Re: How to program a hockey simulator?

From: MindShift Design <mindshift@usa.net>

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Jose

> Hi, I'd like to know where can I find some help about programming a
> hockey sim. In any case any help about sports sims programming will be
> appreciated.

What kind of help are you looking for? Programming a game from scratch
involves quite a lot of elements: from the game design & structure, to
generating game rules, documentation, support, game administration,
account control, turns processing, and misc. functions, including
writing out the results for players to view.

One of the most important things to decide is the operating system
platform and the programming language that the game will be written in.
Also you may want to decide how the game will be run - will it be email
only, or mail, or allow both. Will it be .net based, or run locally on a
machine ? Will it used a front end or just a simple form to submit turns
? How will results be formatted - HTML, text or another format ? Will
the game be free to play, or will it cost per turn (if turn based).

I'd say the first thing to do is sit down and work out the game as if
you were going to run it by hand. Put together all the rules for the
game, and see that they all work manually. Then you start to work out
the programming side of it. If you can't do the programming yourself,
then you're going to have to enlist the help of a programmer or two.
But  it takes a lot to write a game in the first place, and then some
more to program it and debug it. Also, then there's the playtest stage
before you go online with it fully, as you need to make sure it works.

Appropriate languages that you can write in are Delphi, Visual Basic,
C++, Java, Perl, Pascal, Quickbasic, and a few others.

If you want any help with any part of your project, let me know and I'll
help out in anyway I can.

But don't be surprised if it takes a little while to get things up and
running. Our premiere game "SUERGAN: The Shattered Isles" has taken 18
months to get to the stage we're at (because of the advanced nature of
the game, with it being a computer-moderated RPG PBM/PBeM), and we're
about to go into playtest in a few weeks.

We also run a mailing list as part of the PBM/PBeM Developers Webring.
The PBMDEV mailing list was created so that game designers can help each
other out by sharing resources, ideas and support. If you want to join
the mailing list, reply to this email with the subject
"PBMDEV-subscribe". You will be added to the mailing list. Topics under
recent discussion have included licensing of developed games, and what
makes a game.

If you have any questions, get in contact and I'll help out as much as I
can.

Good luck.

Regards

Jason Paul McCartan
MindShift Design
Game Developers
    "Altering Perceptions, Creating Worlds"

Home to the PBM/PBeM Developers Webring

email: mindshift@usa.net
website: http://www.tightbeam.com/mindshift

ICQ #: 16802661
AIM: Japem

References

How to program a hockey simulator?
Jose Maria Diaz Moya <jmdiaz@polar.es>
Fri, 25 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

How to program a hockey simulator?
Jose Maria Diaz Moya <jmdiaz@polar.es>
Fri, 25 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0000