Anoua

I primarily use PHPStorm which I love. Definitely not lightweight, and it does have a cost. But I work full time as a developer and having a more full featured IDE is pretty important to me. I don't use most of the features really, but the ones I do use are worth it. Also helps catch things like typos and unused variables which is nice. If I am just pulling up a file to check something quickly I will sometimes pull up and use sublime text, PHPStorm is usually still open, but sometimes I just want to open a single file and not a full project, so sublime is nice for that.

Live editing on the server is asking for problems anyway unless you don't care about introducing errors to your production server. For small not as often visited sites probably not a bit deal, but if you have something that players or people are actually using that is something to avoid. Even if you are able to write perfect code every time (impossible), some features take longer and so are broken during the process. Actually I can't think of many that would not have this issue except very minor edits. Definitely not something I would personally want to have as I want everything working as much as possible on production. My perspective might be different since I have a live games that are businesses. But they are definitely small business, though mid sized projects. I personally think version control is only not useful it the project is really small though. But yes there is that initially overhead and learning curve and I personally find git to be a pain. Basics are okay, but it just doesn't always feel intuitive to me once you are dealing with merge conflicts and branching. As for setting up a local server, there is a bit more setup initially. But I think it's good to have the basic idea anyway myself. For the database there are options to keep your structure in sync, and the data isn't that important to match as long as the base non changing much data is the same (breed base stats as an example). Doesn't hurt to sync up every once in a while, but in general what does it matter if there are x users on production and y locally?

That is really interesting they log you out every 30 minutes, guess I hadn't left it sitting long enough to notice yet. That's also interesting about the browser, especially since there password requirements are pretty ridiculous, 6-9 characters only alphanumeric. Yeah I saw that about the account being deleted, it does make me hesitant since I do go through different periods in life. But plan to play it for now at least when I have some time. And if I do get attached should be able to login every so often. At least have to get my eggs hatched and explore a bit more.

Haven't heard of this one, just signed up. Seems neat so far. Though I am annoyed on some of the navigation just ease of getting around. Having to click the drop downs is such a pain. Would prefer if everything was just expanded or you could choose. Probably not so bad once I am familiar with choices though. Still could use some polish/modernizing on the different pages and just how information is displayed. Errors are so hard to see to example, and overall how text is displayed just seems to be big blobs and just hard to scan for information. So far seems to have a lot of features though, and focus on breeding and battling is fun for me. The dragon art isn't my favorite but still cute enough to be appealing I think. Got two little water ones to start and they 3 eggs from them so far. The explore system seems interesting and battling is okay.

@Kesstryl Yeah I saw they had a vacation mode, but that is just not how I play games. I never know when I am going to take a break, sometimes I don't even mean to, just forget. And honestly if I am thinking about it soo much to remember to turn on vacation mode, I am probably in a play streak, and want to be playing. So then I'd run into the ending it and having to pay credits issue you mentioned. I mean I may be able to make it work/prioritize it so I remember, but at the end of the day, it's a game, and it would just take too much effort and stress to be worth it for me. I would really have to elevate to a level in my life that I don't think any game should be at. That is just me though. For other people it's probably not a big deal to remember or put it into vacation mode anyway. And the game play really is neat. The subscription option would be nice. I am too cheap for that at the moment but good to know. Seems like it'd be a good option for me if I did decide to play more long term.

We have a few. I'll introduce the dog and cats. Angel, About 6 years now, she's a Corgi/Blue Healer and Terrier mix. The Cats They are siblings about 2 years old now. Father unknown, but maybe Siamese considering how they look, and mother was a Tabby. Diego the striped one is male then Vixen is female.

I enjoy Ovipets though with how I play games serially, I never get very far. The breeding is a lot of fun and I like the parts which I haven't seen a ton and enjoy. I have parts on Eliyo too, but we are still pretty limited in the amount and different creatures right now, and I really enjoy the diversity of part options and all the creatures are pretty cool. Just being a breed focused game is neat too and not having to be limited by financially needing food is nice for it. But having to stay on so frequently or losing them all just doesn't work for me. The first time I had a handful of lines, and was really enjoying it, but then took a break, can't really remember why but that is usually for me, and then all my pets and eggs where gone. Then recently decided to check it out again since it'd been a while. But ended up being busy for a short time, maybe a week, maybe less I really don't remember, and all gone again. So I just can't afford to invest unfortunately. I also don't really like the lack of non premium currency. I mean I haven't really tried to sell any creatures, so maybe it is possible, but I'd like there to be a non premium currency so I can earn it and buy other peoples creatures too. I mean does keep me breeding focused looking for finds the adoption center so not all bad though.

I like adopts right now and agree with @Pepper-Head on the low maintenence being a forum and liked the ideas too. Glad to know the codex us developed like that now, always prefer the discover approach. And the branching might be neat if some are added. Your inventory and explore ideas could be fun, I am not against them, but just depends on what focus your going for, that'll make it more like a game and may distract from the forum aspect.

I have not really built a team. It's mostly myself, but my husband is also working on taking on more game responsibilities as well (including learning programming). For animal acres I have had a mod team but the game came with them. And they were just volunteers so I didn't have much expectations on them. I also had someone do some volunteer work on Eliyo before which was from passion on there part. They just asked if they could help I said, well actually I could use help with this if you are able. Gave them some site credits in return. Was pretty nice really. And right now I also primarily work with the same artist since we have been working together for both our games, programming to art trade and that's been nice but for most part I just say hey this is what I need can you do it? So I haven't really worked to build a team per say. If you are just looking for a team where you all co own, or they are volunteers I can imagine that would be trickier. They would need to have a reason to join your game. And so income definitely speaks, but unless you can afford to pay them full time wages, they couldn't really afford to be dedicated just to you either. Even with income though I think finding someone who is interested in your project is probably the best thing to make someone stick. As for my skillset I am primarily a programmer (web developer by trade), but also the main game designer. I am not the greatest artist, but I know my way around photoshop pretty well and can do basic things and recolors. Good Luck!

Oh nice! Thanks for changing back. I'm sure you thought long before making the switch in the first place so it's hard to have to go back, but I am glad to have my adoptables back at the least. And I do like the games directory too. Of course I would of learned to navigate the new one eventually but it IS nice to know where things are again.

Hey Welcome glad you found your way over. There is quite a few people from VPL that have joined. Though seems like this site was actually around a bit before VPL went down, but I found it myself right after and definitely nice to have one to fill the void to have that pet site focused community. It's a pretty nice one as well, and there are adoptables, which are fun.

I personally like directional a little more but I think both have advantages and disadvantages anyway. With the directional I think it can feel more immersive and give you a sense of actually going somewhere. Feels more like an rpg to me, like this is the world you are exploring. Random can be fun too, but it's not specific so doesn't have the same feeling. Seems like it'd be simpler to design and program though, since you don't have to map out the world, just the general rates you want.

Hey welcome to the Gaming List. The automatic post through me off at first, didn't think of just editing it though. That's cool, how is Misticpets doing now a days? I never really played it too much, but have an account on there.

Sounds like a pretty interesting concept that could be pretty cool. I think Projia is a good name for this idea. It incorporates project element and then the jia ending works for the more gaming aspect. I think personally the monetary aspects should just be single player. There could still be community and bragging rights with profiles and such. But if the project management is the focus being able to make whatever goals you want and however you want seems pretty important so people can be in control of their own management without after to feel disadvantages from using things correctly OR just doing things differently as I think some people will probably naturally consider things smaller goals and others may naturally consider things higher goals. Also to keep balance elements like consistency and such could be showcased, as that will remain static based on progress versus just how they score their goals, or even how many goals they have. Some might prefer many smaller goals (even tracking things like showering as you mentioned) and others may just want to score work related things for example. It's really pretty personal I would say. So having a consistency element may help balance that out. Anyway just some thoughts. Good luck finding time and motivation.

My husband and I have multiple accounts on our own games. I have my main admin account that I utilize for handling any game issues and some testing. That account has all kinds of money not earned and just generally isn't meant for a play account. Then I also have a main standard account I use for playing, and the same with my husband. We also have a couple other random test accounts, they aren't utilized a ton, but can come in handy. In my case having a separate account is pretty important to get the real game experience for play testing, and just for fun. I don't think it would be as necessary for general staff such as moderators. But can be if you just want staff to have generic non game accounts.

Ah man, that's always hard. Good luck continuing getting it to come to life, it's definitely not easy, especially if you add in personal life issues.

@Lucille Ah okay. I have an account on there, origins-tree.com? Haven't checked in, in a while though. How has development been coming for you?

Ah okay. Having some interaction before hand is nice to start then. Plus I think some of the difficulty with learning to program for web is just how many pieces there are (html, css, javascript, then the backend language, database, if a framework is used etc...) so already being so knowledgeable on the front end seems like a good advantage. At the moment it's just one client so not a lot of switching around between languages. I primarily do PHP and then some JavaScript (including jQuery at times). We develop on the Laravel framework at the moment and have a MySQL database setup. So pretty similar to my personal projects except Animal Acres isn't on Laravel and is half on a framework half off.

Cool, let me know what you think. Working on a lot of updates for both of them, Eliyo is still in Beta, and then Animal Acres is going through a revamp (created years ago then I bought it and am updating). So quite a while then. That's great. So as a front end developer have you worked with Javascript then? Or is it more the design side of things? Developing a project is definitely a great way to learn. Developing Eliyo is a lot of what has gotten me the skills I have now and into the jobs I've been too so a good way to go.

Hey @Merlin welcome to the Gaming List. What brings you here? Are you interested in any particular games?

Hey welcome to the Gaming List @Lucille that name does seem familiar, but can't put an avatar to it. I was on VPL as well. Always nice to have new members joining. Do you play many sites or working on your own project?

Nice! Looks like there are quite a few already in there as well. Will have to spend some time checking them out. Thanks for working to build up the community.

Hey @Sapphire Welcome! Nice to have another former VPL user join us. I was a member of VPL as well and joined here once I learned about it after VPL went down. The community here is pretty nice and I have really enjoyed it. Quite of a few former members have made there way over as well along with other new people.

Hello @mariell welcome to the Gaming List. Are you a virtual pet site player?

Hi @Uber welcome to the Gaming List. I'm in a full stack web developer. I focus on PHP and MySQL with a decent amount of JavaScript thrown in as well. I actually work full time as a web developer as a profession and have two web games that I own and developer for (Eliyo and Animal Acres). How long have you been a front end Developer? Have a particular game project you are planning to work on/release?