Online Games?
Ok well a while back me and my friend got really into making an online text game, kind of mafia style. if you havent played one look at:
http://themafianetwork.net I dont play this anymore so im not doing a promo or anything :p
right well we wanted to make a game similar to this, so we got really stuck into making it, we made a layout, bought some books on HTML and web develpping and everything, well we got to the stage of the layout done, and now we want to turn it into a game! Problem is we now have not got any idea what to do next! We want to use ASP, and SQl databases ( i heard this was a route to take, and it does seem like the thing to do) But we dont have any idea where to start with anything :D, so i was wondering if anyone has done anything like this i would really appreciate a point in the right direction.
Also at the moment its only 2 of us, so if anyone wants 'in' on the project message me on my MSN and we can talk :D
if your going to make a game, wouldn't something like flash or java come in handy? I guess if it's text based it really wouldn't make a difference though. I generally discourage the use of asp and prefer php. from what i understand the 2 are similiar, but microsoft owns asp, and it costs money to just program it. php is free to download. i've also heard alot of people say that php is faster, though i haven't tested it yet. if you want to learn any of it, i would say www.w3schools.com helps with all languages. and if you decide to go php use www.phpfreaks.com some too. good luck!:ninja:
If you look at the example game you will see why its not flash :p, i think it would be ni-on impossible to do this kind of game in flash, As for PHP we considerd that, but i wanted to use IIS to host it, as its supposidly easier to secure, i have the M'soft Visual suite which you can use to code ASP. Also PHP confused me with patches and stuff. it got complicated just reading about installing it, whereas ASP and .NET is like install done! I guess thats really trivial at the end of the day though :D Thanks for the help, i really need any nudge in the right direction anyone can give :)
For a game, I beleive you'd be best off using Java. It would save having to repeatedly load pages and such. Of course it might be a little harder, but it would be more efficient and would be better for a game.
If you're not sure whether it'd be too hard to learn or something, just find yourself a tutorial… take a look… if it seems too difficult for you, sure try it in ASP.
Java is also an easy language to get help for, as it's widely used and well documented. ASP on the other hand (especially .NET) is harder to find help with… you'll end up with code for all the other .NET languages often (or I seem to anyway).
So, yeah maybe a complex Java applet would be better for you?
And all that is coming from me, who doesn't actually like Java :D
Reaper
And now, for the mighty thread hammer:
omniwrath540 wrote: if your going to make a game, wouldn't something like flash or java come in handy? I guess if it's text based it really wouldn't make a difference though. I generally discourage the use of asp and prefer php. from what i understand the 2 are similiar, but microsoft owns asp, and it costs money to just program it. php is free to download. i've also heard alot of people say that php is faster, though i haven't tested it yet. if you want to learn any of it, i would say www.w3schools.com helps with all languages. and if you decide to go php use www.phpfreaks.com some too. good luck!:ninja:
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If you read the initial description of the game, then no, Flash or Java would NOT make any more sense than his chosen solution. (You figured this out a sentence later in your rambling.)
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Microsoft owning a computer language does not mean it costs money to CODE IN IT. It costs money to get the operating system… that's it. With the Mono package for Linux, it won't be too much longer before that is no longer a requirement, either. Anyways, most people on here still run Windows, and it doesn't cost any more money to run IIS.
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PHP is a viable alternative, but not necessarily a choice merely for "some people thinking it's faster". Substantiate your arguments.
CyberSpider wrote: most online games are made in flash, so u need to read up on ActionScript etc.
And you need to read up in the initial post.
Now, for some advice that doesn't completely suck…
PureEvil wrote: If you look at the example game you will see why its not flash :p, i think it would be ni-on impossible to do this kind of game in flash, As for PHP we considerd that, but i wanted to use IIS to host it, as its supposidly easier to secure, i have the M'soft Visual suite which you can use to code ASP. Also PHP confused me with patches and stuff. it got complicated just reading about installing it, whereas ASP and .NET is like install done! I guess thats really trivial at the end of the day though :D Thanks for the help, i really need any nudge in the right direction anyone can give :)
It's not impossible to do anything in any language… just harder in some than others.
Currently, PHP pages can be hosted under IIS… Google will turn up more information. However, you have a preference for ASP, so this is moot.
IIS is not easier to secure than Apache… it depends on your preference. If you had the option to use Apache, I would. Again, Mono is working towards helping with hosting ASP.Net pages in Apache… stably, that is.
ASP.Net may seem like an easier language but, really, both languages are comparable in that they both deal with server variables, GET / POST data, etc. Really, just use whatever you feel most comfortable with.
Finally, my main advice would have to be that you step back, forget about choosing any language, and actually diagram how your game is going to function. What are the features? Themes? Graphics needed? How would a normal game's steps flow? That way, you can visualize how you need your program to interact with the gamer.
Sorry for the long post… I felt frisky. :D
i stoped playing runescape but its a good example of this of a java applet dont get addicted to it like i did though lol. B) http://www.runescape.com
Zephyr_Pure, Thanks for the post, im going to go through exactly how we would like to get the game working from the gamers perspective with my mate, Then we can focus on researching the most suitable language and ways of making it from what i said :) I run a windows PC so i guess ASP made more sense, but i guess its whatever is suitable to what im trying to make afterall :D
ViralCoder wrote: If I were you I would probably code this in PHP (assuming it's a text based game) since php is the easiest language to do it in I reckon
easier, yes.. but if it gets popular, MySQL will completely screw the site over and lag the whole servre due to its use. If its aimed to be a popular game, then ASP and a SQL Database will be able to cope with heavier loads.
You don't fucking research in what language you want the game to be developed in. You research the game first.
There must be some plan right? Not "choose a random language and develop a game in that"?
Designing a good game is hard enough WITH a good plan, so don't make it too hard for yourself. Either have a plan or stop now.
Yeah… what spyware said. I've often learnt a language with the intention to use it for game programming, then realised I actually have no ideas for a game and thereby, give up. The obvious benefit of this is that I've learnt maybe one or two languages more than I would have done.
The reason I suggested Java, is that you can do almost everything you can do in a webpage, but you don't have to repeatedly load a new page, just load one applet and run it. Java, although not the easiest language ever… isn't the hardest either…. as I said in my last post, I don't perticularly like Java… but that's just 'cause of the fact I don't use that kind of applet.
Hope I helped somewhere in all that rubbish, Reaper
spyware wrote: You don't fucking research in what language you want the game to be developed in. You research the game first.
There must be some plan right? Not "choose a random language and develop a game in that"?
Designing a good game is hard enough WITH a good plan, so don't make it too hard for yourself. Either have a plan or stop now.
that's a good point, most games produced by professional studios actually have several years spent on just designing the storyboard, characters, art, etc. and only then do they code it all together. Also, that way, your code won't be drastically out of date by the time you release your game.
spyware wrote: You don't fucking research in what language you want the game to be developed in. You research the game first.
There must be some plan right? Not "choose a random language and develop a game in that"?
Designing a good game is hard enough WITH a good plan, so don't make it too hard for yourself. Either have a plan or stop now.
Ofcourse we have the idea for a game, and we have a plan. The problem is we have no idea what to do next, its not coming up with the story line thats the problem. Especially as if anyone had looked at any text based game like the style we are aiming to produce you would know that there is no storyline, its what you make of the game.
As for the "choose a random language" remark. I dont need help to choose things randomly, with all due respect i think i can pluck a language out of the air on my own. It would of been nice for someone with first hand experience to explain the advantages of ASP and PHP, so i can make an educated descision. I had already decided on ASP anyway, but its not at programming stage yet, so there is room for change.
I know what game i want to make, i think perhaps you got the wrong end of the stick and tried to treat me like some inept idiot. In my opinion you failed, miserabley. I know its not going to be easy, im not going to be able to do it all in one night, i have realised it will take several years to code, and even more to perfect.
reaper4334: We considerd java, but we came to the conclusion it would be impractical for the style of game, page reloading, at the moment, will be the basis of how the game will run. I suggest before someone tries to rip me to shreds for that, plays the game mentioned in my first post first.
The whole intention of asking people here was so that i didnt make the mistake of learning too many languages or the wrong one, or take the wrong route. Well thanks for helping some more, im going to meet up with my friend at some point in the near future, draw up a more detialed plan of exactly how we would like the game to work.
treat me like some inept idiot Your previous posts did not show you possessed any knowledge about designing games. However, taking in account your newest post, I think you do know something about it.
I warn you however, designing a story line is NOTHING compared to writing formulas, managing SQL queries (whatever you use to manage information) and implementing various gamer/game interactivities (I love making up words).
I do hope you will succeed. May I suggest: Create a gameplan. Basically you list EVERYTHING you have to do, in order.
Good luck!
spyware wrote:
Your previous posts did not show you possessed any knowledge about designing games. However, taking in account your newest post, I think you do know something about it.
I warn you however, designing a story line is NOTHING compared to writing formulas, managing SQL queries (whatever you use to manage information) and implementing various gamer/game interactivities (I love making up words).
I do hope you will succeed. May I suggest: Create a gameplan. Basically you list EVERYTHING you have to do, in order.
Good luck!
Ill be honest, i know little about the process of making a game per-se, but i have an understanding of how web-pages and the internet work, how all this is possible. however doing it is another story. Ive learnt from this that we cant just jump straight into the programming, we need to get a detialed plan done, so that we know exactly what the aim is for everything we do.
Anyway, I gotta goto bed, cya :p