3 replies to this topic

[Drackir]

Just thought I'd outline some of my current plans for the game.

Mysql DB Conversion -
Convert all (or most) database files from flat file (files on my computer) to a mysql database (either on my computer or on my website). This will be a LOT faster than writing to flat files on my computer. It will also allow for stats of players found on website and even eventually integrated with their message board user. Eg. it would tell you a persons level in this forum!

Recode Winsock -
Winsock is very slow and once I find a suitable replacement I will replace it to (hopefully) make the server a little faster.

Fix Map Sending -
Right now the map sending/receiving is slow and laggy. I will probably break up the maps into chunks to send instead of trying to mash 40kb down the tube at one time.

Map Screenshot -
I'm trying to figure out how to save a screenshot of an entire map in hopes of compiling a full world map (although shrunken in size).

Enter At Login -
I've already completed this. Login's will be a bit faster now since you dont have to click buttons if you are logging in and your password is saved. When you get to the main screen in game if you press enter it will go to the character login screen. If you press enter again it will login to your account. If you press it a third time (or select a different character and press it) it will log you into the game. Also, when you type in your password at the login you can press enter instead of clicking and if you choose an empty character and press enter it will take you to the character creation screen.

Multi-Door -
This is doors that are more than 1 tile high. I have yet to look into it but it shouldn't be too complicated.

New NPC Type -
I'm going to make a new kind of npc that acts a bit differently. We've all seen games where you can mine for metal and chop for wood. Well, I'm going to make a non-moving npc that will only let you attack it with a certain type of weapon [(or tool ) Eg. axe/pick] and that drops, well, metal ore or wood or w/e else. That way we can open our economy to even more things (like being able to make items).

Map Dependant Weather -
Snow on snow maps. Rain on not snow maps. Sand storms on desert maps.

That's it for now. I will update this as ideas come to me. Have a good one.

[Drackir]

Just to let everyone know what's going on. I've spent most of the day researching encryption/compression and connecting to MySQL. The bad news is that I found an awesome compression function that I could use on the maps but I can't use it because it's only available on Windows NT systems. The good news is the I've figured out how to connect to a MySQL database with VB and I wrote a program that converted all the player files into the database for me. I will be adding the new code into the server some time this week. I think thats about it.

Have fun kids!
(And mappers: Get mapping!!!!!)
~Drack

[Drackir]

I will be spending the next little while trying to optimize the code of the client and server so that they will run faster and take up less memory (as well as hopefully be less buggy) The client is laced with poor code used to bypass bugs instead of fixing them. I will be removing this code so there might be some bugs that come up after my next few updates but it shouldn't be too serious. Just remember: if you find a bug and know how to reproduce it either tell me or post it in the bugs forum.

~Drack

[Drackir]

I've manged to speed things up quite a bit server side. There has been a definite (at least 100%) speed up with loading the server. As for the client, I've fixed that map "glitch" that storm posted about earlier. It was really just poor coding. You will be happy (I think) to know that receiving maps is a little quicker now. I am still optimizing it and testing new things out but it has been sped up a bit. Map sending speed has increased dramatically. It takes about 15 seconds from sending a map to being able to edit again. I think that's it for now. Goodnight!

~Drack