Anoua

Vinegar

I can understand the reasoning, but I think forcing people into boxes isn't necessarily an accurate representation either. Of course it's not really too big a deal in this context anyway, probably at least close enough, but guess I just wanted to get my opinion and lack of agreement with the ones I mentioned out there.

Nice! I am almost at 50 so far. I am just limited by time mostly at this point as there are a number of topics I feel I can contribute too still.

Teen

False You have had a pet rat.

Lean

@Corsair Interesting find. And yeah I did some comments saying they were not going to redo the art, but then they ended up working out a deal with the new artist. But I don't know, I am not 100% sure I even like the new art better. It's good, but to me it's just more of a change of styles. And I liked the older style too so.. kind of a toss up honestly. I definitely agree sometimes you just have to say it's good enough and move on though. Otherwise nothing will be finished, and that isn't beneficial either.

I always use a framework for any large projects and use Laravel at work as well so use a framework most of the time. Overall, I would highly recommend using an already established framework. While you can build your own, you are going to take longer doing things that aren't going to make your project better by doing it on your own. Frameworks give you a good starting foundation with even lightweight ones including routing and other base functionalities. I also think a good Object Relational Mapper is great for speeding up developing and just make common database interactions easier. I also like using a template engine for front end code. Not strictly necessary but I think it keeps things cleaner and helps me keep backend logic separated from the front end.

I primarily use PHPStorm now a days and really like it. Easy to use and recognizes Laravel which is good since that is what I am programming in most of the time. It does fine with javascript which I also use regularly. I like having my project open on the left hand side to easily pull up and switch between files, which of course is a common feature anyway, but seems to work well for me. I sometimes will use sublime text when I just want to check a file normally that's in another project than the one currently open. Easily opens up and doesn't affect the current project or open a new one. Plus it's fast so that is good when I am just checking something. But I don't normally do any programming using it.

I made a Halloween game for a contest on VPL. Was a one week project which had the requirements of being able to run from a zip file and being Halloween themed. We were able to use past assets and libraries. So I pulled in some Zorvic plushies coloring them for Halloween (and now able to found in Eliyo as well in limited quantities) and @MoonDust did all the music and sound effects which I think turned out great. But as for the programming it's all javascript. Jquery and foundation were also utilized instead of starting from scratch. The main point is to collect all the different plushie colorings and all the medals which there are four categories and three levels. Essentially every time you feed a piece of candy to the Zorvic plushie it changes colors. This also increases the plushies stats which there are 6 stat levels. Better stats are how you win the contests which nets you medals. I tried to keep it simple and basic because of the time constraints, but quite a bit of work went into things really including coming up with the concept and how to get candy etc... But there are some intricacies too. For example earned stats for candies. On load everything is set, and the amount earned for each candy is then set for the entire game. This means that the Rainbow candy will give different stats per game, but for the entire game the same stats are earned. Doesn't end up playing much of a role since you can't just buy a chosen candy type though but could be built on if this was ever extended more fully. As well candies have a rarity. I just did this in a simple way that works, but would be a pain to maintain. And that is I made a list of all the candies, and then for ones that should appear more often, they are in the list more often like shown below. var candiesRarityList = [ 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 12, 13, 13 ]; // Setup Game skins skins = []; skins.push(new Skin(1, 'Black Cat', 'cat.png', 'Plain black cat with yellow eyes.')); skins.push(new Skin(2, 'Chocolate Peanut Cup', 'chocolatepeanut.png', 'Chocolaty brown with a tan peanut colored finish and suspiciously familiar orange eyes.')); skins.push(new Skin(3, 'Zikzang Flower', 'frangi.png', 'The colors of the zikzang flower, pinks and a yellow belly.')); skins.push(new Skin(4, 'Cursed Apple', 'apple.png', 'Purple with glowing eyes, they might have ate a cursed apple.')); skins.push(new Skin(5, 'Halloween', 'pumpkin.png', 'Orange color of a pumpkin with green eyes.')); skins.push(new Skin(6, 'Candy Corn', 'candycorn.png', 'White, orange, and yellow, who would of thought candy corn could have such an affect.')); skins.push(new Skin(7, 'Eyeball', 'eyeball.png', 'This one almost looks like an eyeball, red veins on the tail.')); skins.push(new Skin(8, 'Frankensteins Monster', 'frank.png', 'Frankenstein created a monster.')); skins.push(new Skin(9, 'Ghost', 'ghost.png', 'Ghastly white fur with pink red eyes.')); skins.push(new Skin(10, 'Ice', 'ice.png', 'Sparkly blue ice with sparkling stars.')); skins.push(new Skin(11, 'Pumpkin', 'pumpkin-vine.png', 'Pumpkin coloring with green vines.')); skins.push(new Skin(12, 'Rainbow', 'rainbow.png', 'Familiar red coloring with orange, yellow, green and purple.')); skins.push(new Skin(13, 'Brown Werewolf', 'werewolf.png', 'Brown werewolf with silver eyes.')); skins.push(new Skin(14, 'Silver Werewolf', 'wolf.png', 'Silver werewolf with yellow eyes.')); this.skins = skins; This does mean candy rarity is set per game which is actually what I wanted in this case. But anyway the full code is actually all accessible for anyone interested and can be found here, http://munchies.eliyo.net/common.js Here is the contest page, Each contest has 3 stats that they use to judge winners. So when a contest is entered, it generates a couple contestants that are within a certain range based on the contest level. Then each one including yours is checked for the winner adding up the 3 stats and adding in some random points to add some variability as well (so if you win once that doesn't mean you will win every time). This all happens really, really fast. So, to make it feel a bit more like something is happening I added a delay with sound and spinner to signify the contest being on going. Simple, but really makes all the difference in it feeling more eventful. The game is still playable if anyone wants to check it out, http://munchies.eliyo.net/ This post is long enough but if there are questions I can elaborate.

I prefer any items to have a usage of some sort. I am okay with collections if there is a built in feature for collections so that collecting the items have some purpose which I have seen before though can't remember where. I don't know that the items were duds otherwise, but their were collections to fill which then gave you rewards for filling them up. But if there is nothing that rewards you for collecting, then the items should have an alternate purpose as well, or there is literally no point to even have them in your game and most people won't use them. I can't think of any items in either of my games that don't have some purpose. And I really don't think in general this is that hard, especially if you have creatures that need toys or things to interact with. Most things can be made into toys at the least.

Love the variability in your genetics script @Hare more realistic, and I would imagine more fun. The standard, will just make a bunch of colors and then set it to that image with no variability is one of the reason I don't enjoy breeding in most sim games. I think your system would be a lot more fun, and actual surprises/differences among the babies.

Seems like it died out. They used their tumblr for updates as well and the last one was the pets being redone (not sure why since the art has always been really nice from the beginning) but that was still quite a bit ago so, maybe it's been abandoned. http://clanheart.tumblr.com/ Seemed like a neat concept, though not particular appealing to me, I did like the idea of being able to switch creatures at any point and always loved the art. Was always confused why they decided to revamp it all, and before it even opened. But seems like some people did have complaints so maybe that is why. Unfortunate they went ahead with the revamp but stopped updating it though, lots of money down the drain there I'd imagine.

You shouldn't voice each question to be answer OR give a neutral response for each one. For instance on the first question I don't like either answer. I like a primary focus on pet sites but also like the option to have more general focus too. And I didn't think TGL didn't any increases for those listed responses, but I HAD to pick one, even though I would have left it blank at this point things seem to have a good balance. I enjoy the contests and such, but don't think there needs to be more. I also wasn't sure on the adoptables question. I don't need more, but more isn't a problem either. -- I don't think there should be any re-branding but like what is currently set. Overall seems like a good name and allows the general to make sense and not be so limited which can pull in a wider audience.

Eliyo yes, especially once it's more complete as right now things are more limited long term. Of course I'm biased so hard to really objectively answer of course. But I made it based on my own interests primarily, so it is the game I wanted to play. Animal Acres probably not as much. I do enjoy things about it, which is why I purchased it to begin with, but I just don't play sims sites as much tending to prefer more fantasy. Which Animal Acres does have mythical creatures too (one of the things that stood out when I was deciding) but the main goals are really stats and shows, so very much a sim game concept at the core. And this is one of the main reasons I try to access my player base a lot when making changes or additions, since I am not as much the target audience. I try to pay attention on Eliyo too of course, but it's more for me and I have a main direction I am working towards regardless.

Sounds pretty interesting actually. I think it could make it feel more immersive, like you are part of the world and living in it which can be really cool. Obviously will depend on how it's executed too though and you'd want to have balance for players in less populated areas to not be too punished for it or perhaps users can move and just decided themselves.

I used to update my games on VPL as well. Wasn't necessarily a set amount of time, just when I had something new that I felt was worth a new post or update. I liked doing that and felt like it had some benefit and would do that on here too. A news option connected to the show case would be okay, but it's not really the same. I don't know if I would use it or not, especially if this news was only shown when you were browsing the showcase. Posting a new thread with updates or adding to a old post would put it back to unread posts for people when browsing. This to me is important as it lets people who aren't necessarily seeking out your game get a catch to see it and know about it. And I know I did browse and check out the updates myself except skipping a lot of the over populated RSS feed sites. And speaking of the RSS feeds I did feel it ended up making the boards cluttered sometimes with the same small handful that used it with news that wasn't necessarily worth reading to someone who isn't actively playing

I don't see why you would take your site down if that's what you mean. Bots will likely always try to get in, that is what they are designed to do. I have bots that get in some times on Animal Acres too and just ban them and move on. Eventually I will tighten my security on it, but currently it's not a priority. It's not likely a bot was designed for your site, that would be very unusual for such a small site, plus if an individual really wanted to target your site specifically, they wouldn't need to create a bot to do that, but could just manual create accounts as wanted. They'd have an easier time getting in, that way. And the only way to really block against spammers (which is what this ones would be called) is to moderate and block as necessary. I also don't why you would immediately change your password. Unless you have reason to believe the accounts been compromised, or you feel your current password is weak, I don't see why you would just change it.

It personally doesn't seem worth the complication to me. And I still don't like being limtied but if I had to be would be a nice compromise. But when would which show even? Most games I've seen the username is seperate but then not seen. But more of a login name, so a different scenario.

I agree with a lot of what @Digital said. I dont think intent is all that matters, as sometimes things are said or done that may need correction after learning and understanding it's offensiveness. But at the same time our society is very easily offended by all kinds of things that I don't agree are offensive and while I won't try to offend in those cases, I also am not going to cater to groups finding offense in everything.

Awesome just barely made it. Congratulations to the other winners as well.

For myself no. I just don't see the point and what would be the benefit of owning and operating a bank? Would you make money on interest? That is a slow return, and where does the loaned out money come from? Is that money the bank owner has to have? If not then points are just flowing into the economy. Would there be checks on this, can only loan out X amount for example. What length of time do loans span and what happens if someone can't pay back the loan payment?

Well an id isnt necessarily meant for the people, but for the database and code. I would not force a user to have unique pet names. Why does it matter if they name their cat, dog, and fish Fred? It wouldn't be common for someone to do that, but why limit them just because it's odd to you?

In the examples you mentioned this would be handled by having unique ids, and to reference a user's pet profile, the I'd would be used in the url NOT the name. So, petsite.com/pet/1234 for example. I always use autogenerated unique ids and even if I made names unique, I'd still have an I'd field. In the species example that is different. I create species names myself, and yes they would all be unique. It doesn't make sense to me to have different species with the same name. But this is different from user pets. A user pet would be a specific species, but the name to me is only important to whoever owns the pet. But species are for all users.

Sometimes I don't lol Well I have a physical journal, I use that kind of stuff for actually planning things out more in details for programming and such. Sometimes just to get my thoughts out. I also use Trello for bug tracking mainly. Nothing too advanced but just to remember things people have reported or I've found that I need to get to. I've also used Toggle, which is a timer sometimes, and have a free trial of todoist (a daily todo list app) so been trying to use that but kind of fell out of it a bit. But my new favorite that I pretty much have open all the time now is Workflowy. Before workflowy I used sticky notes a lot (windows post it notes) which I still do use actually. But sometimes I'd start going more in-depth or need a note for a longer than the 5 minutes before coding etc.. and it sometimes just gets crowded plus there is no real formatting. But workflowy just works great for me. Discovered it randomly. It's essentially one document with lists really. BUT the great thing is you can zoom in on specific bullet points, easily close and open them, etc... Hard to describe, probably not for everyone, but felt very intuitive for me. I use it for a lot of random stuff such as home improvement projects I want to get to, or random stuff I want to buy, recipes, games I want to beat or play (I sometimes forget about games for a while even ones I really like and want to finish so helps be keep track), and just all kinds of stuff including Projects (with Animal Acres, Eliyo, etc.. underneath that). Which is nice so I can clear my mind and not worry about, oh don't want to forget this etc.. Feel free to use my referral link if you do sign up, https://workflowy.com/invite/47db1f81.lnx