Role Playing Game & PHP - Looking for inspiration

ATS16805

Do you know of any resources available for the novice PHP coder who is interested in using PHP to develop a Roll Playing Game?

I have a friend who has been dabbling in C++ , but, since he's also interested in Flash animations, and web development, i thought it might be fun to see what we could do if we put our heads together and tried to have a go at making an RPG w/ PHP.

Anything you can think of will be helpful at this point. Maybe you know of a site where PHP developers are already doing some RPG'?. Maybe you have a script lying around that would be cool to tweak? we're looking for anything and everything you might have on the subject of Roll Playing Games and PHP development.

thanks!!

LoganK

I was actually working on making a small PHP game w/o MySQL recently...I'd link you to the thread but I accidentally got fired up and flamed them, so it's embarrasing 😉 I have seen something like this on this forum before, though, so do a search and I'm sure you'll find something. If you friend is good in flash, you might want to consider this: flash as the frontend, PHP serving up content, and MySQL as the DB. Flash's actionscript can interrogate the PHP scripts, which retrieve and format MySQL data, and finally Flash can make everything look all nice again.

SquattingRadish

Im currently halfway thru the development of a diplomatic RPG. Basically the PHP side of things is a big grid map where players move armies around (like Risk the board game), the RPG side of things is done in a seperate web forum. Im extending it to integrate and economy based on what squares you own, settlement building, plunder, trade etc.

What did you have in mind for an RPG game ATS16805? More DnD based? I was going to do a website to aid DMs who are running DnD games. drop me a PM if you want to talk abt things.

ATS16805

Thanks to all for your input here. So, Flash will integrate well w/ PHP? I had never thought of that. Do you have any reference links?

I haven't really done much w/ this since i first asked. For one thing, I need to develop a MUCH better understanding of PHP & PHP / MySQL integration before i attempt something as potentially tedious and error prone (i'd guess) as a Roll Playing Game.

SR, yes, my vision would be similar to a DnD type thing. I assume that's what my partner in this project would have in mind as well. Please allow me to indulge you in a little story.

See, here's the situation. I used to tutor this teenager in guitar. He's home-schooled for phychological reasons. Since he had already mostly tapped me out in terms of music theory and technique, and i wanted to continue to spend time w/ him, I suggested to his mother that i begin tutoring him in web development, as it would give him something to do in which he wouldn't have to interact with other people, and it could also provide him a way of earning income if he were to get good at it. He is gifted at certain things, as one might expect. I showed him some simple stuff in Flash and he took it and ran w/ it surpassing my basic creativity, in essence, almost immediately. Published some neat little cartoons in a few days time, which i thought was impressive. I bought him some server space, and showed him how to FTP the files, explained relative paths, etc. He has a few books on C++, but i thought since he had already been tinkering w/ Flash, why not introduce him to the concept of dynamic web development. He wants to learn C++ to develop an RPG, so you can probably see why i've asked about RPG's & PHP.

we downloaded something from hotscripts, but ran out of time to tinker w/ it. i haven't spent any time w/ him since my original post. what i'd really like in terms of this RPG, would be a REALLY simple existing script, or ideas for step by step on how to approach this project-- as in, what fields should be in my table, what user input elements might be essential, etc. i want it to be something that he can feel like he "owns" so he'll really take it seriously, and develop it over time while assimilating coding conepts, etc.

sorry for the long post, but i wanted you to know why i've asked for this, and why i might seem like i'm not quite sure exactly what i want or need.

SquattingRadish

what i'd really like in terms of this RPG, would be a REALLY simple existing script, or ideas for step by step on how to approach this project-- as in, what fields should be in my table, what user input elements might be essential, etc. i want it to be something that he can feel like he "owns" so he'll really take it seriously, and develop it over time while assimilating coding conepts, etc.

Hmmm I dont know of any tutorials or scripts off the top of my head. Ive spent weeks developing my game which is essentially an glorified board game. If you want to do decent graphics then certainly use Flash. PHP can interact very easily with Flash via XML, where the XML is served up dynamically in the same way that PHP serves up HTML. (instead of echoing the HTML tags and content u echo the XML tags and data).

Even if this RPG game doesnt get finished (it is a pretty big project) XML and PHP are usefull skills to learn.

LoganK

Radish explained it pretty well. That's what I meant about PHP integrating with Flash - PHP outputs the XML data, and Flash (Actionscript) then reads and interprets the XML data. And just like he said, even if you don't get it going, PHP is a good skill to learn and XML is a great skill to learn!

Radish - you made my post obsolete 🙁

ATS - I'm sorry if this offends you, but after viewing those flash SWFs they appear to be crudely drawn, animated, and voiced (bad microphone quality), with many of them including lots of curse words. Perhaps you'll want to teach this kid a bit more about social interaction first (i.e., what's considered good on the web and what's not), and also teach him a bit more about graphic design (because honestly - what good is using Flash if the designer can't make stuff look good?). It's a good start - but some tweaking is definitely needed.

scross

I don't use XML for PHP-FLASH interaction. I use a simple method where flash calls php with some variables (POST method), the php script echoes something like this: &a=1&b=2. When flash receives this it simply sets the variables in an object. I could post the flash and php code if you want.
Scross

LoganK

And because of that, you don't understand XML. Although it may be a bit more time-consuming and/or frustrating to write an XML parser for Actionscript (unless they have one, I don't know), it will help you out more in the long run to understand the uses of XML.

scross

You may be right, I tried XML once and it scared me off. I might try it again as now I am much better at actionscript and php. Anyway I read tutorials that did it that way and they worked so I was happy with that.
Scross

ATS16805

LoganK wrote:
ATS - I'm sorry if this offends you, but after viewing those flash SWFs they appear to be crudely drawn, animated, and voiced (bad microphone quality), with many of them including lots of curse words.

OOPS! i totally forgot about that. i'm going to remove the link.

I'm glad to see that some discussion has ensued here.

XML is something that i have never really looked into yet. how does it differ from XHTML?
As far is i understand it, XML is useful for creating something that can be viewed by a multitude of clients (eg. cell phones, PDA's, interface for the blind, etc.), correct?

Are you saying that you're using the XML as a sort of way for Flash to be able to interact w/ PHP?

Could you be so kind as to describe a little about why XML enters the picture in terms of PHP and Flash? (feel free to respond to any, all, or none of those inquiries)
😉

LoganK

I agree, that that way is easier. When I do AJAX, that's how I have PHP return results to JavaScript. But at least I understand XML, even if I don't understand how to parse it or even if I don't use it that often.

LoganK

Didn't see your post there. XML differs from XHTML because it is not a way of presenting data, like XHTML is. It's a way of storing data. It's not viewable by a multitude of clients, because there is no style associated with XML. It's parsable or understood by a multitude of clients, because since there's strict guidelines on how to structure XML, correctly-written XML code can be parsed by any language - C, Visual Basic, PHP, Ruby on Rails, etc. However, I don't think it's used in interfaces for the blind.

Yes, XML is a way for Flash to get data from PHP. Not interact with PHP. See, this is what happens: you write a PHP script which gets data from the database. PHP receives the data from the DB, process it, and echos (or prints) it back to the screen, in XML form. Here's where XML comes in: since the XML form is language-inspecific (neutral), Flash Actionscript can then call the PHP page, and interact (parse/process) the XML returned by PHP, and then format it nicely the way Flash does. And then, when needed, Flash queries the PHP page again for new/different data, and the whole process happens again. Here's a diagram:

Flash (Actionscript) -> calls PHP page -> PHP calls database -> PHP returns results as XML -> Flash grabs XML, parses it, and displays it.

Get it?

ATS16805

yes. that is very cool. and your explanation gets the point across as well as your example, i think.

right now, i'm personally still in the VERY begining stages of understanding and building scripts w/ PHP. actually, the next thing on my agenda is CSS. I've been a DreamWeaver user (cheater) for so many years. i'm proud to say that i haven't opened it in a long time. for example, i'm trying to organize my SQL queries w/ html tables-- i need to be doing that w/ CSS positioning instead... once i get there, then i'll feel like i'm making some progress!

thanks again for your useful contribution here. as evidenced in a comment above, i think we've got a long way to go before we start dealing w/ actionscripts. it's likely Flash won't come into play at all. the kid i'm working w/ just sees it as a way to make and publish silly cartoons. those on the link that i removed were from a few months ago. he obviously got bored w/ it. i need to show him how to structure, for example, a business website, w/ logical links, etc.
hopefully, once he gets the idea of "structure" being important, he will once again become inspired to dig into it.

LoganK

Allright. Glad everything's working out for you and the kid.

Side note: if you're done with this for right now, please mark this thread as resolved.

scross

CSS is easy to learn if you get how it works, same with MySql. I am good at both and have used both successfully. If you search for 'CSS tutorial' on Google some good stuff comes up.
What are the advantages of using XML over a simple flash variable setting, is it faster, or more powerful?
I agree about those cartoons, there was one that was really loud and someone shouted something really rude. When making a game you need to think of some sort of a storyline first, the better the storyline, the better the game. Then you need to think of how it will work on paper. Then you need to master drawing your characters and scenes to make it look great. Finally you need to program it with actionscript, php and mysql. So don't just make something for the sake of having a php - flash interaction unless you're looking to make a bad game. Thats my advice...

LoganK

Nice explanation scross. I've got one more thing to say, with regards to this:

What are the advantages of using XML over a simple flash variable setting, is it faster, or more powerful?

A "simple flash variable setting", as you say, cannot be used to retrieve/update data from a database, which means that there will be no way of storing the content (users' data) permanently.

scross

you can, I have done it. Your flash app posts information to the php script that puts the data in the database. You recieve information by posting details of what is required and the php script replies. Maybe I misunderstood...
Scross

LoganK

Yes, but your method then uses XML to return data from PHP. Unless you're talking about just returning plain-text data.

scross

no, it just returns plain text like: &variable1=value1&variable2=value2

LoganK

I used to do that with AJAX work...