First thread

[Administrator]

27th November

Yay! Learned a bit more, managed to check user login on the 'AJAX side'. I'll still send uid from page with every request, so both can be compared. Who knows, someone might mess with cookies or logging in/out.

So... now I can totally forget that Mysqli side-adventure and carry on writing everything with PDO. Classes work exactly the same, just have to change a couple of lines and have parallel copies of each one, for AJAX and non. Rather inefficient, but the normal classes still refuse to work here.

... hmm what's this, error about maximum connections? Been doing something wrong, making too many I guess.
"PDO does not necessarily just reuse the first connection made when called repeatedly, which was the case with mysql_connect. In certain situations, if you create multiple PDO instances with the same connection details, it may create multiple connections."
Added closing function, but how to forcibly close all those already open? :/ Bah. Gonna have to wait til tomorrow and hope they've closed by then!

Also had idea to make an advent calendar. Should be pretty simple. Except it can't be tested tonight because of the DB thing.

28th November

Well crap. The error is still happening (when the heck ARE they gonna time out?) and I searched all around phpMyAdmin and the host files, but can't find any way to count how many connections there are, or stop them. So can't do any more tweaking/testing of that.
At least the mysqli scripts still work though. Guess I'll have to keep using that for more AJAX features... and just have to rewrite later...

Right, enough headaches, I simply can't figure out where to move this template function. Let's chill out and just make this bliddy calendar. *hmph*

29th November

Calendar made. Satisfied! Also apparently Ittermat was looking for someone to code her one anyway, so that's convenient lol.
What shall I work on now? Hmm...

- random events system needs redoing/updating. Instead of happening on some pages, add it to template class.
- flock check shouldn't fetch griffs/groups on page load, instead only look them up if user clicks the icon.
- think of how to remake the notifications system. Using text like "Griffname laid an egg nicknamed Scruffy, sired by Daddyname" is really inefficient.
Should use numbers instead, like... if message type is 3 (breeding) then there are 3 columns for mother, father and baby IDs, and from the message type we get the sentence "X laid egg Y, sired by Z" in which to place those vars.

- ITEM FUNCTIONS NNGGGHHH. All these things sitting around and still nothing to do with them.
- also was wondering about inventory, how to lay out so many types of items. Hmm. Maybe scrap the tabs and put a search there, like for flock. You can choose the category (if any) there, plus search by name and quantity.
Related to inventory, I might add another 'type' column, to really narrow down what each item is. 'Ore' can then show up in both Mineral and Raw Materials groups.
Or maybe I can scrap categories entirely, and just have those specific groups.

Went on a detour and added 6 mutations for critters! Albinism, melanism, leucism, xanthism, erythrism, cyanism.
Tested creating, searching and breeding them, seems to work. Simpler genes than griffs, the mutation is passed down straight from mother or father.
Pagination doesn't seem to be working *sigh* but will fix that tomorrow.

30th November

Inventory. 44 item types. WHAT AM I DOING

Also here's a tiny preview of a new base. Still shoddy, needs cleaning up and highlights. Just getting used to the style.
But I hope it's not too atrocious.

[Administrator]

1st December

Updated item search to use the new correct categories and types.
And am in middle of drawing the new Minavo pixel bases. Will upload all the pix versions in own folder and set up a different image script for them.
So the current art will still be available, until everything is ready to replace. That'll be a long time away.

Now editing loads of old, unused items to be new things. There are heaps of them, yikes. I'm only on page 4 in the DB, out of 11 pages!
At least it's quite enjoyable thinking of building materials, fabrics, dolls etc. Wanna be detailed but not overly so - the workshop systems are currently limited in how many ingredients can be used at once, and it's awkward if there are multiple ways to create the same target object (like using silver vs platinum). I don't want to have 'duplicate' or alternative recipes, so some things must be simplified.
- note to self... can't use gold, silver, copper or platinum for picks, axes, armour, beams etc. Need some other metal. Iron, steel? Got some ores already...

2nd December

More items. Halp. Can't stahp

Might actually get the top menu done tonight? Been sketching in Photoshop for ages, couldn't find a nice way of arranging the 2 rows of info.
Bloody wizards and RPGs, why must they have HP and MP bars? x) But let's see if this layout works. *drawing pixel buttons really fast*

6th December

Aaaaargh... endo...
Woke up at 3am in agony, now it's 3pm and I'm just about able to get up and move around. Exhausted, dizzy, can't eat or drink, just absolute ugh... like death warmed up. So glad this wasn't a work morning D: If days like this keep getting more common again, wonder how much longer I'll be able to work at all.

The last couple of nights, Ittermat requested a spinning wheel minigame, so I made one. Quite satisfied with it.
And I did some writing about Rampant griffs.
And am seriously considering merging the Roost and Profile pages. Having so much of the same info fetched in each place is silly. All the management options could go in an extra tab only visible to the Master... must do a lot of planning, for new layout.

But right now I'm knackered, prob not gonna get anything done this evening. /faints

7th December

Today is better. Whew.
Decided to finally clean up the redundant user profile stuff - removing gender, nickname, active griff, featured griffs... these things are either not used any more, or handled differently.
Extremely tempted to add that full browsable/searchable list of user's griffs... hmmmm... and maybe scrap the public/private group and nest idea?

Profile editing page will be redone after that.
And the Achievements page is gonna be broken as well. Needs redoing anyway. Like everything lol

8th December

Yup. User profiles. Joy...
I couldn't think of a nice layout for all these complicated sections, so will go the super easy/boring way and just use tabs. :/
At least this way, everything's mostly fixed in place, and can have a nice fancy graphical border/frame.

9th December

Decided... to forget the pixel art idea! Woooo! And will now switch back to usual painty style.
This was gonna gnaw at me forever - even if the pixelly game got popular and was praised for being 'unique' or anything, I'd always be annoyed at the lack of 'free' drawing. Pixels are finicky and slower. So, am now drawing some nice new Minavi lines.

Started thinking about islands, too. You start with one special island, that has your fortress/garden and 20 roosts, and can collect 19 more.
They'll come in 5 sizes (Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Massive) and 3 terrains (Rocky, Grassland, Forest).
You can build roosts, citizen housing, mines, grazing land, lakes etc on certain terrains, and upgrade them.
Like making a mine larger to get more/rarer minerals daily... or more housing for more citizens, who raise money daily... or building more roosts... or designating more grazing/hunting land.
- You'll need at least one lake in order to keep aquatic creatures. Lakes require a Large or Massive island.
- You don't NEED grazing land, but it'll keep your flock fed while at home. If not enough land, they'll get hungry every day, and need feeding.
- Islands can be changed in size using amplifying magic, and the terrain and current building/designation can be changed. Unless you're trying to destroy roosts and it'll fall below your flock number; you can't suddenly make creatures homeless.

But whatever. Really into drawing these lines now. x)

[Administrator]

13th December

Outlined them, woo. Now colouring all the body parts, and also trying markings, finally.
NOTE TO SELF: the new image size is 750 x 500.

Finished the wheel minigame. Still hideous of course, needs nice graphics and layout. But it works.

Decided to simplify breeding, get rid of the 'bloodline' hybrid system. Now offspring are either mother's or father's breed, or a hybrid if those breeds have one.
Having to slot breeds into that 'table' was tricky and restrictive, plus puzzling for users. Why should Opinicus x Marlik = Achaemenid? They're all totally different, etc.
This way, I can keep adding new breeds or hybrids forever, with no restrictions at all.

There'll still be general rules, like "any griff x any pegasus = hippogriff" but they can be overridden by specific breeds, like "vanavi griff x any pegasus = peafowl pegasus". Woo crazy mixing!

16th December

Holy balls, where are the days going...
- still drawing, drawing, drawing, drawing, drawing.
- updated register page to have password security checker. Optional but nice.
- updated template to use user's timezone for the time and BG. If logged out, it will default to server time.
- added login check with sleep function, to prevent spamming login attempts.

Have set up activation code system (either follow a link or type it in), but it's hard to test, as email sending isn't working. The password reset email isn't arriving either. Due to free host maybe? :/ Prob not much I can do...

Bah. Gonna finish off the evening by working on new nests, finally. The list of enchantment stones still isn't decided, but some spells, like faster/slower growth, should be easy.

19th December

Keep forgetting to update this!
Last night, ummm, think I worked on the activation system more. Emails work, and it should be resending emails if you request it. I'm too lazy to actually test.
And more drawing, of course.

Today, decided to remake achievements system (old, been broken for a while). A fairly fun/simple task. Adding a bunch more.
... oookay. There are 128 of them now. Added pagination, and figured out how to do CSS pop-up hover boxes, instead of using JS.
Later, must use this hover trick for items and other things around site.

21st December

Must finish the new incubation system.
- daily growth, rate depending on enchantment, carer leaving, enchantment ticking down... done.
- creating, editing nests...
- update the nest and baby lists after any edits done...
- re-add the chick rename/abandon options, and add transfer/gene test options (that will need an item as payment?)...
- re-add carer hiring...
- re-add basic stone effects (gotta make a few charm items to start with)...

22nd Dec

Oh, oh... crap... new idea. Basically the charms/stones were gonna get suuuper complicated, with 100+ possible genes to pinpoint and hundreds of colours etc.
So maybe you can browse the genes and pay a mage to edit specific genes.
It would require payments, like you need an Eye Charm for her to edit one eye gene, or a Wing Charm for her to edit any wing gene. These could still be crafted from metal bases and various gems.

You bring up the Edit Genes box, choose body area (Eyes, Beak, Cere, Base, Additional, VenCovert, VenFlight, DorCovert, DorFlight, Mark1, Mark2, HornBase, HornExtra, Paint x 4, Personality, Physicality).
Then you see the genes listed, like:
"Dorsal Flights
These feathers on the outer wings should be Shaded Lavender colour.
G g R R b b s+ s "
(I know that example's wrong)

You click on one of those 8 genes and are shown the options, like:
"Gene o2b1 can have the following values: B or b"

And if you click to change the b to B, mage takes payment and updates the info above.

You could also let the mage cast own preset spells, like "randomise all paints" or "change all feathers to random dawn-like colour scheme" if you like surprises.

Forcing the user to browse all genes like this might be overwhelming at first, but also would teach them exactly how each bit works... and give total control, once they understand it. Imagine saving up a big bunch of body part charms and wondering which eggs to spend them on.

I still love the idea of having magic stones in the nest though... maybe scrap the enchantment system and use stones for that. Boosting growth rates, giving more points to random chicks, etc. Yes, much easier. Each mineral has a property, such as Carnelian giving twice as many points as Topaz. Or Quartz giving boosts to three chicks while Emerald only boosts two. Etc.

Also just came up with the genes for marking shapes. Just 2 numbers. Scribbling examples now...