User talk:Svdb

is there an Editors' Page to discuss changes publicly? if not, can we make one? -SamYeager 10:05, 28 Sep 2004 (CEST)

Go right ahead. I suggest you name it as it is named in the Wikipedia. It might be a good idea to link it from the main page too. Or perhaps from "Community portal". -- SvdB

should we make links to go upwards through menus of items (ie. make a link to "List of Races" from the "Humans" page)? it would make editing many pages easier since we no longer have to backtrack through several pages of blanked-out previews to get to the category we were at. -SamYeager 10:05, 28 Sep 2004 (CEST)

I think the "Categories" concept suffices for this. Put for instance [[Category:Races]] on the bottom of a page to place it in a category. See Special:Categories for all categories so far.

Also, you can select "What links here" in the toolbox on the left.

for the WantedPages, do we view pages that have just 1 link to them? it'd be a good way to find misspelled or misdirected links.

I didn't write the wiki software. It's not a high priority for me to find out where in the code this is handled, and change it.

Minor fix. See 1 Link Pages from Main Page -SamYeager 10:05, 28 Sep 2004 (CEST)

I guess it will do as a temporary solution. --SvdB

I have changed the source to show 1 link pages, and removed your page.

Vandalism

Is there a more effective way to protect the wiki from spammers and vandals other than just ip-banning them and reverting their changes? -Fadookie 11:00, 23 Oct 2004 (CEST)

That's how it is still done on the Wikipedia. Another possibility is to require contributors to make an account, with email verification. You could protect against spam bots by asking them to copy a number from an image when they contribute (but MediaWiki can't do that yet).

Something else we could do is lock specific pages (like the main page), but I don't want to do that until that page has reached a more permanent form. Against non-bots you could put up some idle threat on the home page like "the last person who vandalised a page on this site got his computer hacked and cleared." :) -- SvdB 11:14, 23 Oct 2004 (CEST)

What are your thoughts on creating some kind of blacklist like that described here and here? It might be able to cut down on some of this spam since many of the spam-edits are so similar. --Fyzixfighter 06:13, 9 January 2006 (CET)

I would actually expect that my added checkbox would do the trick. I suspect there's something wrong in my implementation, as I find it unlikely that someone who would go to the trouble of adapting his scripts to work for the Ultronomicon wouldn't notice that all links have rel=nofollow. I'll investigate further later, but I don't have much time right now. — SvdB 14:52, 13 January 2006 (CET)

Well I think you've implemented it correctly — it always catches me when I try and do an anonymous edit. No rush on a fix, I only offered the blacklists as an alternative that might be easier and more efficient, but not being a computer person I really can't give a quality assessment. In the mean time the rest of us will just remain vigilant and undo the spam as it happens. Thanks for that you are able to accomplish! --Fyzixfighter 09:32, 14 January 2006 (CET)

On the Tcl/Tk-Wiki at http://wiki.tcl.tk, they try to take away any incentive for spamming the wiki with the setting

<meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" />

and a note on the edit-pages, as in http://mini.net/pub/nofollow.gif
--HaJo 2006-03-03

And, does it work? (The message that is, we're already using nofollow.)

Many of the spam is automated though. There's no user to see the message.

— SvdB 02:11, 4 March 2006 (CET)

As far as I can tell, less than 10 spams during the last half year --HaJo 2006-03-04

I suspect that's got more to do with the fact that that site uses a less common wiki software, and that you need to create a user to edit pages. Still, it wouldn't hurt, so I don't object to such a message on the edit page. — SvdB 07:20, 5 March 2006 (CET)

Corridor Nine

I'd like to merge Corridor 9 and Corridor Nine. I'd like the new article to reside at Corridor Nine (which I think is the better title), but I'd like to keep Corridor 9's editing history (because is the better article of the two). So, what do I do? I can't move Corridor 9 because Corridor Nine isn't empty and I don't want to simply copy & paste the content from Corridor 9 either, because then I'd be taking false credit in that article's editing history. Sorry, if this is inappropriate here, but you were the only Admin with a non-empty Talk page, so I thought I'd ask you. -- Anym 00:11, 5 Apr 2005 (CEST)

Just make Corridor 9 the new page, and when you're done, let me know, and I'll rename it. Just make sure to put in the summary what you have done. - SvdB 00:31, 5 Apr 2005 (CEST)

Been there, done that! There wasn't much information on Corridor Nine to begin with (and most of that was already on Corridor 9 as well), so it was pretty painless. All I did was add a mention of Vela. I forget to write a summary all too often, but this time I tried to make it pretty verbose. -- Anym 01:48, 5 Apr 2005 (CEST)

Move completed

Just testing... I guess we need a sandbox... -- SvdB 20:47, 10 Aug 2005 (CEST)

Search tool

I hope this isn't just me, but every time I try to use the search utility over there on the left side, I get an error message: "You have requested a special page that is not recognized by the wiki." Was the search tool disabled because of vandalism? -Fyzixfighter 20:19, 20 Sep 2005 (CEST)

About a month ago, I changed some stuff in the site config so that 'http://uqm.stack.nl/wiki/Main_Page' works as 'http://uqm.stack.nl/index.php?title=Main_Page'. Apparently that broke the search. It's fixed now.

Myself, I have an entry for the Ultronomicon in Opera's search.ini, so I do 'ultron bla' to search for bla, bypassing the search box altogether.

— SvdB 01:29, 21 Sep 2005 (CEST)

The Captain?

Hey Svdb, what's the Ultronomicon style for referring to the Captain? I've seen The Captain and Captain Zelnick used interchangeably in the text, though the latter is, of course, a redirect to The Captain. If it's the style to use "The Captain" throughout this wiki, I'd like to perhaps create a style guide, (at Ultronomicon:Style guide Ultronomicon:Manual of Style) and mention such style decisions there. As a side note, I've been inactive for a while, but I hope to contribute more to this great project of yours. :-) --Phoenix (t) 23:43, 30 Sep 2005 (CEST)

Most contributors seem to agree that 'The Captain' is the way to go, as the player can change the name, and in the PC version, you would be asked. One contributor disagrees, but I think he has conceded. Old pages probably still contain references to Zelnick. The story with 'The Flagship' vs 'The Vindicator' is analogous. There's also 'SIS' the name used in the code, but it has no place here.

There's a similar difference of opinion on how to describe game events. Some people like these things as things that can or will happen if/unless the player takes certain actions ("If The Captain allies with the Spathi, they will erect a slave shield at their home world"), while others prefer describing things as if they already happened, assuming the most complete, happy ending ("after The Captain allied with the Spathi they erected a slave shield at their home world"). I think the former is better myself, as it is more exact.

I agree that a style guide is a good idea, but what we could perhaps use more, to come to such a guide, is a discussion area where we could discuss things like this, like the "Village Pump" at Wikipedia. I had been planning to introduce something like that, but I've been planning a lot of things. Feel free to create it yourself if you like. — SvdB 00:52, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)

Yeah, I also posted this question in Ultronomicon talk:Community Portal, though I don't know if that area is very active anymore. I'll probably create the page and put up that it's a work in progress, similar to the "Proposed process" dialogue box in Wikipedia. As for how to describe game events, I think I've been doing the latter, but I agree, the former is probably better. It also makes me wonder how to edit, for example, the Member of field in {{RaceBox}}. For instance, with the Spathi, there would be a couple of options:

1. Hierarchy of Battle Thralls
2. Hierarchy of Battle Thralls,
   New Alliance of Free Stars
3. Hierarchy of Battle Thralls,
   New Alliance of Free Stars (can join)

Given your opinion about game events, we should probably go with the third option. --Phoenix (t) 14:46, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)

Here's another idea. In certain places where the actions and fate of the characters are largely dependent on player actions (such as Tanaka), how about placing a tag similar to the {{spoiler}}, but read something like "the following events are largely dependant on player actions, and may not occur" (or something similar). This kind of a tag would probably require a beginning and end tag. --Phoenix (t) 15:05, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)

I agree that something like "(can join)" would be best, but I don't like the exact phrase. It's a bit unclear imho. I'd personally prefer "(optional)", or "(at the player's choice)".

As for the tags, I think that if the relevant text is phrased appropriately, such tags would be unnecessary.

SvdB 20:46, 8 Oct 2005 (CEST)

I'll put "(optional)", for now. --Phoenix (t) 19:47, 10 Oct 2005 (CEST)

wiki weirdness

This is weird; when I use ~~~~, my name doesn't link to my user page anymore. Anyone have any idea? — SvdB 21:13, 8 Oct 2005 (CEST)

Under Preferences < User data, do you have Raw signatures (without automatic link) checked, and what is the setting in Your nickname (for signatures)? --Phoenix (t) 00:23, 9 Oct 2005 (CEST)

Ah, thanks. It was indeed the "Raw signatures" setting. I don't recall ever changing that, but apparently, I must have. — SvdB 04:15, 9 Oct 2005 (CEST)

PlanetBox

How do I make templates like PlanetBox to list the amount of resources? I have been exploring the map and have a table of data for the various planets that is better than the spreadsheet that Now and Forever offers in their file page. We already have a list of constellations, so adding a box for the recources on the different planets would be a help, I think.

--Cosumel 20:23, 30 Oct 2005 (CET)

This goes beyond the scope of the Ultronomicon (there's been a discussion about this, but I can't find it right now). Also, it's easy to generate a list of minerals from the source, which would be more reliable than anyone could manually compose. — SvdB 17:46, 3 Nov 2005 (CET)

Debate on source code

I only created Talk:Source Code because the forumers are no longer being helpful, and I really wish to get the help I need. If you're going to delete that, at least be courteous enough to direct me to where I need to go. "the forum", I tried that.

"the forum" really is the place. You may want to give it a bit more time; you only posted your most recent question yesterday.

The reason I personally am not replying to your posting is that I've seen it all before. It's obvious that you've never done anything like this before, which means you'd need a lot of help, and I'm not prepared to spend that time right now. I bet a lot of the others who know what they're doing feel the same way.

Usually the sequence of questions goes something like this:

1. "Where can I find the code that does this?"
2. "How do I make this code do what I want?"
3. "How do I compile the game?"

The last step always ends up in taking the one asking the question through each of the steps, and there are a lot of steps.

Now if you come back when you've managed to compile the game as it is (without modifications), then we can talk about changing things.

What also helps when you ask questions about how to make your compiler do what you want, is to specify what compiler you are using. If the people you're trying to get help from first have to ask you questions just to understand what you're talking about, they're not going to be very anxious to help you.

And it would also help if you'd read the documentation that comes with the source.

Also, in your experience, does calling people a jerk often work to make them more cooperative?

SvdB 04:24, 19 Dec 2005 (CET)

Well if you weren't trying to be rude, I sincerly apologize. But "This is not a help desk" does come accross as rude. That and you'd be surprized how often game designers actually are jerks. Hideo Kojima for instance, directs great games, but is a pompous jerkoff who cares more about his fan's money than his fans. Although I may as well take responcibility for not signing my user nic up here, thus keeping you from officially helping my on my user discussion page since my firewall keeps changing my ip's. I was kind of hoping for answers that tell me what kind of directories to look for to place files and and what kind of function within my compiler to look for. I could specify which compiler it is, but it's not very common, thusly not likely anyone would be familiar with it. Though I do know someone on another board who can answer this, he doesn't always respond to pm's.

When someone posts something where he knows it doesn't belong, just out of inpatience, I'm not going to waste much words on him. I'd normally say "try the forum", but you already did that. I had nothing else to add. My message was intended to be succinct (it was in the summary, which turns up in the Recent Changes list). I guess I could have said it more friendly, but I really didn't want to spend much time thinking about wording.

I also don't want to waste my time looking up your answers in the source code, when it's still the question whether you'd actually manage to compile the source at all.

As for compilers, it all depends on what you are talking about. If you have a stand-alone compiler and can't use the build scripts, you'd be on your own. If you have an IDE which isn't msvc, you'd have to build your own project file.

This is another instance of the wrong way to get answers. People are more likely to give you answers if you give them enough information to work with. If they'd have to ask (is it a stand-alone compiler, or are you running from an IDE) or provide all the possible answers for each of the possible cases that may not be relevant, they're more likely not to bother. And this is more so the case the more people are involved with the project, as they tend to be more busy, and get a lot of questions. And these are exactly the people that could help you.

SvdB 06:29, 20 Dec 2005 (CET)

Ah but you see I didn't know that. I knew better than to post something like that on an article, but not a discussion page. Even if it was a newly created one. That said, it's definitely not visual C++, but rather something called borland turbo C++ which I have found out is IDE. So that does help a lot. More than anything though, it's the dll files that confused me. I pretty much know(or could figure out) what to do with the rest.

A compiler is just a program that makes binary code from source code; IDE stands for "integrated development environment" and includes things like an editor and debugger, and a graphical interface to the compiler flags.

DLL files are shared libraries of compiled code.

But I really don't want to have this conversation here, where noone else will contribute to or benefit from it. If you ask your question on the forum, I will reply, but I won't take you through everything step by step (but perhaps someone else will).

— SvdB 08:46, 23 December 2005 (CET)