Battle 1.0_RC8.0 BETA-UD-X

[Chen Zhen]

Battle_v1.14-Beta18

Download:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=69563333872671220764

Changes:
+ changed donate link to be directed to my own account
! fixed issue with battle quests/campaigns (replaced ssi function usage with custom function)




  Alright now this seems to work properly for all my testing. I'll leave this version up for a few days prior to posting an official release just in case any more issues are reported or found by myself.

[Chen Zhen]

Issues/Concerns:

! edit language for right hand stats display (use short forms for words)
! fix issue causing quests not incrementing to the next level (issue only occurs on dwight's forum?)
! on game stats screen under Game Still in Progress it should display some relevant data

later:
+ edit extra image plugin to set up enemy stats in db (give option?)

[Fog]

My guys got real vocal about the game over on NGS. I'm still reading what they are saying.

Slow loading...

[Chen Zhen]

Fog,

  Do you know how to adjust mysql tables using phpmyadmin? Try adjusting the 2 points/score columns to int instead of bigint to see if it speeds things up. (one in members table other is in campaign table).

[Fog]

I see what you're talking about, but will leave it alone until I get some more input.

I just updated today and now see the bigint where I haven't seen it before.

I'm going to keep it in place and see if my guys see any difference.

Side note, Three of them have maxed out their Points that can be displayed...would that slow things down for them? and not others?

My users are hard core with this game and enjoy any types of twists thrown at them...

Many Thanks for where you have taken this game to now...

[Chen Zhen]

The 2 bigint columns were introduced in Battle_v1.14-Beta16 in an attempt to handle the larger numbers you are experiencing.
Scoring is done a bit different as well whereas scenarios give less points than before. You won't see that difference with your current game in progress unless you reset the scores for everyone. Perhaps you did not notice the bigint db columns prior and the lag is occurring after it was introduced? If this is the case, what I was suggesting was to change them to int manually (from bigint to just int) using phpmyadmin and if it stops the lag then let me know. 

[Chen Zhen]

Battle v1.14 Beta19


Download:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=12347530875888092570

Changes:

! lessened db queries concerning quests
! edited some language for side panel game stats
! fixed mouseover/mouseout colors for pages



Fog,

  Let me know if that operates faster on your forum.



Pending:

! fix issue causing quests not incrementing to the next level (issue only occurs on dwight's forum?)
! on game stats screen under Game Still in Progress it should display some relevant data

  I can't put my finger on the issue I see at dwight's forum although I have not had much time to investigate. Also I do not have phpmyadmin access to that forum therefore I will have to develop a small routine to run in a SP php block preview to see what is going on.

[Fog]

Will do UD, My users just started a new game....So I'll have some input soon.

[Chen Zhen]

Campaigns are not working properly at all and Imo I should just rewrite the whole routine.

[Chen Zhen]

Battle v1.14 Beta20

Download:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=15899633785898519340

Changes:

! fixed quest/campaign sub-routine



Please test out the campaigns/quests with different settings/scenarios.

Thanks.

[Chen Zhen]

  I cleaned up the database queries in that last beta which works a little better and stores most of the needed info in each quest's array.  When the data is already been loaded for a quest and/or campaign it does not need to be loaded twice however. Therefore I might dabble with storing some db data in cookies to avoid loading the same data twice in one session (unless data has been altered). That should make page loads even faster although I don't see it being too bad as it is unless one uses 2000 campaigns and has many users (10000 +).

  Imo multiple images and javascript being displayed from advertisements (ie. portal blocks) will have the greatest noticeable effect for slowing down the page loads. It may be best not to display too many of them on the battle page (no more than 2).  On Dwight's forum he has a combo of 6 ads & images where it seems to slow down the page load approx. .8 seconds. It is noticeable for sure.

[Fog]

This shouldn't interfere with the current game we have going but will it delete our current quests?

[Chen Zhen]

This shouldn't interfere with the current game we have going but will it delete our current quests?

It will not omit any quests that you created, however it may require that you start them anew for your users via battle maintenance (reset quests). 

[Chen Zhen]

Battle v1.14 Beta21


Download:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=33328210342582430794


Changes:

! fixed typo and edited some text as short forms in language files
! slightly limited queries a little more for quests by diverting some mostly unchanged data to $_SESSION[XX] (this needs to be done more)
! limited query for battle info center (did_you_know function) (same as above)
! history and shouts display limited to 5 queries each
! fixed line breaks in Admin->Battle message from webdevlop.comli.com



  Not a lot of changes here except some language and lessening overall db queries. Some queries can be lessened even more whereas data that seldom changes can be stored in $_SESSION arrays. I am hoping this idea can speed up page loads although I find it not too bad in testing.
Quests appear to be finally working properly. Imo just remember to reset them if you make admin campaign/quest changes during the game play (in some circumstances).



Note:
   Investigating the slow mysql issue resulted in memcached & $_SESSION being the best options to store common (mostly unchanging) data to quicken page loads (cookies are not safe and require array data to be serialized). I decided to use $_SESSION arrays to store temp data which has thus far only been slightly implemented.

[Tom]

Hello again. Been on a hiatus with real life getting in the way. 

I recently upgraded SMF to the latest version to close some security loopholes and didn't properly uninstall Battle. I've reinstalled it and everything works except when I attempt to click "Attack Player" from the tab underneath their avatars in their posts. I get the following error:

No refreshing is allowed , please go back to Battle Main page.

If I do this, I can attack people normally on the attack page. Would like to quash this minor bug, but I'm having a hard time figuring it out. Any input? Thanks!