Glarawyn's Alien Playfield Spawn Time Guesstimator

[Glarawyn]

When's the next APF?

CLICK AND FIND OUT! (RK1)
CLICK AND FIND OUT! (RK2)
CLICK AND FIND OUT! (RK3)

In Game (All dimensions)
/tell campalot !apf

What is it?
It's a PHP script that guesses (very accurately) the times when the Unicorn Gatekeeper will open the Outzone (AKA APF) gates.

Is it accurate for RK1, RK2, RK3, and Test?
Maybe. I only play on RK1, so I usually set the timer for RK1. RK2 and RK3's timers are set by other voulenteers, and I make no promises.

How accurate is it?
After calibration, it's very accurate. I usually get it calibrated within 60 seconds.

How does it work?
I feed the script a seed time. Either the server uptime or a "gatetime." The script takes the seed time and adds 7 hours and 12 minutes. (7 hours between gate openings, the gates are open for 10 minutes, and it takes the Unicorn Gatekeeper about 2 minutes to run around opening the gates.)

Is it 100% automatic?
No. Every time FunCom restarts the AO servers I have to play some guess and check to get it on track, so it won't always be accurate after a server restart or crash.

Is it open source?
Yup, the source code is available to anyone.

Is there a plugin for my chat bot?
BeBot 0.2
BeBot 0.4

What URLs should I use for my chatbot/other web applicaton?
The raw timestamp data is available at the following URLs. Consult the source code of the bot module or apf timer for information on how it's used.
http://zibby.isa-geek.net/apf/RK1/apf.timestamp
http://zibby.isa-geek.net/apf/RK2/apf.timestamp
http://zibby.isa-geek.net/apf/RK3/apf.timestamp

[Awikun]

Nice work.
I only wonder how accurate this will be after few days?
Nevertheless good job.
Thank you.

[Lal]

What about a nice XML version so people can make a module on their bots from it too?

[Glarawyn]

Last I checked it was only 3 minutes late, and it's been 3 minutes late since the last server restart. It doesn’t seem to drift much.

[Turk021]

bump for not having to answer that question anymore if you keep this updated

[Means]

Good idea! I'm making good use of this now myself.

I'm thinking of adding an audible "the gates are opening" sound/alarm for those of us who like to AFKOC (AFK On Couch) for the 15 minutes before the gates open. It would only take me about 15 minutes so it might be worth doing.

Good job on the counter!

[Glarawyn]

Updated...I think I missed a server reset while I was out of state, but it's back on track now.

[nomaddamon]

it was 1 hour off (showing 5 min to apf, while the actual time to pf was 1h 5min) last night (bout 12h back from now) on rk2

[Glarawyn]

it was 1 hour off (showing 5 min to apf, while the actual time to pf was 1h 5min) last night (bout 12h back from now) on rk2

It was a bit fast for RK1 too, so I adjusted it by about 14 minutes. It's pretty darn close on RK1 now. Dunno about RK2 or RK3, I don't play there.

[Sati]

It was a bit fast for RK1 too, so I adjusted it by about 14 minutes. It's pretty darn close on RK1 now. Dunno about RK2 or RK3, I don't play there.

On RK3, we have 2 bots, which you can ask, when the gates will open again. One tells you the time, when the gates will open again and also makes from time to time a remainder in OOC when the gates open. The other one tells additionally, when the gates will open the next 5,6 times, I think.

[If6was9]

On RK3, we have 2 bots, which you can ask, when the gates will open again. One tells you the time, when the gates will open again and also makes from time to time a remainder in OOC when the gates open. The other one tells additionally, when the gates will open the next 5,6 times, I think.

RK3 sounds so..... nice.

Thanks for the Tool Glarawyn, it's been bookmarked.

Means, go for it! Get some harried voice, have alert sounds going in the background, ... something like the final moments of Andromeda Strain... broadcast that at the APF and maybe the launch pad near ICC.

[Glarawyn]

It's not the most beautiful code in the world, but if you really want you can get the soruce.

[Glarawyn]

Until FunCom fixes the Gatekeeper's timer (or I find a confirmation that it is fixed) I won't be keeping my guesstimater up to date.

Discussion on the issue can be found in the following threads, and bugs such as this can be reported to bugs@anarchy-online.com.

FC forgot to log the GM to keep the APF gatkeeper awake.

RK2 (Rimor) APF GateKeeper Timer Bugged

[Glarawyn]

Back in business, thanks for the timer fix FunCom staffers!

[Hangface]

Link in top post not working, getting a 404...

[Glarawyn]

I had a little server problem last night. I'm still restoring things in the background, but the Alien Playfield Spawn Time Guesstimator is up and running again.

[jobjes]

maybe i missed it, but where can i find the source code? im interested in making a Rimor version, not for a bot, for on a site..

thnx.

supermaggel

[Glarawyn]

maybe i missed it, but where can i find the source code?

I forgot to include a link, updated the original post.

[Glarawyn]

I've written a module for BeBot. Installation instructions can be found at the BeBot Forums as well as in the README file included in the zip.

Download Glarawyn's Alien Playfield Spawn Time Guesstimator for BeBot v0.9.8

^^^ New version of BeBot plugin ^^^

[Flipdoosz]

Anyway i can help with correcting the times on RK2?
After the last downtime it hasnt updated correctly, and i wonder if there's a nice and easy way for me to do it.