[MUD-Dev] [TECH] Multi - Browser plugin framework

[Arnau Josep Rosselló Castelló]

Thanks for the replies, here i come with another round of questions :)

29/09/2005 09:13 -0400, Edward Glowacki wrote:

> This is possible to do with AJAX, and there are libraries out
> there that will help you do it.  Prototype.js
> (http://prototype.conio.net/) is one such library.  Basically it
> ends up being a single line on the client side to replace an
> arbitrary block of data:

It looks good enough, at least for text and still images, but I have
to say my web skills got stuck before the first DHTML fad started;
Have you or someone actually used it? I'll have to give it a try to
see if it ties well with Twisted Python or something like that.

> That's a pretty heavyweight plugin... =) It seems to me that with
> the quantity of stuff you are trying to do, you've gone beyond the
> realm of "web interface" (OpenGL+python interpreter >> web) and
> I'm not sure there's necessarily any reason to stick within the
> limitations of a web browser anymore.

Well that is more of a "what would be what I ask for if a genie came
out of a lamp"(and only gave MUD-related wishes), when I know enough
about what is already done and what do I have to do myself, I'll
start cutting corners.

As for the web browser, if I put a plugin to show the game mixed
seamlessly with web pages I think I'm not limiting anything, but
expanding it's possibilities. One thing I never liked from comercial
MMORPGS was the disconnect between the game itself and all other
web-based(forums, news, guild pages, fanmade newspapers,etc...)
goodies the game has.

Conversely in a mud I was playing someone put up a page with a java
telnet client, and an irc client embedded on the page. in a third
frame there also was a forum with a thread for every zone with a
player-made map at the beggining. It was all very crude, but added a
level of enjoyment and "inmersion"(I quote that because it wasn't
inmersion in the game world, really, but it was inmersion in the
game community).

> Also, do you really want to spend all your time making browser
> plugins, or would you rather put that time into making your game?
> I know which one I would choose... ;)

...

> My recommendation is either scale your application to fit
> reasonably within something that can be browser-deployed (be it
> straight HTML, HTML+javascript(+AJAX), Flash, or something), or
> scale your deployment to fit reasonably with what you want out of
> your application, and don't spend all your time trying to force
> the technology when you could be spending that time making your
> game.

One of the things I know I don't want to cut is having the ability
to make very frequent updates to both client and server, so every
code change can be inmediately reflected. This way new ideas for the
game can be implemented very fast, bugs can be corrected as fast, or
rolled back if they broke too much. I think it can be very
empowering for a player if he makes a (small) suggestion and gets it
implemented "realtime" (Yes, my main in WOW is a mage, how did you
know?).

29/09/2005 19:52 -0400, Lachek Butalek wrote:

> Firefox is available for free on all three major platforms. It is
> a reasonably small application that is pain free to install. In
> fact, it is smaller than many standalone game clients, and has
> full redistribution rights, so you can even customize your own
> version of it and allow it to be downloaded as "your game client"
> from your own website.

Mhh does XUL let me serve the client logic over the network? I don't
have as much problem with a one-time install if from there on all
the updates are transparent. Can a custom XUL game even work with a
previously installed Firefox?

That's it for now.

--
Arnau
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