Show HN: Massively Multiplayer HTML5, Node.js, MongoDB Game | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Massively Multiplayer HTML5, Node.js, MongoDB Game

crpg.me

68 pointsjames3334 comments

Using the latest version of Firefox, this is what happens...

1. It loads up and I'm on the casino floor with some slot machines, blackjack, poker etc. I assume I'm the character that's just standing solo in the room (woman in yellow), so I try to move. This does nothing.

2. I mouseover the games, and they say play slots, or play poker, so I click them, and nothing happens.

3. A box appears in the top left saying create character. I click that, and an error flickers saying the connection was lost.

4. Instantly I'm forwarded to a page that looks like an advertisement for the game, with a big button to play now.

5. Before I can do anything, it forwards to the original loading screen, and I'm back to number one in the casino room.

Chrome...

1. It loads and I actually see other players and their names in the casino room.

2. Similar to above, the buttons do nothing, and should at least have a popup asking me to register.

3. The create character button doesn't display an error, but forwards me to the game advertisement, and then loops back into the game like Firefox before I can click anything.

In both browsers I'm in an endless loop. You should really consider letting the user play for 5 minutes or 10 minutes without needing to register, and then once they're hooked, prompt them to register to continue.

Thanks, looks like there's an error in the guest view from a recent update, should have the updated soon. As to the looping you are referring to, that one is stumping me at the moment as none of us here are able to get that behavior to happen. Still digging...

Edit: Okay, the bug with clicking on things not working is fixed, still haven't been able to reproduce this looping issue.

Thanks, I'm in now. I used Chrome, and during the loop, I clicked the create a goldfire account button before it automatically forwarded. Then I created an account, and it gave me the option to select one of three games. I selected the casino game, and it loaded and went back to square one, in the casino room, with the create character button. I clicked that button and went into the loop again, clicked the goldfire button once more, and then it loaded the game and I was suddenly logged in.

I played around for 20 minutes, but I don't think I'll return. It's clear a lot of time and effort went into this game. It's missing the two most important things I enjoy in a game though, it needs to be fun, and it needs to be simple. I'm likely not your target user though, since I've never been too involved in online casino games. Congrats though, I'm impressed at how much is built into this game, and how much you achieved here.

Sorry you had to go through all of those hoops, had never seen that issue or had it reported before. I think I've found the problem and fixed it now anyway. Our early player flow certainly has some issues that we are putting a lot of work into redoing right now (mainly it takes too long to get into the meat of the game). If you don't enjoy casino games then true, you probably wouldn't enjoy the early gameplay. Thanks for the feedback, we really appreciate it!

I hate and ignore those apps which require registration w.o. displaying the main page. Quora is another example to this.

This is an MMO, it requires registration, but we display information, screenshots and video about the game on the main page. This link is also the guest view, which lets you see inside one of the casinos live without needing to be logged in.

Blog post and trailer video about the game: http://goldfirestudios.com/blog/134/CasinoRPG-Official-Launc...

Hey James I have been following you guys for a while, great concept and looks pretty smooth. Reminds me a lot of Habbo Hotel, great market with lots of revenue potential. Keep it up.

I liked the look of the first page I saw, where I could click on tables in the game room. But after going through registration via Facebook, I got back, and it looked like a boring web page. Whatever that page was, it was boring, so I closed the site. I forgot to get a screenshot, but it mostly was a solid green background.

Solid green background? I'd be really curious to know what page you are talking about as I can't think of any page or screen that is solid green besides the felt on the poker/blackjack tables.

I've been following this for a while. Great progress, great play experience, great game!

This is very impressive! Good work, I can only wish to be half as good with Node.js

Nice. What libraries/technologies are you using to render the front end?

We are using a modified version of the Isogenic Game Engine and a little over 2 years of work (there's a whole open world outside of the casino floors).

I wanted to inspect the network tab in Chrome and it froze the whole browser.

Yeah, that has actually been an issue for us during development. Something like this requires quite a few more assets than a normal webpage, and clearly Chrome's Dev Tools don't handle that too well.

Mind if I ask how you managed to solve this? Seems like a painful problem to have!

We don't really have a good solution so far. We mainly try to avoid the network tab, but if we must use it, we pause the game to free up some extra resources and generally it won't crash.

I dislike having to create a separate account to play this game. Using twitter still requires a separate password and account to create. In firefox the game loops when clicking create character.

Hmm, not seeing the looping issue you are referring to in Firefox. The game is an MMO, so we need some way to keep track of your player and sync with everyone else.

With Oauth you should be able to use a twitter account as your account without having to sign up.

supply a user with a random handle, "player1912381271", later allowing that user to switch to a personalized handle from within their UI.

the actual player identification for gameplay determined via a token of some sort, generated upon first interaction.

1st freeze with mirror 2nd at the table. couldnt do any moves. and now I cannot join "premium members can only play at 2 tables"

Interesting, haven't heard a report of that before. Looks like you got automatically cleared out of that table now though.

Latest chromium on ubuntu: 1 Loading up a room with a bar and slot machines 2 i click on the bar 3 screen fades to 50% black the end

Maybe I'm missing something but this game didn't work at all for me in Firefox

What version of Firefox? The game works on every browser newer than IE8. As long as there is HTML5 Canvas it should work. That being said, Firefox does tend to have the worst performance of all of the major browsers.

Huh, seems to be working now. Maybe it was a poor connection.

I thought it was going to be a game where I could use node.js against my enemies ;)

Ha, I guess I could have phrased the title a little differently. That would be fun though too!

Sooo they found a way to gamify the gamified process of handing over your money!

Looks really great! Are you monetizing this (if you don't mind answering)?

Yes, we actually first built a social gaming platform (https://goldfire.me) and built this game around that. Through the platform we monetize with virtual currency purchases and an optional monthly subscription, though we've been careful to balance things so that no spending is ever required.

The fish tanks look like the most interesting thing in the room.

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