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#6271 - 04/19/05 11:03 PM

Dragon Knight Frequently Asked Questions - READ THIS FIRST!

Jamin
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Registered: 02/25/05
Posts: 2649
Loc: Texas

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Q: What is Dragon Knight?
A: From the Dev site, “The Dragon Knight game engine is an online game system created by Jamin Seven. It is an RPG-style game in which characters explore the map, fight monsters, gain experience and buy items, among other things. It is written in PHP4, with a MySQL database backend. While it was originally envisioned as a medieval/fantasy type game (think back to the NES game, Dragon Warrior, to which this game is a tribute), it is possible to make it into any other kind of game you want (space, modern, whatever). All statistics are handled by the database, so all items, monsters, etc., are fully customizable. It includes an administrative control panel suited for basic editing tasks, however, the best way to make large-scale changes are with a more comprehensive database tool such as phpMyAdmin.”

Q: Will you add [insert new feature here] to DK?
A: No. Since I announced my new game, Dragon Scourge, no new features are being added to DK. As it is, DK does exactly what I always wanted it to do. It is exactly what I envisioned it to be. Scourge will include a lot of the most frequently requested features, but development on DK is mostly halted except for important bug fixes and security updates. Besides the fact that it fulfills everything I originally wanted it to be, DK was the first game I ever made, and a lot of it was mostly experimental. As such, I did a lot of things wrong that prevent it from being very expandable. One of the major premises of Scourge is that I’m going to learn from my mistakes and make the game much more extensible and easier to modify.

Q: Can I add [insert new feature here] to DK?
A: Absolutely! Please do. I’ve seen some really awesome modifications to DK that take it far above and beyond anything I ever dreamed it could do. As I said, the code isn’t easily expanded, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to expand. If you have experience with PHP and MySQL development, you are more than welcome to add your own new features to the game – and also, you are encouraged to post your modifications on the Modification Index to share with other DK admins.

Q: I added a bunch of new stuff to DK. Can I change the copyright, since I did so much to it?
A: Fuck you and die. If you are that desperate for attention, write your own damn game. Or kill yourself on camera and have the tape sent to a local TV station. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to give you a lot of post-mortem attention. Other than that, I hope you die a horrible, cruel, and extremely painful death.

Q: I’m using the IIS server on Windows to host my DK, and it’s causing a lot of errors. Why is that?
A: Specifically, I have no idea. I know from experience that, for some reason, DK seems to cause a ton of problems on IIS. Whether this is because of file permissions differences, or because of the way IIS handles PHP and MySQL connections, or whatever other reason, I really don’t know. If you have the option, I would strongly suggest using the Apache server instead of IIS. This is how I personally run my own localhost development server (on Windows XP Pro), and it works flawlessly. But I simply don’t have enough experience with IIS to really be able to troubleshoot your problem, sorry.

Q: [Insert problem here] is weird on the in-game bundled forums program. What’s the deal?
A: The forums module was, for all intents and purposes, a copy of something I wrote mainly just to see if I could do it. Its inclusion in DK is something that I honestly regret, and I wish I could take it back. I very strongly suggest you don’t use the in-game forums, because they’re not fully developed and are lacking almost any feature you can think of from other commercial and/or open-source forums package. There are many other forums packages you can get, from commercial companies like Infopop, vBulletin and Invision, as well as freebie apps like phpBB, PunBB, and Phorums. Snoopy, one of the members on the official DK forums, has taken it upon himself to post some excellent forum integration packages for WBB (Woltlab Burning Board) on the Mod Index, and I’ve heard that he’s got another package coming out with support for vBulletin. Using these would even eliminate the problem of making your users register in multiple places. Regardless of what particular forums solution you choose, for the love of everything sacred and holy, please don’t use the bundled forums with DK. They suck. Seriously. I wrote the forums module myself, and I’m admitting that they suck. You should really take that to heart.

Q: I (and/or one of the players on my server) randomly died for no apparent reason. What's the deal?
A: There are a couple possible reasons. First, monsters have a (generally small) chance to attack first, just as in Dragon Warrior. If you're low on hit points, and you're wandering around when a monster attacks you, you may die. Similarly, if you get low on hit points and attempt to run away from a fight, the monster has a chance of blocking you and continuing to attack. Again, this may cause you to die. The game is supposed to inform you when this happens. Apparently sometimes it doesn't. I don't know why. The second possible reason is a little something I like to call the "Random Death Bug of Doom." It has been reported several times that, for no discernable reason, people just die - as in one of the replies in this thread, where a player had 30hp, was hit for 8 damage, and still died. Many people have reported it (just like the bug that doesn't show when you get hit first, or blocked from running away). Unfortunately, I myself have never personally seen this happen, it always works exactly the way it's supposed to when I'm playing. And no one has ever actually brought forth any evidence of it happening, such as error log entries, etc. I've looked through the code and can find no obvious errors that would be making it happen. And without any evidence, I really can't do much. It's happening... it's been reported by too many people to just be some random fluke... but I simply don't know why. (In my best Robert Stark voice...) If you, or anyone else, has any information regarding this Unsolved Mystery, please call our show or your local law enforcement agency!!!

Q: What is “index.php?do=ninja”?
A: An easter egg. That’s a picture of me after I dressed myself up like the Shirt Ninja, an homage to one of my favorite webcomics, Real Life.

Q: I noticed that there are “compass_##.gif” images in the /images/ folder. What are they, and how can I enable them?
A: Compass images were taken out of DK a long time ago because a bug (or something) in Internet Explorer (used by about 90% of people on the Internet, 100% of which are freaking retarded) caused the “image” input type to be improperly submitted with the form, and for some reason it kept getting characters stuck at (-1,0) on the map. There are ways around this, but the quick and painless solution was to just replace the image input types with standard submit buttons. Nathaniel, one of our forums members, has given an example of how to make a working image-based compass here.

Q: I asked a question on the forums, and you answered and made it sound like I was an idiot. Why are you such a mean doodie-face?
A: There are several possible answers for this. One explanation is that you failed to use proper English when you asked your question(s). Many of the users come from countries other than America, and English is admittedly not your first language – and for this, I can forgive you. But those people who simply bastardize the English language by using a ton of Internet shorthand, random abbreviations, abhorrent grammar, and pitiful spelling… I hate you. I take the time to at least try to use proper English in every post I make, and I expect no less from you. If Babelfish translations from our foreign-language users make more sense than your post, I hope you die. Another possible reason is that you asked a question that has already been asked and answered sixteen times before. Admittedly, before I created this FAQ post, there was no consolidated place to find answers to common questions. But the Search function is only one click away. I always use it before I ask a question on any other site’s forum, and I expect you to do the same. If you don’t, as I said before, I hope you die. It’s your own fault that I was rude to you.

---Jamin

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