Player0
02-11-2005, 04:18 PM
Hey guys and girls. After some deliberation, I've decided to continue my work with DCS Stats. I've started work on DCS 4 which is a much needed upgrade to the old DCS coding. The key features of DCS4 is that it will be very much optimized and streamlined. This should allow me to offer DCS4 as a free and open stats program that anyone from any team will be allowed to use.
Some DCS4 Planned Features Include:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Static Image Generation - This reduces processing time on the LN servers, and also allows DCS tags to display on forums without the dynamic image settings.
Enhanced GZIP compression and buffering - This will speed up image downloads while saving on bandwidth.
Alternative Host Caching - Static images can be transfered (pushed) to other FTP addresses on a nightly basis to allow other teams to have local hosting of the stats images. If LN is down, or LN stats load slow, alternative host caching will allow teams using this feature much faster access. And, it saves LN bandwidth.
Enhanced JPEGs & GIFs - I've been doing a lot of work with ImageMagick and GD2 libraries lately. By recoding the sigs generator with some new optimizations, I can make faster loading, better looking sig images.
Real Fonts! - Yep, select from a MUCH wider range of font types and styles. Also, we'll have a much wider range of text special effects to choose from (my fav).
Animated GIFs - Maybe, just maybe, dynamically generated animated GIFs. I may have to limit this function to paying members only since it results in large files. But Ive been able to figure out a way to merge images in to animated GIF89a files! Its interesting doing binary file manipulation in PHP but Im planning on it!
DCS Stats Page - Although it exists now in DCS3, it's more of a beta thing than any real usable stats page. Ill finish the DCS stats page though in version 4. DCS has some great built in stats features that will really shine on a full stats page, with a lot of features that aren't installed elsewhere.
F@H, SETI, ETC - Of course, the root of DCS is parsing stats from Distributed Computing projects. I'll be revamping the F@H and SETI engines to restore/integrated some of the features of those stats. Im thinking of a way for others to create their own add-in parsing modules to DCS to handle other distrocomputing projects. We'll see.
User Database & Admin - A much simpler skinning interface, allowing users and team owners to manage multiple skins. Skin Seeds will be generated automatically for any user now, without having to place a request in our forums. The DCS website will be vastly improved, probably its own full blown website.
WANT TO HELP?
DCS4 will be under construction for several months before being released to the public. DCS3 will continue to run as is with a limited number of teams and users, but DCS4 *hopes* to be open for all. However, your support is still important, whether its financial or verbal. Donate $5-10 to the DCS fund, or help spread the word about DCS4. As long as I get the impression that people are still interested, I'll keep programming. Its fun and rewarding to see something Ive made have such widespread use, but at the same time, it can be discouraging to see that when DCS has problems, other people turn away to other alternatives rather than lending support. But I know theres a lot of loyal DCS users out there which is why Ive started work on version 4.
PayPal Donations can be sent to player0@liquidninjas.com. Please include a note to mention which team you are from and that you want the donation to go to the DCS pool.
Any team that donates over $50, or pledges to support DCS in the future, and has a good percentage of it's members using (or missing) DCS signatures can have service restored to DCS3 on request as long as bandwidth permits. I *want* to have all of you to be able to use DCS, and I'll do my best to restore service to teams who help support DCS. Some teams only have one or two DCS or even block DCS stats because of the LiquidNinjas.com credit required (the only form of retrobution we require), so we're not always able to provide service especially when there are other teams who show greater support.
As always, Im open to your suggestions for features. Theres a lot more features planned that I can probably remember. The important part right now is getting DCS4 up and running so we can allow open access again. Your support will go FAR to helping to achieve this goal as fast as possible.
If I can receive enough in donations, I will provide DCS with its own dataline and hosting service which will give incredible speed, functionality and access to the program. We'll see!
Some DCS4 Planned Features Include:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Static Image Generation - This reduces processing time on the LN servers, and also allows DCS tags to display on forums without the dynamic image settings.
Enhanced GZIP compression and buffering - This will speed up image downloads while saving on bandwidth.
Alternative Host Caching - Static images can be transfered (pushed) to other FTP addresses on a nightly basis to allow other teams to have local hosting of the stats images. If LN is down, or LN stats load slow, alternative host caching will allow teams using this feature much faster access. And, it saves LN bandwidth.
Enhanced JPEGs & GIFs - I've been doing a lot of work with ImageMagick and GD2 libraries lately. By recoding the sigs generator with some new optimizations, I can make faster loading, better looking sig images.
Real Fonts! - Yep, select from a MUCH wider range of font types and styles. Also, we'll have a much wider range of text special effects to choose from (my fav).
Animated GIFs - Maybe, just maybe, dynamically generated animated GIFs. I may have to limit this function to paying members only since it results in large files. But Ive been able to figure out a way to merge images in to animated GIF89a files! Its interesting doing binary file manipulation in PHP but Im planning on it!
DCS Stats Page - Although it exists now in DCS3, it's more of a beta thing than any real usable stats page. Ill finish the DCS stats page though in version 4. DCS has some great built in stats features that will really shine on a full stats page, with a lot of features that aren't installed elsewhere.
F@H, SETI, ETC - Of course, the root of DCS is parsing stats from Distributed Computing projects. I'll be revamping the F@H and SETI engines to restore/integrated some of the features of those stats. Im thinking of a way for others to create their own add-in parsing modules to DCS to handle other distrocomputing projects. We'll see.
User Database & Admin - A much simpler skinning interface, allowing users and team owners to manage multiple skins. Skin Seeds will be generated automatically for any user now, without having to place a request in our forums. The DCS website will be vastly improved, probably its own full blown website.
WANT TO HELP?
DCS4 will be under construction for several months before being released to the public. DCS3 will continue to run as is with a limited number of teams and users, but DCS4 *hopes* to be open for all. However, your support is still important, whether its financial or verbal. Donate $5-10 to the DCS fund, or help spread the word about DCS4. As long as I get the impression that people are still interested, I'll keep programming. Its fun and rewarding to see something Ive made have such widespread use, but at the same time, it can be discouraging to see that when DCS has problems, other people turn away to other alternatives rather than lending support. But I know theres a lot of loyal DCS users out there which is why Ive started work on version 4.
PayPal Donations can be sent to player0@liquidninjas.com. Please include a note to mention which team you are from and that you want the donation to go to the DCS pool.
Any team that donates over $50, or pledges to support DCS in the future, and has a good percentage of it's members using (or missing) DCS signatures can have service restored to DCS3 on request as long as bandwidth permits. I *want* to have all of you to be able to use DCS, and I'll do my best to restore service to teams who help support DCS. Some teams only have one or two DCS or even block DCS stats because of the LiquidNinjas.com credit required (the only form of retrobution we require), so we're not always able to provide service especially when there are other teams who show greater support.
As always, Im open to your suggestions for features. Theres a lot more features planned that I can probably remember. The important part right now is getting DCS4 up and running so we can allow open access again. Your support will go FAR to helping to achieve this goal as fast as possible.
If I can receive enough in donations, I will provide DCS with its own dataline and hosting service which will give incredible speed, functionality and access to the program. We'll see!