Just for fun (well, actually, a bit for fun but in fact to test proof an idea...), I did some extreme testing on Golemizer on my PC.
I wanted to see if the code was able to handle an extreme number of NPCs. So I created 100 000 rabbits without caring much how dirty it was done (for i=1 to 100000, that's all). The results?...
My machine is an Intel Core Quad, Q9400 @ 2.66GHZ with 4 GB of RAM, much better than the actual server currently used for Golemizer. With 100 000 rabbits (and the other golems already in the world), the Golemizer's process is using around 30% to 40% of the CPU and 600 MB of RAM.
When not in a zone filled with these rabbits, performance is the same as before. Not too bad I guess but some improvement might be needed for the next test: 1 000 000 rabbits...
Friday, January 23, 2009
Rabbits everywhere
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Fitting Golemizer in a 730x510 or 840x700 area
If anyone have ideas or can help...
In my quest to reach a larger audience, I need to figure a way to create an alternative interface of a smaller size. The point is to be able to submit the game to game portals so they can show Golemizer on their own website (without any pop-up). Not being a Flash game makes it harder to convince portals to put the game on their website so I need to make it easier for them.
The ideal size to reach would be 730x510 pixels which is beginning to be a little small but also seems to be a size that most website can host.
The size 840x700 pixels is probably a more realistic target though can still be a bit large. This is the size at which Runescape appears on kongregate.com. Anyway, that would be better than nothing.
The currrent size of the game is 1020x730 pixels.
Some parts of the "play zone" would have to be cut. It would have to work a bit like Starcraft (move mouse to borders to scroll to area not seen). Other than that, it would remain the same. I already have a prototype for this and it seems to be working fine.
Everything at the bottom of the "play zone" would required to be changed. I'm not really good at interface design so if anyone have ideas... Many things can be done. Tabs can be added, scrolling areas, multiple toolbars that can be scrolled (think toolbars in WoW) and so on. While being at it, things like buttons, the wooden border and colors could also change.
You can check the following website to get a clue of what can be done: http://scripteka.com/
Anyone can help? I'll probably post an ad to look for an artist if it can be done on small budget. If anyone know an artist that you think would be able to do a sketch, please let me know.
You can check Golemizer here: http://www.golemizer.com
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Weapons now part of Golemizer
It wasn't an easy update to push online as misinformation have lead some players to think that the focus was shifting away from golems.
However, after explaining how the whole system is working, the reaction is now much more positive. Sure, there will still be some adjustments to make but overall it should open new doors to Golemizer.
I'm pretty sure that in no time I will receive comments in the line of "Weapons are not powerful enough..." once players get to play a bit with them. However, weapons will remain a way to support golems, not replace them. Pretty soon, players will realize that trying to face golems with only weapons is way more harder than they thought it to be.
The addition of weapons might interest players more familiar with traditional MMO gameplay. My goal is to lead them to discover that there can be much more than just shooting things randomly.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Learning about the past to understand current days
Following this story for some days now, the result is this new wiki about MUDs.
MUDs are not something I ever been into, mostly because I was unaware of their existence at the time I could have been interested by them (and the lack of internet connection didn't helped...) and that now I'm happy just reading about the subject.
Worth to take some time for neophytes like me in the subject.
In other news, I finally installed the trial for EVE Online. I'm completely lost and I like it. Current goal is to slowly understand the basics. I did managed to get a new ship and a new turret (but forgot to buy ammo...). Might take more than one trial to be able to "learn it" as my play time is somewhere between the time I stop working on Golemizer and going to bed, which is about 30 minutes.
Don't look for me in there, this is currently just a casual experiment.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
You can't draw? Just like me...
Nice simple article on gamedev.net. Take a look here: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/art/features/CoderGameArt/
I like the part where he's saying to avoid animations. "Use a theme that doesn't need it. Spaceships don't need much animation.". A bit late, but I understood that one by myself some weeks ago... :o
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Knowing when to take a break
I don't know if it's because of the holidays or more probably the fact that I tried to stay away from Golemizer for 2 weeks but the annoying lagging bug is finally fixed! I posted the details on the forums (http://forums.golemizer.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1141).
While the bug itself was quite easy to fix, the problem was to actually being able to reproduce it on command. Without the help of some players, the bug would still be there.
Pretty much all development on Golemizer was put on hold because of this bug and it will now be time to get back to work. The list of things to do is quite long (as usual) so I'll probably take a break from that other project (see previous blog post). Once again I end up being frustrated of not being able to as much as I'd like but the priority must remain Golemizer.
The first goal is still to get more players (or at least more visibility, always trying to reach a point where I'd be able to at least pay for the 2 servers I'm using which is currently not the case) but strengthening the current core of players is needed. So I have a list of bugs to fix that should make some people happy and some systems that I've been working only on paper so far to add.
So there should be a bit more activity around here soon...
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