Browser Advice in Design Philosophy

ID:785901
 
May 30 2012, 6:21 am
So I've been messing around with browser because I wanted to make an attractive-ish output. However, it's for a text-based RPG, so I can't really see any true benefits.

Plus it's a real hassle Because each time I want to output something more to the browser, I actually have to save it to a text file then turn that text file into text again and then output it to the browser.

So my real question is, is there a good reason for me to go through all of these hoops just for CSS/HTML output which will be used to send messages to the user about their environment? Or should I just stick to the output control and not bother myself with all of the effort?
#1 May 30 2012, 8:02 am
You can send html as text directly to a browser control. You don't have to save things to text files. You can also call javascript functions from DM to update what is displayed in the browser.
#2 May 30 2012, 8:04 am
When I send text to a browser control like this

src  << output(Msg,control)


It always erases any messages I had there before and replaces it with whatever I just sent. Is this a bug?
#3 May 30 2012, 8:08 am
No, that's just how it works. If you want to append text to something inside the browser control you'd have to use javascript. It'll let you modify what's already being displayed in the browser instead of just overwriting it all. I'm posting from a phone so it'd be hard for me to put an example together.

You can use the interface library to simplify the DM-javascript interaction: http://www.byond.com/developer/Forum_account/Interface
#4 May 30 2012, 8:09 am
Alright, but that doesn't answer my original question. Is it really worth using a browser output for my text-based RPG?
#5 May 30 2012, 8:26 am
Browser based interfaces are easier to work with than BYOND's interface files. I'm not sure what you need to display to the user so I'm not sure its necessary, but it might be. Is there a specific reason why an output control isn't sufficient?
#6 May 30 2012, 8:30 am
Just for customizable output display. It's a text-based RPG so all of the pretty is going to rely on your imagination. Do you think that it would be easier to make browser "pretty" than output?
#7 May 30 2012, 8:40 am
Output is easier to use but the browser control gives you more control over things. Anything you've seen on a website can be done in a browser control. Also, the browser let's you modify things you've already displayed - you can show something to the user then hide it or change it. With an output control you can only append to what you've already output.

If you're not good with html, css, and javascript you might want to stick with an output control (though using the browser control here would be a good reason to improve those skills). If you're good with html and css it should be easy to create nicer looking output in a browser control.
#8 May 30 2012, 8:41 am
Sounds good, thanks FA. I'm going to use this game as an opportunity to better my webpage designing skills.