Desktop Application Update

Hey everyone, it's been a couple weeks since I talked about starting work on a desktop application for SWTOR.  Just wanted to give you a bit of an update of where I'm at in the process and how things are going.

I've almost got all of the foundation for the server coding done.  It is going very well.  The server is multi-threaded (meaning each connected client is processed separately of other clients... faster!) and extremely lightweight.  I think it will stand up well under heavy load... but I guess we'll find out eventually =X

The desktop application part is coming along nicely as well.  I'm currently working on the foundation of the application.  I want to make sure there is good base code in place off of which I can build.  Currently, the desktop app can login to the server, validate user information, encrypt data transfer and communicate with other connected clients (for group parsing and maybe PMs/friends list).

Here's a screenshot of the login screen.  Please remember this is very early development and a lot is likely to change, I just want to keep everyone updated with how it's going.

So, next up on the list is to start work on the actual parser portion of the application.  I'm also going to work on creating some nice skins for the overlay components that blend well with SWTOR so the windows don't seem too out of place.  First up will be solo/companion parsing.

Thanks for reading, I'll try to post updates on the progress every couple weeks.  And thank you for the emails with suggestions/comments for the application.  Please feel free to contact me anytime.

What I'll be working on

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you a little insight on what I'm currently working on with regards to the site. Updates to the site may be a little infrequent for some time as I am focusing a lot of my free time in designing a desktop application program that will run in harmony with the website. I've always wanted this to be a part of the site, but did not really have the site at the level of functionality I wanted until recently, so it has kinda gone by the wayside.

Back in my original "Welcome Back" post, I talked a little bit about building a desktop application, but I'll outline some of my ideas here. Before I get into anything though, I don't want anyone to get their hopes up just yet, because this application is still in the very early stages of development and it could be several months before it is of release quality. So, the reason I'm even making this post is because I want your feedback (via email or the comments section) on my ideas and even new ideas of your own.

These are the basic things I want the desktop application to be able to do.

• In-game combat parsing
• Solo and Companion combat parsing
• Group, Flashpoint, and Operation combat parsing
• Include a ready check
• Ability to upload your combat log to the website for more in-depth parsing
• The application should be low-profile and easy on system performance

And then some of the more conceptual ideas I have that I don't know if they will come to fruition. These depend on a couple things: 1) my ability to code them and 2) the stability of the service with just the basic stuff outlined above.

• Ability to watch "live" streams on the website
• Option to add in a twitch.tv stream of one or multiple players in the group... My idea behind this is if you're running an Operation, or maybe doing some PvP and you want people to be able to see all the combat log stuff and also your stream, the website could integrate that all together.
• Caching Group, Flashpoint and Operation combat parsing from the app so that it may be viewed for some time from the website.
• Allowing the group leader to upload all of the combat logs directly to the website with one button push. This would send all the logs, upload them under the correct user's information and create a group log.

So, these are my ideas. I'm open to any and all feedback; positive, neutral or negative.

So, if designing this application was the only part of the project, things would be much simpler. But, alas, there is a backend part... the server technology. This is the phase of the process I am currently in. The server development is coming along nicely, but I have to be very careful with this type of thing. First and foremost, I don't want to cause degradation to the services I already have in place available on the website. Secondly, it needs to be very efficient so that it can handle several hundred clients at any given time.

So, this will keep me occupied for quite some time to come. On top of it being a very complex project, it is also a new area of programming for me. So, I'm learning a lot as I go, but I'm a pretty quick learner, so we'll see. Don't worry though, I will still make sure the site is kept going strong and will probably even add a few new features here and there.

In the coming months, I will need a guild or two to help me test this in an operation setting, so if you have any interest in that, feel free to email me and we can make arrangements.

Thanks,

James

Update

Hey everyone, I've pushed a pretty significant update to the site today.  A lot of it is backend stuff, so you likely won't notice many changes.  Here's what I did.

• Significantly revamped backend Statistics code. This should allow for more fluid updates for new bosses and faster load times.
• Statistics URLs are now properly encoded.
• Fixed an issue with the Doctor Lorrick encounter on the Statistics page.
• Fixed an issue causing bosses to display in a random order on some Statistics overview pages.
• Updated boss detection database with several hundred new entries for existing encounters.
• Added Nightmare Pilgrim (1.5 World Boss) and Operations Target Dummy to "Boss Fights" filter.
• Updated Analytical and Group Analytical "Boss Fights" filter to now list the name of the encounter instead of just randomly listing mobs when the "show by name" button is clicked.

To expand on my previous post a bit, I have implemented a new system with the Statistics code revamp that will now also recognize helper mobs.  This should help fights where you have to fight through a few guys before you get to fight the actual boss (for example, Warlord Kephess).  This system had existed to some extent, but it was poorly implemented and has been significantly revamped.  I have flagged most of the helpers for the Operations; however, I may still be missing helpers for some flashpoints.

There are still some bosses that have very few fights logged against them, but I have not yet re-processed already-uploaded logs yet.  I'm hoping this will resolve the issue, and if it doesn't, then back to the drawing board!  I will likely re-process existing fights tonight in the early hours of the morning when traffic to the website is minimal.  This process will probably take 4-6 hours and the website will be taken offline for the duration of the process.

P.S. I don't always post a blog when I update, but if you want to see all the updates to the site, you can see the Change Log here - http://www.torparse.com/changelog

Thanks!

Statistics problem

So, I'm writing this blog because today I have discovered an interesting issue in the combat logs.  I've been getting reports from people asking me to fix their combat log so that it shows up under the correct boss, and I've been fixing them.  At the same time, I've also been using this opportunity to confirm certain boss IDs for certain modes of an instance.  Well, I'm not sure how I've missed this issue or glanced it over so many times, but it appears that the boss ID in the combat logs are a little different than I had originally thought.

This is not true for all bosses yet, and I'm still not done going through them, but there appears to be a common ID that all the different modes of the same boss share, and then a specialized ID for the specific instance.  Unfortunately, I had not previously recognized the "common ID", so it has caused some fights to be grouped under the wrong mode of the instance and possibly not even flagged as a boss fight altogether.

I'm currently in the process of going back through my boss ID database and correcting the ones I can confirm for sure, and re-marking the ones I don't know and will need a little extra help verifying.  After this process is done, I will bring the site down for a few hours (sometime in the wee hours of the morning I'm sure) and re-process all the fights to get them flagged as boss fights and then re-run the Statistics numbers.

This may take me a few days to accomplish as it's pretty tedious work.  I really doubt anyone from BioWare reads this, but if they do, it would help a lot if you could just send me a list :)

Thanks everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Statistics Updated

Hey all, I've updated the Statistics section of the site today with quite a few updates.  I had to update some stylesheets and javascript as well, so if the tables look weird or the charts aren't working, try clearing your cache for your browser.

• Kill vs Death distinction is now in.  Kills and Deaths are ranked separately and there is a button available to switch between the two.
• The Statistics pages will no longer be taken offline during Statistics generation.  The system will now start to store an archive of stats up to 45 days.  Statistics will still be generated at the same time everyday, and the new stats will be made available when they are finished generating.  The archive is not yet accessible, but I have a few features planned with it (allowing it to be viewed; showing changes on the leaderboards; and a few more).
• Added Fight Length to each leaderboard ranking.  Inevitably, some fights will slip through that are not actually successful kills, so this should give you an idea of it being a legit ranking or not.  I will do my best to remove these from the leaderboards (emails about them are always appreciated).
• Added Total Damage and Total Heals stats.
• Updated some textual information for a clearer description of the associated stat.
• Changed references of "Subclass" to either "AC" or "Advanced Class" throughout the site.

Thanks! As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Changes coming to Statistics

*Update 26 Oct*

I have updated the Statistics page today. Characters are now unique per server on the leaderboards and only their best performance will be ranked. Also, HPS is now Effective HPS and ranked by it.

Still left to do:

• Success vs wipe distinction
• Couple outstanding bugs

Thanks for all the reports confirming bosses. Please keep them coming! Apologies for this update taking so long, but due to the nature of the way I was previously calculating effective hps, it required a significant update and coding re-work to allow it to be ranked.  In addition to the items listed above left to do, I hope to make general convenience improvements to the Statistics page (one example is adding a link to group logs if they are available).

If there is anything you would like to see, don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks!

---

Thanks for all the great feedback on the Statistics page.  I still need quite a few of the bosses confirmed, so please, if you can help me confirm the ones that are flagged (a warning message appears on the boss's stat page) e-mail me your combat log or a link to your log uploaded to my website and specify which version of the instance you were running.  I have received a few e-mails in regards to confirming bosses, and I really appreciate them!

Based on feedback here are the changes I will be working on to the statistics/rankings:

• Clear distinction of success vs wipe in the leaderboards. Only successes will be ranked.
• Character names will be unique per server on the leaderboards, meaning the same person won't appear more than once, just their best performance.
• Healing will be ranked on effective HPS *the details on this aren't finalized*
• And some general bugs I've noticed.

Thanks again for the feedback, please keep it coming.  I'm currently working on these changes and hope to have them done in the next few days.

Statistics done!

Hey everyone, the statistics page is finally done!

Statistics are generated once daily at 4AM PT/7AM ET/1PM CET/9PM AET.  The process takes about 30 seconds, so if you manage to hit the page as it's happening, you will just need to refresh to get the updated stats (an error message will tell you this).

There are a few bosses that I need to confirm I have the correct boss flagged.  There is a unique 17-19 digit number associated with every single NPC in the game.  The bosses that need to be confirmed will display a message on their respective statistics page.  I would greatly appreciate your help in this matter.  You can help me by either sending your combat log or a link to your combat log (uploaded to torparse.com) along with the version of the dungeon you were running (eg. Heroic, 8 Man Story Mode, etc) for the bosses that are flagged.

Also, if you notice fake combat logs making it into the rankings, please feel free to e-mail me. Fake combat logs will be deleted and repeat offenders will be banned from the website. Statistics may be re-generated early after fake logs have been removed.

I hope the stats it provides are useful and, of course, all feedback is welcome.