TornIsland.com - A post-apocalyptic themed text-based RPG

[DylC0N]

So when I made my introduction post a couple of months back I mentioned how I had been developing a game and that I would post the link to it in a few days. Well I ended up changing the theme of the game and pretty much redesigning the whole site as well as spending a lot of time away from programming, which is why I'm posting this over 2 months late. I'm at a stage now where I'm ok to start trying to spread the word and get the game some attention.

Now there are a few things to note. First of all the game is in a very early development stage and when I say very early I mean VERY early. Also it is entirely custom built as is probably evident. It lacks any kind of real graphics at the moment because I'm terrible when it comes to graphics, but before release I'm going to spend a fair bit of money on completely custom artwork for the game such as backgrounds and item graphics etc. The game features an entirely responsive design which means it can detect which device you are viewing the site from whether it be a smartphone or a tablet and will adapt how the site displays accordingly. You can test this by shrinking or stretching the width of your browser window. Torn Island will also make use of a facebook-esque chat system.

I haven't got a solid backstory for the game yet as I don't see the point before having even completed the majority of the features as I want to story to tie in well with the features of the game.

To give a very brief description, the main aim of the game is to survive and rise to the top as it is possible for you to be killed by another player. You will be able to go about this is many ways such as doing tasks such as scavenging, looting, forming a group to commit a group raid with a large shared reward and even joining player created factions which offer numerous benefits. You will be able to customize where you live, gamble in casinos, own property, trade on the black market etc, to name just a few features whilst all the while trying to keep your friends close and your enemys closer to try and avoid being killed. To keep it even more interesting players will be given randomly generated daily and weekly tasks to complete for extra rewards and experience alongside a limited number of preset tasks that offer greater depth. The game is heavily focused on player interation as that is what I find the most fun about these types of games.

Here is the most recent feature I have completed along with a description of it: http://bit.ly/PjDP3t

I'm still pondering on whether or not to post the details of a test account I created that would allow people to log in and check it out what I've got so far for themselves...

For anyone who hasn't fallen asleep yet and thinks that they may like to follow the development of Torn Island, I would be extremely grateful if you could like the Facebook and Twitter pages, you'll also get the chance to help test the game before release should you want to:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Torn-Island/417058598346212

https://twitter.com/tornisland

Sorry for rambling on for way too long... :D

http://www.tornisland.com/

[DylC0N]

Trying to hide the fact? It's called file compression which is pretty obvious to see and is done on certain files before I upload them to my server, and is a technique used multiple times in various linked stylesheets and scripts where I feel it necessary to try and keep the page load down. If you think I work on the files whilst they are compressed onto one line and uncommented then your pretty stupid. For anyone who has used Bootstrap before it is glaringly obvious that it's the framework I use. Your assumption is that I removed the copyright notice to attempt to hide the fact I'm using something, so why would I leave copyright notices present in various other linked files?

I also make references to Bootstrap on at least one occasion on every page. Yes these ones:

 

var enableBootstrapValidation=false;

 

<script src="library/js/jqBootstrapValidation.js"></script>

 

For someone trying to hide the fact I'm using Bootstrap I wouldn't be doing a very good job would I. Please do a little bit of research before making uneducated opinions in the future.

Edited August 18, 2012 by DylC0N
Formatting.

[Octarine]

Obviously missed the key statement

 

Decent use of bootstrap

Page load times not-withstanding since browsers should be caching these after the first hit, it's often a legal requirement to retain the copyright notices, however dispensation is usually granted if the relevant credits are published somewhere. I'd accept the praise, and gloss over the minor dig as unimportant, especially from one who excels in such matters.

[DylC0N]

In response to Octarine, I only responded in such a way due to the fact he seemed to offer it up as a fact rather than an opinion, something which I don't appreciate. If he'd have simply questioned my reasoning for not choosing to retain the copyright notice I would have explained and thanked him for the compliment.

And yes I agree with you in regards to caching and the fact it often legal requirement to retain the copyright notices. I just tend to try and make page load reductions where it is easy for me to do so, even if it is only for the initial downloading of the file. I also looked at a few sites much more popular than my own that were using Bootstrap that ommited the copyright notice and I read the license and figured I'd be ok in omitting it, but I'll be the first to admit I may be mistaken in coming to this conclusion as I am not the most well-informed when it comes to this stuff. :)

[Djkanna]

I suppose you could use a humans.txt file and state that you use Bootstrap (Tools used section), I believe they don't mind how you credit them, just as long as you do, but you'd have to scour the bootstrap site to verify.

Regardless, best of luck with your game. (and followed on the tweeter.)

[DylC0N]

Yeah, that's a good idea, I'll do that. And thanks, much appreciated. :)

[rulerofzu]

Well its far too early to really have any opinion on it. At the moment it resembles a bootstrap basic layout and thats it.

Hopefully more will follow.

[DylC0N]

Yeah I agree it's too early to form a proper opinion, in all honesty I just wanted to make people aware of the game. It gets pretty damn boring when your developing a game that no one knows about. There will certainly be more to follow. :D

[DylC0N]

I didn't need to "re-code the whole game", I redesigned the vast majority of it, there's a difference. And I'm letting people know about the game for the same reason pretty much everyone has for letting people know about a product or service before it's finished or usable. To raise awareness and for me personally to see if anyone is interested in being a part of the development process.

Also it isn't just a template and the login system is active. I can log in just fine and play the game in its current form, as can the other people I've allowed to register to help me test features, its the registering system that's temporarily disabled. Just because I haven't allowed everyone to register as of yet does not make it just a "template".

Edited August 21, 2012 by DylC0N
Typo.

[a_bertrand]

As personal opinion, wait till you consider your game at least as open beta before adding a link on MWG. Why? because people will loose quickly interest if they can't even try your game, and next time you will talk about it, people may not even try it at all. Beside good luck with your game, it's cool to see something a bit different for once.