Fix - Graph clean up

16th Feb 2013

Cleaned up the graph and show the number of generations played.

Bug fix - played by unknown players

6th Feb 2013

I got a bit suspicious that every time a map had been previously played it was by unknown players. Especially when I was pretty sure I had played it myself.

Anyway got a chance to look into this today - I had cut and pasted some sql into the program without changing it properly with the result that every time you saw this message the players names came from map 291.

Have fixed this now so you should start to see some names of other actual players come up (or at least yourself) when you start a new map.

Provided of course you watch the cutscene for long enough.

Server limit hit - map size limited

31st Jan 2013

Well it happened sooner than I expected.

The server was crashing trying to make generation 16 as it was running out of ram.

So for now, I have set the size of new maps to 4x3. This is disappointing as I was hoping we could get a really massive map. It also means we will have to find a better way to score it than just exploring as 4x3 is not big enough to get bored wandering around.

There maybe ways around this but this is the quick fix.

We should be able to get a few more useful generations out of the current system but once the map design gets to the point where you can wander through the whole map easily they will all get the same score.

Maybe we should score the map a point for the amount of time the player spends in battles?

Anyway I'll give it some thought.

It could be good this, if handled correctly the small size of the map could lead to better refinement so all is not lost.

The exception to this new rule is the winning map from generation 15 which was 5x4. So you may still see that around if it keeps winning.

Bug fix - Attribution

30th Jan 2013

It seems that the reason some of us weren't being recognised was because we were logged into www.themetalbox.com instead of themetalbox.com. I have set up a permanent redirect now to try to prevent anyone going to www.themetalbox.com at all, so hopefully that's the end of that one.

If you are logged in, you play a map and then refresh the page and you're map score doesn't go up please let me know.

Bug fix - generation 0

29th Jan 2013

The resetting of the generations bug has been fixed.

I was selecting the highest score for a generation and the putting that value into another select statement.

However when done this way mySql think that

253.3333 != 253.3333

Presumabley the numerical value behind the scence is 253.33333 or whatever.

So I've used a sub-select instead, and all is now well for this part of it at least.

Bug in attribution

29th Jan 2013

At first there was a bug where players weren't getting attributed for the plays they were doing.

Then it mysteriously cleared up.

Now, it's mysteriously back!

I have left the tables up just in case it mysteriously starts working again, but I will need to implement a more reliable way of doing this.

You can still play and evolve the maps. You just won't get the credit for it. Will fix as soon as I can.

Merlin evolution thread is here [Suggestion_7099]

Game is here
http://themetalbox.com?page=merlin_e

Your contribution now recognised

27th Jan 2013

I've fixed the bug which was preventing the logged in player for being credited with playing Merlin Evolution.

Your contribution will now show up on your CV.

Merlin Evolution Released!

27th Jan 2013

I have released a brand new concept in game design - a game that designs itself! As far as I know this is the first game that does this - so remember you saw it here first! :)

Merlin Evolution is MR4 (or MR4 as it stood back in Oct 2011) with a map that is generated on the principles of evolution.

How it works

At first ten random maps are generated. Maps score points for how much the player explores. The theory is that the more a player explores, the more fun they are having.

Each map has to be played at least once (though as they evolve maps my demand to be played more than once, for a fair hearing). Once all ten maps have been played, the game selects the best map based on it's average score (score/plays).

This map is then copied ten times, but like evolution, the copy is imperfect and some features of the map change. These new ten maps are the next generation. A perfect copy of the best map is also placed into the next generation just in case all of the copies are acutally worse than the original.

Once all eleven have been played the best one is taken and the process starts again. That's evolution baby!

Each tile on each layer of the map is represented by a 'gene' not a real gene of course, just some code I made. Each gene contains it's current value plus rules about which values it's valid for it to contain, plus a value that represents it's chance of mutating (being copied incorrectly). Because the mutation rates of genes can themselves mutate, this allows the possibility for parts of the map to become more stable while other parts can be still in flux.

So will any of this actually work? There only one way to find out...

The more we play, the better it should get. But don't expect miracles straight away.

To try to recognise the effort that people put into to playing the game I put in a feature where it records who did what so at least I can thank you for playing it.

Unfortunately that feature isn't working currently. I will fix it as soon as I can of course.

I have played enough maps myself so that Merlin at least appears! I will continue to play whenever I can to try to move things along but the more of us join in, the faster things should get better.

I will do a write up of how the evolution part works in more detail, and probably publish the relevant code. I want this idea to be taken and used by as many people as possible.

Comments here [Suggestion_7099]
Game here http://themetalbox.com/?page=merlin_e

New MR4 Demo!

18th Oct 2011

If, like me ...

Hang on. Hello again!! Goodness gracious it's been absolutely ages since I've written one of these and I've completely forgotten how to do it!

Well, anyway as I was saying...

If, like me, you haven't played MR4 in a while, now would be a blooming good time to do it.

♪ has put an absolute ton of work into it over the past... erm... aeon.

There is a new demo out which showcases more than a modicum of new stuff. I would advise a quick go now, before you do that thing that you're trying to put off doing.

[Suggestion_6876] is the place for the comments. Please open new suggestions for bug reports or ideas.

Cheers! Enjoy!

http://themetalbox.com/?page=merlin_4

New MR4 Released!

17th Nov 2010

And while I'm in the frame of mind for talking about updates and news I'd also like to announce the latest MR4.

♪ has been working super hard over the few months, making great strides in bringing MR4 closer to completion.

Some of the latest updates include general skeletons, team override (allowing all the enemies to work together to fight you), new cutscenes and miriad other new enemies, spells and improvements.

♪ likes to post all the updates at one suggestion so hop on over to

[Suggestion_6876]

To find out the latest and play MR4 as it currently stands. Bug reports are welcome.