a_bertrand Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Q: What's the main differences between NWE and many other PHP game engines? A: NWE is based on the concept that you should be able to add / remove modules with easy without changing a single line of the existing code. To achieve this goal, NWE offers an plug-able infrastructure, tools, and libraries to help the game developer achieve their goal. Modules are stored in separated directories and contains PHP as well as other kind of files. The engine will then scan the directories to find files names it knows and run them. To install a module you could simply copy over a directory and the module is installed, however as some modules would require database changes, a convenient installation tool is provided which will run all those SQL for you. Q: Is the code more complex than the other game engines? A: No, as the main target was people which would have at the start little knowledge, the engine has been designed in such way that modules can been written with nearly pure PHP code without the need to learn much of the framework which host them. Modules are usually plain procedural PHP files without much complications (check: http://www.nw-engine.com/wiki/index.php/Step_by_step_module_creation ) Q: What does NWE offers as core features? A: Beside it's growing list of modules (official or 3rd party), NWE offers many features to simplify both the developer and the administrator of the game's experience. For example by adding a single line in a config.xml file (like <table name="premium_packages" />) inside your module and the admin panel will let you edit a database table as you would have made an admin module for another engine. But that's of course not all, the engine contains a database library to work in an easy manner with MySQLi, user stats, inventory items, security, template system, translation, roles, and much more. Q: Why having a config.xml file in each module directory? A: A module do not requires a config.xml file to run. It's simply a convenient way to tell the core engine as well as other modules how your module will work and what it would need. For example, configurations options, version number and more is stored in the config.xml file. Q: I always used engine X or Y and I don't like NWE. It's simply too complex. Why didn't you made something simpler? A: NWE is certainly different than most other engines, but is it really more complex or hard to start with? Actually many of the people which develop with it don't think so. It's simply different and it takes time to understand the differences. So instead of simply downloading the free version, browsing the directories and thinking: "what a mess, why is there so many directories", stick a bit with it, try to make your own simple module like a list of users or whatever else you want to try. I'm quiet confident that you will change your mind afterward and agree that it was just matter of understanding the differences. Q: Why is your code is all procedural? OO is so much better! Procedural is lame! A: As said, the main target of the engine are new game developers. So instead of building a complete OO framework and forcing people which may have never programmed to try to understand what a class is, why we must extend class X or implement interface Y, the module codes inside NWE are pure straight forward procedural PHP code. Nothing fancy, no OO. It may seem ugly and outdated at first for the coding experts but not only it works but it helps also to keep the code small and actually quiet readable. Does that mean that OO programming is bad? Certainly not. Simply for this goal which was to create an easy to use and extensible engine, procedural modules was the choice. You may have a different opinion, simply multiple roads leads to Rome. Q: I love NWE, but as it misses feature Z I can't use it. Shall I use another engine which offers it? A: Of course NWE is not the perfect solution for all, however I promised (and so far I think I maintained my promise), that if a feature is something which could benefit more games and you agree that the feature will be available to all engine owners, then I shall develop it for you for free. Usually a feature takes less than 2-3 weeks to be implemented so why don't ask what you miss? Don't be shy! Q: What about security? Is NWE really more secure than engine X? A: I don't know all engines, nor I checked the security of all the engines. However I can say that a lot of efforts have been invested inside NWE to make it safe. URLs cannot be edited (in the full version) without kicking you out. XSS should be mostly covered as the full engine checks what the players input and blocks HTML / JS and others automatically. CSRF attacks should be covered as well, and even more simply hacks should have been checked and fixed. However no code is 100% safe, so if you discover an exploit, please inform us, and the hole should be patched ASAP. Q: Why don't you invest more time in the wiki manual? I never find the info I want! A: The manual is written using wiki because not only it's convenient for writing a documentation, but as well to let many people contribute to it. I invest many hours per week on NWE, to support the community, to improve the core engine as well as develop new features, when I have time I also try to update and add new texts to the wiki manual, but my time is limited to 24 hours a day sadly. So if you think you would need more information about a given subject you may ask in the forum or try to add the missing pieces yourself. Q: I don't like medieval games, so why should I use NWE? A: NWE is an engine, not a pre-made game. However it comes with some content to show how things can be used. As default content NWE offers a medieval fantasy setup, however you can easily change that with space cowboy, zombies or mafia style contents. All that mostly without even changing a line of code. In the future NWE will offer content packs which will let you switch from one theme to another automatically. Q: I don't have money, so I can't use NWE right? A: Wrong, we offer a free version of the engine which you can use the way you want. If you want to upgrade to the full later on, you can do it. You can also purchase just the modules you are interested in and use them in the free version. So you can start with as low as... FREE Q: I never programmed before, do you think I will be able to make my own game with NWE? A: You should be able to install NWE without much knowledge, yet if you really want to make YOUR game, and not just edit the content, you will need to learn PHP, HTML/ CSS and how to work with MySQL. However you could start slowly by editing a bit the existing modules and see how it work. Also the community on this forum will certainly try to help you and answer your questions. Q: I want to make a lot of money with a web game. So I just download NWE and run it and tomorrow I can buy myself a new car? A: No, sorry, if you think making loads of money with a web game is easy you may need to change goal and try other ways to make money. Having a web game, a community and yet make some or a good amount of money requires hard work. Don't trust people which says you could make loads of money just by installing this or that script on your site, that will never work. Q: Man! Are you mad? 100$ for your engine? Why shouldn't I pick up a free one? Or do all myself? A: Well, actually that is a good question. The reason why you could choose NWE instead of doing all yourself is that for only 100$ you would get already a lot pre-made for you, from admin tools, to security, also you would gain the help of the community which would then be able to provide you with even more modules or simply help you in your tasks. NWE over an open source engine, well, I haven't seen any open source engine which offers the quantity of features NWE offers, yet. Maybe one day this could change, but for the moment it's like that. Remember that it took a long time and effort to produce NWE. Q: Why NWE is not free? You want to make money on us? A: NWE is not free as many members of the community said they would not like to use an open source engine due to the fact they would be scared to be just one of the many games based on it. Keeping NWE closed allows us to reduce the number of copycats. There is also a second reason behind it, having a paid engine forces the buyers of the engine to try and do something out the money they invested where a free engine they could simply drop it after the first 3 seconds without remorse. By paying for the engine you have some sort of quality insurance, you are sure you will not lose your 100$ for nothing. NWE really offers a lot for that money and at the same time shows there is a market for 3rd party developers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Thanks, This is really good and I am sure its going to help much of the newer people understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalcazar Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 I love it! Thank you! Are you guys going to create an engine like Mafiacreator.com? If so that would be great!!! I can see it now, enable to switch themes,icon,and picture-plus add all the modules i want to make my game the way i want it with a click of a mouse. I'm not a programmer, so making it easier for everyone is great! THANK YOU! I hope you guys can catch up to Maifacreator.com soon. So i don't have to spend most of my money over there. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_bertrand Posted September 8, 2013 Author Share Posted September 8, 2013 No, it will remain an engine and not a pre-made game. So no way it will be a one click game creation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleMassacre Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Are you guys going to create an engine like Mafiacreator.com? If so that would be great!!! I can see it now, enable to switch themes,icon,and picture-plus add all the modules i want to make my game the way i want it with a click of a mouse. I'm not a programmer, so making it easier for everyone is great! THANK YOU! I hope you guys can catch up to Maifacreator.com soon. So i don't have to spend most of my money over there. :) So let me get this straight, you don't want to be able to control every aspect of your game? To me that mafia creator is a dumb idea, you can't add your own spin to it at all. What happens when you want a feature that they dont offer? You just have to deal with it or what? NWE may not have everything you need to get a game up amd running out of the box but it gives you a start and you just have to put your mind to it and make stuff up for it as you go. I guess if you have no knowledge of programming then something like that would be right for you or if you wanted to learn you can pick up a free copy of NWE and let er rip and see what you come up with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalcazar Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Yes! you guys are right. NWE offer more endless feature, which i have decided to go with NWE engine instead and purchase the $100 package. You think you guys can create a tax module for every transaction of the game in NWE engine? also if you guys have the time, can you guys list package module separately from the new one. It's gonna take me awhile to figure out which one is already in the package. thank you again for an awesome engine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_bertrand Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Well let me know if you have questions, and remember you can use the chat to get realtime help ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleMassacre Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I personally can't see an easy way of making a tax module modular. The easiest way I can think of is to just create a function to give the players money and then deduct the tax in that. Or what you can do since you will probably have to anyways with the function is whatever module gives money like the stock lotto for example is find $userstats["! Currency"]->value += $money/$tax. The $money var is the money that is being given to the player and the $tax var is what is being deducted like .2 or something like that to give them a 20% tax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalcazar Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 like i say i don't know any programming but i can cut, paste and edit files. So that line will work if i insert it into the module? i guess i'll figure it out sooner or later. thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_bertrand Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 No, if you don't know any coding that will hardly be enough to create or modify any module. You MUST invest the time to code if you want to modify any game logic. Sure the admin panel let you create content and tweak some of the rules, but that will not allow you to make all what you could if you know even a bit of PHP programming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleMassacre Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Like bert said it would require some knowledge. it helps to know what you are doing when doing something otherwise you would kill your scripts. Just browse through some modules, perform some actions in that module you are viewing and follow along in the source code of that module to actually see what is being done and how it is being done. If you have any questions about stuff you can always turn to php.net and look stuff up to see what are particular function does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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