[Overv]

Many admin mods have been released lately. Some very well known and widely used, like ASSMod and ULX and some lesser known, like Citrus. Evolve used to be one of those much lesser known admin mods too, but now I have decided that it's ready to be released to the general public.

Using an certain admin mod is not something you should do without much care. It's important to consider what functionality you're after and what the admin mod has to offer. I'll start by listing the features classic admin mods don't have.

- Evolve is already a proven admin mod, proven by the fact it's already running well on about 35 servers.
- Extensive support for custom ranks, which can be modified to suit your needs in realtime.
- The menu design is a well balanced mix between ULX' and ASSMod's. It's as compact as ASSMod's, as feature-rich as ULX' and works as smoothly as the well known iPhone menus.
- Unlike ASSMod, Evolve is very actively developed and any bugs are almost always fixed within 24 hours.
- There are over 50 plugins, which all have an actual use, unlike gimmicky commands like !gimp.
- Above all that, it comes with a sexy scoreboard which functions out of the box for Sandbox servers.

Some noteworthy plugins

- Per-player no-limits
- Fake achievements on people.
- Send private messages around without the need of an RP gamemode.
- Extinguish all props.
- Make people enter or leave vehicles.
- More...

Using an admin mod is usually not as much about the feature list, as about the look and feel of the commands and menu. Here's a few screenshots to get you a bit more familiar with the look of Evolve:

Plugin development in Evolve was made as convenient as possible. I could bore you with all the internal details, but I think it's a better idea to show the code of a simple plugin, so you can decide for yourself.

Situation: I want to make a plugin which slays people. (How original )
Code:

-- First we specify some information about our plugin.
local PLUGIN = {}
PLUGIN.Title = "Slay"
PLUGIN.Description = "Makes people die."
PLUGIN.Author = "YourName"
PLUGIN.ChatCommand = "slay"
PLUGIN.Usage = "[players]"
PLUGIN.Privileges = { "Slay people" }

-- Here we specify what happens when a user calls the command, either by using the 'ev' console command or chat.
function PLUGIN:Call( ply, arguments )
   -- First check if the player has the required privilege
   if ( ply:EV_HasPrivilege( "Slay people" ) ) then
      -- Now find all players which were specified.
      local players = evolve:FindPlayer( args, ply )
      
      -- Loop through the selected players and 'slay' them.
      for _, pl in ipairs( players ) do
         pl:Kill()
      end

      -- Display a message.
      -- The evolve.CreatePlayerList function creates a nice string out of a player list.
      if ( #players > 0 ) then
         evolve:Notify( evolve.colors.blue, ply:Nick(), evolve.colors.white, " has slayed ", evolve.colors.red, evolve:CreatePlayerList( players ), evolve.colors.white, "." )
      else
         evolve:Notify( ply, evolve.colors.red, "No matching players found." )
      end
   else
      evolve:Notify( ply, evolve.colors.red, evolve.constants.notallowed )
   end
end

-- Using hooks in your plugin is simply a matter of doing this:
function PLUGIN:PlayerSpawn( ply )

end

-- Finally register the plugin.
evolve:RegisterPlugin( PLUGIN )

That wasn't too hard, was it? Now, that you've made your plugin, you obviously want as many people as possible to use it. Luckily it's very easy to distribute your plugin to other users of Evolve. All you need to do, is to upload your plugin to the Evolve website.

There is no release yet, but a beta version of Evolve is already available for everyone to download via Subversion:

http://evolvemod.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/beta

For instructions on how to use SVN, refer to the Evolve website.

Basic setup

If you're hosting a listen server, you will be owner automatically. If you want to rank other people or you're hosting a dedicated server, use the following console command. On a dedicated server you would enter it via RCON or the console directly.

ev rank yourname guest/respected/admin/superadmin/owner

Note: You don't have to use your complete name, but if you want to, you need to put it between quotes if it contains spaces.

Using the menu

To start using the menu, bind a key to +ev_menu like this:

bind key +ev_menu

You can use any key, but I think T is the most convenient, because it's easy to reach when using the AWSD keys.

Using console commands

When you're not in the server and you want to accomplish something using RCON, you can use the ev console command. The syntax is the same as the chat command. Here's an example:

ev kick minge Go annoy someone else

Notice that with Evolve, you don't have to use quotes around arguments with spaces. However, if you're used to them, you can still use them.

Evolve on Google Code - Contains the bug report & feature suggestion page.
Evolve website - Contains user plugins and documentation.
User plugins - Plugins made by Evolve users.
Command list - List with all Evolve (chat)commands.

Divran for bugging me to fix bugs.
The servers using Evolve for motivating me to continue developing and submitting bugs for me to fix and features for me to add.
Prefan for the competition, which made me work a lot harder for the past few weeks.

Mostly, a BIG thank you to all the people who have used and tested Evolve for the past few months. Without you Evolve wouldn't have been what it is today.

[yakahughes]

Looks pretty slick. Glad it's finally done.

[butters757]

Awesome, looks fantastic.

[michaelh]

UI looks pretty sleek, but is it tested with Linux servers?
Also, is there any integration with MySQL? It'd be useful, but not a clincher.
Either way, I'll probably try it out tomorrow.

[Overv]

Yes, it's running perfectly fine on my Linux server. MySQL integration is coming a little bit later, but is easy to do.

[CombineGuru]

michaelh posted:

is it tested with Linux servers?

:doh:

Edited:

@ overv

[MakeR]

Looks very good.

[michaelh]

Overv posted:

Yes, it's running perfectly fine on my Linux server. MySQL integration is coming a little bit later, but is easy to do.

Great to hear. Have a wrench for not taking the usual 'screw Linux' attitude over this. And I hope to see MySQL integration soon :P

[CombineGuru]

michaelh posted:

Great to hear. Have a wrench for not taking the usual 'screw Linux' attitude over this. And I hope to see MySQL integration soon :P

screw linux

Edited:

i dont think its even possible to have a lua script that only works on windows

[nicatronTg]

Please, I'm begging you, there has to be a map menu somewhere?! Glad to see Evolve is shaping up to be a great admin mod, I can't wait to see more plugins, especially because the website is a great touch, I think the only other admin mod with a website is ULX.

As for my prediction:
Evolve replaces ASSMod
Exsto replaces ULX

Not sure though, but it seems possible. At the rate updates come out, it's quite likely that assmod will break soon enough, and ULX hasn't pushed a major non-svn release in ages.

@Combine, apparently somehow ULX didn't work on linux for a bit, no idea how.

[michaelh]

CombineGuru posted:

screw linux

Edited:

i dont think its even possible to have a lua script that only works on windows

It is. Anything which relies on an unported binary module won't work - nor will anything with funny casing, as srcds linux seems to have funny turns over this.

[CombineGuru]

michaelh posted:

It is. Anything which relies on an unported binary module won't work - nor will anything with funny casing, as srcds linux seems to have funny turns over this.

i said lua not binary module

[Handsome Matt]

Good job OverV, simple and smooth.

[michaelh]

CombineGuru posted:

i said lua not binary module

Binary modules compliment Lua scripts. If a binary module doesn't work, a script which relies on it cannot function either.

I'm finished now. Don't want to descend this into a flame war.

[Kopimi]

michaelh posted:

It is. Anything which relies on an unported binary module won't work - nor will anything with funny casing, as [s]srcds[/s] linux seems to have funny turns over this.

Fixed it for you

[Gbps]

Kopimi posted:

Fixed it for you

Actually it's srcds's fault that it's unstable. Nothing about Linux is unstable at this point in development.

[erie1555]

how do I restrict SWEPS and entities?

[Jawalt]

Gbps posted:

Actually it's srcds's fault that it's unstable. Nothing about Linux is unstable at this point in development.

The kernel, maybe not, but desktop Linux does have quite a few instabilities in most distros. I use Linux whenever I'm not gaming (a lot) and I love it, but there are quite a few times where GNOME will lock up or something odd. But then again, Windows does things like this too, so.

[BurningPride]

iRzilla posted:

Good job OverV, simple and smooth.

This x1000.

[CombineGuru]

my linux GARRY_MOD server worked fine only thing was that you have to remember to get the capitilization right
for example if you put a gamemode in gamemodes/ called DARKRP you have to call it DARKRP or it wont work not DarKRP do you understand ???

[lotus006]

Awesome, just an suggestion about cvar, can you allow to add a menu with custom cvar ?

Thanks in advance.

[Shane]

I love your derma, it is the best I have seen to date.

[Aide]

This is the cleanest admin mod I've seen so far. No junk just pure awesomeness.

[Kopimi]

Gbps posted:

Actually it's srcds's fault that it's unstable. Nothing about Linux is unstable at this point in development.

Ah, my bad then.

[glitchvid]

Weird, On Roleplay when you type something in it then relays it a second time but with *DEAD* In front of the players name...

[glitchvid]

-snip-

[Joeyl10]

I was just considering getting Exsto, then Evolve gets updated with custom ranks and a new sexy UI.

Absolutely love this admin mod, my favorite by far.

[DarKSunrise]

This just replaced ASSMod on my server, thanks!

[nicatronTg]

My prediction is slowly coming true...

[_Chewgum]

Does this also use the regular usergroups?

[Ircza]

I loved it when it was beta on your server. Now i love it even more :) Excellent job Overv.

[Dlaor]

Shiny.

[imadaman]

Awesome... simply awesome... :canada:

[Ninx]

I love how it looks so clean simple and you haven't made it overly pretty.

[comet1337]

yeah, bots are retards.
kick its ass!!!

[Overv]

_Chewgum posted:

Does this also use the regular usergroups?

Yes, in the rank menu you can set the regular usergroup. By default admins have the 'admin' usergroup and owners and super admins have the 'superadmin' usergroup, so any addon using IsAdmin() or IsSuperAdmin() will work fine with the ranks.

[Aide]

Fucking I forgot to install svn on my server box. :saddowns:

I'm finding it quick and user friendly. Heres a    wrench   

[Divran]

nicatronTg posted:

Please, I'm begging you, there has to be a map menu somewhere?!

I made one :) Use my SVN link to get it:

http://divranspack.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ divranspack/Divrans Evolve Plugins/My own plugins/Map Plugins

(You need tab_maps.lua and sh_mapslist.lua for the map menu to work.)

EDIT: Note: some of the plugins I've made don't work, and I've been too lazy to fix them :/

EDIT2: Also wohoo I'm in the credits :)

[Kialtia]

Is there or will there be a prop protection system?

[shozamar]

Hmm, I'm really tempted to replace ASSmod with this on my server. But I wont if it doesn't have an easy way to change maps. Is this what people are saying? Also, does this have a group-based entity, weapon and tool restriction option like ASSmod?