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A #ludumdare client — With a Twist!
Posted by Jorjon (twitter: @jorjongames)
September 22nd, 2012 2:24 pm
So, I’m in! I just wanted to make sure I can accomplish this crazy idea of mine.
Since I’m not going to make a game, I’m going to create an enjoyable multiplayer experience, without goals. It’s an IRC client for #ludumdare.
The image you see above is the first screenshot taken on the #ludumdare chatroom. Those are all real people who were at the chatroom at that time. And that’s me saying something just to take a screenshot.
Some features this “client” (will) have:
- Server-less. I don’t use an external server to store anything, all the information comes directly from the IRC server. And maybe I will use some information from the ludumdare.com page itself (a blink-blink if you got 100% coolness in the last compo… How is that not cool?)
- Unique characters. The character is selected according to your nickname, so if you log in today or tomorrow, you will have the same character (as long as you use the same nickname).
- IRC interface. Yeah, you will be able to actually log in with your username and chat.
- Quick Commands. Simply click on an avatar, and from the menu choose /kick, /msg, etc.
- Move around. When logged in, you will be able to move around your avatar. The others will stay in place. This will not be a concurrent multiplayer application.
- Art. I will use the noncommercial assets from Oryx (I think that’s ok with the rules), and make some background art for the game, but since I’m not an artist, artists are welcome to help me in this part.
That’s all I have in mind for the MiniLD. I’m using my framework, which you can get here, but as with most amateurs frameworks, it is not complete / documented / and is subject to change in the short term. Use at your own risk.
If you have an idea/suggestion, please leave a comment below!
Hahaha! That’s epic! I’ll totally test this for you.
Great idea! I always wanted to see some kind of IRC visualization.
The only problem with no server is if people edit the source. I made something similar to this over LAN once, then to test how bad it was, i hacked the client, made myself unbanable, an admin, and The power to make it look like other people were saying whatever i wanted them to. It would probably be harder to hack if it’s based off IRC, but it still might be possible.
Yes indeed! But this is just a IRC client. So it has the same security than all the others IRC clients.
You could have a totem that shots eye-beam of death when someone is kicked or banned
Also some stuff that would be triggered by some irc command… dunno… it might involve animations so well
…
You could have an INN where people are teleported once they type the /afk command. And as soon as they send a message they are teleported back into the main area.
If you mouseover the Inn you can have a list of afk people.
And people are automatically afk’d after a while.
Could help clean up the main talking area (:
Thanks for the ideas ^^
This is awesome! I’ve seen a few multiplayer games on LD but they always have the problem of the game being empty. So, I was wondering if it would be possible to integrate an IRC client into my game but I had no idea how much work would be involved. And here, you’ve gone and done it! Nice!
How hard was this to make? What server(s) are you connecting to?
Right now this only works running the *.swf locally. As you know, Flash policies are very strict, so while running in a browser we can’t just go out and connect any server we want. I didn’t know that when I started coding, so I will have to analyze the possibilities of migrating to WebSockets or some technology which permit me to connect to an IRC channel.
Well, if they have Javascript IRC clients, I guess is possible, but it will take more time.
Oh and I’m connecting to the official #ludumdare channel at afternet.org.
Thanks for the interest
Great idea ! I love it !
If people are placed randomly, i suggest to add a “grab & drop” possibility for rearrange people on the screen (ex: for prevent textbox over another and things like that)