Comments for Building Browsergames http://buildingbrowsergames.com Ever wanted to build a browsergame? Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:28:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 Comment on Designing Browsergames: a flexible stats system by Luke http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/05/05/designing-browsergames-a-flexible-stats-system/#comment-136 Luke Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:02:40 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=24#comment-136 Hi Scion, I am not quite sure I understand what the benefit of using the two different types of columns would be - especially in a loosely typed language like Perl or PHP. Whether the user retrieves a number or a word, that value will still be loosely-typed after it's been retrieved - which means the issue can bite the user either way. How would changing the number of columns in the tables fix that? Hi Scion,

I am not quite sure I understand what the benefit of using the two different types of columns would be - especially in a loosely typed language like Perl or PHP. Whether the user retrieves a number or a word, that value will still be loosely-typed after it’s been retrieved - which means the issue can bite the user either way. How would changing the number of columns in the tables fix that?

]]> Comment on Designing Browsergames: a flexible stats system by Scion http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/05/05/designing-browsergames-a-flexible-stats-system/#comment-135 Scion Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:28:10 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=24#comment-135 I would caution against mixing types in the same field, If you do sooner or later it WILL come back to bite you. If you want to have some stats that are numeric and some that are text based there are several possible approaches. One would be to replace the value field with two fields one numeric that other text...and have a third Enum typed field to indicate which of those contains the value. Another aproach would be too have two seperate tables one for text based stats and the other for numeric stats. although im not convinced for the need for text based stats...theyre not really stats...theyre..ummm...something else? :) I would caution against mixing types in the same field, If you do sooner or later it WILL come back to bite you.

If you want to have some stats that are numeric and some that are text based there are several possible approaches.

One would be to replace the value field with two fields one numeric that other text…and have a third Enum typed field to indicate which of those contains the value.

Another aproach would be too have two seperate tables one for text based stats and the other for numeric stats.

although im not convinced for the need for text based stats…theyre not really stats…theyre..ummm…something else? :)

]]> Comment on Balancing your game: real-time or actions-based? by Luke http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/07/22/balancing-your-game-real-time-or-actions-based/#comment-134 Luke Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:37:45 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=97#comment-134 Hi Scion, You've definitely got a point there! However, I think you may have misinterpreted something I mentioned - while doing things turn-based is certainly <strong>one</strong> way to balance your game, it's by no means the be-all and end-all. You should balance your game in a way that works best for you. Hi Scion,

You’ve definitely got a point there! However, I think you may have misinterpreted something I mentioned - while doing things turn-based is certainly one way to balance your game, it’s by no means the be-all and end-all. You should balance your game in a way that works best for you.

]]> Comment on Balancing your game: real-time or actions-based? by Scion http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/07/22/balancing-your-game-real-time-or-actions-based/#comment-133 Scion Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:11:36 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=97#comment-133 Achieving balance is probably one of the hardest things to do. So the very first thing that should be asked is ... Do i need to balance that particular aspect of my game at all? Because if some aspect of your Game does need to be balanced then you should make sure that it is .... One common problem with using the limited Turns / Actions aproach to balancing player progression is that it often doesn't fully deal with players that spend a long time online.... In games with turn limits its not uncommon to see players spreading out their actions over loang time spans to maximise the gains achived with each alloted turn/action spent. Where the available gain varies drastically then using turn restriction is not having the desired effect in terms of balancing progression...Although it may well be integral to the game for other reasons. Simply put, achieving properly balanced player progression is not as simple as just using a turn based aproach.... Achieving balance is probably one of the hardest things to do.

So the very first thing that should be asked is … Do i need to balance that particular aspect of my game at all?

Because if some aspect of your Game does need to be balanced then you should make sure that it is ….

One common problem with using the limited Turns / Actions aproach to balancing player progression is that it often doesn’t fully deal with players that spend a long time online….

In games with turn limits its not uncommon to see players spreading out their actions over loang time spans to maximise the gains achived with each alloted turn/action spent. Where the available gain varies drastically then using turn restriction is not having the desired effect in terms of balancing progression…Although it may well be integral to the game for other reasons.

Simply put, achieving properly balanced player progression is not as simple as just using a turn based aproach….

]]> Comment on Make your game known: an Open Approach by gostyloj http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/10/07/make-your-game-known-an-open-approach/#comment-132 gostyloj Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:53:50 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=457#comment-132 This is a friggin sweet concept. My wife and I just had a baby, but as soon as I can come up for air I am putting my game here. This is a friggin sweet concept. My wife and I just had a baby, but as soon as I can come up for air I am putting my game here.

]]> Comment on Building a Space Strategy Game with Ruby on Rails - Part I by lobo_tuerto http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/09/18/building-a-space-strategy-game-with-ruby-on-rails-part-i/#comment-131 lobo_tuerto Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:11:35 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=392#comment-131 Hi, great article! I'm looking forward to learn about how are you going to implement the automated tick process. cron job maybe? I didn't know you had another side covering the same articles :) http://www.mnkyx.com/dev/ Hi, great article! I’m looking forward to learn about how are you going to implement the automated tick process. cron job maybe?

I didn’t know you had another side covering the same articles :)
http://www.mnkyx.com/dev/

]]> Comment on Building a Space Strategy Game with Ruby on Rails - Part II by chase http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/09/23/building-a-space-strategy-game-with-ruby-on-rails-part-ii/#comment-130 chase Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:02:31 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=410#comment-130 Could not figure out why I was getting an error on the line <pre lang='ruby'>Welcome <%=current_player.login%></pre> - turns out that changes to acts_as_authenticated mean the line <pre lang='ruby'><% if current_player %></pre> should now be <pre lang='ruby'><% if logged_in? %></pre> Wonderful blog, keep up the great work! Could not figure out why I was getting an error on the line

Welcome <%=current_player.login%>

- turns out that changes to acts_as_authenticated mean the line

<% if current_player %>

should now be

<% if logged_in? %>

Wonderful blog, keep up the great work!

]]> Comment on Saving Database Space through Bit-masking by Jorge http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/09/04/saving-database-space-through-bit-masking/#comment-128 Jorge Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:32:03 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=283#comment-128 I am using the same logic on a project, a very quick way to get around using reference tables. Good article, great ammunition in the tech group for my idea! I am using the same logic on a project, a very quick way to get around using reference tables. Good article, great ammunition in the tech group for my idea!

]]> Comment on Spreadsheets are your friend by Dre http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/07/29/spreadsheets-are-your-friend/#comment-127 Dre Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:26:45 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=69#comment-127 Great article on a very interesting subject! Looking forward to your future articles about this subject and especially about creating equations/formulas. Thanks Turin. Great article on a very interesting subject!

Looking forward to your future articles about this subject and especially about creating equations/formulas.

Thanks Turin.

]]> Comment on A Great Conversion Plan by Cameron http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/10/01/a-great-conversion-plan/#comment-126 Cameron Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:24:16 +0000 http://buildingbrowsergames.com/?p=441#comment-126 Very nice post, some good ideas here. I have been enjoying reading your blog even though my programming language of choice is not ruby or perl, the content is great and very informative. Very nice post, some good ideas here. I have been enjoying reading your blog even though my programming language of choice is not ruby or perl, the content is great and very informative.

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