Hi,
I have here some extra updated info and some history about this project. I have recently decided that I am going to make this entire project open source (the server too) and continue working on this project, the client is in pretty good shape right now, but some testing needs to happen, I want to add some more major things, and I need some good input too. The server, is going to be my next big project. I plan to convert it also to Jabaco in the near future, and its source will be open too. This is why I have not yet shared the source to the server but with only a few people--because it still sits in VB6 Enterprise currently.
I have added another utility to the client src zip file. TilesetUtil.exe: Basically, it allows you to rip graphics from screenshots of anything (printscreen, etc.. then paste into the util), and turn pieces of it into 32x32px tiles, and I usually take these image sets on the canvas on the bottom portion of the utility window, and use photoshop to merge them all into one big one, which would be my tileset for the game. I try to alter the colors and other random things in Photoshop at that time too to avoid unwanted issues. :p
Some info about the actual server. Not too long ago, I switched web server software. I am now using Apache/2.2.21 (Win32) mod_ssl/2.2.21 OpenSSL/0.9.8r PHP/5.2.17 for tecktronic.net. The physical server itself is a Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2180@2.00GHz 2.0GHz 3GB/ram running Win7 Premium. It has a massive cooling system (not water cooled), just a lot of fans, dedicated mini air conditioner, alarms, etc. The cable connection is a D3.0 and internal network is gigabit. It has a 2 hour battery backup unit attached, as in this part of Pittsburgh PA, the power goes in and out quite often. Luckily, the cable does not most of the times the power does.
I have to admit, this code has had a really interesting life. My original code was made sometime between 1996 and 1998 (I was like 13 years old), and the project carried over through the various versions of VB (started in VB3, and made it to VB6 Enterprise). This was around the time of Xenith (David Ikeda), The Odyssey Online ('Bugaboo') [this guy actually is who taught me the basics of 2d game concepts in vb, and a huge thank you goes out to him--Justin], I remember someone made a game around this time that used AOL chat as its comm protocol--it may have been an early version of Xenith. It was cool back then though. Anyways, data loss occured alot easier back then than it does now a days, and I lost everything. So, I recreated it all from scratch i VB6 Enterprise.
Back then, what is now known as JRPGT via Jabaco, was a similar game compared to what I had made back then, totally different graphics that I made, and had some cool things that I could not get to work in Jabaco that did in VB6, so I had to take them out, but I found some even cooler things to do to it once I got things going in Jabaco. I had an ActiveX version that worked well in -windows internet explorer-, but that never really worked out for me so great back then with the way windows default security settings on IE were, etc.
Once I stumbled upon (literally) Jabaco a few years ago, I looked through my archives of about 300 things I made in VB over the years and thought, you know this would be fun to port to Jabaco, and it really has been.
If anybody is interested in helping with porting over the server or enhancing the client, let me know! Also It could be cool to setup some more servers and each one has different graphics and is a different game. This would require others allowing me to make updates to the engine, and them hosting the server daemon. (I would need to add an auto updater to the server daemon/engine before and get this going as a test first before even consideration of starting to port the server program to Jabaco). I can provide hosting of the games webpages and applets for you if needed, but you have to make the pages and host the daemon on a cable or better connection, you can use my webpage templates as a slate too if you want just ask and I can provide you with that. Sometimes a second set of eyes and helping hand can make the world of a difference in the development of something (:
In my mind, having a major project like this available for people to tinker with is something than can only enhance the Jabaco community. And most of the people that have helped test things, are from this board and stumble upon, and I thank you all for checking it out. For being a demo basically and not an 'official game' really, and having over 4,000 game logins since I started counting, I once again thank you.
How o I feel about what you do with this source code?--it has not officially been declared anywhere as open source material, but it is. If you want to morph it into something else, have at it. All I ask is for you to let me see what you did, I wont care, I just wanna see (:
Something I could think of just off of the top of my head that would be interesting, but I do not have time for right now, would be to have an isometric tile version of the client.
More to come