Kesstryl

I already use this exact type of table for my rpg that allows collecting pets, but players get only one of each and in the end complete a collection of pets they can swap out for stats to their players, but the collection system will limit how many individual pets each player has. I've seen pet sites where players can have over 50k pets, won't one table of this bog down the DB? I've never run a game with that many things in one table so I have no clue. This is why I'm looking for insight.

What would be the best way to structure a database so that users can have large numbers of pets, especially when you have stats attached to individual pets? I could see this getting really unwieldy over time and would love to learn strategies for handling this in a scaleable way.

I don't see myself going back to VPL. It's hard to trust that it won't go down again. I'm also not a fan of what Silver-Brick went through (I'm a Mysidia Adoptables forum member and saw what was posted there), taking advantage of a kid like that. I'm grateful to the leader and mods here for keeping the community together and will stick by this one.

Will this be updated to PHP 7.3 at some point? My development environment uses 7.2, and my hosting uses 7.3 so I'm hoping this will be updated so I can finally try Mysidia again.

My game Dragon Lord is a very niche text based PBBG so it's not very active. I get a few players every now and then, but text based games are a thing of the past. I created it years ago to learn PHP, and it runs on shared hosting so cost is very minimal. I make no money and keep it online because I still enjoy running it and interacting with the occasional refugee that wanders in to give it a try. I use Google Adsense, but other than that, there is no cash shop or way to make money at the moment. I feel like I don't have anything to offer that's worth charging people for. When I do get time to invest in more assets and features, that might change. I'm not after making a profit, it's purely a labor of love for the time being.

I did try Codoforums once for the SSO, but it ran so slow that I gave up on it. I don't know if it has been optimized since then.

I'm so glad someone has decided to take this up. I hope you got HOF's permission though as he owns the original script. I've waited for years for him to do something with this as it is currently unusable to me with all the e-notices and crap. I also like that you will be commenting the code which will help people like me who are not saavy with OOP programming.

Good to know how the new forum sections work for games. I'll have to see if I can dig my game thread up from one of them, I did have a forum thread for it at some point. My game is Dragon Lord, a RPG where you are a dragon (link in my sig). It's not a pet game per se, but dragons can collect companions which are basically pets (they don't breed, and you can't have more than one of each type, but you can collect them, level them up, bring one with you, and they add to the dragon's stats in the same manner as weapons and armor). It's really an ameteur's hobby, but it has kept me sane through years of college by giving me something creative to work on. It's completely playable and a full game, but needs a ton more work visually and art wise. My degree is in education, and I'm getting my teaching certification.

Sorry I haven't been active. I started an internship in January, and recently just finished school and am now in the process of graduating. It's been difficult for me to keep up with my hobbies, and many of the games I play even got sidetracked. I still have my little RPG game up that I'm running, but the spring event ended up going an extra month because I haven't had time to work on it, and I've only now begun my next update (finally). I understand that you have to maintain costs for your server, trust me, I understand that all too well. It was nice having advertising for my game, and trying out lots of other games that I found interest in through this site. Maybe as @Onyx suggested, have a sub-forum section for listing games to help have a game directory without the added expense.

Jackalope Hunting Festival!Every spring the jackalopes overbreed, and it is up to the Dragon Lords to reduce the population and keep the ecosystem of our world healthy. You will find jackalopes not just in the area around Hatchery Lair, but all over the map! Each jackalope you kill will add to your score, and as you reach certain numbers, the nature spirits will grant you a special jackalope companion that is different than the others. These special jackalopes have different colors, and they go through their stages at different levels. Some of them will be valuable companions in the mid to high level ranges. You can now have a jackalope with you that will benefit you in nearly every region in the world. Be careful of the Dragon Slayer, a rather vicious jackalope that you will encounter at the highest levels. Jackalope Hunting Season will last all through to the end of May to give dragons a chance at finishing all the achievements. Enjoy competing with other dragons to race to the top of the special Jackalope Hunt Leaderboards. Let the hunt begin!Companion Mini Update!A small update was implemented today to rebalance the Companion system. A portion of the Companions stats were too low at the adult stage, and they have been increased. You can view the stats for all companions on the Companions Help Page by pressing the Help button at the top left of the page. The update included boosting the Dexterity stat for Shinies Jr. so many of you Hatchlings will have a boost to hitting and evading enemies. Some of you also got a boost with the Bobcat. Other mid-level companions have been boosted slightly, and this balance should make the Companion system more rewarding! Dragon Lord is an old school text based PBBG browser game. You are a dragon that must fight your way to the top to earn your kingdom and defend it against other dragons. As you fight, you discover that there is an enemy more deadly than the other creatures and dragons fighting for your territory, and you alone must stop it from destroying the world. Features: Completely Free to Play and Free to Win! Dragon classes - Arcane, Ranger, Warrior A Main Quest story with a final boss to conquer Exploring and random monster fights PvP dueling (optional) Gaining territory and managing troops Run your kingdom as a Utopia or be a despot Kingdom vs. Kingdom Achievements and Leaderboard Loot to make your dragon stronger Companions and pets to fight with you in battle Your dragon is a character in a larger story, make your story into a legend!

Because my game is more of an RPG than a pet game, I decided to give players a random chance at finding pets while exploring the map during their quests and monster fighting. If the random chance ticks, then a random pet is pulled from the pet table that is within the player's level requirements for that pet. Because I wanted to keep the focus simple, a pet is automatically added to the player's pet list if they get one. If they already have that pet, then they don't need to add another one (you only get one of each because there is no trading of pets, pets help you in battle only). If it's a pet they didn't have, it gets added to their collection. Pets are numbered in the collection so you know which ones you haven't collected yet, and there is a list in the game wiki help pages that the players can check. Pets have stats which help the player, and pets also have points at which they can be leveled up to increase their stats. So, my system is simple in the context of the game I have created. A game that is pet centered and not RPG centered will have a different system than mine. I do have some players that are enjoying the random finding and adding to their collection pokemon style, even if they don't need that pet as a battle pet with their build.

My goal is to add more events, features such has hidden areas to discover while exploring, and of course lots of art to my text based RPG Dragon Lord. While being text based means that art is not necessary, as an artist, I want it to be there. I want to give the game a unique, sketch book like feel and not have perfect cookie cutter type images. I want players to feel like they have stepped into a story from an old book. I think games with non-typical art could be a unique approach to gaming. Games like the platformer Limbo have proven this. I think some other goals I have are to work on my branding. I'm not very good at marketing or branding, and it has taken me some time to figure out what exactly will make my game appealing to those who land on the home page. That is not easy for me. I'm not sure I've quite got the knack yet, and I don't know when it will feel just right. I am pleasantly surprised by how many registered accounts I've picked up since open beta, and that there are players actively logging in every day and playing. That tells me I've made something that works. I want to add so much more, but there's only so much time in a day.

I'm working on NPC art for my RPG game Dragon Lord. Here is Shinies the Raven, who gives out a daily quest to collect a shiny for him:

Congratulations!

I would love to help, but I will be heavily involved in an internship starting next month to the middle of April. Is there a chance to sign on later?

I made some pixel pets for my game Dragon Lord for the holiday festival. While play testing I found one when I was exploring.

I tend to like fictional, mythological species, but I think both are valid. I will never say no to a cute puppy!

Happy Thanksgiving to you too, in two days anyway

I'm actually having trouble trying to figure out how to breed my horses. I see options to put them up for open breeding, but I wanted to breed between my own horses, and I can't figure out how to do that. When I click the Breed Now button, it just refreshes the page, and I don't see an option to pick a mate.

Looking forward to trying the breeding system!

I like collections to a certain degree, and I prefer collecting things that offer functionality, unless they are avatar items, then I'll take fluff if I can decorate with it. I think decorating is a purpose in itself though, so again there is some utility. I'm not so much into achievements just to put a badge on my profile, but I know other players like that sort of thing. I definitely like collecting the pets themselves, especially if they are breedable and can be used to make new alternates (new patterns, colors, attachments such as wings and horns, etc). I like have a vanilla version, and I like making offspring with mixed features. Aluriya had a really cool breeding mechanic like that with their base pets and the merging of the image layers, and I'm hoping to have something similar to that when @Onyx adds it back into Aethria.

Since I can't drink coffee anymore due to acid reflux (boo!) I now use MiO Energy Iced Mocha Java water droplets which have caffeine and B-vitamins. It tastes pretty good even though it's not exactly like coffee. I always start with my caffeine drink, LOL. If I need to think, I'll usually just get into a groove. If I'm doing something repetitive and mindless, I'll put some tunes on. Since I have some alpha testers helping me with my game, my first priority is bug fixing. I'm also observing their game habits and questions about various things which is helping me to think of ways to make various game mechanics more accessible or easier to grasp. Finally, there's a ton of art to do. Most of it is tiny pixel art so it's getting done fast, but there's just so much to do. I have new features planned programming wise, but they are not going in until the art is done. This has been my flow.

The only art I've given away for free is to friends and family, and usually that's some of my traditional practice pieces or crafts. I currently have no time to do a lot of art because I'm in college and working, but all my digital art has been going into making my own game art. I have very seriously considered some of the art positions and jobs I've seen posted on this site, but I have not applied because I know that very soon I'm going to be doing an internship, and I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I think it would be an honor to have a paid position on a pet site, or even to freelance a few paid pieces, but it would be impossible to work for free as I need to eat and pay bills. I also have carpal tunnel, so I have to choose wisely how to apply my time. I agree with what other artists are saying here that buyers think that art isn't work, or that they charge too little. Non-artists have no idea how much work can go into some things, even simple things. If something takes an hour to create, and you only pay a few bucks for it, that's less than minimum wage for that artist. There has to be a proper balance in there. It's also getting harder to find good pay when third world country artists are selling things for far less than minimum wage in your own country. This is definitely killing digital art wages.

Oh gawd, yes, I've had similar bugs like that only to realize it was something so simple!

I always love seeing more games added to the game list. Do you have any examples of what pets look like?