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View Full Version : Need testers for a new game

Coffee Warlord
04-27-2011, 02:23 PM
So, I've been working on a new web game in my spare time, based loosely off of the original Master of Orion. I'm at a point where I need a handful of people to hop in and try to break the system / start delivering feedback.

If you're interested, reply here or whatever and I'll shoot you the link. I'd just go and post it, but I don't need a TON of people yet.

Update: Testing is in phase 2 at this point, so need a few more people. Thus, the link.

Interstellar Imperium - It's like conquest. In space. (http://ii.hark.org/)
johnnyshaka
04-27-2011, 02:27 PM
Sure.
Marc Vaughan
04-27-2011, 02:28 PM
Puts hand up
mckerney
04-27-2011, 02:47 PM
I'll give it a try.
CrimsonFox
04-27-2011, 03:15 PM
sure
rjolley
04-27-2011, 04:02 PM
I'll try it out.
Glengoyne
04-27-2011, 04:33 PM
I'm a big fan of the original MOO. I always try to talk folks out of their love for MOO 2, and point them to the original that they haven't played. In any case, I'd like to give it a shot. Not sure I'll do a great volume of testing or playing, but It would be fun to take a look.
Honolulu_Blue
04-27-2011, 04:49 PM
I would be up for it as well.
saldana
04-27-2011, 04:57 PM
i'll be your huckleberry
Grammaticus
04-27-2011, 08:36 PM
I will help if you still need people.
Surtt
04-27-2011, 08:52 PM
sure, if you need more
path12
04-27-2011, 10:04 PM
Played tons of both MOO and MOO2. Be glad to try and break it.
johnnyshaka
04-27-2011, 10:20 PM
That auto-refresh is ANNOYING. It wasn't doing that this afternoon while I was at work using Chrome on Windows 7 but tonight on my Mac using Chrome it's been ridiculous.

(posting here because I can't get a message typed up before the auto-refresh kills everything)
Fonzie
04-27-2011, 11:03 PM
I'd be happy to help. Loved me some MOO back in the day.
Coffee Warlord
04-28-2011, 08:06 AM
That auto-refresh is ANNOYING. It wasn't doing that this afternoon while I was at work using Chrome on Windows 7 but tonight on my Mac using Chrome it's been ridiculous.

(posting here because I can't get a message typed up before the auto-refresh kills everything)

I've disabled that until I can figure out a better solution.
Coffee Warlord
04-28-2011, 08:26 AM
Plenty of people now hammering away at it now, found a handful of spiffy bugs. All goes well, I can start in on combat and open it up for a bunch more folks, and watch everyone blow the shit outta one another.
johnnyshaka
04-28-2011, 10:31 AM
I've disabled that until I can figure out a better solution.

I just saw your post about having the game open in two browsers at the same time...and I did last night as my session here at work was still up while I started a session at home.

Hope that helps.
Coffee Warlord
04-28-2011, 10:44 AM
I just saw your post about having the game open in two browsers at the same time...and I did last night as my session here at work was still up while I started a session at home.

Hope that helps.

Yep, that woulda done it.

Basically, I scoured around for means to secure XML queries (to basically prevent someone from being able to grab every shred of information from the server outside the game). One of the decent ways I found was using a random seed generator that stores itself directly in the database. Every time you submit a query, it'll re-seed itself, so if you don't have the most up to date authenticator in your query, it'll kick back a failure. Basically, it woulda made it at least annoyingly difficult for anyone to set up an automated thing to hijack the queries. From my research, there's no real way to secure this shit - it's more 'take steps to make it a pain in the ass to hijack and pray'.

The drawback to this particular one was the fact that it makes trying to do a lot of xml queries at once a colossal pain. And as I'm sure you've noticed, there's a lot going on on those pages.

What the two windows thing was encountering was one browser having the correct seed, and the other browser having the incorrect one, leading it it trying to refresh itself a bajillion times, trying to get the correct key.

So, yeah. It's gone. I shalt figure out other ways.
chesapeake
04-29-2011, 09:30 AM
I'm happy to give it a try over the weekend.
Coffee Warlord
05-09-2011, 01:23 PM
Interstellar Imperium - It's like conquest. In space. (http://ii.hark.org/)

Still very much in testing, but it's gotten a lot further along, I need a few more people to hammer away on it (particularly getting into the thick of ship to ship combat), so I'm opening it up a bit. I'll disable registrations if I feel we've got enough.

(There's even some documentation now!)

And 5 bucks to the first person to bomb mckerney's oversized empire back into the stone age. :)
-apoc-
05-09-2011, 01:35 PM
I am in!
Coffee Warlord
05-09-2011, 01:52 PM
*finds apoc and bombs his homeworld*
-apoc-
05-09-2011, 02:08 PM
Arg already :) Are the times in EST, CST or PST? I need to know when to check back on my probing ;)
Coffee Warlord
05-09-2011, 02:12 PM
CST. Intergalactic Edict 47 has declared central time as the only proper timezone.
CrimsonFox
05-09-2011, 02:18 PM
you two should get a room with all your probing.
-apoc-
05-09-2011, 02:23 PM
A good probing is key to avoiding unforeseen consequences down the road!
Coffee Warlord
05-10-2011, 03:23 PM
Wiping tomorrow or shortly thereafter, so everyone has been jacked up to high production, tech level 55, and given a bunch of minerals. Let hilarity ensue.
k0ruptr
05-10-2011, 03:52 PM
go back to your NCAA game !
Coffee Warlord
05-13-2011, 08:19 AM
go back to your NCAA game !

I would if I could ever felt motivated to completely rewrite the sim engine. Which I totally don't. :)

Anyway...game's back up, wiped, and ready to go for another round of testing. Added 4 total 'sectors', each containing 625 star systems. Also changed the event timing to be in line with what I'm imagining will be the live values, along with a slew of bug fixes and interface tweaks. Be aware, lot slower paced this time around.