Since this thread has sparked some interest in the technical side of MMO's or "persistent multiplayer game", I would like to ask a quesitons of people who know more than I.

Can database calls through flash "loadVars" work fast enough for a realtime MMO type flash game?

Also can a database handle realtime (every 0.2-0.5 secconds) position and state updates for 100+ people?

@ Paul
Nice App, but there seems to be something wrong with your bounce function. Like the X and Y variables are getting swapped as opposed to multiplied by -1. If you want to make this interactive perhaps you could have the puff balls move away from the mouse, thus allowing you to cut up big clumps and watch them recombine.

Wait, there is a utility to change our forum name to something that is not the login name? Wow call me Captain Oblivious. Actually call me Wilson. I prefer my real name to get credit for the games I make here.

We could get bigger name websites/magazines to hold game making contests. The Escapist comes to mind. They have been holding user art and trivia contests for a while and they are a site about gaming both indie and main stream. A lot of people on thier forums whine about the lack of originality in gaming these days. I am guessing most don't know about the original crazy stuff that can get spat out of a month long programming contest. Heck I would not know about this stuff if a random internet search did not dump me at the Allegro Speedhack site a few years ago.

I break my game down into class objects that make sense for the design I am going for. There are some things that I always do. These can give you a start on how to tackle big projects, like game development. Here is some pseudo code

/// No matter what type of library you use you will have to have some sort of starting point. I like to leave the starting point and all initialization code in one file, usually copied from a tutorial. The real game stuff happens in the ScreenCtrl object.
Main.cpp
-ScreenCtrl   // an object that contains all screen objects
-Update();   // function that I called on regular time intervals to update player positions
-Draw();   // function that is called after update to render the game world

/// The screen control class contains screen objects. These objects each have their own functionality but usually inherit from a base screen object allowing a consistent interface between ScreenCtrl and which ever screen is active. Also ScreenCtrl contains a Global state object which each screen object contains a pointer to. This global state object is used to communicate game state information between screens.
ScreenCtrl.h/cpp
- GlobalState;
- curScreen;   // base screen type pointer that can be assigned any of the following:
- Screen1;
- Screen2;
- Update();   // calls the  curScreen’s Update, and user input functions. Also checks if global state’s nextScreen index has chainged thus necessitating a ScreenSwap();
- ScreenSwap(); // Calls the onClose function of one screen object and the onLoad function of another screen object. Once this is done the curScreen pointer is set to the screen object on which onLoad was called.
-Draw();   // draws the current screen to the draw buffer

/// The global state contains information that two or more screens may need either to communicate with each other or just to save on memory usage. A very important value is the nextScreen index. ScreenCtrl uses it to determine if one screen wants to surrender control to another screen.
GlobalState.h
- nextScreen;
- GameScore;   // example class
- SellectedMapIndex; // expel data that one screen my pass to another

/// The Base screen provides a template that all screens must implement so that ScreenCtrl can interact with them effectively.
BaseScreen.h
- GlobalState;   // pointer to the Globl state object shared between all screens
- myScreenType;   // indicates which screen type this screen is
- OnMouseDown(x,y);
- OnMouseUp(x,y);
- OnKeyPress(keyIndex);
- Update();
- Draw();

I hope this has been helpful. I know it doesn’t get into the nitty gritty of rendering, user control, or enemy AI. However all that stuff is pretty useless if you don’t have a clean way of going from your main menu to the in game play screen.

- dildo ravishes cuckold

Aren't cuckolds married men whose wives are having an affair.

-Round peg fits round hole
-Square peg fits square hole
-Mirror reflects lazer (or anyother light)
-Cockroaches move away from light
-Electricity powers light bulb
-cat chases mouse
-dog chases cats
-bird poops on newly cleaned car

Hello fellow Tig’ers I have been playing around with an idea for a 2D platform jumping game in my head for quite a while. Of course ideas in the head are worth squat so I have begun work on a design document. I would appreciate your thoughts on the design of the game. I am not asking for help making this (not yet anyway). The design is still very tentative and I fully expect to make a bunch of revisions as I code it into existence. Please feel free to point out any flaws in the design. Suggestions for additional game elements are welcome, but not guaranteed to be included.

Warning it is a little long:

http://www.monkeydev.com/monk/design_01_11_09.htm


One more thing it will probably look and play a little like Insomnia (from the CMPB compo).

Does any one know when http://www.shmup-dev.com/ holds its competitions? I have seen its past competitions and would like to enter but I never check up on them when they are holding registration. Also Xmass hack was awsome, but the event sponsor wanted to keep it allegro.cc only so I did not advertize.

Congrats to Verge and From Primordial Egg. Your two games were my favorite of this competition. I am glad many other people thaught so as well.

Good history lesson there. Personally I prefer a differet explanation. C++ is Islam. C# is Mormonism.

That is a great article. I especially liked the Pearl == Voodoo. As for the C++ vs C# debate I fall on the C++/Islam camp. Learning C or C++ will give you a good foundation if you want to make programming your career. You may end up using a completely different language but these languages force you to understand the core of what is going on inside the computer.

Another analogy is learning C++ is like growing up in a house with a Great Dane or Rottweiler. It is big it is beefy and if you treat it with respect you might just survive to adult hood. Later when you move out into the world you will encounter other dogs and wonder why they are not as strong as the big dog of you grew up with. Sure they do the same things, but your child hood experiences have taught you how to get the most of it.

On the other hand if you grew up with a cocker spaniel you will get exposure to a lot of what a dog can do for you. It will most certainly be easier than growing up with the big dog. However if in your life time you encounter a big dog and you try and treat it like your spaniel don't be surprised to be missing a few fingers at the end of the day.

To hook on a ledge hold the up button while jumping. To un hook press the jump button while hooked. It also helps to be pusing the movement in the direction of the ledge you hooked on to get on top of it. You should be able to do this at any sleepyness level.

The difficulty is ment to inspire madness, and the typo was because I was sleepy when I was finishing this. The narrowing is there to give the user a sense of progression and claustrophobia. Also it takes place in a lighthouse which tend to narrow as it reaches the apex. I am glad so many people like it even if they could not beat it. If I were not so rushed towards the end of development I would have done external playtesting. That is watched a friend play it.

You should include luering impressionable college freshmen into your ranks via atractive members of the opposite sex and obnoxious protests into your gameplay. Then brain washing them into giving you all their parent's money and commiting crimes in your name.

I actualy don't give a crap about how many animals they unthinize. They are also responsible for ruining many of their members lives.

I remember wanting to make a fighting game with all the the characters being the sterio types of people my 15 year old mind saw at the time.

Jock
Preppy Jerk
Nerd (me with super powers, Yay)
Stoner
Gangsta Wana-Be
Christian Zealot
Goth
Evil Clown
Gay Drama Queen
Annoying Child TV host (Barny)
Crotichity Old Guy

Of course now that I have the tools to make this real I am still too lazy to being it about.

Static text with button press to move on proably would be better. I like how it was done in Endless Cavern. The entry will remain as is for competion voting. I may patch it to look better later. What I would have liked to have done, if I had time, was get or make a font that looks like hand writing. Maybe put the entire thing on top of some background that looks like a log book.

Thank you all for your kind words. I apologies for not doing enough 3rd party play testing. In my defense I did want this game to be maddeningly difficult. Some things that might help you:

You can perform the flying hook maneuver on the sides of the tower as well as the sides of the plat form. Once hooked on, you can jump and rehook at a higher point.

Try to avoid the pills and the syringe unless you are very sleepy. The more “medication” you take, the higher the black tentacles will reach.

Grab as many power ups as you can. The game is much easier to beat when you are running and jumping at maximum. Once you pass below ¾ sleepiness (the third yawn) you are pretty much done for unless you are about to walk all over a bunch of powerups. 

Game worked fine for me. The chains and the music got a little creepy. Towards the end I started looking for cover and sweaping rooms to make sure nothing was behind me. I knew there were not weapons but going through the motions of a FPS felt like the right thing to do. Good job

BTW my graphics card is an Nvidia 7600

Game finished at 12:34. It is a little past the due time I know, but I was at Thanksgiving dinner untill 11:30 with no internet. 

The final part of this program is the art and text to replace the place holder endings. I also added an introduction that gives a little back story. I also did a little play ballancing to make the game easier.

It has been a fun competition. I thank Tigsource for hosting it, Anthony Curry for sound, mir@k for art, and Liz Ambrose for story assistance.

 

Perhaps you should specify if this is a game design question, a physics question, or some other sort of question. Also it would help to have an idea of what you are using to make this game.
Are you asking how to inform the player that they should interact with the bowl of water at certain times? Are you asking how to make water ripple realisticly as if a cat is licking it? Is this a 3d game you are making? How are you representing the water? What are the game ending conditions?

Honestly I have been slacking a lot between the last post and this one. I have a project at work that is sapping my creative energies. When I get home I have Spore waiting for me. However with the deadline less than a week away I finaly setteled down and started grinding out the game.

I basicaly completed all the in game sprites and game play elements. Yes those black thing comming from the bottom of the screen are tenticles and they will rape you.

All that is left is makeing the good ending, the bad ending, an intor splash screen, and cleaning up the main menu. Even if I don't get that done I can still submit this as a playable game.

Download as always at: http://www.monkeydev.com/insomnia/