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- mitsu0
toastie, if you are talking about this:
http://www.fox-toolkit.org/then we are comparing apples to oranges. fox is excellent for what it does, but my use of vb doesn't extend to that end. when i talk about building tools, i'm talking about using vb in support of building tools. sorry, i was too vague. vb was made for writing business apps fast and i've just extended its usefullness by using it for quick tests, like algorithms, and such as setting up a test environment and being done with the test in a matter of minutes.
kind of the same as opening calc to get a ball park figure of something as opposed to a tax application to actually do it.
- toastie0
no doubt mitsu, whatever works for you :) i'm just fulfilling my role as an opensource preacher.
*coughyoushouldreallylookatpytho...
- mitsu0
sure, i'll look into it. :)
what advantages does it have over c or c++? so far c/c++ does the job for me so it would have to have some really big selling points for me to learn yet another language/syntax, but i try to be open-minded.
- toastie0
python is not a programming language really, it's a interpreted scripting language that can have bindings to C++ libraries (or anything you want for that matter), so you can have access to C++ calls without the need of recompiling. Very useful for fast prototyping.
- Recycle0
You have 3 solutions, really:
1) Java. Java handles all of the graphics, network connections, and everything in between. Java is also platform independent and can nicely run as an applet in the browser. Yes, Java can often suck, but if you do it right your app will be straight-up smooth. games.yahoo.com has some good java applets that don't suck.
2) Shockwave and some kinda server-side language. Shockwave is great for web apps (see http://www.netbabyworld.com/) and you'd use the server side lang to talk to the database, etc. I don't recommend PHP, ASP, or JSP for this one (as they are really designed for HTML), however Python, Perl or even C++ would be good choices. The downside is that you would be relying on Shockwave, a privately owned technology. Macromedia's oncompetence freaks me out personnally.
3) Python/TK. The quick solution. Python for the coding and TK for the interface. The two go very, very well together and the application is platform independent. Python/TK is also very good with network connections.
Whatever you do, PLEASE don't make it HTML-based. Page reloads for this kind of app REALLY suck--even if you try to disguise it with an iframe.
One last word of advice: store minimal database info on your users computer or your users will hack their database and cheat all over the place.
Good luck!
- toastie0
but yeah, as far as the original topic goes, you have to store as little information as possible on the client side. Preferably none. The more info you store, the less secure it's going to be. Only store the things that dont affect the gameplay directly, and definately no db's relating to it.
- nh0
Point well taken about storing info on the users machine.
Ok, I'm thinking I may want to use Python with C++ because of the cross platform compatibility and the ability to utilize the web more efficiently.
So maybe a couple more links or resources would help and also, what would be a good tool for the interface, I'm a fairly decent designer and would like to take full advantage of my interface.
Thanks a bunch, the GameDev forum is helping as well mitsu, thanks.
- toastie0
C++ tuts:
http://www.cprogramming.com/tuto…
http://devcentral.iftech.com/art…
http://cplus.about.com/cs/ctutor…Python tut:
http://www.python.org/doc/curren…
game specific stuff find on gamedev and search on google
- unfittoprint0
Flash + MySQL + PHP
. . .
MySQL databases: usersID, cardsID, games stats, etc...
- Cadillac0
Flash + MySQL + PHP = wasted energy.
PHP is for HTML. Flash is for webpages. Use Shockwave (which is for apps) and Python (also for apps) if you're making a non-HTML app.
- unfittoprint0
PHP isn't for html or Flash.
it's used as database retrieving tool. MySQL database.
Flash is for eye candy. candy sells. Kids like candy.
- nh0
C++ and Python will be completely new to me so, can I build the interface in Python or use something else? Also, what's a good editor for PC.
Thanks a bunch guys.
- sparker0
psshhh.
php just for html????? certainly not. especially with the release of v 5. it is more oop centric now...plus with the mesh of gtk, php reaches far beyond html.
as for flash for web pages, again, apperantly you don't even scratch the surface of its capabilities.
besides, xhtml and css are actually for web pages, not flash.
- Cadillac0
PHP is still very tightly bound to HTML. It even automatically generates all kinds of HTML headers on output. Kinda nasty if you ask me.
Says PHP.net: " PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language."
- ********0
unfit is so right
- Cadillac0
nh: Use TKinter (aka TK) for your Python interface:
- Cadillac0
Oi vay. There is much more to coding than PHP.
- sparker0
but that has actually changed a lot, especially with php5. it can and will still be used as an html scripting language i'm sure (by many developers who don't know any better), but the power of zend2 and php5 now rests in oop.
as far as generating html, it is actually better to utilise smarty (or other template systems) and seperate logic from presentation - just like it is best to distinguish between logic (scripting), xhtml (markup) and css (presentation). php wasn't really intended to be heavily inter mingled with html...that is why the major changes from version 3 to 4 and now from 4 to 5. it is meant to be a more robust programming language.
- Cadillac0
I agree, sparker, and I love PHP (especially 5), however it still has a ways to go before it becomes a mature end-all scripting language.
Back in the day before the XHTML-CSS revolution when PHP was first created (with Perl) it was very much intended to be embedded in HTML, much like ASP and JSP. PHP has spent some time trying to escape from that, and even with the birth of PHP5 it still has a ways to go (hence the existence of template engines like Smarty).
As robust as it has become, for an application like this PHP is not the answer.
- mitsu0
not that it matters, but if i were writing this type of app, i would use Flash, ASP/PHP, and the backend of my choice.
considering the type of game your making, c/c++, vb, or java are too cumbersome to write such a simple multi-user game. i can appreciate your desire to learn a low-level language like c, but i wouldn't start learning by writing a mulit-user game complete with graphics. i can't question your motivation because i don't know you, but anyone who has been in game development for any length of time can attest to the numbers of aspiring game developers that set out to make a game and learn a new language at the same time, only to find that it's not a simple 1 month project...
granted, that is just my opinion, but flash was created for doing things just like this where cross-platform compatibillity was an issue. do what you like, but that's just my input.