WWWest-Online Development Blog

I know I promised to write a bit about cross-domain issues, but before I do that, I think we first need to understand some of today’s web technologies and methods. These days almost all web applications are Ajax-powered, and we are no different. In fact, since our main game page has quite a long loading time, we try to avoid having to reload our game pages for anything which is not completely necessary; Ajax technology enables us to give you the feeling you never leave the page. However, like any good thing, it also comes with its share of problems.

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If you follow this blog you might have noticed that we talk a lot about the history of the Old West; the history of it all is very important to us, since our game lore is based on it. Having said that, we also care a great deal about today and tomorrow: since we are developing a browser-based MMO with a lot of modern technologies, we are bound to face technological issues. So I thought it’s time to start sharing these issues with you.

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No, I’m not planning to lay more lyrics on you. Owlist’s post just left me in a musical mood and the Beach Boys simply provided a title that kinda fits the topic of the day. What topic is that, you ask? Why, “maps!” I answer. That’s right; maps. Be it full map, minimap, scrolling or static, hex-based or square-based; almost  every game has got one. Some games don’t, since a map would have no meaning in their context; what good would a map do you in Bejeweled, or Mafia Wars? Some games have maps that are merely a place to write things down; there are no distances in these games, but maps provide a convenient means of separating locations. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have games in which the maps have as much bearing as almost anything else, like most RTS games (e.g., the Command and Conquer series or the pre-WoW Warcraft games), strategy games like Civilization (or Travian, if you’re into browser-based games), and most client-based MMOs. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello again everyone.

It’s been a while since our last update, but it’s high time we got this show back on the road. When it comes to this blog, the last year has been a quiet one, for several reasons. We’ve already mentioned that for most of us working on this project, WWWest-Online is something we’re doing in our free time, and quite often the demands and realities of real life take precedence. And though we haven’t let silly things like our jobs and such keep us from actually working on the project, I have to admit we have let them affect our priorities, and most of the time spent working on WWWest-Online was spent doing design or code work, and we kept putting off the “writing about it” part, and for that we apologize.

So what have we been up to? Read the rest of this entry »

Yeah, I’ve been itching to say that since the first post on this blog.

Anyway boys and girls, today we’ll be talking about the thing that Westerns all through the ages are famous for. That’s right, it’s time to talk about combat. Be it a showdown, a bar brawl or a shootout between a Sheriff’s posse and an outlaw gang, I can’t recall a single Western that didn’t feature at least one fight. In addition to that, a major factor of practically every MMO I’ve ever played is combat. Even if it isn’t the main point of the game, it always plays some important part (with the exception of A Tale in the Desert). And somehow, we’ve managed to write two dozen posts without properly touching on the subject. Well, ladies and gents, allow me to correct that oversight.

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