haloman30

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  1. + Added monthly commit count chart to commits page + Added daily commit count graph to commits page - Removed Killerteddy
  2. + Added a "View all Announcements" button to homepage, directly below the recent news section - Removed Killerteddy
  3. * Fixed an issue where the rank displayed on other user's profile page would always display the rank of the viewer * Fixed an issue where some profile backgrounds would not display properly - Removed Killerteddy
  4. + Added new commits page, with support for pagination - allowing for all commits to be viewed, not just the latest 20 * Fixed tooltips not displaying properly within Blamite Game Engine pages - Removed Killerteddy
  5. + Added links to Blamite Game Engine Stratagem page to navigation menu and Blamite homepage * Fixed improperly written PHP on /legacy/index-v2.html * Blamite Game Engine stratagem project is now public * Minor visual improvements to Blamite homepage - Removed Killerteddy
  6. + Added Donation Store banner to homepage * Fixed an issue where the navigation menu would sometimes (still) not display correctly on Midnight 7.2 and Midnight 7.3 * Fixed an issue where the active side menu item would use its light mode display even with dark mode active * Updated placeholer dates on Brands, Timeline, and Active Projects pages to reflect actual Donation Store purchase dates - Removed Killerteddy
  7. Hey, everyone - today is a quite exciting day for us! We've made our very first software acquisition: DonationStore. What's a DonationStore? DonationStore is a Minecraft-focused webstore, platform - very similar to things like BuyCraft, CraftingStore, and MinecraftMarket if you remember that from back in the day. However, unlike virtually all of these platforms, it has one huge perk: the ability to self-host. Most Minecraft webstores are SaaS solutions - you're reliant on other services to host your store. And while this can have some perks, it also means that if that platform ever goes away abruptly - much like MinecraftMarket did a number of years back - you're screwed. With DonationStore, however, this is not the case - since you can run it yourself, you'll be able to keep running it for as long as you like, even if the developers behind it decide they're done working on it. Speaking of which... How did this acquisition take place? DonationStore's creator and lead developer until now, Mark Barrett, reached a point where he simply wasn't interested in continuing the project himself anymore. It's not that he didn't have any love for the project - but he just didn't have much time personally to work on it any longer. As such, he announced to the DonationStore Discord server that he was open to offers for a sale. A couple months later, he ended up shutting down all of DonationStore's cloud-hosted stores and formally wound everything down, with only the primary DonationStore website remaining. A little bit later is where we came in. Myself and @Rikez went back and forth a few times and eventually decided that we would reach out to him and see where things could go. Now, several months later, we've at long last closed the deal - and we will now be carrying the torch forward. What are your plans for DonationStore? Initially, our focus will be on just becoming accustomed to the codebase, figuring out how it's all put together - in order to effectively continue providing updates down the line. We'll also be exploring options for reintroducing the DonationStore Cloud offering, though this will be happening a bit more down the line. However, it's not just us by ourselves doing this - as some of you may know, we don't exactly have a large team of developers. On top of that, I don't exactly know much Python - the language which DonationStore is written in. As such, Michael (Rikez) will be leveraging his own company, Errite Softworks, to lead the charge when it comes to the nitty-gritty development work. I'll be doing more frontend work and focusing more on the user experience. For those of you familiar with some of Errite's current work and are concerned with the news that Errite is taking on a new project, fear not - their current project, DeviantCord v4, will be completed and released well in advance of any active DonationStore development. What does this mean for Blamite? Not much, currently. In terms of the amount of time I have to work on the project, the introduction of DonationStore into the Elaztek family won't really change much - as again, I won't be doing much of the deep backend development for the platform. As such, most of my efforts will remain on Blamite and on Chaotic United - just as it always has. In the long term, however, if DonationStore performs exceedingly well, who knows - maybe it could someday lead to being able to start hiring some part-time folks to work with us? We're quite a ways off from that being the case, and it may indeed never be the case - but regardless, the worst case scenario is that Blamite continues as it always has. Where can I learn more about DonationStore? The two best places to learn about DonationStore is on the DonationStore website, and on their Discord server as well - both linked down below. For the most part, most announcements and communications will continue happening on those channels, rather than over here (save for any particularly significant announcements). For now, though, that's all we've got. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, the forums, or Discord! DonationStore Discord: https://discord.gg/yJAT93zZCy DonationStore Website: https://donationstore.net/
  8. Howdy, folks! We've been hard at work doing some upgrades to the Elaztek website! What started as a theme refresh gradually ended up evolving into a collection of fairly significant updates - so if you're interested to hear about what's new, keep on reading. Our New Logo You may not have noticed, but don't worry - that's on purpose. We somewhat recently received some feedback about our logo being a bit... difficult to read. Those unfamiliar with it would read it as "Egaztev", or "Egaztek", or were even unsure if the Z was a letter or just some fancy design stuff, leaving the name to be "Egatek". You may not have had this issue - however odds are, you're already probably familiar enough with us. Regardless, we felt it a worthy enough issue to address - however we weren't gonna just scrap the old logo. After all - our logo actually has been basically the same design from day one, with incremental evolutions and tweaks over the years. And this one is no exception. For convenience, here's a direct comparison of the two logos - with the previous being on top, and the new one below: First, the Es both have some additional detailing to make them a bit more obviously Es. The little serif at the end of the L has been shortened, and the line connecting the L and A was removed. A small serif was actually added to the A on the right side, just to make it look a bit more A-like. From there, the lines extruding from the Z that went above/below the other letters was split a bit, to help make it more clear that the Z is in fact a Z. Lastly, the "STUDIOS" subtitle was shifted over a bit to account for that new gap. And... that's pretty much it. All the letters have the same spacing, the footprint/size is identical, and the general design itself is basically unchanged. It's some subtle changes, but we think it's a good balance between the original design, while ensuring that it's not difficult for newcomers to read. We've been gradually rolling the new logo out across our different websites, and with its introduction here on the website, that job is pretty much done. We hope you like it! If not, though - you can still relive the old days by switching back to Midnight 7.2 or an older theme. Oh yeah, speaking of themes... Midnight 7.3 One of the goals of this new theme update was to help add a bit of differentiation from the earlier iterations of the style - or more accurately, the design that the very first Midnight 7 theme was based on. If you've been around the block in terms of Halo fan projects, you've likely heard of Installation 01. If not, go check them out! In either case, you might notice some similarities between our site and theirs, in terms of the general look and feel of things. The homepage in particular is likely the most obvious example in terms of page layout, but the entire style was largely based on their site's design - which itself, was virtually a carbon copy of the Bungie.net website at the time. We opted for this design since, in some sense, we do sort of want to evoke that general look and feel. Additionally, back then, we had the vague goal of being a sort of Bungie 2.0 - and you can still find little easter eggs, secrets, and a number of other things that pay homage to Bungie, especially old-school Bungie. And while that general vision isn't too different today, we do believe that we can and should do a bit more to differentiate ourselves. Not just for legal reasons, but just because we have to have some sort of unique identity of our own if we want to stick around long-term. Installation 01's website leans heavily into this, since they're focused exclusively on their Halo project - however, for us, we've got broader goals - and while Halo will likely always be an influence on who we are and what we do, it's not the only thing we want to do. Gradually, we've taken steps to do this over the years - the homepage was redesigned to its current iteration, the about section was redesigned once before, and today, we take another small step towards that - with Midnight 7.3. This isn't a super-significant redesign - instead, it's all about details. We feel it's a better blend of the old look - while still giving it a bit of a visual refresh that makes things not feel quite so much like a knockoff Bungie website. Some of the changes you can expect to find throughout the theme include, but are not limited to: More glowing effects - Because why not? Redesigned Accent Color Picker - The accent color picker no longer looks like it was ripped straight out of 2010, but don't worry - it behaves just as it did before Better Scrollbars - The resize grip now has an icon indicating as such, and scrollbars now have their arrows Improved Navigation Menu - The navigation menu now properly resizes for different screen resolutions. If there's not enough space on the navigation bar to fit everything, then any excess items will be placed into a "More" submenu. This fix was also backported to Midnight 7.2 as well Altered Form Fields - Form fields now display a bit nicer, with the description (if present) displaying on top of the field input, just under the title - rather than below the field input itself Better Reaction Menu - The mini reaction menu (used on the Status Updates block on the forums page) has been redesigned to be a grid, rather than a long row of reactions (which happened to be cut off entirely in some cases) New Font - The previous font we used, Montserrat, was something we borrowed from Installation 01. However, as time went on, we felt it wasn't the most readable in a lot of cases. As such, we've introduced a new font for most text - Nunito Sans. The old Montserrat font isn't gone though - it's doing the job we feel it does great this time: being a good heading/title font Revamped Daylight Theme - In previous versions of our theme, we offered a light mode option (named Daylight). However, while this worked fine, it resulted in a fair bit of duplicate work having to be done for the theme - and for users, wasn't as snappy as the more favorable light/dark mode button. As such - we've made it so that you can switch between Midnight and Daylight with a single button - and no need for reloading the page. You can find this button both on the bottom of the page right next to the Theme button, and you can also find it in the Customize Theme menu in the user bar A variety of other minor visual enhancements and bugfixes As per usual - if the new theme isn't your cup of tea, you're more than welcome to revert back to Midnight 7.2 - or any of our other previous themes - by using the Theme button near the bottom-left of page. About Section Next, let's go over the updates to our About section. If you recall our previous section, it was decent enough - but it was a bit of a pain to work with, and was also fairly barebones. There was a decent bit of information that we wanted to make easily available, that just wasn't gonna fit. Additionally, the entire thing was 100% manual HTML - no easy editors or anything. However, with the recent update to IPB 4.7.10, both Elaztek and Chaotic United's website were on the same version - which meant that, among other things, we could more easily transfer content between the two without having to fix a bunch of stuff first. And it just so happens that Chaotic United's very own About section recently got an overhaul - itself based on the one we used here at Elaztek - and so we figured it just made sense to bring that one over here. And so, after some additions and changes, our About section has been fully updated. Additionally, a good bit of content was rewritten entirely - such as the initial About page and the "Our Vision" page. There's also plenty of new stuff, too - such as the Story and Timeline pages. It's also got details of the logo history for both Elaztek itself as well as the various projects we own - overall, a ton of new goodies if you're interested in learning more about us and/or our history. Helpcenter Similar to the About section, our Helpcenter was similarly given the CU treatment - though in this case it's a lot less significant. The main change is that the Helpcenter's homepage no longer just dumps a bunch of recent pages on you, but instead presents you with a clear list of categories - as well as quick links to both our suggestions tracker and bug tracker if you feel like there's something we should cover in there, or if you happen to head there dealing with a bug. Just below all that, though, you'll still find the list of recent articles - just displayed in a grid instead of a big list. If the new design isn't your cup of tea, though, we've included a handy dandy button to let you go back to the old design. Simply hit the "Switch to Classic View" button and you'll be presented with the helpcenter as it looked before. Additionally, the category structure has been updated as well, similarly based on the one found on CU. You'll also notice that a lot of the old articles are no longer present - as many of them are in desperate need of being rewritten, as they were written many years ago and are at this point either out of date, or in some cases, were never even finished. Job Portal Another big change is the complete rethinking of how we handle staff applications. Thus far, we've largely been using the same system as Chaotic United - a single Staff Application form that you can fill out, and that's it. And over in CU, this works pretty well. However, here at Elaztek, we felt we needed to do a bit more. Not just for our volunteer staff, but for future paid employees, once we end up making that transition down the line. We also took a good hard look at the old Staff Application format, and decided that, if we're being honest - it's quite a lengthy application. Too long, in fact. There's also zero indication as to what it is we're actually looking for - no information in terms of positions, requirements, expectations, or anything. Today, however, that all changes with the introduction of our Job Portal. It's got a full list of what positions we're currently looking for, and each position details what it is we expect and are looking for. Along with this, we've introduced revised Team Guidelines and Team Member Expectations documents that you'll want to read over and agree to if you're looking to join us. The Team Guidelines outlines specifics on how our games are to be made, and how team members are expected to act and behave, and how they are expected interact with the community. The Team Member Expectations outlines general expectations for volunteer team members - in terms of time and work investments made as part of the team. Another thing we've done is loosened the described requirements for each of our positions. While our requirements have generally been on the looser side for a while, this was not communicated very well - in fact, the opposite was communicated, with the big banner at the top of the Staff Application form instructing those applying that they must meet these really high requirements. Thing is, we just aren't in a position to demand super high skillsets - and beyond that, we believe in giving people chances now and again who might otherwise be ignored by employers. We of course aren't an employer at this stage - but the idea is that down the line, we'll be able to do so, once we get some real revenue coming in. Along with those changes, however, you can also actually track the status of your application directly. Before, you just sent in an application and just hoped to maybe hear back. Now, however you've got a proper page showing both your active and previous applications directly. Even previous applications submitted through the old system have been migrated forward for your reference. We've also designed the system to be transparent - with jobs being able to be given star ratings as well as reviews (though we'll remove reviews if they aren't from someone who's been in a position). Additionally, once we transition to become an actual honest-to-goodness employer, you'll see pay rates (either hourly or yearly) directly in the job list. Right now, everything will display as "Volunteer" - but we hope to change that down the line. We believe being straight and upfront with things like pay and job ratings are important - and for myself personally, I've always hated when jobs simply refuse to list the pay - and so I have to sit and wonder if I should even bother applying at all. As such, ours is designed to be as transparent and fair to candidates as possible - both for those applying today, and for those looking for real employment down the line. And so, going forward, if you'd like to join the team, be sure to visit the Job Portal and see if anything interests you. Ranking System The last major change is the revamped ranking system. The website has actually had a ranking system this entire time - it just didn't go up at all, and was never really communicated to the user or highlighted whatsoever. But once again, this all changes today. Our previous ranking system only had 3 ranks - Newbie, Member (earned with 10 points), and Advanced Member (earned with 30 points) - and that's it. Now, however, we've got a whole collection of ranks, each being loosely military themed - and designed to loosely echo a certain video game series. You know the one. Points can be earned by both creating content and receiving positive reactions on your own content. You can track your progress by opening the user menu (found by clicking your profile photo in the top-right of the page). At the top, you'll see something like this: You can see your current rank, how far up the ladder you are, your total points, and the number of points you need to rank up again. You can also view another user's rank by visiting their profile, where it is now featured a bit more prominently. Additionally, the badge is no longer displayed next to the member title further down - since it didn't really fit in anyways. In terms of the new ranks themselves, most of them are brand new - with the highest current rank being 7,777 points (because of course). The previous ranks technically still exist, too - just renamed and with a new badge. Newbie has become Recruit, Member has become Private, and Advanced Member has become Corporal - each with the same requirements as before. Users who already meet the requirements for any rank beyond Corporal should have had their rank automatically updated - but if that didn't happen for you for some reason, do let us know and we'll get it sorted out for you! If you're interested in the full list of ranks, be sure to check the page below - and to see what all the pretty new badges look like! Wrapping Up Whew - that was quite a bit to go through! Seems like virtually every one of these I write ends up being a whole essay and a half. Regardless - if you've got any questions or comments, be sure to drop them below, or speak up in our Discord server! We've got a pretty big announcement coming within a few days or so (no, it's not Blamite related) that we've been itching to tell you. As such - be sure to keep an eye both here and on our Discord server for when we announce that. And of course, no announcement would be complete without the obligatory "if you'd like to help us work on Blamite, be sure to apply below" part - so here's that. If you're interested, go do that - at the brand new Job Portal! Join the Team
  9. + Added navigation menu icons for the following menu items on Midnight 7.2: API Documentation, Commits, Meet the Team (new), Partners (new), Brands, History, Story, Timeline, Credits, Extras + Added redesigned Helpcenter + Added Career/Job portal + Added new theme: Midnight 7.3 + Added new forum ranks: Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Warrant Officer, First Lieutenant, Captain, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier, Major, General, Lt. Commander, Commander, Vice Admiral, Admiral, Field Marshall, Hero, Legend, Mythic * Changed default theme from Midnight 7.2 to Midnight 7.3 * Renamed rank 'Newbie' to 'Recruit' * Renamed rank 'Member' to 'Private' * Renamed rank 'Advanced Member' to 'Corporal' * Reorganized 'Help' navigation menu * Reorganized footer navigation menu - Disabled old Staff Application form - Archived old Staff Applications subforum - Removed Killerteddy
  10. What are Ranks? The Elaztek Studios website has a series of ranks you can unlock through participating in various ways in our community. Some great ways to rank up include: Creating new content, including forum topics, forum posts, comments, files, blog posts, and so on Receiving positive reactions on content Be wary, though - receiving negative ratings or having content deleted or hidden may cause you to lose points. What do these ranks do? Currently, they're just for bragging rights. However, in the future we'd like to offer more tangible rewards (both on the website and within our various games) as a reward for participating. What ranks are available? The full list of ranks, their badges, and the amount of points required to reach each one is detailed in the table just below. Rank Changes as of 6/4/2023 On June 4th, 2023, we significantly overhauled our ranking system, as well as made changes to display ranks more prominently. Previously, the only ranks available were Newbie, Member, and Advanced Member. These ranks were renamed to Recruit, Private, and Corporal respectively, in order to match the new military-inspired rank system. They were also given updated badges from the default badge used before - however, they are otherwise unchanged and have identical unlock requirements. Emblem Title Points Points from Previous Recruit (formerly Newbie) 0 + 0 Private (formerly Member) 10 + 10 Corporal (formerly Advanced Member) 30 + 20 Sergeant 60 + 30 Master Sergeant 100 + 40 Warrant Officer 150 + 50 First Lieutenant 250 + 100 Captain 400 + 150 Lt. Colonel 600 + 200 Colonel 800 + 200 Brigadier 1000 + 200 Major 1250 + 250 General 1500 + 250 Lt. Commander 1750 + 250 Commander 2000 + 250 Vice Admiral 2300 + 300 Admiral 2700 + 400 Field Marshall 3500 + 800 Hero 4500 + 1000 Legend 6000 + 1500 Mythic 7777 + 1777
  11. Last Updated: 6/3/2023 at 11:29 AM CST This page outlines a series of guidelines that apply to any and all team members working on one or more of our games, or game-related projects. It does NOT, however, apply to those working on the following projects, and team members working on these projects are subject to their own, separate guidelines: DonationStore INTERNAL CONTENT AND NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT We don't want our internal content being discussed or leaked. Most of our game content is generally considered confidential. However, we don't think it's fair to permanently prohibit discussion or showcase of this content forever, either. Some folks often really get excited to see what our games look like during the development process, and like seeing the game transition into what they ultimately get their hands on. In a lot of cases, we'll make much of this public to begin with - however, in rare cases that we don't, the following guidelines cover how that content is to be handled - along with general information for how content is handled overall: All content not visible on the public end of the website should be treated as if it were under Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Posting images, descriptions, videos, or any other content revealing the content under implied or true NDA will result in termination from the team, and in some cases, could result in legal action being taken All modifications of official source code, game assets, textures, sound effects, and any other content used within Elaztek's website, games, software, or any other product/service should be documented and approved by each project's respective leader Any and all source code within private Elaztek repositories, on either our own Gitlab, Github, or any other service or site where our source code is stored, is under a non-disclosure agreement. Releasing any part of this source code in the form of text, screenshots, videos, audio, or any other means will be seen as a violation of the NDA and will result in your immediate termination from the team and potential legal action Certain aspects of projects may be freely discussed and considered to no longer be under an NDA, under the following circumstances: Screenshots, videos, audio, and other content that does NOT include game assets or source code, may be revealed and game details may be freely discussed by FORMER TEAM MEMBERS if one of the following criteria are met: The project has been unannounced to the public for more than 5 years from the time of the project's inception The project has had no future communications, blog posts, or other information for more than 5 years from the last communication about the project The project has been formally announced as cancelled, and is marked as "Cancelled" in the Project History page within the About Us section (this does NOT apply to projects marked as on "Indefinite Hold") The project has been formally sunset and is no longer receiving future updates The content is already included in a publicly-accessible alpha, beta, or other pre-release build Express, written permission has been obtained to discuss the content in question from the company owner or project lead Screenshots, videos, audio, and other content that does NOT include game assets or source code, may be revealed and game details may be freely discussed by CURRENT TEAM MEMBERS if one of the following criteria are met: The project has had no internal development for more than 3 years, and there are no active plans to continue development The project has been formally announced as cancelled, and is marked as "Cancelled" in the Project History page within the About Us section (this does NOT apply to projects marked as on "Indefinite Hold") The project has been formally sunset and is no longer receiving future updates The content is specifically part of alpha, beta, or other pre-release content and all content shown is either: Already included in its final form within the final game Is not intended to be reused in future updates or DLC The content is already included in a publicly-accessible alpha, beta, or other pre-release build Express, written permission has been obtained to discuss the content in question from the company owner or project lead Game content, including source code, assets, and other content may be freely released and discussed ONLY if the following criteria are met: The project is formally cancelled The project's source code and assets are not being reused in other projects (ex, the Blamite Game Engine's source code would not be able to be released to the public, however game scripts that are only applicable to a specific project would likely be allowed to be released) There are no significant security risks that would be opened up as a result of content being released to the public There are no personal details or other sensitive information included within the content Express, written permission from the company owner is given PUBLIC RELATIONS We want to encourage open and free discussion between both members of the community, as well as between the community and our team. In order to help maintain this communication and avoid things breaking down into angry shouting matches, we've got a few guidelines on how community communications are to be handled: All interactions with the community should be handled with care and a basic level of maturity should be demonstrated. Acting in an immature manner could result in you being terminated from the team In the case of a large amount of community backlash or outrage, the following actions should be taken: Contact an administrator or the company Owner immediately Do what you can to keep discussion calm, though we recognize that in some cases this may not be effective or possible Do your best to maintain communication, though we understand that in the case of large events, this may not be feasible If discussion reaches a point where it becomes hostile and overly heated, and users refuse to disengage and/or behave more respectfully, temporary muting of hostile users is considered appropriate Avoid flaming, insulting, attacking, or harassing users during such an event. If you feel that you yourself are too stressed to deal with the situation, it is best to take a step back and disengage at that time All other community guidelines should be followed at all times BEHAVIOR INSIDE & OUTSIDE OF ELAZTEK STUDIOS For the most part, we only really care about users behavior inside Elaztek Studios. Unless you're going out of your way to be a horrible person - we don't care one way or the other what you post in your free time. We believe that our team members should have the right to post what they choose on social media, and not have to worry about censoring themselves in order to "represent the business better" or anything like that. However, we do have a few guidelines on how you should behave inside Elaztek Studios, and things that we consider severe enough to take action on if it happens outside of Elaztek Studios, all of which are outlined below: The following behaviors inside OR outside of Elaztek Studios are considered a violation and may result in termination: Performing or encouraging any illegal activities Cyberbullying, harassement, flaming, or otherwise attacking one or more people Doxing or otherwise leaking personal information of one or more people Threatening violence against one or more people in a manner that is clearly not intended as a joke or sarcasm Repeated instances of clear and obvious racist or sexist behavior that is clearly not intended as a joke or sarcasm The following are examples of content that would NOT be considered a violation: Strong controversial political opinions, regardless of political leaning Controversial posts or "hot takes" Controversial posts that are accused of inciting violence, but that we deem are not doing so Posting negative opinions on any of Elaztek Studios' projects, provided that no content or personal details are being leaked MONETIZATION Most games developed under Elaztek Studios will have some form of monetization - after all, the bills don't pay themselves. That being said, we do strive to ensure that monetization within our games is as far from predatory and exploitative as possible. We don't like FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) tactics, we don't like forcing players to spend money as the only way to get that cool helmet, and we especially don't like retroactively taking stuff people paid for out and making it impossible to use or obtain in the future. As such, the following guidelines describe how monetization may be implemented into any game developed by Elaztek Studios: Game design and monetization should, generally, not seek to exploit the consumer or player (certain exceptions can be made in special circumstances, see below). Examples of what we consider to be exploitative monetization include, but are not limited to: Gameplay altering microtransactions in a non-free game or product, where certain aspects of gameplay are locked behind a paywall Pay-to-Win mechanics in a non-free game or product, where a player is encouraged or pressured into paying for additional benefits in order to gain a competitive advantage Lootboxes or other related RNG-driven reward systems, when combined with the ability to purchase lootboxes either directly or indirectly Any other similar tactics that are used as part of generating revenue and are not part of the genuine creative vision of Elaztek Studios Microtransactions are generally permitted (provided they do not violate any other guidelines in this section), however there are several additional guidelines that apply to all types of microtransactions, cosmetic or otherwise: Individual microtransactions (single items, not a group of items) should not exceed $10 USD in any circumstance, and "bundles" of multiple items should not exceed $20 USD All microtransactions should have some mechanism for obtaining without requiring that the player spends real-world money. This can be achieved by having specific unlock criteria on a per-item basis, or by having microtransactions be purchasable using an in-game currency An in-game virtual currency system is permitted, however it must also meet the following guidelines: In-game currency packs can be sold at any amount, including discount bundles All items which can be obtained with a virtual currency must also be able to purchased directly, without requiring the use of the virtual currency In the case of a technical reason why items could not be easily purchased directly, then an option to purchase an exact amount of in-game currency in order to obtain the item should be made available Players must not be forced, under any circumstance, to purchase an excess of virtual currency in order to obtain an item Microtransactions that are described as "exploitative" (see point 1) may be permitted ONLY under the following circumstances, as long as they meet all other criteria described in this section: The game or product that they are implemented in is a free-to-play title, with no other financially feasible means of generating revenue The specific implementation is approved in writing by the company owner Expansions, DLC (Downloadable Content), and other forms of paid addon content (referred to henceforth as simply 'DLC') is permitted, as long as the following criteria are met: The DLC is not retroactively prepared prior to launch and composed of already completed content previously intended to be part of the base game Assets that are used purely for DLC content must not be included in the base title, and should be included as part of the DLC package instead. In other words, players disk space should not be consumed with content that they have not purchased This rule can be waived by the company owner in special circumstances where technical limitations may require this, however this should be a last-resort, and this should be remedied in a future title or through an update This rule does not apply to cases where base assets that are present within the base game are reused within DLC, and only applies to newly introduced assets that are only used within the specific DLC in question DLC content should not at any point be removed from the game, and should remain purchasable and playable indefinitely If keeping a DLC item purchasable were to ever become infeasible for any reason, the DLC should be fully included in the base game or otherwise made available free of charge to all players The Battle Pass monetization model or other similar microtransaction models are permitted as long as the following criteria are met: Previous seasons must remain purchasable and must be able to be completed at any point in the future, even after the release of newer seasons. This applies to both paid and free items within a season Paid seasonal content (often referred to as a "Premium" Battle Pass) should have a mechanism of unlock that does not require the use of real-world money All other guidelines within this section are met, as applicable Existing projects which were compliant with these guidelines at the time of release, but became non-compliant through a future revision of the guidelines, are not obligated to adhere to the new guidelines UNLESS one of the following criteria are met: The game is a "live-service" title and/or is intended to receive future updates for more than 1 year after the point where these guidelines were revised The company owner makes an explicit order for a project to be updated to become compliant Projects will have 6 months from the time of the guidelines being revised to become compliant, however time extensions may be given as necessary Projects may have one or more of the above guidelines waived only with written and express permission from the company owner TITLE UPDATES/LIVE SERVICE TITLES In some cases, we'll release updates and patches for our games after their initial launch. Sometimes, these are nothing more than some bugfixes. Other times, however, updates may be used to introduce new content. These are commonly known as "live service" titles. However, in order to avoid some of the pitfalls and negative associations that come with live service games, we have some guidelines in place for how these updates are to be handled. Updates generally should not remove or permanently lock content from the base game. This may be permitted in rare circumstances, with approval from studio administration Updates may not be used as a means to complete base game features. If a title is likely to not have sufficient content by its release date, then the title should be delayed - as while delays are not ideal and can lead to disappointment, releasing a half-baked experience is often significantly worse Features that are finalized or nearly finalized prior to release cannot be retroactively removed and locked behind a future game update TEAM SIDE PROJECTS In some instances, team members are permitted to initiate development of side projects under the Elaztek Studios name. Generally, these take the form as side projects that either a single or a small group of people. Note that these side projects are projects that are worked on during "company time", and take the place of a small period of time that would have otherwise been allocated to other official projects. They do NOT refer to projects that team members develop outside of work hours. If these projects are seen as having a good potential for success, they may be granted further attention and resources from Elaztek Studios. No matter the case, all of these side projects are subject to the following guidelines: All side projects (including the content created for them, such as source code, game assets, etc) are recognized as being property of Elaztek Studios, and not under the ownership of the team members who create them, unless otherwise stated by the company owner Elaztek Studios reserves the right to continue development of previously cancelled side projects at any point in the future All side projects must be stored within the Elaztek Gitlab or another Elaztek-operated service Team members working on side projects, unless otherwise specified, are not entitled to any permanent/ongoing royalties from the side project should be completed and released All side projects are to be released under the Elaztek Studios name, and treated as a standard Elaztek Studios project TERMINATION It sucks, but sometimes we have to let people go from our team. While we generally try to avoid this as much as possible, there are certain scenarios where we have no choice. Note that the following section applies ONLY to volunteer team members, and may not necessarily apply to paid employees. The common conditions for this, as well as the protections for team members are described below: Elaztek Studios reserves the right to remove any team member, for any reason. The most common reasons include, but are not limited to: Failure to abide by the guidelines outlined in this document Being inactive (ie, not communicating with team members and/or not making any contributions to projects) for an extended period of time, without prior notice Any other reason deemed severe enough to warrant a removal from the team Conspiring to get another team member terminated without valid reason may result in your termination from the team Upon termination, you will lose the following: Immediate removal of website rank and Discord role Immediate removal of access to internal systems (Jenkins, private Gitlab repositories, Stratagem, Team Hub, Ivory Tower, Sentry) Immediate removal of access to internal communication channels (Nextcloud, Mattermost, staff-only Discord channels, staff-only subforums) If you commute on-location, you will have 14 days to collect any personal belongings. This may be extended at a manager's discretion. After this time, your keycard will no longer be valid and you will no longer be able to enter the building. If you have forgotten or lost any personal belongings, please contact a manager or other member of the team Elaztek is not required to disclose the reasoning for any termination (but we usually will, and usually you will know in the first place) You may not be terminated for race, religion, personal beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, or other discriminatory reason Except in extreme cases (such as clear threats of violence or otherwise), team members may not be terminated for any content made on personal social media profiles Some things that we DO consider significant enough for termination: Continued, repeated harassment of one or more individuals Threats of violence in a manner that is clearly not intended to be a joke of some sort Repeated instances of clear and obvious racist or sexist behavior Some things that we DO NOT consider significant enough for termination: Strong controversial political opinions, regardless of political leaning Controversial posts or "hot takes" Controversial posts that are accused of inciting violence, but that we deem are not doing so Posting negative opinions on any of Elaztek Studios' projects, provided that no content is being leaked RESERVATION OF RIGHTS Elaztek Studios reserves the right to modify, add to, remove from, or otherwise alter these terms, with sufficient notice. If you disagree with any changes made to these terms, you may contact a manager for questions or concerns. If you ultimately do not agree to the terms, you may no longer be permitted to continue working on Elaztek Studios projects. QUESTIONS If you have any questions on any of the above guidelines and/or feel that you need additional clarification, feel free to reach out to a manager or the Owner.
  12. Last Updated: 6/1/2023 at 6:57 AM CST Considering applying to a volunteer or paid position here at Elaztek Studios? Awesome! We're always looking for new folks to join the team! Before you do, however, we encourage you to have a look over this page to get a sense of what we expect from our team members. But first, a quick overview of the differences between our volunteer and paid team positions. Volunteer Positions These positions are where most of our work happens currently, since none of our projects are at any point of generating profit, and since we're really just a group of people working on stuff we find fun and exciting. These positions generally have quite lax requirements on time and work invested, with no fixed quotas that must be met in either case. We typically just ask that you do something when you can, and let us know if you won't be able to for an extended period. Paid Positions Currently, we don't really have many (if any) of these - as currently, we don't really have any real funding coming in, from products or otherwise. In the future, however, we'd like for this to become the primary way we bring folks aboard. These positions generally do come with slightly stricter expectations of time and work invested - but of course, you'll be getting paid in return for your contributions. At this early stage, most positions will be contract-based positions, and will likely not be the type of thing that you could live on alone (and as such, we won't ask for full-time hours either). For all of our paid positions, the typical pay for the position will always be listed within the Job Portal. We won't ever hide that information from you, because after all, that's likely one of the most important things you'd want to know, right? General Team Member Expectations This is stuff we expect from all of our team members - volunteer or otherwise. Communication One of the most important parts of being part of our team, besides contributing to our projects, is maintaining communication with the rest of our team. Most often, this will take place on our Discord server. In rare circumstances, however, you may be asked to communicate via Mattermost or Nextcloud, as these allow for on-premises chat communication, and are preferable when discussing particularly confidential topics. Primarily, however, we simply ask and expect that you maintain semi-regular communication with the team - and would prefer if you didn't drop off the face of the earth for weeks at a time. Don't worry though, you won't be forced to get into constant weekly meetings - after all, some things are better off as an email (or an instant message). Time Off For all of our positions, we do not have any fixed limit on the number of days that can be taken off. All time off is currently unpaid (for now), but you can have as much of it as you want (within reason). If there's an emergency within your family, if you've got a vacation planned, if you're busy with school or other obligations, or if you just need some time to step back for a little bit - we're happy to accomodate. Currently, no special action is required besides just informing a manager or administrator beforehand - just so that we know that you'll be gone for a bit, and we aren't sat wondering why you haven't been responding to messages. Volunteer-Specific Expectations These are the expectations we have for our volunteer team members. Time Investments For all of our volunteer positions, we do not have any fixed amounts of time that are required to be invested in any project. Your invested hours do not have to be tracked (though if you'd like to for personal reasons, go nuts), and you're free to generally do as much or as little as you like. We do ask that you make some amount of regular contributions, even if small. We primarily don't want to have you be gone and not have any progress made for months on end. If you need to be absent for a long period of time, however, you'll just need to let us know beforehand - you won't be told no, and we'll still keep your seat warm for you. If you do end up stopping any and all progress for an extended period of time without notice, you could risk losing your position - though we'll usually try to reach out several times beforehand. Employee-Specific Expectations This is what we expect from our employees, contractors, or other financially compensated team members. Time Investments For paid positions, we do have varying amounts of required time investments. You'll also be expected to clock in and clock out using an online page. Since most paid positions are intended to be side-gigs and not the type of things you fully pay your bills on (believe us, we'd love to be able to - but we just aren't there yet), hourly requirements are generally quite small (often well under 10 hours a week), though this may vary by position. For the standard compensation and hourly requirements, you'll want to check the job details on the Job Portal.
  13. Overview Interested in joining the team, but not seeing any position which quite fits? Feel free to submit a general staff application! Responsibilities Varies Required Skills Varies
  14. Overview Do you like games and code? Does the idea of being part of a small independent team interest you? Are you excited by the idea of playing a key role in empowering game designers to create the best games they can? As a Scripting Engine Developer, you'll be a part of the team designing and building the scripting engine used by the Blamite Game Engine. Responsibilities Create and maintain high-quality C++ code Implement and test new scripting variables and functions, ensuring they function across all use cases Ensure that new introductions to the scripting engine maintain compatibility with existing scripts and extensions Other related responsibilities as needed (don't worry - we won't ask you to do anything outside of your job title) Required Skills Familiarity with C++ Knowledge of how game scripting engines work (Unity, Unreal Engine Blueprints, etc) Nice-to-haves These are not required by any means, but if you happen to check these boxes, it's a good bonus. Existing knowledge of HaloScript/BlamScript Existing knowledge of Megalo Scripts Familiarity with the Blam, Tiger, or Slipspace engines
  15. + Added redesigned About section + Added new pages to About section: Brands, Timeline, Story, Credits, Extras * Meet the Team page has been redesigned and now exists within the About section * Partners page now exists within the About section - Removed link to Trademarks page from navbar - Removed old Partners page link from navbar - Removed Killerteddy
  16. Overview Are you passionate about video games? Does the idea of working to help create a brand new game engine from the ground up excite you? Do you want to play a role in helping future game designers create the best work they can? Our tools developers work together with our designers to help build the rich toolset used by game designers and developers, as well as by the community for creating third-party modifications (mods) for our games. Responsibilities Building and maintaining high-quality C++ code Working with designers to create GUIs used throughout the Editing Kit Collaborating with other engine developers and designers Documenting any newly introduced functions, classes, methods, and other code Working together with content writers to aid in the creation of end-user guides Required Skills Moderate to proficient experience writing C++ code Ability to create basic GUIs using the Qt5 Designer Ability to work collaboratively with other developers and UI designers Nice-to-haves These are not required by any means, but if you happen to check these boxes, it's a good bonus. Prior experience using the Qt5 framework or other similar GUI frameworks Experience in UI design Familiarity with blam!, Tiger, or Slipspace engines Familiarity with any Halo Editing Kit (Guerilla, Sapien, Tool, Foundation/Bonobo)
  17. Overview Do you like games and code? Are you passionate about bringing new and exciting worlds to life on-screen? Does the idea of contributing to a unique game engine project excite you? As a 3D Graphics Developer at Elaztek Studios, you'll be working in the deep end - writing core game engine and shader code to help Blamite become capable of rendering highly-detailed and beautiful environments, characters, and beyond. Responsibilities Building and maintaining high-quality C++ code Developing and maintaining shader code Collaborating with other graphics and engine developers Documenting any newly introduced functions, classes, methods, and other code Required Skills Moderate to proficient experience writing C++ code Experience creating GLSL, HLSL or other similar shader code Ability to work collaboratively with other developers Nice-to-haves These are not required by any means, but if you happen to check these boxes, it's a good bonus. Familiarity with blam!, Tiger, or Slipspace game engines Familiarity with any official Halo Editing Kits (Guerilla, Sapien, Tool, Foundation/Bonobo)
  18. + Added addon: Birthdays Widget * Updated from PHP 7.3 to PHP 8.1 * Updated IP.Board from 4.4.10 to 4.7.10 * Updated addon: Forms * Updated plugin: Enhanced Status Updates Widget * New Topic display in #forums-feed on Discord (and other channels) now displays using embeds, as the old Discord integration addon no longer functions under PHP 8.1 * Fixed an issue where updating to 4.7.10 caused the mobile author pane to display on desktop when viewing topics on Elaztek Studios, Midnight, Midnight 7, Midnight 7.1, and Midnight 7.2 (including Daylight variants) * Fixed an issue where updating to 4.7.10 caused the shoutbox to fail to load shouts, as a result of the search UI template not being updated - this has been fixed on Elaztek Studios, Midnight, Midnight 7, Midnight 7.1, and Midnight 7.2 (including Daylight variants) - Birthdays are no longer displayed within the calendar (don't blame me, blame IPS for being lame) - Disabled addon: Discord Integration - Removed Killerteddy
  19. haloman30

    2/26/2023 Update

    * Redirected bnetarchive.elaztek.com to bnetarchive.haloman30.com - Removed Killerteddy
  20. + Added Recent Commits page for Blamite Game Engine + Added the recent commit description to build status on Blamite homepage - Removed Killerteddy
  21. * Fixed build status not reporting properly on Blamite project page - Removed Killerteddy
  22. An additional notice: The migration has currently been postponed, as we were once again running into issues with LFS data not being migrated over correctly. A follow-up announcement will be posted when we have a better idea of when the Gitlab will be properly moved.
  23. * Changed Inline Code toolbar button to use a <code> element instead of a <span> - Removed CKEditor extension: Context Menu (the CKEditor context menu can be access with Ctrl + Right Click if needed) - Removed Killerteddy
  24. * Redesigned Bug Tracker - Rather than relying on the old, needlessly-separated bug and issue trackers, the new bug tracker is lifted largely from the Chaotic United forums, with a single system for all bugs - whether they be for the website, Discord, or Blamite. * Redesigned Suggestions Tracker - Rather than the old system with one single category for all suggestions, this also is lifted from CU where each project/service has its own category. * Replaced old (sometimes broken) links to issue tracker with appropriate links to the new bug tracker - Removed Killerteddy
  25. haloman30

    Galactiminer Screenshots

    Screenshots of Galactiminer can be found here.