Foomer's site

Safe Save For Secure Savefiles

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:55:43 +0000

Not long ago Garthor created a library called Safe Save. What this library does is secure savefiles with a hash so that, in the event of their being modified with a savefile editor, any changes can be recognized and the savefile can be refused.

If you have a game that allows players to save their progress on their own computer, it may find it useful to secure your game's savefiles from modification so that people can not cheat quite so easily. It should be noted, however, that this does not in any way prevent players from examining their savefiles to see how they work, it only protects them from being modified.

Using this library is easy. Once installed, all you have to do is run your savefiles through safe_save() to create a new, secured version of your savefile. When you are ready to load the savefile again, use safe_load() to verify that the savefile has not been modified. It will return your loaded savefile if everything is well and good, but will only return null if the file has been altered.

This method is not 100% full proof, since there are ways to bypass it. However, as the hub page points out, it can not be "trivially circumvented", so it should be enough to keep the vast majority of your players from cheating.

For further instructions on how to use this library, download it and look at the demo source and readme files.

Sound Channels

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:04:40 +0000

Does anyone know if we're limited in how many sound channels we can be using as a whole? The reference says we can set it anywhere from 1 to 1024, but it doesn't say whether we're limited in how many we can use at once. It seems like there's a limit of 8, but I don't know if I'm making that up or not.

File Hosting and Forum Space

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:08:43 +0000

If you are not a BYOND member, you may have difficulty sharing your creations because you lack anywhere to host your files, or if you do have a file host, they may not allow you to link to your files remotely. This makes it difficult to create a download link from your game's hub page. If this is the case, Single Player Games may be able to host your game files for you as long as your game is listed in this guild.

If you have any questions about whether your game can be listed at Single Player Games, please consult the Game Rules to determine whether or not your game qualifies.

If you feel that your game qualifies to be listed at Single Player Games, and you would like your game files to be hosted here, then please contact me and let me know your situation. Please also provide links to your game's hub entry.

We can also provide you with a sub-forum for your game, giving you full moderator privileges in that forum. If you prefer to host your files elsewhere but would still like to have a forum for your game at Single Player Games, please contact me to request a forum.

Extracting scores from hub pages?

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:39:28 +0000

Is there any way to extract the scores from hub pages much like you extract information about the game or information about members using the format=text option? I'd love to be able to display scores within the game itself by simply extracting the information from the hub page, but I don't know if there's any way to do this.

Contributing To Single Player Games

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:03:59 +0000

Some people want to know if and how they can contribute to Single Player Games, and if so, then what are the guidelines? I created this page so that I can refer anyone who asks this question here for the answers.

Basically, yes, you certainly can contribute, whether you're a BYOND member or not, and we would very much like for you to do so. If you want to contribute, here's what you need to know:

What kind of posts to we accept?

Anything that might be of interest to people who are interested in playing or developing single player games. If you're a developer, you could submit a post about your game, either finished or under development. You can submit progress reports and let everyone know how things are coming along. You might write about a cool game idea that you had, but will most likely never be able to make. If you're a player, you might write reviews, comments or experiences - good or bad - regarding games that you've played.

There aren't any strict posting requirements, but:

Try to make your posts at least a few paragraphs long.
Please take some time to proof-read and spellcheck posts before submitting them.
Be mindful that as the editor I will most likely proof-read your post myself, and will make any necessary changes so that it fits seamlessly with the rest of the site. I will never change the content of your post beyond formatting and spellchecking.

I also ask that you don't submit posts to this blog that have already been submitted or published elsewhere, and that you agree not to publish them elsewhere after submitting them here.

How do I submit a guest post?

If you are not a BYOND member, you will not be able to submit content to this site unless you are registered as a contributor. If you would like to submit content, please contact me and provide me with your key name, so that I will know to add you to the list of contributors.

If you are a BYOND member or a registered contributor and your post fits the guidelines above, then you can use the Add Post link (listed under This Site in the BYOND navigation bar at the top of the page) to submit your post.

Note that if you would like the include pictures in your post, you will need to e-mail these to me in addition to submitting your post, so that I can format your post to include the pictures before publishing it.

Your post will be reviewed and, if everything is acceptable, will be posted at an opportune time in the near future. If your post was rejected, then obviously you are free to use it anywhere else.

What's in it for you?

For BYOND members, the advantage of contributing to Single Player Games is that you'll gain exposure to a slightly different audience. But because you're awesome and we want people to know about you, we'll make sure that anything you contribute to our site includes a link back to your site. And as long as your site remains active and contains acceptable content, we'll also keep a link to it here on our main page.

For people who are not members, the advantage is that your posts will be visible on the members front page where tons of people will see it.

Best, Most Experienced Active Developers?

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:42:32 +0000

This isn't a prestige question, and I'm not looking to start a "who's the best" argument, but I'd like to put together a small list of experienced, active developers just to get their thoughts and opinions. But in order to do that, I'd like to know who everyone agrees the best, or the most experienced developers are.

PMUR - A Shining Example

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:04:01 +0000

...of how not to make a rogue-like.

I saw the banner rotating around on the BYOND developer forums. PMUR. It sounded familiar, but off the top of my head I didn't know what it was, so I thought I'd give it a click. "A roguelike developed in under 20kb code-size" says the hub page. I don't remember ever trying this game before - although I probably did and just forgot. But its listed as a favorite through Dungeon Crawlers, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Okay, I did actually read (most of) the instructions that popup when you first start the game. So in all fairness, I know this game isn't complete. (Its still in alpha, and at the rate its going it probably always will be.) You only get to choose the one class, so really you don't get to choose a class, and the random dungeon generating is less than ideal.

New game started. Its pretty much what I'd expect from a rogue-like. I have my character, and there are rooms full of monsters and loot scattered around each level. So I started off collecting loot and slaying monsters. Collecting loot consists of just stepping on it, and slaying monsters consists of bumping into them. If you want, you can be clever in maneuvering so that you can have the first strike again the monsters, and so that you'll only ever be within the reach of one monster at a time. These monsters also aren't very smart and they won't walk around walls or go around each other, so its very easy to get them all bunched up.

Soon I'm on my third dungeon level and my third character level. I've slain a good number of monsters which all seem to be very much alike (walk my general direction, bump into me, die shortly thereafter). At this point, though, some aspects of the game that seemed innocent on level 1 are starting to get obnoxious.

First of all, the dungeons consist of writhing, twisted tunnels. They simply are not fun to walk through, and since there are never any monsters or items in them (although there are often potions at the end), they only serve to make the game more tedious.

To make matters worse, your movement is restricted so that you can't walk very fast. Now keep in mind, this is a single player turn based game. Why in the world a turn based game would need to restrict the player's movement is beyond me. But because of this, making your way through the very long, twisted tunnels that often end up returning to their place of origin is even more tedious.

At this point in the game, I find myself not being so careful around the monsters anymore. Perhaps I'm hoping to die so this game will end.

Having finally reached the 4th dungeon level after roughly 10 minutes of tediously crawling through the winding passages of misery on the 3rd level, it occurs to me that he must have programmed this game to generate the exit stairway only after you've explored every room on the level. Then it must automatically appear in the very last room that you explore. Because that's how it happens every time.

It should be pointed out that there are only two reasons why I've even progressed this far. One is the diminishing hope that there may yet be something interesting to discover further in the dungeon. Two is because I'm valiantly striving to find a better screen shot for the start of this post.

Conclusion

I don't know how long this game continues, but I'm not eager to find out. I've had enough gaming agony for today. Even if I could save my progress, then hack my savefile and turn myself into a demigod before coming back to finish this game, I wouldn't do it. You couldn't make me.

Delgertome, if you're still around, I'm sorry. I suppose you had good intentions. But this game is just awful. I sincerely encourage everyone not to play it unless they're a fan of masochism. The scary thing is that this was considered a favorite in the Dungeon Crawlers guild. Now I'd be afraid to play any of their other games. Maybe that's why nobody has posted there for so long.

Some outside sources of information on BYOND

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:20:28 +0000

Since a Wikipedia article requires sources outside of the BYOND website for verification of information, I've been trying to track down some other sites with information on BYOND, but usually I don't have much success in finding anything.

I searched again just now and came up with a few links that provide some descriptive information of what BYOND is all about that might be useful as references for a Wikipedia article.

http://www.softarea51.com/windows/Games_Entertainment/ Other_Games_Entertainment/Review-BYOND.html
http://www.killerstartups.com/Social-Networking/ byond-com-create-and-play-games
http://en.allexperts.com/e/b/by/byond.htm
http://wikibin.org/articles/byond.html
http://byond.wikia.com/wiki/BYOND (same as above)

Macros - Driving Me Nuts

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:48:47 +0000

I have some macros set that are not game specific. For example, because it was necessary for so many games I have the + key set to macro "get" for all game. However, that means that if the game has its own + macro, my macro apparently overrides that. Maybe that's just for old games, I don't know. The problem is, with the current version of BYOND, I haven't a clue how to change my global macros to get rid of the "get" macro, which I don't need right now.

Avoid the Asteroids

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:20:53 +0000

This is me, blowing away the current world record. Even if only because of a technicality.

Here's a little game that should waste a few minutes of your time. Avoid the Asteroids by Cbgames is just what it says - a game where you fly around avoiding asteroids. Of course, you also have to collect fuel if you want to keep your ship in the air.

An early version of this game was released back in November, and I'm not sure that it has received any updates since then. It was being created as an entry for the Build A Space Game 2009 competition. Since I overlooked it the first time though, I'm going to go ahead and point it out to you now.

The controls are extremely basic and quite limiting. You press an arrow key to start a thruster moving in the direction you want. Your ship moves slowly, so you really have to plan ahead to avoid the onslaught of asteroids which are randomly spewed in your general direction.

The asteroids coming at you also cross from the top to the bottom and vice versa when they hit the edges of the screen, so you need to be cautious of asteroids that might pop up above or below you.

Finally, you have to make sure to catch the little fuel rods that come out with the asteroids, because if you go too long without fuel you'll lose the game.

That's all there is to it. You can give it a try, and see if you can achieve a high score. If you get the #1 score at any point, you get an award.