Domination Game

Ok, lets see what happens...

I haven't really tested this, nore have I played a whole game, so I'm pretty sure it will come falling to the ground in a burning mass.

Anyway, you can now try out the next version of domination (v3) at:

http://demo.dominationgame.co.uk/


Please note that you will need to create new accounts, and they will be deleted when this version (v2) is decommissioned.    

Finally the Domination domain has been moved from the worst host I have ever known (www.oneandone.co.uk). Anyway, now that is complete and everything seems to be stable (again), I'm now on my holiday - so I won't be able to-do anything until January 4th 2004 (what a shame).  

Ok, that was fun...

1) Server data has been transferred

2) Old server has been disabled

3) Members table managed to get locked on the new server (so problems with login were occurring today) - problem has a temporary fix while the new server hosts try to find out what went wrong.

4) Domain transfer (for domination.me.uk) has begun - but because oneandone.co.uk are annoying (some words follow, but shouldn?t be printed on this page), I have to sign a printout and send it to them so it's all 'official' and VERY slow.

Apart from that, while were on the temporary URL (http://213.230.203.64/~krang/), welcome to the new server!  

Just as a heads up I?m going to be changing the host for domination again - my current host (oneandone.co.uk) is the worst host I?ve known so far, so by the end of the year domination should be either at

http://www.uh-hosting.co.uk
http://www.me2uweb.com

- If anyone has any other recommendations, these will be appreciated. I?m looking for a min of 3 MySQL databases, PHP support, CRON, min of 3 sub domains and most important, its got to be fast (for you gamers).  

I thought domination was running fairly bug free until today, where it seems that no one picked this one up (which really suppressed me)

When you're playing in an alliance and the world gets conquered by 2 members in an alliance, they should both go to a screen saying 'well done, etc etc'. Well it now becomes apparent that this doesn't happen, it only happens for one member, but the other member remains in the game where they can continue to play.

Well this Bug/Feature has now been removed (hopefully)

Also, if no one has a problem (see 'Suggestion' string in forum), everyone's score will be wiped on Thursday 16th October 2003, at about 9:00 GMT unless anyone has any reasonable objections.  

New server, old game - enjoy!  

You may have been the victim of the server logging you out randomly, this is because the servers clock can't decide which time zone it's in (I think it might be female). This is hopefully going to be cured by my web-host or I'm going to continue to move servers (but sooner than expected)

Sorry about the inconvenience  

After been beaten to a pulp by 'thinkerman' , I think ill start looking at moving domination to a new server (which is faster)!  

Just added the feature where you can set your Time offset using the 'setup' area.

I think I?ve got it working correctly, but there may still be 'times' (clocks) which are incorrect, if this is the case, can you let me know using the 'contact admin' page ? standby battalion rewards will be given!  

A few new things (sorry I haven't posted here for a while)...

* Ukraine was spelt wrong on the map and has now been created. This was thanks to thinkerman and he received 20 standby battalions.

* Auto Game creation should be working now, so 20 random members (who aren't in a game and what to receive notices about new games) will be informed by email about a game which will be created the following day (at a random time) - This only occurs 1 in 6 days so it might be a while until it can be properly tested!


Also while were here, things that should be on there way...

* I should be adding a feature so you members can specify a GMT offset. I'm sure that at the moment gamers in America etc (sorry, can't mention every county) get a little confused when it says an action will be completed at 6PM GMT - when for you it will be about 9AM (I think)

* When you win a game you will always receive 2000 points, no matter how long the game look to play, this means that while an excellent player is slogging it out in a slow game, a basic player will be getting all the points. This point was raised by eliminos, but as there are several solutions, Ill have to ask the majority of members (in the forum)

* Finally, thanks to 'ojmsites', Ill be trying to make it more obvious that you need to login to post (reply) in the forum - although yet again, I'm not sure on how to-do this (yet).  

Ok, finally got round to removing the password feature. Also while doing this I?ve removed any passwords from existing games.

The reason for this is because certain members keep creating games just for them to play, in which they can gain points (without facing an enemy). This is not the reason the password feature was added, so it has now been removed (sorry).  

Welcome back...

I suppose I best explain what the problem was.

About a year ago I changed my email address, and I thought I told everyone (including 34sp.com - web host). Now 2 months ago the domain name krang.org.uk was going to expire (you purchase .uk domains 2 years at a time), and I didn?t receive the email informing me of this, so the domain was "de-tagged".

Fortunately I found this out the day after it happened (when the changes start to take affect) and starting complaining. I purchased another 2 years, but Nominet being the stuck up *censored* that they are, wanted loads of paperwork to prove who I am etc etc (and ?17 to pay for there "Administrative charges").

Well finally today (21st May 2003) the domain has started to take affect again, and so the gaming may continue.

I take it that during this time no one really knew what was happening, so I?m re-writing the contact areas to include my IM details (e.g. ICQ), so if anything like this occurs in the near future, you should be able to contact me. I should be uploading this hopefully by the end of the week.

Also, as the server did go down, I have suspended the maintenance script which removes inactive members for a while ? details as to when this will be re-enabled will be posted here soon!

Another small update....  
 
1 - A forum string can now be dedicated to a game, once that game has finished it will be deleted automatically (this is because a new game can be created with the same number)  
 
2 - Anyone who makes a post with more than 50 characters in a word, will have it split up as this did cause problems with people putting in really long words which didn?t get wrapped to more than 1 line - this was thanks to 'eliminos' and will now receive 20 battalions (this is because it was only a small problem).  
 
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I am currently looking into a different way in which a password is assigned to a game, as it seems that there are a couple of members who are using this feature to make a game which only they can access, so that they get loads of points  
 
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One final thing, 'eliminos' seems to be trying to beat everyone up, I?m sure nearly everyone has been against him, so why don?t we all give him a taste of his own medicine - when you see him in a game, join it with as many friends as possible (making alliances where necessary) and beat him to a pulp!    

Just had a huge problem thanks to the lovely loss of 1 hour when moving into summer time (as the Americans would say, 'Daylight savings time').

Anyway, as noted by 'tiki' and 'eliminos', this allowed members to play all the games at death match speed - i.e. no time delay between actions being created and completed.

This problem should now have been fixed, but the solution isn't a preferred one as I've had problems with this before. So if anyone notices any problems such as no time delay or the completion date being to far into the future, please let me know ASAP!!!

[b]NOTE:[/b] Members who logged in on the 30th March and 31st March 2003 have had there battalion counts restored to the values stored in the backup made on the 29th Match 18:00 GMT as there were members with battalion counts which were over 500 when originally were 10! If you have an issue with this, again let me know.

A new page is now available before logging into Domination which lists all the accounts which have been classified as being invalid. This is a new approach, which I don't think is widely used (I don't know of any websites which has a page like this). If you have any queries, comments or complains, please let me know ASAP using the Suggestion Feedback form.

Well a quick mention has to go out to 'sierex' who pointed out there was no information about the reinforcements bonus in the help area - was lost during the upgrade.

Also 'tiki' informed me of a problem with the map, it turned out to be a problem with his computer, but he still informed me of the reason for this issue, which was an add blocker called 'Proximitron' which stopped the territory colour on Britain from being displayed.

The Alliance Setup script has been updated thanks to 'luisabhorash', so now once you have sent an invitation; you can delete it (as long as the recipient doesn?t accept it). You will receive 40 standby battalions!

Now a suggestion from 'eliminos' who informed me that members were creating games where only 1 member could play, so they were just creating a game for them to score points on. Well this has now been stopped as the whole point of this game is to have the threat of the enemy on your back!

If you can get any of your friends to sign up to domination, you can now get standby battalions for your effort. The way it will work is, you send your friends a link, they use it to sign up, then when they win a game, you will receive 40 standby battalions!

The link can be obtained from the setup area if anyone is interested.

Unfortunately I lost the email from the member who sent me this suggestion, so if they could kindly inform me who they are I will post it here and give them the reward they deserve!

Domination appears to have been successfully upgraded...

As with any new piece of software, there will be bugs in the code (despite the extensive testing). If you do find a bug or have a suggestion to improve the domination game / website, please let me know. Any relevant comments will be rewarded with standby battalions, which is a new feature in this upgrade.

The second main feature is the ability to ally with another member. Unfortunately I did have problems with the initialisation of the alliance and the breaking of the alliance (when one of the members ends the game), hopefully these problems have been solved, but again, if you do find problems, please let me know!

Apart from that, the game hasn't been changed too much - although the code has been re-written to make it more efficient and user friendly.

So from here, please join a game and ENJOY!