http://www.tiletactics.com/News Feed for the Tile Tactics Browser-Based Multi-Player Gamehttp://tiletactics.com/?news=10Surprise, surprise, a lack of activity here! But I have an excuse, I\'ve been playing around in the alpha test for Metaplace. Obviously I can\'t talk much about it, NDAs and such, but that doesn\'t mean I can\'t show off what I\'ve been doing, since I was the subject of this week Community Spotlight. So you can see what [url=http://www.metaplace.com/blog/59.html]Tile Tactics in Metaplace might look like[/url]. Fri, 16 May 2008 6:28:31 GMTBut I have an excuse, I've been playing around in the alpha test for Metaplace.

Obviously I can't talk much about it, NDAs and such, but that doesn't mean I can't show off what I've been doing, since I was the subject of this week Community Spotlight. So you can see what Tile Tactics in Metaplace might look like.
]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=9It\'s the time of New Years resolutions and renewed commitments and blah, blah, blah... So I\'ve put some other projects aside, that were taking up time, for the next three/four months to focus full-time to try and get the game to a beta testable state (well, as full-time as I can manage... there I go, already making excuses!). I won\'t be updating the live version piecemeal with every little change but will try to have a major update at the end of each month. Hopefully if I keep up progress we can finally see this project get going.Sat, 12 Jan 2008 3:43:27 GMT
So I've put some other projects aside, that were taking up time, for the next three/four months to focus full-time to try and get the game to a beta testable state (well, as full-time as I can manage... there I go, already making excuses!).

I won't be updating the live version piecemeal with every little change but will try to have a major update at the end of each month.
Hopefully if I keep up progress we can finally see this project get going.]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=8I\'ve just fixed a problem that prevented the registration form from showing up in Internet Explorer. So if anyone was trying to register before but could not, you should be able to again now. I shall now go bang my head against a brick wall for a few hours! /sighTue, 23 Oct 2007 1:07:29 GMT
So if anyone was trying to register before but could not, you should be able to again now.

I shall now go bang my head against a brick wall for a few hours! /sigh]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=7No updates to speak of for the game for the last couple of weeks, as I\'ve been tackling some issues with the World Builder. There were various changes that were needed to be made to the structure of the world maps, in order to make it possible for normal users to easily create their own maps in the future, using the World Builder. So before I created a new clean slate game for testing, with a new map, I wanted to make sure that all map changes had been made beforehand (as these changes will have an effect on terrain movement modifiers). So I\'ve had to do some work on my future-easy-to-use-by-anybody-world-builder now, in order to work out all the kinks. The main hassle with creating the maps in the past has been the transition tile pieces between different terrain types. You had to paint each one individually by hand, which includes searching through a whole collection of transition shapes to find the right one. It was a slow and awkward process. So I\'ve been modifying the script so that you only have to click on a tile once to paint the terrain type you want (grass, water, sand etc.) and then the transitions are automatically filled in around it. [img]http://tiletactics.com/world_builder_ani1.gif[/img] Naturally this all has to be done by code (JavaScript on the World Builder client), and there have been some niggling little problems to sort out. As soon as I get it working, I break it again en route to the next issue. :) It is all eventually working itself out, but still a ways to go. Once most of the needed changes are done, I will be creating a new game (as the old one will no longer work), and we\'ll see if we can make it a \'real\' game. :) Of course it might go quicker if I didn\'t let myself get distracted! I\'m looking at you Orange Box and [url=http://www.metaplace.com]Metaplace[/url]! Speaking of which, it looks like Metaplace (Raph Kosters new community virtual world builder project.... type thing) may be able to be integrated into this project. It will be interesting to see how I can fit the two together. Now if only I was in their Alpha to figure it out!! We\'ve also been getting some hits the official Metaplace forums, from links I\'ve put in posts over there. So hello Metapeople! Perhaps we can eventually get some of you to log in here, because no one has yet :P. Mon, 22 Oct 2007 2:29:22 GMT
There were various changes that were needed to be made to the structure of the world maps, in order to make it possible for normal users to easily create their own maps in the future, using the World Builder. So before I created a new clean slate game for testing, with a new map, I wanted to make sure that all map changes had been made beforehand (as these changes will have an effect on terrain movement modifiers).

So I've had to do some work on my future-easy-to-use-by-anybody-world-builder now, in order to work out all the kinks.

The main hassle with creating the maps in the past has been the transition tile pieces between different terrain types. You had to paint each one individually by hand, which includes searching through a whole collection of transition shapes to find the right one. It was a slow and awkward process.

So I've been modifying the script so that you only have to click on a tile once to paint the terrain type you want (grass, water, sand etc.) and then the transitions are automatically filled in around it.


Naturally this all has to be done by code (JavaScript on the World Builder client), and there have been some niggling little problems to sort out. As soon as I get it working, I break it again en route to the next issue. :)
It is all eventually working itself out, but still a ways to go.

Once most of the needed changes are done, I will be creating a new game (as the old one will no longer work), and we'll see if we can make it a 'real' game. :)

Of course it might go quicker if I didn't let myself get distracted!
I'm looking at you Orange Box and Metaplace!

Speaking of which, it looks like Metaplace (Raph Kosters new community virtual world builder project.... type thing) may be able to be integrated into this project. It will be interesting to see how I can fit the two together. Now if only I was in their Alpha to figure it out!!

We've also been getting some hits the official Metaplace forums, from links I've put in posts over there. So hello Metapeople! Perhaps we can eventually get some of you to log in here, because no one has yet :P.
]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=6-Tower Advancement Bonuses now apply with some effects: --\'Mining Town\' gives 5% yield bonus per level on Digging and Chopping (on the Towers land) --\'Attack\' gives 5% bonus to weapon power per level --\'Defence\' gives 5% bonus to armour strength per level -Players can now set their own personal Diplomacy Rules that will override the Rules defined by their Guild. These rules are still generic, in that they don\'t apply to specific allies, enemies etc. Some additional little fixes... -New data entered into the database due to player action should now show up on the client in the response to that action, and no longer require a data refresh. -Fixed various bugs with Tower Combat, especially dealing with Siege Camps.Mon, 01 Oct 2007 3:13:21 GMT--'Mining Town' gives 5% yield bonus per level on Digging and Chopping (on the Towers land)
--'Attack' gives 5% bonus to weapon power per level
--'Defence' gives 5% bonus to armour strength per level

-Players can now set their own personal Diplomacy Rules that will override the Rules defined by their Guild.
These rules are still generic, in that they don't apply to specific allies, enemies etc.

Some additional little fixes...
-New data entered into the database due to player action should now show up on the client in the response to that action, and no longer require a data refresh.
-Fixed various bugs with Tower Combat, especially dealing with Siege Camps.]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=5A couple of weeks ago I was trying to get the site to show up on my phone, using the just released Opera Mini 4 (Beta 1). I was mainly wondering if the JavaScript heavy layout would display correctly on a phone or if the overdosing of AJAX would work with Opera Minis transcoder proxy (all web traffic goes through a proxy server to reformat normal web pages to suit a phone for Operas free phone browser). At that time none of the AJAX seemed to work. [AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) is a little programming behind-the-scenes code trick to get new data from a web site and update the displayed page layout without having to reload the entire page in the browser] According to the logs, the server received and responded to the requests, but nothing showed up on the phone. The side links showed up, but then that\'s all native html, so shouldn\'t be a problem anyway. The login box showed up, which is built on the fly by JavaScript. So at least the JavaScript can draw the page if it had the data. But the \'front page content\' didn\'t show, which is displayed via an AJAX request. So it looked like the proxy didn\'t know what to do with the XML data when it got it? Tried logging in, server responded...but nothing. Posts elsewhere noted that AJAX did work, but not fully. It was not asynchronous, which kinda of makes having it a bit pointless. But even so, nothing showed up for me even after refreshing the page. I just wanna [b]see[/b] me game on a phone :(. For some reason I had a go at it again today, and something actually showed up!! I managed to log in, join games etc. Sure it\'s not exactly practical, as when you make the AJAX request the browser page automatically refreshes, but then to see the change you have to refresh again. (note to self: check phone credit after all that data traffic) But I got to see my game on a phone!! :) [img]tt_phone2.png[/img] [img]tt_phone5.png[/img] [img]tt_phone4.png[/img][img]tt_phone3.png[/img] A lot of the JavaScript events don\'t seem to work (perhaps because the actual \'browser\' on the phone doesn\'t do JS, but the proxy does all the JS work?). So onmouseover\'s etc do nothing, and onclicks force a refresh (again perhaps to get the proxy to do the work), so a lot of functionality is lost, which makes trying to play on a phone a bit futile. So perhaps the full-site version will never work on Opera \'Mini\'. It seems to be the same with the Beta 2 release. I wonder if Opera \'Mobile\' would be better suited. Or maybe the Wii... or DS :). Anyway... little diversion over. Will be back to game updates in a few days.Fri, 21 Sep 2007 9:38:06 GMT
At that time none of the AJAX seemed to work.
[AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) is a little programming behind-the-scenes code trick to get new data from a web site and update the displayed page layout without having to reload the entire page in the browser]
According to the logs, the server received and responded to the requests, but nothing showed up on the phone.

The side links showed up, but then that's all native html, so shouldn't be a problem anyway.
The login box showed up, which is built on the fly by JavaScript. So at least the JavaScript can draw the page if it had the data.
But the 'front page content' didn't show, which is displayed via an AJAX request.

So it looked like the proxy didn't know what to do with the XML data when it got it?

Tried logging in, server responded...but nothing.

Posts elsewhere noted that AJAX did work, but not fully. It was not asynchronous, which kinda of makes having it a bit pointless.
But even so, nothing showed up for me even after refreshing the page.
I just wanna see me game on a phone :(.


For some reason I had a go at it again today, and something actually showed up!!
I managed to log in, join games etc.

Sure it's not exactly practical, as when you make the AJAX request the browser page automatically refreshes, but then to see the change you have to refresh again.
(note to self: check phone credit after all that data traffic)
But I got to see my game on a phone!! :)





A lot of the JavaScript events don't seem to work (perhaps because the actual 'browser' on the phone doesn't do JS, but the proxy does all the JS work?). So onmouseover's etc do nothing, and onclicks force a refresh (again perhaps to get the proxy to do the work), so a lot of functionality is lost, which makes trying to play on a phone a bit futile. So perhaps the full-site version will never work on Opera 'Mini'.
It seems to be the same with the Beta 2 release.

I wonder if Opera 'Mobile' would be better suited.

Or maybe the Wii... or DS :).

Anyway... little diversion over. Will be back to game updates in a few days.]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=4-Chat should now work in the Lobby. This can\'t be viewed while games. Should it? -Players can now write mails. Either use the link in a players profile (which should now be showing up again, along with others) or go to the outbox in the mail window. -Guild Rules now apply to dropping and picking up items in structures. Personal setting still to be applied to allow override... for obvious reasons.Thu, 13 Sep 2007 5:59:09 GMT
-Players can now write mails. Either use the link in a players profile (which should now be showing up again, along with others) or go to the outbox in the mail window.

-Guild Rules now apply to dropping and picking up items in structures. Personal setting still to be applied to allow override... for obvious reasons.]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=3-Fixed the behaviour of the mouse wheel on scrollable elements. When the mouse is over the scroll element it takes sole control of the mouse wheel, and after \'mouseout\' the main page scrollbar regains control. This behaviour should now be consistent across Opera, Firefox and IE. -Guildmates now share borders. This is to clean up the border peg spam on the map. -\'Neutral\' Rules now display correctly -Certain actions have had their Rule options limited to Yes/No -The \'Build\' Rule now applies to placing structures on the map, i.e. can place structures on guildmates land if allowed by guild Rules etc. (expect Towers, which still have an outstanding issue) -Fixed a bug with the temporary crafting interface that prevented items being made.Tue, 04 Sep 2007 7:29:20 GMT
-Guildmates now share borders. This is to clean up the border peg spam on the map.

-'Neutral' Rules now display correctly
-Certain actions have had their Rule options limited to Yes/No
-The 'Build' Rule now applies to placing structures on the map, i.e. can place structures on guildmates land if allowed by guild Rules etc. (expect Towers, which still have an outstanding issue)

-Fixed a bug with the temporary crafting interface that prevented items being made.]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=2Some small changes to the Resource Scanning display. -changed the red highlighting to the actual resource image -adjusted the transparency levels so that very low resource quantities (relative to the local maximum) will still show something -if you can not normally scan on a piece of land due to Rules, then that area will be blacked out and no data returned during the area scan [img]http://tiletactics.com/screen38.gif[/img] Also tweaking the RSS feed a bit to change it\'s output (html formatting). So this post is also a test of that.Mon, 03 Sep 2007 5:56:23 GMT-changed the red highlighting to the actual resource image
-adjusted the transparency levels so that very low resource quantities (relative to the local maximum) will still show something
-if you can not normally scan on a piece of land due to Rules, then that area will be blacked out and no data returned during the area scan



Also tweaking the RSS feed a bit to change it's output (html formatting). So this post is also a test of that.]]>http://tiletactics.com/?news=1This is a test for the news posting system. This is also a test for the news RSS feed.Thu, 30 Aug 2007 8:15:13 GMT
This is also a test for the news RSS feed.]]>