Comprehensive Simulator [9.3.0] - A graphics oriented simulator for Ragnarok Online. Includes skill, stat, equipment, and battle simulators.

Do not bookmark the RoSim. The main site needs loving too.

Sorry for not making any posts lately, but I'm still around and doing stuff. Ro has new updates coming in, but as I've said earlier, the source that goes into the RoSim is really messed up. So instead of inputting new data, I've been working on DoriDori instead. But its been slow going; life for me isn't as simple as it used to be, so simply doing an update of any sort is not as easy as it used to be.

Basically DoriDori was suppose to be just a rewrite of the RoSim, but now it has grown into something bigger than that. Plans include using AJAX for information regarding monsters, maps, equipment and skills, as well as linking the forum user database to your character saves so as to save it on the server and to share them with others. And of course I'm considering ways of combining the main forum/site with the RoSim so I can finally get rid of the plain old blank screen with Ro windows. Of course, the first version you guys will use will probably wont have all those cool ideas as it will take a lot of time to do. I'm still trying to get everything in order in terms of layout and design, but as the title suggest, its been slow going.

On the flip-side, I've decided to put it off for now and try finishing that long awaited update. I think I've said it before but I basically already had a lot of the kafra shop items done besides a few that require their own unique conditions and bonuses. They also require I find the icons and headgear sprites from the client data which is always a pain (since all of it is in korean which I haven't a clue what it all means). As for stuff from 12.1, I've yet to look into it to see whats new (I've been away from iRo again trying to keep up with school just so you know). I'm looking forward to the new content but what's got me concerned are those 3rd jobs as that will pretty much break the coding already in the RoSim when it comes to making it work out (again, such crappy code must go!).

So like I've said: much to do, little time to do it, and not many opportunities to work on things with my life in such disarray. I promise you guys that I will do an update when I can, and I sure as hell will.

If you are seeing this, welcome to the new server! Dreamhost decided to reduce the number of connections to pretty much single digits, the order for my own private server still hasn't arrived, and I was left with nothing else to do but to wait it out for a week or so. But a week turned into a few. I didn't want it to keep going so I hooked back up with my previous donor host and now have a web host here. Ads will return but this time I'll be on top of what is allowed so as to not be annoying (we had sound ads before when there shouldn't of been).

There will be some problems here and there for now. DNS servers were updated yesterday and today and it will take time for everyone to connect to the new server. There are also some cross host action going on, so things may not be working completely until I figure out the kinks. This is also by no means a permanent home. I still plan on moving on to that private server when it becomes available (if it does), so who knows how long we'll be here for.

More info as I can get them later on.

Dreamhost killed the site... again. Really it was only a matter of time. Since the RoSim generates a ton of connections from single users, they cut off the connection limit (thats why we have the 503 errors now). After that, something happened to the DNS and the site was down for more than a week due to me being out on a 20 mile hiking and camping trip (was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life). The site is up but the 503 errors are a hassle.

To ease up on connections, I put up all the images for the RoSim on my Verizon web space. Its a last ditch effort to keep all these problems down while we wait for the next solution to our problems.

The solution to this is to step up, by ordering for a private server. I'm not too sure how much cpu and ram the site would require but I'll start off small and work my way up I suppose. The server I ordered will be 3x the price of what I'm currently paying for monthly and most of it is going to be payed for thanks to the google ads. What is not so great is that revenue from those ads have gone down significantly over just a few months. And thanks to the downtime, its gone down even more. I can place blame on me for not being up-to-date, which I'll try and complete soon.

In other news:

I keep being asked the same questions and I think I should post my answers here (sorry for not replying to emails but I do read them).

Can I run the RoSim off my PC? Can you provide me a way to download it completely to use offline?
As of now, no. The old code is being scrapped and in its place is going to be one powered by AJAX and PHP. The running version I have on me cuts down on your browser's RAM and CPU usage by 50%. I can't put this up until I have all the kinks worked out (it works only partially right now).

Can I offer a translated version on my own website?
I've been asked this before and I keep saying the same: If you want to have a translated version of the RoSim, please post or send me translations for me to put in! Really I have my hands full at the moment, but replacing text is not hard and I could do it as long as people provide me with the translations.

But hosting it on another site is something totally different. As of now I will not allow my RoSim to be on someone else's website unless I allow it (even says so in the source for those who know where to look). Since I'm scrapping the old source and going for something that has more client and server relations, providing the RoSim might not be even viable for people to host elsewhere.

Can I provide a mirror?
Mirrors are another matter altogether. I am ok with them as long as they do not redirect all image sources to this site and are for emergency uses only (like as of now with the 503 and 404 errors we had lately). For now with the current stuff that is up, it is possible to have a mirror, but soon they will not be at all viable to do (reasons above). And also, I put my webserver as the top priority whenever something goes wrong with it. Before I had a server provided for me, but constant downtimes and the inclusion of all those annoying ads were really starting to kill the website so I resorted back to Dreamhost until I could afford our own server (now to wait~).

I've got to say thanks for those who are still using the site and sorry for all the problems lately. I'll try getting things worked out as fast as I can.

Wow, not much was added for the months and months I've been gone. A lot have been happening over in kRO from what I've read, but iRO has been quiet, well besides a few MVP changes and the Kafra Shop items.

It may be tonight or it may be tomorrow, but I'll get the RoSim up-to-date with iRO at the very least. Then I can look through any bugs listed here.

Actually I really want to work on getting done with DoriDori, that revamped version of the RoSim. But don't get any hopes up. Along with that will come a huge amount of changes to the site as you know it.

Edit [2/28/08]

This is going to take a lot more time then I thought. New item bonuses and item changes abound, and I'm constantly being reminded of just how badly I had programmed the RoSim (if anyone with any programming ability saw the source, they'd see a pretty big mess). This will probably be the last item update I do before going 100% towards DoriDori (or DoriNukemForever).

I'll keep you guys posted on my progress on this update and any problems I find myself in. But looks like it may be a while before I'll get done (I still haven't even gotten the sprites or all the images for the new items yet...)

Edit [3/16/08]

And its taking longer...

Right now school and financial troubles surround me so I've been unable to do much other than insert headgear data on my end. But some of the items I've put in won't work unless I add some new functionality to the source, which is time I do not have at the moment.

Going to have to ask you guys to sit tight some more as I sort things out, but thankfully the tests I have this week will be only for this week, I'll come up with something presentable when I can.

So far it has been slow getting back into Ro. Good thing for me is that some of the guys I've known since I started are still around, so that eases my mind a bit. I'm still quite busy with school (just got passed the first volley of exams) and am doing various things to keep me away from here but its not like I've been doing nothing.

I had to sell old junk on my account to get money. Seems that the Ice Dungeon has become a Sin/Sage/Soul Linker factory and for my sin especially, would be a great place to finally get to 99 (yea, I'm still not there yet...). Problem was, being gone for so long, I didn't have any references to go for. And sadly, like many Ragnarok sites I've known in the past, RO-Market has stopped being updated.

So I thought, how did this person go through all the shops, input the data and finally put them up on the net? I mean seriously, doing it by hand is a LOT of man hours. And I know its a single guy doing it. So of course the obvious answer is a bot. Not a bad bot that we all know, just a simple one that goes into Prontera, run around collecting shop data, then spitting it out in MySQL tables (or datasheets).

Enter my search for how to get this done for myself. Long story short, I now have the same working system he has, minus the custom design and optimization. So without further adieu, I present to thee:

iRO Market

Its a fairly simple page, search for an item, it comes up with results and data. I'm not always updating it, but I'm working out ways of doing so without killing the server. As it is, even a single day's worth of data is almost 1mb in MySQL tables. And it is also very unoptimized. Mainly the data is centered toward my server (Loki) but today I experimented with all the other servers for one trip.

Let us see how I figure this out for this to be a new addition to the site.

PS: I openly admit that this is a bot doing this. I wont lie about it at all. But I do highly condemn the usage of bots for anything other than to help others as a whole. I do not use such programs for my own self benefit, and I hope to load you're not either.