Dinocanid

My last devlog in 2017! I feel like I've made great progress with the game in these 5 months, and I hope to do a lot more in the coming year. Now, onto the news! -Breeding System- For the past two days I've been working on the breeding system, which I may end up having to overhaul since the breeding system that comes with the mysidia framework was meant for adoptables, not animal sims. This is what I've done so far: I completed the art for newborn pups. This one has a blue base -- no markings in this example though. I'm still debating if I want nose colors to show on newborns, or if I want all newborns to have pink noses. At the moment, a pup's markings are randomly selected from that of the parents. Inside of this "array" is an empty marking slot, so the chance of a pup having little-to-no markings increases for every empty marking slot the parent has. I divided all of the bases into groups, and now a pup has a (roughly) 60% chance of inheriting from a parent and a 40% chance of inheriting a base from either parent's color group. For example black + white could result in: faded black, black, grey, dark grey, light grey, white, and off-white. -AI Progress- I set it up so needs change at least 3 times each day for NPCs. (ex. eat when you're hungry, sleep if you're tired) Once that works well, I worked on other things like hunting if the pack is low/out of food. Then over time that would affect the amount of prey in the immediate area, etc. So basically I worked on making the site functional without player interaction, since that's a large chunk of the site. After that, I can work on adding things for the player to do and how they can affect things. I'm currently debating replacing the "moves per day" system with an energy bar. -Minor Ecosystem Progress- Hunting now affects the amount of prey left in a territory. Prey replenishes every day (at the moment), but it can become scarce if a pack overhunts. I'll work on improving how alphas handle pack hunts, because at the moment they will declare hunts if food stores are low, even if prey is running low. I want it to be so packs will start to ration if prey is scarce so, you know, they don't starve lol -New Art + Updates- White markings are now brighter, so the look less like a 5'o clock shadow on some bases Black markings are now darker, so they look less grey on some bases I started working on wearables. This is the "inferno" item. This wolf has the new "ember" base. They also have the updated agouti marking, which looks much more defined and clean now. The urajiro marking got a similar update too This is the very rare "spiritus" base. Added 3 new markings: Husky Tail rings (black and white) Back stripes (Black, red, and blue) Still haven't gotten around to those paw pads. I made a brand new banner! -Battle System Progress- While it's not done, this is what the battle page looks like so far. The "challenge" button was re-added to a wolf's visit page, and clicking on it causes you to engage in battle with them. Winning or losing doesn't affect anything at the moment though. The art still needs cleaning, since it's very "sticker-like". This is the full-res version of what a wolf's battle sprite looks like. Eventually, challenging wolves can lower relations with said wolf as well as probably shifting ranks. -Relationship system progress- It's still in the early stages, but now you can gain relationship points with a wolf. Once you reach at least 120 points, you can become mates with them. Obviously it need a lot more fleshing out, but that's what's done so far. -Forum- We have a forum! Now there's a specific place for game discussion, news posts, suggestions, etc. (Besides the discord, that is.) View full news

A new feature is finally here! You can now create your own shop for selling your adoptables to other users! You can view the list of shops created by users at foodbabs.com/usershop. You can't buy from your own shop though, since what's the point of that? Once you manage to sell a pet, you will get a PM that says which pet you sold and who bought it. You can create and edit your shop from the shop CP, located at foodbabs.com/shopcp. At the moment, you can only make one shop and you can only sell adoptables. Finally, you can put a pet on (or off) sale from their manage page under the "sale" tab: -Minor Changes- The pet manage page has been restyled! Now everything is organized into neat little tabs. Using the daycare will no longer log you out, regardless of which domain you're using. (foodbabs.com or foodbabs.x10host.com) View full news

Since this was a side project, I at first just had some simple ideas written down as was working on them without much structure as to which development stage it would be present in. (IE: the trello board) Link to Google Doc I created a document that shows exactly what features will be present in which stage. This helps me narrow down my focus so I can work more efficiently, and this shows you what to expect for which release. I don't have every development stage on there yet, but I do have the plan completed for the first phase: Closed Alpha 1. The other stages are as follows: Closed Alpha 2 Open Alpha 1 Open Alpha 2 Beta 1 Beta 2 Full Release In this stage, the game functions as expected but new features will be rolled out on a non-regular basis. View full news

It's been a long time since the last news post. Here is what's new on Foodbabs: Our index page is no longer empty! It now has a short few paragraphs on the game's lore and stuff. A few other things are visible as well, like the updated art for the eggs (looks much cleaner than the old ones) and the new winter adoptable that's coming soon. In other news, pet contests are (hopefully) here to stay! It's now automatic, so it chooses winners, prizes of the week, and general database cleanup without my help. Like before, the "Best in Show" is the only available contest at the moment since we don't have enough members for everyone to enter different types. Unlike before, winning a contest will no longer raise your ranking. It was previously programmed where you moved up a rank and you competed with those who were the same rank as you, but we don't have enough users to have that kind of system. Until then, everyone competes on the same level. Also... We could be getting a new theme in time for the holidays! This one is called "simplicity", and is much more mobile friendly than our current "virtuoso" theme. It also allows for more freedom, like seasonal backgrounds and a more fleshed-out banner. It's also one of the first good themes I've made myself U_U Unlike before, when the old theme was phased out after a new one arrived, "virtuoso" will remain available once this one is released. This is because both work relatively well on mobile, and both themes use bootstrap 4 so the content is compatible. It isn't finished, and still needs a lot of work to be visually appealing, but "simplicity" will eventually become the default theme. If you wish to test out the new theme, it can be changed at http://foodbabs.com/changestyle View full news

This is getting way off-topic, so I'm not going to keep going on about it, but nobody is upset about you saying that it costs money to make a game. We were just saying that if someone declines to buy a $10 plugin, then it's rude to make 2 posts saying "You can't afford $10? Really?"

I accept your apology, but volka is still right. I understand that back in the day, making web apps, pet games, and games in general was very expensive, so your advice would hold water back then. However, now the internet is full of free resources and tutorials to give people a head start. Later down the line, I plan to spend money on hosting and staff; but that's only when I need it. (When games get big and busy, a free host won't cut it) I don't feel comfortable pouring money into my 2 alpha-stage games (one I've spent 3 years on now), if life were to make some unexpected turn and those games never make it to beta, that's hundreds of dollars down the drain. I would be spending $80 (or so) for hosting on a game with no traffic, for example. I also get that in many cases, even today, starting a game is not free if you can't produce assets yourself. (artists and programmers very, very rarely work for free) So in those cases, you can expect to be paying $100 from the get-go, depending on how prices are. However, I do the art and programming myself, with the exception of some volunteer work and pre-existing code. So for me that rules out until I feel the need to start hiring. But games don't cost thousands of dollars to make anymore. When it comes to public multiplayer games, you can expect your expenses to rise; but if your game isn't big and you're okay with a slower development pace then starting out doesn't always come with a price tag.

No thanks, IntroJS seems to have what I'm looking for.

Why spend $10 when there are free alternatives that can basically do the same thing? (IntroJS for example) I use free hosting (for both of my sites) and only need to pay once a year to keep my domain name, so I'd rather save up for more important things like better hosting and staff (when I need it)

Looks useful, but I'm only looking for free options (jTour costs $10)

Something like IntroJS is actually exactly what I was looking for, thanks! I'll be sure to use that search term though, so I can look at other options.

This is something I've failed to find on google, since no matter what I type I always get general PHP tutorials. What I'm talking about is some sort of interactive tutorial for the pet site. When users first create an account, they might get a pop-up about how to get their first pet and where to go. After they adopt that pet, they get another pop-up on where to buy certain items, how to take care of their pets, certain mechanics, etc. While it would be easier just to record a video and/or have a text tutorial with pictures, I've always found things easier to grasp this way. Of course, users would have the option to completely skip the tutorial if they want to.

That's exactly how I'd describe it! It feels like it's melting or frying or something

Besides PayPal, there's also Ko-fi for one-time donations and Patreon for monthly donations.

@OnceUponthetime Donators and Patreon supporters will be given premium accounts, and they'll be able to choose which pack to join. All markings and bases will be available to everyone when the game first opens, but premium users will have access to exclusive decorative items. While on the subject, Patreon supporters will also get exclusive markings and colors/bases down the line, since I plan to make some of them goals.

In order to both answer questions from the community and get some feedback at the same time, I've decided to do an open Q&A for Wild Souls! Have a question about the game? Post it here and I'll try my best to answer it! I won't be keeping a master list in the OP, so it's best to read through the comments first to see if your question has been answered already. The closing date is November 11th and, once completed, all answered questions will be added to the official wiki for other users to read. View full news

I agree that finally getting that code you were struggling with for a long time feel extremely rewarding. It usually feels like I broke a barrier or some sort, especially since I am still learning. It's kind of like "I actually did it! :0 Now I can do more stuff". I do need to take breaks though. As much as I would like to work on my websites during all of my free time, my brain doesn't like it lol. Even if I do manage to make a breakthough, I'm usually down for the count the rest of the day.

I'd say it depends on who's buying. From what I've seen, art styles in pet/sim games are pretty diverse, and semi-realistic and cartoony/neopets styles tend to be used equally as often. One style isn't going to appeal to everyone, so no matter which style you decide to choose you're always appealing to a specific niche; unless you decide to sell multiple styles that is. I think people hire more often than they buy, since you want the art style on your site to be uniform. What also happens is that people can buy premade pets/items and then hire the artist who made it if they want anything else, or hire different artists that can mimic the style if the original artist is no longer available. (Although people who buy premade bases are more likely to just hire color artists)

I painted two illustrations in FireAlpaca today, one of Ventum Collis (the moorland biome) and the other of Nigrum Montis (the taiga biome): (Hey wow would ya look at that sheep) I also created a video on youtube! It shows off the in-progress registration process, including character creation. As a bonus, I'm also working on an official wiki! You can tell it's bare bones, but it wouldn't hurt to check in every now and then to see what's been added, right? View full news

A pretty general topic, but does anyone else get that weird sensation thing while coding for a long time? It's not exactly a headache, it's more like a "feel-bad" sensation in your head; not unlike when struggling on a really difficult math problem.

I've been using Mysidia Adoptables to build both of my sites. It saves me a ton of work that I otherwise would have spent months on, and it's relatively easy for me to expand on.

For private, online projects I use cPanel's built in legacy code editor (Not the new AceEditor, can't work with such thin wordwrapping margins omg). When locally developing I use Notepad++, it supports a ton of languages with syntax highlighting and it does what it should without being clunky. I tried using Visual Studio once (the free version), but it was a hassle to install and took forever to launch so I gave up on using it.

Updated with more recent examples, since my skills have improved from when I originally posted.

The section for the most recent topics seem to have disappeared from the index since the update. There's "Join the discussion", but it shows topics from last month or before. There's a most recent section on the home page, but there isn't a way to get there from what I can see besides typing "/home" onto the url; since thegaminglist.com leads to the forum index, not home.

I've never even heard of it, but I'll probably give it a try today! EDIT: Trying it out now, and it has great potential so far! It does seem easier to integrate too. It took some time, but I managed to separate the jumbled mess css and javascript code that was sandwiched in with the html so I can comfortable use PHP with it.

Actually, you just described exactly how it goes (for me at least). For foodbabs, most of the pet names are very obvious puns. A ragamuffin is a muffin-cat mix for example, but ragamuffin is also the name of an actual cat breed. Names and stuff for wild souls were made off the top of my head. It was originally going to be named something in latin to fit the theme, but the translations were too lengthy.