PBBG Tutorial

Found a home

2009-02-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

check it out here Introduction to PBBG
for the time being it will be open to all. Later I may incorporate a login (as long as the publisher is ok we'll see).

Cause of delay

2009-01-30T05:50:00.000-08:00

Hi all, ok. there are TWO reasons for delay

small reason: blogger.com is HORRIBLE at allowing me to post source code (without having to modify the html, which is just annoying). So am currently thinking of where would be most convient to continue the tutorial.

B I G R E A S O N
I STOPED to finish the game. While a little buggy, it can be checked out here
http://www.wdxdesign.com/ls
I have a few goofy bugs Im cleaning up but its done for the most part.

That will be what the tutorial is on. Yes I know my original idea was a fantasy based, but seeing so many of them I decided to take an alternate route. Plus this program encompasses all aspects of php programming which I feel is good to bite your teeth on.

Thank you for those that have emailed me requesting the source code. It is NOT available. Sorry. Many many hours have gone into this (over 35+ pages and 10,000 lines of code so its compact and effecient). This tutorial will show you how to build it. We all know it will spread once its downloaded, so I think its best if YOU write it, then spread it around. However, you'll find that when your done, you'll have quite a bit of pride in what you created and may not be so quick to share it either. So with that in mind -

FAQ for source code:

I don't want to sell it!¹ (due to piracy)
If you just HAVE to have it, $249.00² - so it by some "mysterious" way it ends up all over the net, there is at least some compensation.
If you have the "WTF!!" attitude see FAQ #1

Bottom line, don't ask.

ABOUT THE GAME
Ok, as mentioned, I did not want to make a fantasy since there were too many already, and it seemed the top PBBG's were mobster type or money type, So I came up with this:
Takes place in the future (post apocalyptic).

Players move about scrounging for possible good items, from car and machinery parts, jewelry to rare clothing in good condition.
Sell items to various stores in the area. If not satisfied with the offer, players can haggle. If the haggle fails, players are flaged at that store. More than 5 flags and player is banned (this is set by the webmaster).
Players can train their stats for improvement with the money they get.

check here http://wdxdesign.com/ls/help.php for more instructions about the game.
Bear in mind at the time of this witting there are a few bugs I'm squishing, wont take long.
(NOTE: this is not the final version, just for display purposes, so anyone can log on and explore it, but as you can see its very close)

^{1. Some exceptions
2. When I created this, I made an installer so it would be easy for me to test it on different servers. So those of you who want to get the source, it will come with the installer. There is a disclaimer you'll have to agree to as well. Also as I update the files, you'll get the updated ones as well.}

Still Here pt2

2009-01-01T00:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!
Well I'm revamping all of the mmo site. For those of you who may be wondering "... why not post the completed mmo for demo'ing?" reason: I gave my Tower System to my son to give to my youngest, and of course out of excitement, tore into it and replaced it all with his "cool" software. It wasnt until after a bit writing here I reaslized the reason I was unable to find it, was because it wasnt here - sooooooo, im doing it literally ALL from scratch. So while I have many of the pages done, so as to write it here, my excitement in recreating the mmo, has taken over. But since I ALSO just realized - you dont know what this particular MMO is about and its features, well, here ya go:

Players start out as a drifter (nobody). as they level then can allocate skill points to one of 4 jobs: Duelist(tank/warrior), Magus(magic-user), Recluse(monk, hand-to-hand) and Ranger(ranged weapons). Putting points in these job skills will give them acess to the special abilities associated with these jobs. They can opt to put them all into one and become very powerful in THAT job or spread them out.
Questing - or grinding (focus on questing with a storyline)
Speed Chat - For those of you not familiar - see http://www.wizard101.com, http://www.toontown.com for examples. Reason? To eliminate spam and bad languge and to make sure the chat is role playing (incase many of you have forgotten, mmoR P G is ROLE PLAYING not hack and slash. So if players wanna talk smack and spam - they can use their chat program of choice - not ingame.
Professions, Skyping, Mining (skyping is my ingame prfession, you can do anything you want)
Many features found in most large scale MMO's Character sheet, Map, Inventory, Skill sheet and much more.
Wandering Mobs
Interactive NPC's
Much more...

The skeleton MMO that I am teaching here will allow you to expand to just about any type of game genre you imagination can take you.
So Bear with me... I'll be back shortly.

Still here

2008-12-30T05:54:00.001-08:00

Most of the last few days I have been working on a main page action.php (and Im playing a ton of R.O.M. lately as well). It is one of the biggest sections of the game. It handles NPC (whether the player is talking to one or not), combat, message of the day, profession etcc). It is a huge section and I am recoding it to happen on one page.

Just some food for thought while your waiting. PHP pages can be thought of as routines in themselves. Each page you call is like a separate routine. :-)

Another thing you may be wondering is why I'm not using session variables. I will. At the time this game was designed, it was all url based. So for the ease of teaching, I thought it would be good to see how those are tossed around. Later I'll show you how to use session varibles and clean up your code.

Anyways - when i get back from finishing this part up (its huge) I'll post.
Welcome all comments.

Login (Part III) Registration

2008-12-25T00:26:00.002-08:00

Ok if you want people to play your game, they need to have an account, and to have an account they need to register. I'll show you a simple registration, that makes use of the table we created earlier.

registration.php

echo '
<center>
<table border="1" width="60%" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="20"><tr><td>
<table><tr><td width="30%">
<form name="register" action="reg2.php" method="POST">
<tr><td>Username:</td><td><input type="text" length="20" name="username"></td></tr>
<tr><td>Password:</td><td><input type="password" length="20" name="pw1"></td></tr>
<tr><td>Again:</td><td><input type="password" length="20" name="pw2"></td></tr>
<tr><td>email:</td><td><input type="text" length="20" name="email">
<p>
<!-- // ### USE AN INCLUDE HERE FOR A FANCY VERIFCATION
// ### CODE. ->
</td></tr>
<tr><td><input type="submit" value="Submit"></td>
<td><input type="reset" value="Reset"></td></tr>
</td>
</form>

</td></tr></table>
<td valign="top" width="70%"><font face="arial" size="2">
<div align="justify">
.:: Registration -<br>
Must have a valid email - information will be sent to this address
for verification.
</div>
</td>
</td></tr></table>
</center>
';

sorry the formatting doesnt come up nice - you can thank blogspot for that. This is the best trick i could fine to display the code, otherwise it tries to execute it.
anyways.....

This is just a simple form to get some simple information for our simple game. will look similar to below


Username:
Password:
Again:
email:

.:: Registration -

Must have a valid email - information will be sent to this address
for verification.

When a user clicks the submit button, it will send them to a reg2.php to check stuff out.

reg2.php

<?php
require("serverconfig.php");
$valid_acct=1;
$username=$_REQUEST['username'];
$userpw=$_REQUEST['pw1'];
$userchk=$_REQUEST['pw2'];
$useremail=$_REQUEST['email'];

if ($username ==""){
echo '<font color="red">Please enter your desired username</font><br>'.
'<a href="registration.php">Click Here</a> to continue...';
}// ### END DATA ENTRY CHECK

// ### CHECK TO SEE IF PASSWORDS MATCH
if ($userpw != $userchk){
echo '<font color="red">Passwords do not match<p></font><br>';
$valid_acct=0;
}

// ### CHECK TO SEE IF A VALID NAME IS ENTERED
// ### ONE THAT IS NOT USED
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM accounts WHERE playername='$username'");
while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)){
echo '<font color="red">Name is already Taken<p></font><br>';
$valid_acct=0;
}

// ### CHECK TO SEE IF EMAIL IS NOT TAKEN
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM accounts WHERE email='$useremail'");
while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)){
echo '<font color="red">Email is already in use.<p></font><br>'.
$valid_acct=0;
}

//
if ($valid_acct){
// ### CONVERT PW TO MD5
$pw3=md5($userpw);
$sql="INSERT INTO accounts (
playername,
password,
email)
VALUES (
'$username',
'$pw3',
'$useremail'
)";
if (!mysql_query($sql)){
die ('Error: '.mysql_error());
}
echo 'You are all set '.$username.' feel free to log in and play now.';
echo '<br>Good luck<P>';
echo '<a href="index.php">Click Here</a> to begin playing...';
}else{
// ### IF VALID ACCOUNT = 0 THEN HAVE THE USER GO BACK
// ### AND ENTER A VALID INFO
echo '<a href="registration.php">Click Here</a> to continue...';
}

?>

Ok there looks like a lot going on, but its actually simple (thats how programming is, you write alot to do somehting simple).
As you can see, the familiar "require" is shown as well as valid_acct (I just like it so i stick with it througout the software). Next we put everything into variables that we are going to check, username,userpw,userchk and email

Next, check to see if user forgot to put something in. If so, tell them and go back to the registration page.

Once done, make sure the password check matches. if not, back to the registration page.
Then make sure they havent picked a name that is already used, if not back to the registration page.

check the email. same thing. Getting the hang of it? Not so bad is it?

now to be safe, we turn the pw into a md5 hash. very secure for the most part because its not reversable. So if you ever see websites that "reset" your pw, or send you a temp, most likely they are using this method. You just cant get it back if you loose it.

Once that is complete, shove everything into the table - you did make your table right??
If for some reason the valid_acct is still 0, that means there was something wroing and they have to do it all over again.

Give them a link to go back and log in with their new id/pw. Note - get creative, have the program email them and verify they are who they say they are. You can also add a "gotcha". That is a random picture or alpha/numeric numbers that they have to type in to verify they are human. Buuuttttt, I dont think you have to worry about any of this right now. But have fun with it. That is how you learn.

Login (Part II) Validation NEW UPDATE!

2008-12-25T00:26:00.001-08:00

Firs this that needs to be done (with this step) is we are going to add a table to your (wyvern) database. Call this "accounts" (original). This table is different/separate from another table we'll make called "characters". Accounts will hold information about players, while characters will hold information about the character(s) "players" create. - confused? Don't be, it'll become clear later.

Here are some of the info we're going to put into this table:
(note this will change as we go along - we only need something to get it functional)

id - just a counter to keep track of the acct in question.
playername - duh
password - uhm ? (jk)
email - for sending registration too and for recovering pw
admin - will this user have admin privalages (will let you program that part)

So go ahead and make a new table with those 5 items. Again, sorry, not making a Navicat tutorial, but will answer any questions anyone has. For those of you who just wanna move on with the guide you can use the following sql dump and have it done automatically, then you can look at it.

ACCOUNTS.SQL

SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=0;
-- ----------------------------
-- Table structure for accounts
-- ----------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `accounts`;
CREATE TABLE `accounts` (
`id` int(10) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`playername` char(20) DEFAULT NULL,
`password` char(100) DEFAULT NULL,
`email` char(50) DEFAULT NULL,
`admin` int(10) DEFAULT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=2 DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

-- ----------------------------
-- Records
-- ----------------------------

If you notice from part I, once the submit button is clicked, it will send the user to "checklogin.php" What this guys job is to simply check to see if the login is good and send them to the character selection page, where they can select one of their characters that they have made to play, alert of a bad pw/Id or both, or to a registration page.

Lets take a look at a simple "checklogin.php" file:

<?php

require("serverconfig.php");
$valid_acct=0;
$username=$_REQUEST['username'];
$userpw=$_REQUEST['password'];
$userpw= md5($userpw);
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM accounts WHERE playername='$username' AND password='$userpw'");
$row=mysql_fetch_array($result) ;
if ($row){ $valid_acct=1; }

if ($valid_acct){

echo '<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=main.php?acct='.$row['id'].'">';

}else{
echo '<font color="red">Bad Login</font><br>';
echo '<a href="index.php">Click here</a> to try again';
}
?>

Pretty simple (change as you like). the first line "require" is giong to be your buddy. He actually has a brother called "include". Both work the same way with one difference. REQUIRE will stop the page if there is an error. while INCLUDE will show you the error, but attempt to make the page display. Me personally, I rather just have the train stop and see who's messin around before i continue on.

Next we set a dummy variable (boolean) valid_acct to false. then we take the information we got from the form (username and userpw) and see if there is a match. if there is, change the valid_acct to 1.

If it is a valid account, load up the getcharacter.php page (there are a couple ways to force a page, I found this one to be the best, note it may not be supported in all browsers).

If it is not valid, shows them an error, and allows them to click back to the login screen to try again.

EDIT: There has been a change - the "getcharacter.php" has been replaced with "main.php"

Login (Part I) - Login Screen

2008-12-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

The login page will be your first big project. While long in explanation, it is designed to do a few simple things:

Get id/pw
Validate
Register
Reset PW

There are a BILLION differnt sites you can go to (just google "login source code php") and all will have a different method. Im hoping the method I use here will be simple, and a "little" secure (I wouldn't worry a whole lot about the security of your game yet until 1. its done and 2. its popular. But at the end of the tutorial, I will show you a few ways you can make sure that game is secure - for all you worry warts out there, this is NOT the same as securing your PC. this is just o people cannot alter the address bar and hop into someone elses character. I'll show you what I mean later. But for simple game design purposes this will do).

Open CE and make a new file called INDEX.PHP
and put this in it (don't forget the "<?php and the >")

// ### SHOW LOGIN
echo'
<center>
<h1>Wyverns Tear</h1><p>
<FORM action="checklogin.php" method="POST">
<table>
<tr>
<td>Login ID:<br>
<input type="text" length="20" name="username">
</td></tr><tr>
<td>Password:<br>
<input type="password" length="20" name="password">
</td></TR><TR>
<td>
<input type="submit" value="Login">
</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>
<a href="registration.php">Register</a>
| Forgot Info
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
';

Most of this is just basic html. Notice the "echo" command. I kinda cheat and make a open quote and then shove all my html before the last '; at the bottom. So lets see what we have. Basically there are 2 input boxes. One for ID and one for PW. To get the PW box to show up as dots to hide the typing, simply use the "type" as PASSWORD. We name the id "username" and pw as "password". Pretty self explanitory. Feel free to tinker with this one. If you're really good at html this should be pretty easy.

Start your engine (connecting to the SQL server)

2008-12-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already, get WINAMP up and running. You don't need to put it online just yet. We'll be doing that later. Now first and foremost, I'll not be getting too heavy into php and mysql programming. A good site to go for this if you get a little lost is W3 Schools. Just absolutely phenomenal for learning most web based languages. So yes, a little knowledge of programing PHP will be a must. But I will do my best to explain in detail what each line of code is doing.
Also keep in mind, you can name your files what ever your heart desires, however for the sake of this tutorial, you may just want to keep what I have listed, and if you are feeling adventourous, just make another directory with what you are working on and keep them separate, that way you can go back .

First thing you want to do, it run navicat and access your MySql server (if you get stuck here lemme know - I dont wanna make a tutorial on how to use Navicat). Make a new database called

wyvern

Thats it for now. Just minimize it, or close it.

Start up Crimson Editor(CE for future reference). First file we're gonna make is

SERVERCONFIG.PHP

$servername = "localhost";
$serverID = "root";
$serverPW = "root";

$connect = mysql_connect($servername,$serverID,$serverPW);
if (!$connect){
die ('Could not connect: '.mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db("wyvern",$connect);
?>

OoooK! Some of you first timers might get a little confused on this. Thats ok. Thats what this blog is for. To all you pro's - this doenst need to be fancy, I am aware there are a lot of other ways to do this. But I want it simple. Remeber this blog is for a simple online game thats borderline skeleton in its design.

Line # 1 and 11: All php pages have to start with this (there are some exceptions).
Line # 2 Since you are testing this on your own pc (for awhile anyways) set this to LOCALHOST. You can also use 127.0.0.1 which is the same thing. If you are going to use your computer as a server, you can just leave this as is. If for example you are going to use YAHOO! you change that line to MYSQL (original huh?).
When you installed MySQL Server (v5 right?), it defaulted a user to ROOT. That is fine again if you use YAHOO! it will be what your ID is there. Get the idea. So for now, just leave it to ROOT.
Same as above, but its the password (which if you've been following along) which is ROOT as well. so you have ID:ROOT and PW:ROOT.
Just for neatness
This line is how you connect to your database. In the following order must be servername (localhost), ID (root), and PW(root). the command mysql_connect() is what does the connecting to the database SERVER (we haven't connected to a database yet)
Using the variable "$connect" (php variables all start with a "$") make sure that it does. If your id, pw server or any of the above are out of whack,
this line will let you know by using the die command which basically shuts down all operations of your litlle program.
Once we're connected, select a database we want to work with. In this case its called "wyvern" using the command mysql_connect_db(database name,[optional variable])

Keep in mind, as I go along in this blog, I wont ALWAYS be this descriptive. If you get stuck, by all means just post me a note and I'll do what I can to answer it. As always, suggestions are welcome or add a few tips of your own to help the noobs!! :-)

Also, if you're stuck, visit W3 Schools Just an incredible site for learning any language for the web.

Building your toybox

2008-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well everyone needs to start somewhere - so guess what. We're gonna start from absolutely scratch!!! First and foremost, you'll be working on your laptop (what? dont have one, its a good investment, sits on your lap better than a tower does when your bored at the doctors office or waiting for a train/bus) But seriously, you never wanna put anyting on the net, unless its working.

There really is never a reason, that I can think of, to reinvent the wheel. There are many tools available that will make your job easy. So here is a list that you need to get - If the following sounds confusing - good, that means your gonna learn something and all your questions will be answered in the order of appearance, if not, perfect, help answer some of the questions that the noobs ask.

NAVICAT
this tool is used to navigate around your database. Installing this is straight forward.
::Please note!! You do not need to look for a hack/crack or key for this. I see a lot of that around the net and youtube. Just get the Lite version. It doesn't expire and does everything you need to do when working with databases. Don't reinvent the wheel.

WAMP
We are gonna turn your system into a local server. I know many of you who are familiar with this prefer XAMP. But I've tried both, WAMP is noob- proof. Don't need to do anytihng. When its done, run it, then test it by typing "localhost" (w/o quotes) in your browser and if it was installed correectly, you'll see a webpage come up.

MYSQL v5
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES if you have vista/ vista 64 (or even xp) get MySQL 6. I've tried several computers, and it will not load correctly. So until it says official release, I would not download it. Its beta, and beta is short for bugs!! when creating your password, use "root" - anything else, and the tutorial will not work - dont worry, your making a local testing site, not a sole can access it.

Crimson Editor
This is a nice all around free editor. Now if your one of those adavanceed users - there are many PHP editors.

Ok, now if your an advance user, there are many nice programs that can simplify some of this, however, I am only catering to those who want to learn. Once you get the hang of this, you can switch to one of those more fancy dancy programs that makes you mt dew and toast while you sit back and wacth it make your next famous Blizzard Killer MMO! :-)

Now as I mentioned earlier, I do not want to recreate the wheel. I do not want to use this blog as an instructional text for the above programs, however, I do recommend that you head over to youtube if you get stuck on installation, or post here and I'll do what I can to answer. BTW I run a vista 64. so If I can get it to run, anyone can.~!!

That is all for now
I'll be back later for setting up your game login.

Introduction

2008-12-22T14:34:00.001-08:00

First off - I am not a writer. Period. However, I do know a lot about games as well as programming. This blog is my attempt to mix the two and show how - possibly - a PBBG can be created. I have scoured the net for such a site, and was unable to locate one. How Odd. So I will hopefully solicit some help from readers to complete this guide.

What is a PBBG?

A persistent browser-based game (PBBG) is a computer game that is both browser-based (accessed and played over the Internet only through a web browser) and persistent (able to progress with successive playing sessions).

PBBGs can provide the depth of experience and sustainability seen in some application-based games, but because they don't require any special software to play, they are more accessible and portable than such games.*

So every couple weeks or so, or when the mood strikes me (or if I recieve enough comments) I'll add an entry.

*Taken from wikipedia

Redo

2008-12-22T14:25:00.001-08:00

Ok. Redoing this whole blog. One, cuz I cant stand Sci-fi mmo's. and 2, It would be better to do this again from the start. For those of you who were following - thank you for your comments. Now on with the show.

IM doing a fantasy one. A genre that is not only popular but they are easier to write than most. This will be a work in progress, so as I create a section, so shall you. If it doesnt work, guess what...

your's wont either lol. Ok, jk. anyways, I've taken a couple years off and played just about every MMO out there (the free to play, and english ones) to get a general Idea of what works, and what doesnt. You'd be surprised. To see my game playing history (which is not inclusive since I beta test a lot of mmo's and they are not listed) you can see my profile at http://www.xfire.com/profile/amorac/ and click on all games. Most I never played more than an hour for various reason. But the end result was the same. It was "not it".