Blockland

XServer - Update

This project may seem dead. I’ve come back to it again and again and found it difficult to continue on it as it is quite time consuming. While the initial version works, I can not seem to continue with it as the design is not complete and it is easy to loose track on what does what. Also, it does not make it easier when I realized that the problem is more complex than I initially thought, so a redesign should be done.

Blockland Repository

A rather daunting project which its intention was to unify Add-On sharing throughout the community. It would make it easier to upload your creations with sophisticated verification process and dependency linking. There was also a feature to link each repository with each other, effectively reducing the time it would be to upload to each repo, but also for other sites that had the same task.

An alpha was released in late 2016, development actively progressed. However, due to the massive push toward Blockland Glass, and therefore lack in motivation, it was put on ice. It is still possible to use it, and the source was uploaded to so anyone can use it as they feel fit.

Fill Can v2

Most people using Fill Can have found out that there is a limitation on how many bricks you can change color on. It also makes the server hang for a long time. It was not that efficient, therefore it was updated with a better system which reduced the load on the server, and increasing the amount of bricks to be filled to unlimited. It also does look ugly to color tens of thousands of bricks with the same paint anyway, so a new default was increased to 5000 bricks.

Change Ownership

The ability to switch ownership for builds between people was pretty bothersome, as one had to save the build, give it to the new owner which could then load it. New Duplicator may have solved this issue a bit as you now could duplicate someone elses build and plant it yourself. Removing old build in the meantime was also alright.

However, the issue came up that you have to first duplicate and then plant it again, putting stress on the server as well as the user. The solution was this item which may easily change the ownership of the build to a new owner. An admin can even take it and give it to anyone if they feel like it.

Apartment

Currently one could give access to certain parts of a building by giving build trust. This was insecure and would often end up in issues with the landlord. It also reduced the whole building to be owned by the landlord whenever the build was saved.

The solution to this was to add an event which gives ownership to the specific user(s) that placed bricks on top of those bricks with the events specified. Due to this, this solution also works when reloading the bricks. At least for one of the guys owning it.

FireRelayNum

Extends previous fireRelay output event with a way to decide what onRelays to fire. On top of this, a more compact way to decide these events where added, along with a list system for direction of event.

https://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=312835.0

EventScript

EventScript is a language and add-on which makes it easier to edit and share events in a more standardized way.

As a language, it was designed to standardize the way to express the way Blockland events are visualized. There was several ways people would go to be able to share their events with others, each one having their own set of drawbacks: Screenshots of gui window; Save to bls; Try to describe the event through text. The first one was easy to create, but harder to actually use. The second one was good to transfer between builds, but would complicate itself for displaying it any other media than in-game. The last one was great, but had the same issues as a screenshot, but it also added so the creator needed to translate the events manually and also make it so the reader understood it. The solution was using the third one, but removing the copy and paste steps that was the hardest.

XServer - FAQ

How is XServer pronounced? CrossServer.

What features will it include? Shared functionalities through chat, player list and administration for all connected servers.

Why not use the old one? It is more complicated as both servers need to connect to each others to apply full duplex communications. It also is less secure due to weak hashing and no valid authenticity and integrity to data sent.

Will this be slow? It might be in some instances. There could be options to turn off authentication if it lags too much.

XServer

An add-on was created years ago by DarkLight, and then mostly rewritten by me so it would work better. It featured a way to share chat and player list between servers. However, it was insecure and complicated to use both ways.

I have decided to completely take over the add-on by rewriting it from the ground up to add better security, back and forward compatibility, modularity, administrative commands and easier to use.