later] - Arrggh,. Mychaeel doesn't have a tutorial on how to create a Screen specifically for a ScreenSlidePageServer,.. a Screen that specifically shows data from a remote UT99 game server. Also I'm having difficulty with the scripted textures. Just how in gods name am I supposed to see and align the all-BLACK texture in the editor? It's nigh-on impossible to understand and even harder to grasp.

Biggest issues, (far too many for me to do this on my own): Why are there more than one black texture? What use do the others have and why? Why no tutorial for the Remote server data Screen that I want? Why are there no other maps available with that type of Screen in? How do I use my own fonts? The settings, bloody difficult, esp' given as just previously said there're not any tutorials for the type of Screen I need. Why no mention of other uses in the editor for the Screen - like, can I make a mover with the textures on? Can I make the finished result transparent or shiny? Why no simple explanation of how to align the textures? Why no simple way to SEE what I've created in the editor instead of having build, save and PLAY the bloody map for me to see what I've done?

In other words - why does this have to be so f**king difficult?! Mychaeel!! Someone!! Help me PLEASE, this is driving me INSANE!! How hard should it have to be to put a fricken Screen into a map?!!

Wormbo, hi again.

I like to think myself as being far from slow or retarded or even thick, but I just don't understand it. There's no tutorial on how to make a server stats Screen which is absolutely what I need. It's all too complicated and my questions still are unanswered. I'm going to email Mychaeel and see if he can help me with it instead.

Here's hoping.