Common Stats Project

Now that Flaming Cliffs 2.0 is on the horizon, I decided to start an experiment to see if it is possible to have several multiplayer game servers join forces and upload their logs to a common stats page.

 

To make the experiment successful, all game server admins that join the project must agree on how scores are computed, how events are awarded and how, in general, the stats page is maintained. If all participating admins can reach agreement on this, it should pave the way to implement a common stats page for FC2.0. Furthermore, it will allow more people working on and improving the stats page.

 

To this end I have invited 4c, 3Sqn and the 104th to participate with the 51st in this experiment, and use the 51st stats software as a starting point for the common stats page. All of these squadrons have generously provided me with some of their multiplayer logs, and I have adapted the 51st stats engine and webpages to work multiplayer data from multiple servers. The webpages are now able to display data from single servers, as well as all servers combined.

 

For the moment, the common stats page is located at: http://www.51st.org/common/

 

At present it shows statistics on three separate pages, air-to-air, air-to-ground, and overall (air-to-air and air-to-ground combined). A point based scoring scheme is used, and the scoring system of the 51st is used: http://www.51st.org/stats/rules.html

(Note that the bonus points for kills on 51st pilots have been removed).

 

This thread is meant to provide comments and suggestions on how to improve the common stats page and make it into a success. I would like to stress that as the common stats page is an experiment, it will exist next to the already present stats pages.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Case

Like I said, I like it and support it. Any idea about the future name for it, like " Global Lockon Stats" or something like that..?

 

cheers

A great idea Case! And looks great even now in its early stages...

 

You've got our full support on this! And why not put it on lockonstats.com or something similar ;)

Like a sad case,when this test pass,we will make global page,like http://www.lockonstats.com.

Yes, I support this. :)

 

Will be fun.

lockonstats.com or similar is a good idea Fahhh. I realize though as this being a test for now, that some things are not implemented and should come later.

 

A link right on the stats page to the detail of the current scoring system, even if this scoring may change later is another idea. Also, have the stats sortable when a column heading is clicked.

 

I personally like the current setup of points used by the 51st and only have one suggestion. I suggest that if you are in a striker and you are killed, that the death is not listed in your A2A ratio. Perhaps it would be better to maintain a separate A2A ratio in the A2G page for strikers. This isn't a deal breaker for me though, but I hope server admins can come to a mutual agreement with stats easily.

 

I like the community aspect of these shared stats and I hope that it will bolster the LO community and make multiplayer even more popular than it is now. I hope that at some time, all servers that are permanent are included in these global stats.

 

With the changes coming with LO 2 in terms of stats and no Hyperlobby support, I hope Case that you can get together with others in the community to implement some global solutions. In particular I hope you can work with some 104th that have good experience and ideas, Moa and Manawar.

 

Case, you can explain a bit how you make the difference from an exit or game crash from the mplog and then note it in the stats? Thanks for your hard work on this. I hope that it works out.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Crunch

Case, you can explain a bit how you make the difference from an exit or game crash from the mplog and then note it in the stats.

All the data on this stats page originates from the mp_log.txt file. This file contains events that happened in the server, enters, air-to-air and air-to-ground kills, exits, crashes, ejections and landings. It is extremely unfortunate that it does not record take offs.

 

The 51st stats engine is the first that tries to correlate events into what I call a flight. A flight starts with a player entering the server, and should end with him exiting the server. In between the enter and exit the player can have multiple kills and landings, but can only get killed once, only have one crash and/or one eject. Hence, each flight ends with an end event, which is the last event before the player exited. He could've landed, crashed, ejected before crashing (crashed/ejected), got killed, got killed and ejected (killed/ejected), got teamkilled or got teamkilled and ejected (teamkilled/ejected). Finally there is the option of the player being still in the mission when the mission ended, in which case the end event will be mission end.

 

Unfortunately for all sorts of reasons the log may not contain the exit message. This can be due to the players machine crashing, the connection between player and server dying, or the server crashing. Because the game does not record take offs, I have no idea of knowing if the player is still in the air or not. All I have is the last event before the mission ends or have a new enter message when the player re-enters. If that last event is an air-to-air or air-to-ground kill, then I know the player was still in the air, because any other event would've meant he ejected, crashed or got killed. Hence the stats page will show a game crash only when the last event of the flight is not an exit but an air-to-air or air-to-ground kill.

 

I hope this clarifies things.

Very nice Case!

 

The great thing about common stats it is then very easy to make a page to show who is currently flying on what server. Which serves as a Hyperlobby replacement.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Moa

Case, besides and exit log entry being missed I've also seen game entry events also being missed (that is, double exits being reported) under tournament loads. Might be worth making sure the code can handle it.

The great thing about common stats it is then very easy to make a page to show who is currently flying on what server.

 

Will it be possible to write java/flash chat or even a feature that will be sent command line parameter to LockOn exe (IP and port) like HL?

 

BTW Case its very interesting idea!

Will it be possible to write java/flash chat or even a feature that will be sent command line parameter to LockOn exe (IP and port) like HL?

Java and/or flash chat should be easy to set up, though I am not sure if the lockon executable can be started and told the IP and ports.

sanCHO,write program,and give to us ,and we will test it... :)

An IRC-based java applet would be the better choice. More tools available with IRC.

 

In America's Army, we used the server log data to show who was killing who and current scores during a match. Those who logge dinto that IRC channel were able to see how the match was progressing. So, imagine a java applet window that showed, in real time, who just got shot down, who shot them, and by what means.

 

I'll see if I can dig up the IRC scripts we used in AA2 and pass them along to one of the 3Sqn guys to pass along.

Yes, it is possible to do start LockOn from an applet provided the Java applet is signed with a security certificate (which is for your protection - can't have stuff on the Net randomly invoking programs on your computer). Whether self-signed is good enough to run exec() I don't know. Purchasing a CA certificate might solve it but is quite expensive (although I'm considering it for my Java applet stats running at http://stallturn.com/scores/). Some of the technology in that page will hopefully be useful to Case.

 

Nb. The page http://stallturn.com/scores/ is in development so some pages (like the monthly team stats page) are not yet complete. Also, I don't intend for this page to replace Case's wonderful work, just to show what can be accomplished with a Java applet (eg. dynamic behaviour like table sorting etc). Running LockOn by clicking on a server is not implemented but should be possible from such an applet (which is why I abandonded an initial web-style scoring program [using Google Web Toolkit] and moved to an applet-based one, applets can do so much more).

 

Incidentally, the Players Online tab shows who is currently on the VNAO LockOn server (will be put on HL this weekend). Usually no-one is online so the page is often blank but it does work. It is trivial to extend this to other servers and I suggested Case does this for his Common stats.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Moa
Added additional comments re: applets and players online

In IL-2 FB a while back, a few guys created some online campaigns that converted these stats into a scoring system like 100 points for a fighter, 125 for bomber, -100 for a death, etc. Could you guys implement this with the online campaign events for LOMAC? I'm sure it would make multiplayer more popular for people.

 

 

T-Bone

I've mentioned on these forums before. The raison d'etre for my applet is to be part of a dynamic campaign system. The stats are just the post-battle analysis part. Don't get too excited though, the dynamic mission generation part will take a while to finish.

 

So yes, T-Bone, people are working on this. But it is not related to Common Stats so is a little of-topic (I don't want to hijack this thread, ok?).

Actually, there is a way of clicking on a server link and starting LockOn which would allow Case's website to work without an applet.

 

If the server described a Content-Type type for the link and the user's browser was set up to call an installed program with the correct server name and port then that would start LockOn just fine. Would require:

a) A little program be installed on the user's machine (as Hyperlobby is now)

b) That program is registered as the handler for the "application/lockon" Content-Type (or whatever name the server gives for that resources), and

c) Case's webservice to be modified to return the correct Content-Type for the hyperlinks to online servers.

 

In this case the applet is actually simpler (nothing extra to install) to start LockOn, but the webpage is much simpler for viewing stats.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Moa
oops, typo ("find" => "fine")

The more community wide efforts the better. After all the community are the ones making server admin plugins, missions to fly, and hosting game servers. It makes complete sense to unite and figure out how to best serve the LockOn and Black Shark gaming communities through our efforts to improve online interactions.

 

The potential exists to turn this goal into something more than just a forum with shared gamestats between the different servers. Perhaps if we got all of the people who are working on projects or are interested in similar projects together on one massive project, then we can tap this potential.

You can tell the online flying community has grown over the last few years. Back in 2005-2006 only about 10-15 people would be in Hyperlobby at any given time. Nowadays it is around 60 people.

 

T-Bone

Globalising the stats program and getting different ideas flowing makes for exciting times ahead.

 

You can tell the online flying community has grown over the last few years. Back in 2005-2006 only about 10-15 people would be in Hyperlobby at any given time. Nowadays it is around 60 people.

 

T-Bone

I'd have to disagree, Lockon HL was pretty busy during this time especially in the peak hours.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Frostie

Just look at the 51st stats for 200, there are nearly 3000 unique player names! We might not have 60 people playing all of the time, but there are plenty of people out there who fly online. I can't wait to see that number grow with the addition of Black Shark pilots and anyone who might come back for FC2!

A common stat board is a great start to getting more people involved in this great game system. This virtual pilot like looking at a world wide stat board to see where he ranks and welcomes this with enthusism. As more DCS products come out the bigger the audience should grow. And most online pilots like seeing multiple people in any servers.

Case, besides and exit log entry being missed I've also seen game entry events also being missed (that is, double exits being reported) under tournament loads. Might be worth making sure the code can handle it.

Yes, I have seen some strange things happen in the logs, but luckily these are very rare in regular gameplay.

And why not put it on lockonstats.com or something similar ;)

This would certainly be the way to go if the experiment succeeds. Right now I am hosting it on the 51st web server because that is where I have access :)

If anyone is interested in playing with the MySQL database and php scripts, send me a PM and I will send you a dump of the MySQL database and the php scripts.