Technical Updates

[HR-Trevor]

A few technical updates:

- We're putting in an order for new RAM Monday, once received and installed the server will have double its current memory. This will help performance and reduce the time needed to do the global saves we do of all characters.

- We've been experiencing crashes roughly every 15 or so hours, but we have contained this so usually you will only notice a brief delay in game when this occurs. The crashes that result in loss of data (i.e. "time warps") should now be minimal. We're continuing to investigate the cause of these crashes, but thankfully the effect on you should be almost non existent when one occurs.

- I've heard some reports of lag. Our bandwidth is almost always much, much more than we could possibly use for Haelrahv. The RAM upgrade should help some, as the server has been running very low lately. Internet congestion remains the most likely cause of lag, however, and is something beyond our control unfortunately.
_________________
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

[HR-Trevor]

An update: I've made changes this morning to how huntables work which has dramatically reduced game lag. You will notice in some cases hunting areas may be mostly empty when you first enter them if no one has been there in a while.

You should also notice critters decaying instantly after being searched as well.
_________________
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

[HR-Trevor]

I've heard some rumblings about lag and I suppose I need to address this with a frank and open response. So.

We must remember that we are in a test phase. It is not the "full" game. We also must remember we're using an engine we already know has problems, hence why we took things down in March. Finally we have to remember we're using systems written for a world much larger than the one you are playing in.

I am looking constantly into ways to cut down the lag. Essentially, our options however are: a) live with the lag. b) cut out a lot of game features that may cause lag until the game is rebuilt. c) close the game, focus on rebuilding. I am open to hearing your thoughts on what you prefer, but just snapping a finger and fixing the lag isn't an option as much as I wish it were.

The system we run Haelrahv on is dedicated to the game and uses its resources for Haelrahv exclusively. It is not a weak system, though it is also not an amazingly powerful system, The game server is in fact my own personal system that I have configured to use as a server and use only to run the game and develop new features for the game. It runs Haelrahv, a text editor, an email client, an occasional web browser and a MySQL client. I have in fact forsaken my own personal ability to do things just as play games and so on, so as to not impact Haelrahv. We have other systems but this one has the best abilty to run the game overall, so I have given up my own personal system.

We will gladly accept Paypal donations to buy a higher end server sa we do not receive income from the game at all, but we have never asked for such donations or even posted a donation button on our website. The ads you see on the websites currently do not benefit Haelrahv directly either.

In short, this is what we have. I understand lag is frustrating, and I assure, it is also frustrating to us. It is something we are dedicated to fixing to our utmost ability, but the fact remains that there are limitations to what we can do with the existing game minus the pending rebuild. Thank you for your patience and support.
_________________
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy