Area 51

The following is an abridged report from Tides of War June 01 dealing with Area 51. The Iron Wolves server were eventually closed on 3 September 2003. Many questions about Area 51 have arisen and rather than *tell everything, it's far easier to use the forums.

Background to Area 51

I first joined the Iron Wolves arena at the same time as Tbar, Wulfgar and Mongoose. It was actually my buddy Mongoose whom triggered the first real Area 51 mission. In discussions he happened to mention that there were a number of drones in the area outside of the main grid. Questioning lead me to discover the way to identify these drones, and their locations. Not having any knowledge of time frames, I enlisted the services of Saturn to assist me one night. Our plans ? sail out and kill them. From that first mission we have learned, lost, diagnosed and actioned our findings.

Area 51 is the site of the famed Roswell UFO landing in New Mexico, U.S.A. Shrouded in secrecy amidst whispers of cover-ups, the name was appropriated by Mongoose for the Red Tide tactics and development section.

The IW Server

At any one time, a certain number of drones exist on the Iron Wolves server. Roughly spread out with equal numbers between red and blue ships, there is a loose ratio of destroyers, korvettes and tankers of 1:4:8. There are also four shore batteries that exist at all times. When the server is started up or reset, it automatically assigns a numerical measure to each new identity created. It starts with the four shore batteries, then utilises the hierarchy of ships giving numbers to blue DD first then red DD?s, and working on down to tankers. It is possible for a drone Light Cruiser to exist and a drone submarine on the server, but their existence is too sporadic to accurately document.

The server after assigning these vessels a numerical identity, then ?places? them on the IW server. The SB exist at the same locations each reset, so they go in first. The vessels are then permitted entry, then players can start receiving numerical identities. Shipping exists until such time that is sunk or run aground, and then after an undocumented period, replaced on the server. Most of the action on the server occurs in the 0 0 to 100 100 area, which is bounded as ?grid squares? by the dark blue lines. The grid squares whilst it appears to continue infinitely, has a built in demarcation marking the ?edge of the world? around 1650.

The IW server appears to have a number of ?safeguards? built into it. These safety zones number four, and comprise the four ?corners? of the IW server. They exist in the NW, NE, SW and SE at coordinates 1638 1638. The Area 51 theory is that when the server has a problem, it reroutes ships to these safety zones ? away from the main square. What causes this problem is hypothetical at this time ? it could be lag, numbers of players, it could be anything. The other ?safeguard? that the server has relates to the movement of shipping. Again, when the server encounters a problem, it commences moving shipping out towards the safety zones. Hence, it is possible, that a number of ships can already exist in the corners and enroute to the corners.

Travelling time to each of the four ?corners? in a destroyer is about four hours. Whilst the temptation may exist to ?set and forget? that does not work. Again, the server has built in safeguards. The closer that shipping gets towards the corners, the more lag is induced. I suspect the reason for this is based on the inability of the server to move shipping fluently, and thus the server uses a staccato like move. Consequently, shipping movements appear much like body movements under a strobe light. The resulting lag triggers another component of the server, which Buxton has previously suggested may be linked to prevent hacking. When the lag delay reaches a predetermined tolerable amount, the server ?exits? the player and assigns the nearest drone ship as having sunk the player. FACT: I have been sunk in a Light Cruiser by a tanker. The server does not care if the drone ship has no weaponry, it seeks only to close the books on the player by verification of the kill.

There is a built in availability by players to order drone shipping provided that the hierarchy is maintained. A recent discovery indicates that a ship may be ordered back to the main grid square, and it will respond to those orders (to a point). The drone ship complies with the orders as far as its ?log? is concerned, but cannot physically respond once it has entered the safety zone. On a recent assignment I encountered a drone korvette at coordinates some 2 hours separate from it?s reported location.

Then we have the element of invisibility. Drone shipping upon reaching the four corners has regularly ?vanished?. My theory behind this is that once two enemy ships reach the same safety zone, the server makes them invisible to one another, to assist in more fluent movements (and thus reduce lag). Therefore, a player can arrive in a corner and engage an invisible ship.

Pioneer's Theory

At any time drone ships exist on the IW server. Players enter and leave the game and attempt to keep the drone shipping inside the main grid. Once outside the main grid lines, drone shipping ?accelerate? towards the safety zones. The server does this as preventative maintenance. Upon reaching the safety zones, the server has inadequate ability to fluently move shipping, so it reduces graphics by making some shipping invisible. The player solution to this is to maintain drone shipping inside the main grid, and recover ?lost? shipping from the safety zones.

Without regular server resets, the need for Area 51 assignments will continue to rise, to maintain drone shipping. Whilst deployment in this area is not everyone?s cup of tea, like a lot of things in life, we perform certain duties not for ourselves, but to assist others. Consider a new player joining the game today ? and discovering no other shipping. Will they be encouraged to purchase a pay account ? not likely. No targets equates to no new blood in the game. No new blood means no new pay accounts. How many players have been ?lost? for this reason?

Without the help of many individuals, this research would not be possible. I'm very grateful for the assistance and contributions made to the betterment of the game from tbar, Buxton, Saturn and perhaps the man who epitimises assisting our buddies, Mongoose.

The jerkiness you speak of is a result of loss of numerical precision. The further from 0,0 you get, the fewer digits of precision. Enigma had the same problem if you went far enough.

I also have a reasoning as to the "jerkedness", it's because of RUM! If you load the game up too soon after the night before, you will find that the game will sometimes make those same movements. This problem can then be traced down to a short somewhere between the chair your sitting in and the keyboard. 8)

Hell yes Shad!