• Developing a gameserver control panel, what do you want in it?
    42 replies, posted
As some of you may know, Brohoster is going to be selling CSS and TF2 gameservers soon. We're also developing our own gameserver control software to install and monitor said gameservers, known as Brodaemon. This project may even be open source, that has yet to be determined. We figure not many people would buy this but a lot of people would use it for free thus getting Brohoster some publicity, so open source may full well be a good option. :smile: [release][b][u]So far what we have been working on:[/u][/b] [list]Server start, stop, restart, reinstall, all the usual shit you'd expect from TCAdmin or GameCP[/list] [list]Server monitoring that will send alerts to Brohoster staff directly if a server does not come back online (to my iPhone, for example :science:)[/list] [list]Every gameserver will share the same files (models, textures, etc) by using symbolic linking with the ability to overwrite the links if you want to use custom files in your server. Later down the road we plan on storing gameserver images on SSD drives and possibly even your own files for a fee.[/list] [list]Automatic FastDL synchronization to the free FastDL/sv_downloadurl provided with every gameserver[/list] [list]Automatic updating through the shared gameserver files[/list] [list]Server console. This isn't RCON, rather it's a direct link to the server as though you were controlling it from SSH.[/list] [list]Direct WHMCS (our billing system) integration. No seperate control panels.[/list] [list]A steam bot much like XenonServers. Start and stop gameservers, send commands to the server console, receive server downtime notifications, etc.[/list] [list]Location migration on request and server migration in case of extended downtime or server maintenance. (We plan on having gameservers in Chicago, Atlanta, and London to start)[/list][/release] [release][u][b]New ideas:[/u][/b] [list]iPhone app to control gameservers (and voiceservers)[/list] [list]Server analytics[/list] [list]Desktop application[/list][/release] I'm not the one who's going to be using this panel for the most part, so if there's anything you'd like to see available to the client, do tell. I'll be sure to include it if it's a good idea. :buddy:
everything, everything you can possibly think of be like Apoplexy and give the client access to do whatever they want with their server [editline]12:57AM[/editline] I'll elaborate later
The only thing we keep you from doing is changing the max players. I'm just providing tools to do whatever you want with it, so I want to know the things you want to be able to do easily.
speaking of iphone.. how about a mobile panel?
[QUOTE=whatnow V2;23196453]speaking of iphone.. how about a mobile panel?[/QUOTE] That's actually a good idea that for some reason I never thought of. I'll look into developing one to control your gameservers/voice servers. I have a MacBook Air sitting around, so I would just have to learn Objective-C and the iPhone SDK itself (I'm a C# programmer). Maybe someone at FP would be interested in developing the app for us?
Easy installation of stuff like SourceMOD would be nice.
[QUOTE=JWJ;23196476]That's actually a good idea that for some reason I never thought of. I'll look into developing one to control your gameservers/voice servers. I have a MacBook Air sitting around, so I would just have to learn Objective-C and the iPhone SDK itself (I'm a C# programmer). Maybe someone at FP would be interested in developing the app for us?[/QUOTE] Why not just a web based interface optimised for mobile devices? Say, using something like jqTouch or whatnot.
Give the design 0 padding. I hate padding.
Cross platform support (Remote servers) Multiple database formats: mysql, mssql, sqllite. Better server status (Restarting, Shutting down)
We're planning on cross-platform daemons for the remote servers, although some features might not be available such as the symbolic linking.
I could throw together a mockup of the iPhone app in Photoshop if it would help
Would be lovely if that mobile client could support BlackBerry browsers (As in, don't go nuts with the javascript). Email status updates would be nice too, so you can subscribe to daily emails that would tell you how many people joined... Maybe some forum of linegraph showing the peak times and where it drops off. Have that data accessible so you can see it over longer periods of time from the control panel.
Ah, I had almost forgotten that.. Yes, we'll be writing some stuff to keep track of statistics. Anybody know of any nice graph generating PHP classes out there?
[quote]Server monitoring that will send alerts to Brohoster staff directly if a server does not come back online (to my iPhone, for example )[/quote] That is gonna get very [I]very[/I] annoying. Perhaps send a message to staffs online, and then staffs can press a button to assign the task of finding out what's going on. [quote]Automatic FastDL synchronization to the free FastDL/sv_downloadurl provided with every gameserver[/quote] An option to block filetypes and folders from the downloadurl, to prevent people from sneaking into the wrong directories. Other ideas: One-Click mod installation. You want a zombiemod server? A click and you got it, with the latest binaries and the most populare zombiemod maps. You just want CSS with sourcemod? Click and you got it. A very simple page allows you to add yourself as level Z, and making you the root admin of the server. Download your server. Don't think BroHoster's doing a good enough job, and want to host it yourself? A click (or svn or whatever) and you're able to download your server to your home computer, whetever you want to host it yourself, or simply make a local backup. Phone support. Make the control panel have support for a phone's small resolution, and give you simple options such as showing the playerlist, restarting and stopping the server.
[QUOTE=Tools;23203551]That is gonna get very [I]very[/I] annoying. Perhaps send a message to staffs online, and then staffs can press a button to assign the task of finding out what's going on.[/QUOTE] I don't think so. I already have my iPhone notified for everything else, might as well do it for startup failures too.
Okay few more extras: Moving one Game server to another box, including IP Address Proper addon/addin support Fully skin able website, not only css and images. Addon Wizard install, for things like sourcemod etc.
[IMG]http://filedump.d2k5.com/f/d/i1SxEYPCfNQlCYIADiLC/file/broserver.png[/IMG] I am pretty bored
Interesting. Anywho, i300 will be developing our iPhone app and I'll be developing the desktop app.
I'd develop it if we can agree on a price. I'm assuming you want the app to be free in the App Store. Edit: Ninja'd by i300.
I sure have a lot of work on my platter. :aaaaa:
How about if you have addons installed in a master directory and just a symlink to it to install it. It'd extremely fast, plus you only have to update the master copy to update every users' addons.
You better develop an Android app.
[IMG]http://filedump.d2k5.com/f/d/we7dqy3WFBn9o7PyaPFF/file/brohosterscreenie.png[/IMG] I have to stop mocking stuff up
[QUOTE=Tools;23203551]That is gonna get very [I]very[/I] annoying. Perhaps send a message to staffs online, and then staffs can press a button to assign the task of finding out what's going on. An option to block filetypes and folders from the downloadurl, to prevent people from sneaking into the wrong directories. Other ideas: One-Click mod installation. You want a zombiemod server? A click and you got it, with the latest binaries and the most populare zombiemod maps. You just want CSS with sourcemod? Click and you got it. A very simple page allows you to add yourself as level Z, and making you the root admin of the server. Download your server. Don't think BroHoster's doing a good enough job, and want to host it yourself? A click (or svn or whatever) and you're able to download your server to your home computer, whetever you want to host it yourself, or simply make a local backup. Phone support. Make the control panel have support for a phone's small resolution, and give you simple options such as showing the playerlist, restarting and stopping the server.[/QUOTE] One-click mod installation? Are you crazy?
[QUOTE=Odellus;23211997]One-click mod installation? Are you crazy?[/QUOTE] Why? A lot of gameserver hosters have it. It's an easy way for 'noobs' to get the server they want without having to ask for help.
If anybody feels like buying a server prematurely to help us offset the development costs (servers that are being used for testing, technologies we license, etc) we'd appreciate it. Throw a PM my way and I'll link you to the order page. We're selling them at $0.80/slot. You won't have any control panel, only FTP and an autorestarting server incase it crashes. However, you'll still have our support and blazing fast gameservers. Once we finish the software, you'll be the first ones to betatest it. We're already hosting 2 CSS servers (one being ours) and two TF2 servers for some people who felt like buying early.
[QUOTE=JWJ;23219408]If anybody feels like buying a server prematurely to help us offset the development costs (servers that are being used for testing, technologies we license, etc) we'd appreciate it. Throw a PM my way and I'll link you to the order page. We're selling them at $0.80/slot. You won't have any control panel, only FTP and an autorestarting server incase it crashes. However, you'll still have our support and blazing fast gameservers. Once we finish the software, you'll be the first ones to betatest it. We're already hosting 2 CSS servers (one being ours) and two TF2 servers for some people who felt like buying early.[/QUOTE] Not saying that I'm buying but where are they hosted?
The server that is currently hosting those four servers is in Atlanta. Our development server (going to be used as a real server when we go live) is in Chicago. When we go live we'll also be purchasing a London server.
Gmod servers? I know they aren't on your website but they are where most of the community is
[QUOTE=codenamecueball;23228601]Gmod servers? I know they aren't on your website but they are where most of the community is[/QUOTE] haha no they're not
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