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near (Vita App) | Scanning local Vita chums for all dat Game Goods
- Thread starter chubigans
- Start date
Thanks for the investigation and updates DBT85.
Maybe the distances need to be bigger for me? My typical daily travel is quite compact, in a radius of a couple of km, so maybe if it registers one location (e.g. home), you have to travel outside a certain radius for it to register another? For my 'home' location, the radar map seems to extend out 3km, so maybe I need to go beyond that for it to pick up another location?
I was hoping it would pick up individual places (e.g. your local starbucks, different streets etc.) and locations rather than lump everything within a couple of kilometers under one place name - if that's what it's doing.
------
Another note, what's up with this discrepancy?
So here on my local chart, it says 15 people are using Flickr.
I tap on that entry for more info and it says...
... one person is using flickr?
In fact, all games on that page say either 0/1 people 1/1 are using it.
So I'm kind of inclined to believe the counter on the first page more? But I dunno...
Maybe the distances need to be bigger for me? My typical daily travel is quite compact, in a radius of a couple of km, so maybe if it registers one location (e.g. home), you have to travel outside a certain radius for it to register another? For my 'home' location, the radar map seems to extend out 3km, so maybe I need to go beyond that for it to pick up another location?
I was hoping it would pick up individual places (e.g. your local starbucks, different streets etc.) and locations rather than lump everything within a couple of kilometers under one place name - if that's what it's doing.
------
Another note, what's up with this discrepancy?
So here on my local chart, it says 15 people are using Flickr.
I tap on that entry for more info and it says...
... one person is using flickr?
In fact, all games on that page say either 0/1 people 1/1 are using it.
So I'm kind of inclined to believe the counter on the first page more? But I dunno...
Mixed reports.
I haven't yet got it to register a new location while it's been on standby, but as above, maybe I'm not travelling far enough from my 'home' location? Maybe a location in near is the place you're at PLUS a 2 or 3km radius around that location? I dunno. I would like it to be much finer grained than that so individual places aren't lumped into one big area...if it's doing that.
It will passively record new locations - but whether it does this while on standby or not is what was being debated. DBT85's seems to.
The refresh is just to upload that location data your Vita has recorded since the last refresh and see who is there - not to record the current location. That's why it asks for a net connection when you hit that.
I'm just wondering now, though, if I have to travel more than a couple of km for it to record a new location. I have a suspicion now that it's very coarse-grained. Dunno though. I would curious what kind of distances are between DBT8B's different locations.
Doesn't that depend on whether or not the Vita has GPS? I took the Vita with me a few days ago and it found 8 new people while being on standby.
Ok, I have a report to file.
My Vita was in user forced standby (pressed power button) on my entire drive home. It sat on my passenger seat all the way home and was definitely in standby.
Near recorded my locations at 18:39 (still at work), 19:09 (Just left work), and 19:50 when I turned it on when I walked in.
So my vita is DEFINITELY getting location data when in user enforced standby.
I've looked at the locations (click on the address near tells you and it will bring up a locator on Google Maps) and they are all accurate and more importantly, different.
I will note that near was running when I put it to standby. Tomorrow on the way to work I will make sure that I put it into standby and that Near is not running. On the way home I'll let it go into standby with Near not running.
Hope that's helpful.
Also, I havex 41 at my home and can see 12 IDs within 5km.
Is your 3G activated ?
Players on radar are people who were playing Vita near you but not necessarily at the same time.
"Players encountered" is a subset of players met. I suspect they have to be close to you and their Vita are on when your Near sweeps the area. I have 60+ players on my radar but only 6 encountered players. Out of the 6, only one encountered multiple times.
The Activities should be derived from people in the area, not just yours. I have Japanese games on my history but I don't have any yet.
Rising popularity means more unique players played the game.
Buzz rating could be based on number of activities generated on multiple players' list.
I think it won't alert you of new location if someone else has already defined it to the Near servers. I only have 1 new location update.
In addition, it is possible that your Vita has already done a sweep before your manual attempt. Hence, your manual attempt complained about duplicated check.
I had the same problem yesterday. It was confusing because Near didn't seem to discover anything new -- until I found a new encountered player quietly hidden in Discoveries. When I clicked on that player profile, sure enough it says I encountered him in the current street. All my manual check failed yesterday but the new player popped up anyway, suggesting that an automated check may have preceded my attempt.
I also wonder if Near servers behave differently in different region.
Thanks for the investigation and updates DBT85.
Maybe the distances need to be bigger for me? My typical daily travel is quite compact, in a radius of a couple of km, so maybe if it registers one location (e.g. home), you have to travel outside a certain radius for it to register another? For my 'home' location, the radar map seems to extend out 3km, so maybe I need to go beyond that for it to pick up another location?
I was hoping it would pick up individual places (e.g. your local starbucks, different streets etc.) and locations rather than lump everything within a couple of kilometers under one place name - if that's what it's doing.
------
Another note, what's up with this discrepancy?
So here on my local chart, it says 15 people are using Flickr.
I tap on that entry for more info and it says...
... one person is using flickr?
In fact, all games on that page say either 0/1 people 1/1 are using it.
So I'm kind of inclined to believe the counter on the first page more? But I dunno...
Players' Voice may show number of unique players playing the game over a duration.
Local Popularity Chart may show the number of plays for the game over the same or a different duration. In the above example, you're the only one using Flickr. Did you start it 15 times thus far ?
I can provide that
The first day It happened was the 23rd when I posted my second copy of Rayman.
My locations for that time were
Friday
09:09 - Home
10:17 - Post office 2.3miles from home (by road) and about 2 miles as the crow flies
10:40 - Tesco 2.1miles from Post Office (by road) and about 1.6 miles as the crow flies
That last update did while in the car park, the one at home and the PO it did itself.
The full journeys this weekend have all been about 20 miles by car however the updates have happened much closer to either final position.
Saturday
20:45 on Friday - Home (turned off overnight)
06:26 - 19.5 miles from home (by car) about 30 minutes after I turned the Vita on. Maybe 16 miles as the crow flies (Why there isn't a tool on google maps for that I don't know)
06:41 - Work - about 1.5 miles from previous location. I took the vita out to play Motorstorm before I started work and forced a Near update which logged my location.
18:39 - Work
19:09 - exactly 30 minutes after the last update and shortly after I left work, about 2 miles from my last location
19:50 - Home, 20 miles form last location, 31 minutes since last update.
Sunday
19:50 on Saturday - Home (off overnight)
06:39 - about 30 minutes after I turned it on, 17 miles by road, probably 13 as the crow flies
07:09 - Work, 4 miles away from last location, exactly 30 minutes later.
So the only short range test I have is the one from Thursday, but that was only 2 and 1.6 miles respectively.
Hope that's of some use.
Do you mean activated as in, I've got it topped up or activated as in, set to be on?
My 3G and WiFi stay on all the time. I can do a test tonight with both off to see what it does
It'll be in my car and even my old TomTom struggles for a location so maybe it wont work because of that.No I meant whether you have a 3G plan.
Would be interesting to confirm WiFi connectivity effect on 3G Vita's Near runs.
Perhaps if WiFi and 3G data are not available, Near analytics will take longer to generate since the servers may batch the processing. The reports might be simpler too. So even when we connect later, Near doesn't update us on every little details.
Would be interesting to confirm WiFi connectivity effect on 3G Vita's Near runs.
Perhaps if WiFi and 3G data are not available, Near analytics will take longer to generate since the servers may batch the processing. The reports might be simpler too. So even when we connect later, Near doesn't update us on every little details.
I do have a 3G plan and it is on all day for reference.
I think near will update exactly the same as long as it's managed to get locations. From what I read in the manual if set to periodically check the location it will do that every 30 minutes and if the location has changed it will register it on the Vita. Then once a day automatically, or more if you force it, it will upload those locations to the Near server and download any correlating data and it will log each one as a seperate location at the times it found them.
Now, we know that a unit rarely gets a location over WiFi and I'm not connecting to any except for at home. So if 3G is off and as a result it cannot get a location through triangulation of the cell towers then it will have less data to transmit to the Near servers if it's not got any GPS signals.
I'll turn both off on my journey home tonight and we'll see what it does. As I said, if it can only get a location from GPS then it's likely to struggle in my car. My windscreen has a heating element in it which makes my traditional sat nav struggle.
A better test might be for anyone who has a bit of a walk somewhere doing the same. The GPS should be able to get a lock even in a bag.
Yeah I think your 3G plan would make Near work more predictably.
It is unclear if Near will work and update with the same quality, diligence without a data connection, WiFi or 3G, when it sweeps the area.
Also, GPS doesn't work reliably indoor, it will also use SkyHook to estimate where appropriate.
It is unclear if Near will work and update with the same quality, diligence without a data connection, WiFi or 3G, when it sweeps the area.
Also, GPS doesn't work reliably indoor, it will also use SkyHook to estimate where appropriate.
sakipon
Member
Works fine with me. If you're anxious to test it out, how about taking your Vita to some place with free Wifi? near works at my home, but today I checked in at the mall using their connection. This is why I didn't bother with the 3G model.
Certainly 3G will make it more reliable as GPS is no use indoors like you said.
But i'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding your second line.
Near doesn't update itself or the servers until it syncs up. In the intervening time it just stores locations in a file. It will only start downloading who was in the area and the games they were playing and stuff once you connect to the internet and it can upload and download.
I'm fairly confident that so long as the Vita can get a location from GPS the results when Near updates would be identical. I can't test that without going out walking with 3G and Wifi turned off and that isn't going to happen
Will a WiFi hotspot that you are not connected to still provide location data even if it is in the skyhook DB?
Reboot and try again. Does it make a difference ? You should not lose data if you try this.
Someone said their Near data file was corrupted. He had to restore the file system to get it working again. Copy your game saves out first. You will lose data if you restore the file system.
Someone said their Near data file was corrupted. He had to restore the file system to get it working again. Copy your game saves out first. You will lose data if you restore the file system.
Just wanted to say that since I unchecked that "Obtain location automatically at regular intervals" in the Location Data part of Near settings, I've had no more issues (this setting is off by default). Could be coincidence, of course. Any of you guys running into that issue with "An error occurred" and did you have that checked when you did? Part of me wonders if it was just something weird with it being pre-launch, though you would think if it were server issues that factory defaulting the Vita wouldn't fix it. I'd like to turn it back on as it would be nice to have it take samples throughout the day, but I don't want to factory default this thing again.
I have fixed this in the past with a system restore. My question for you, though, is do you have it set to update the location periodically in Location Data? I unchecked that and haven't run into an issue since (I had it happen to me twice when I had it checked).
I was just wondering if there was anything more I could do to help it find my location.
Good idea, thanks!
ss_lemonade
Member
For some reason, my Vita (WiFi) keeps giving me a "cannot find location" error with any app that requires it. Is it because I live in the Philippines (not supported country maybe?). Is there any way to fix this
The Grim Heaper
Member
It's weird. For the first few days, the program refused to work even out. Then, it suddenly started working at WiFi hotspots other than my house. I tried again yesterday and it finally worked with it being a few blocks away, but it's back to not working at my house.
So weird! Not that it matters, though. I only want the Gold Herald costumes but I can't find any. ):
So weird! Not that it matters, though. I only want the Gold Herald costumes but I can't find any. ):
Add your router to Skyhook. I'm not sure what the reason is for why it can find some people's locations and not others, but this is should help once they add your details.
Mine was unchecked when I got the system error for Near and had to do the factory reset.
I don't know, don't like Near as much as I was hoping. Too many unknowns, trades and gift aren't reliable despite people playing the right games around me. Whole thing feels clunky/glitchy.
Check your coverage and submit your own access point here:
http://www.skyhookwireless.com/location-technology/coverage.php
Ok, Vita is in forced standby again, no apps open, WiFi and 3G turned off. will report back in 90 minutes or so.
Ehh... decided this error is not worth a System Restore. That seems like too much of a pain to fix an error hopefully Sony will deal with soon enough.
Jinfash
needs 2 extra inches
That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
Going by Patsu and the Help section's definitions:Another note, what's up with this discrepancy?
So here on my local chart, it says 15 people are using Flickr.
I tap on that entry for more info and it says...
... one person is using flickr?
In fact, all games on that page say either 0/1 people 1/1 are using it.
So I'm kind of inclined to believe the counter on the first page more? But I dunno...
The green smiley in the first picture indicates the "Number of players playing" in that Ping (so non-real time/asynchronously), while the the green smiley in the Players' Voice indicate the "Number of people you've encountered" which I'm assuming is the real-time encounters reflected in the Discoveries section?
The Players' Voice always adds you towards the numbers in "Players Encountered" and "Friends" tabs, so if you have 0 player encounters so far in Discoveries:
- 1/1 in People encountered (second picture): A game/app you own.
- 0/1 in People encountered: A game/app you don't own yet.
That's my guess. Someone who has players encountered in Discoveries could verify this.
Mines work fine, although I did register with skyhook just in case ..... on the day my Vita arrived.
AranhaHunter
Banned
I'm surprised there's no manual explaining all the intricacies of the app. Even though I never used it as I don't have a vita, the app seems very confusing to be honest.
Jinfash
needs 2 extra inches
It's very confusing and intimidating at first, I agree. There should either be an elaborate manual for the app (where game manuals are located) or a tour the first time you launch it.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Is there a way to manually correct the location detection? When I'm at home, my WiFi Vita is constantly reporting that I'm approx 2km away from where I really am. Maps application suffers form the same problem as well. Other locations seem to work better, except for some that don't work at all.
It's kind of confusing at first, but once you get around it it's pretty great. It's one of my go-to things all the time now.
You needed to turn on auto updates in settings, I don't think it's turned on by default.
I have every option enabled in its settings. I also have it set to report in miles, but it still told me 1km.
Hopefully we will get a version update soon.
test_account
XP-39C²
Try to do a location refresh in about one hour or so. Maybe the stats will be updated then.
EDIT: Come to think of it, do you have a Wifi model only? Dont the Vita need to be able to connect to a Wifi hotspot somewhere to be able to auto update? If so, maybe you didnt pass any Wifi hotspots at your route.
Update time again.
My vita once again rode shotgun on the way home, again in forced standby and again with no apps running and this time also with no 3G or WiFi.
It picked up no locations on my way home or once I was home. The next location it found was when i turned the 3G on about an hours after I got home.
It's clear that 3G is being used a lot to get locations, with it being in my car it was always going to struggle to get a GPS lock so with no way of knowing where it was it didn't find anything.
The only remaining test will be if it can find a location via GPS when it can get a signal while 3G and WiFi are still off.
For general use I'll be leaving 3G and WiFi on, it's not using much data at all and battery life doesn't appear to be an issue.
if they accept the request they'll have a orange circle around their avatar. Besides that I don't think so.