[Guide] Demonstrating some new features

Discussion in 'Community Discussion' started by ShelLuser, Jan 30, 2015.

  1. Hi gang,

    In case you missed it: Aikar has introduced several new exciting features for the server. And although I think his announcement explains it pretty clearly how we can use all this I simply couldn't help to write this up. Consider this my way of saying thank you for the update and trying to help out a bit :)

    Preview feature sign

    You got this cool chest with all your most valuable goodies and you really want to show off. But unfortunately doing so comes with great risk. After all; the moment you give someone container access (either by using the container flag or using an access sign) it means they can also secretly steal your stuff while you're not looking.

    But a more serious example: say you set up a shop and you want to give people a better indication of how much items you got in stock besides simply warning them when that stock has run out.

    Well, now you can!


    My latest shop expansion, now featuring preview button!

    Figured I'd add a warning because I'm now busy writing all this up. So here you see my latest shop addition: dirt "cheap" dirt. And to allow our high end customers to get a good look at what they're buying I added not only a dirt block, but also a button to press so you can see what I got in stock.

    This is what you'll see:


    Behold; the ShellShop's dirt stock ;)

    You can view all this, but you can't remove my precious dirt. Also noteworthy: because this is a feature sign you can also use this in the same way as you can use teleport or message signs. So; if someone would walk over this sign then it would also trigger the preview feature.

    And there's how I used it; by using a redstone trigger, such as a button. Here's how I did that:


    Clearly visible: the [preview] sign on the side of the chest and the button above it..

    Of course this looks kind of ugly, but my main intention here was to provide a clear example. Obviously you could also make something where players need to (right)click the sign themselves. Or maybe you keep your stock underground (with using lots of redstone stuff) so you can add a "stock preview portal". The options are endless in my opinion.

    /dispose command

    Ever had a large amount of items which you wanted to get rid of but you didn't really bother because control-throw (to throw a whole stack of items) would be way too tedious?

    Or maybe you did something like I did during mining: your inventory is fully filled up with cobblestone and dirt, just while you discovered this nice pocket of diamonds. Obviously the dirt and cobble have to go. So; dig a hole, throw 'm in, cover it up (to prevent accidental pick ups) and just when you're ready to mine someone else beat you to it... (that last part didn't happen to me, but... who knows.)

    No more!


    The virtual garbage can is just one /dispose command away!

    After issuing /dispose (this also works in the wastelands!) you get to see the screen as shown above. Here you can either hover your mouse over the hopper to read what this function is all about, or simply start dragging (or shift-clicking) items into the disposal unit.

    Because no one was buying my dirt-cheap dirt ( :( ) I figured I could just as well dispose of it ;)

    Once you're done you can simply close this window and then this will show:


    Are you sure you want to dispose it?

    Clicking the green wool will dispose of the items, and clicking the red wool will place them back in your inventory again (yes, I tried!).

    Where all of this stuff is going? Well, a rumor started by yours truly says that all disposed items are actually transported into this HUGE staff-only warehouse where the staff members collect all sorts of new things which are to be sold in the Empire shop.

    Makes perfect sense right? Especially considering that the senior staff (and members of the build team to my knowledge) all have access to Creative mode ;)

    Nah, enough joking: disposal simply removes ('despawns') the items from the server. So there is no way for any staff member to get that stuff back.

    So:

    Be careful with using /dispose because your disposed items will be gone for good!

    Restrict

    When you have your residence locked down (by using deny flags) then you can override such a deny by using an access sign. So; by default your residence will have a "-container" flag (see /res info) which basically means that no one will be able to use 'containers' there. So; not opening chests, jukeboxes, furnaces, and so on. To override this you can place an access sign which can give everyone or just several players access.

    But what if you have your residence fully opened up? For example: you changed the 'use' flag so that everyone can use buttons (for example by using /res set use true) but there's one button which you want to keep private. For example because it teleports you into your storage.

    In those cases you can now use a restrict sign.

    I used it to keep my chest extra safe:


    Making sure that no one can access my goodie chest....

    So, in the example above: would I have used a global container flag (which is a terrible idea because it would give everyone access to open chests) then this sign would have prevented the players from opening this specific shown chest. Note that this doesn't block players who have an admin flag on your residence.

    But what if I wanted to block all but one player from this chest? Then I could have added his name on the sign, which would then have given him access.

    As said before: using it on chests may not be the best example, but hopefully this does give you guys a good idea on its usage.

    I'm skipping the new chat feature because I think there can be little doubt on how that is to be used.

    And there you got it; a quickly written up mini-guide on the new features. I hope this is useful for some of you.
  2. Great guide! Really clears some things up and serves as a great demonstration of how to set these all up :)
    AwesomeBuilder33 and ShelLuser like this.
  3. Good :)
    ShelLuser likes this.
  4. Very nice and detailed guide with lots of different possibilities for each of the new additions. Very in depth, good job! :)
    607, AwesomeBuilder33 and ShelLuser like this.
  5. Great mini guide, simple yet detailed and the screenshots really help! Definitely given me some ideas of how I can use the fab new features :3
    607, AwesomeBuilder33 and ShelLuser like this.
  6. Hm... so you can not restrict specific people from accessing specific buttons or chests... I thought that was actually a possibility.
    But I guess that wouldn't be too useful anyway.
    ShelLuser likes this.
  7. You can restrict specific buttons or chests. Just use a restrict sign...

    I think the most likely use of the preview feature would be in special item museums. ;)
    ShelLuser likes this.
  8. Well, according to ShelLuser you can't. He said that if you added a name to the sign that person would get access.
    ShelLuser likes this.
  9. [Restrict] work as an [access] sign for anyone with the name on it, Restricts access for anyone who is not on it.

    For instance, you have the flag '/res set use true' this allows Everyone to press all of teh buttons, but you dont want them going into your super secret underground of awesome, so you would put a [restrict] sign above the button that opens that piston door. This means only you the owner (and anyone with admin) plus those special friends listed on the sign can press it.
  10. Correct.

    The [restrict] sign isn't aimed at restricting access for individual players but to specific items in general (such as doors, buttons, chests, etc.). And as Simon also mentioned; this becomes only useful if you have set a global access flag (use, container, etc.).

    When you need a setup where you can restrict a specific player from gaining access to something then you'd be better of using flags in my opinion.
  11. Oh that is true. Sorry, I missed the word 'specific' in your post :p
    ShelLuser likes this.