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Roadmapped by steve (done)
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A quintuple post (or comment?), and nobody can stop me from doing it!
Went thought my old suggestions to see if I could find some of the old projects online; no dice, considering I used expiring links since they were alphas.
On a side note, I did stumble on a comment reminiscing the old good days. It's a thing of the past by now, but back in the day of 2010 we had that brief month of over 1000 comments each week (along with roughly a dozen suggestions)! It was insane, and of course I and many more read every single one. It still blows my mind when I think about that.
I wonder how things were in 2006 and 2007 when the SDB was new and fancy? Not that it still isn't one of my favourite web systems. :)
Went thought my old suggestions to see if I could find some of the old projects online; no dice, considering I used expiring links since they were alphas.
On a side note, I did stumble on a comment reminiscing the old good days. It's a thing of the past by now, but back in the day of 2010 we had that brief month of over 1000 comments each week (along with roughly a dozen suggestions)! It was insane, and of course I and many more read every single one. It still blows my mind when I think about that.
I wonder how things were in 2006 and 2007 when the SDB was new and fancy? Not that it still isn't one of my favourite web systems. :)
Anyone still around here? I got caught up with work and whatnot. Which apparently kept me away since before Christmas (Yikes).
How is everyone?
How is everyone?
My oh my, I'm glad this site is still up. Merlin's revenge was one of my favorite games, still is. Made a new account just to say hello :) Seems the site has been a little more inactive as of late.
There was a crazy time a few years back when we had over a hundred new comments per day! A few things happened and gradually the influx of comments and suggestions became lower due to the development coming to a halt. There have been a few new cool things, such as Merlin Evolution and Merlin Created, though - be sure to check them out if you have the time!
The series is as great as ever :)
The series is as great as ever :)
Hey guys! I've got my first year of college down, and for the summer I'll be teaching a bunch of ten and eleven year olds in low-income neighborhoods of Boston. I'm a bit terrified because children are terrifying, but as long as they survive, it should be good! It's kind of funny, as they're the same age that I was when I discovered MR. It's really crazy how quickly the time has gone.
Whoa, nice!
Hey! Nice to have old folks chime in every now and then :)
What are you studying / teaching?
What are you studying / teaching?
I haven't formally declared, but I think I'm going to do a joint concentration in Computer Science and Linguistics. I remember this site actually inspiring to learn Python way back when I was twelve or so, and I'm happy to say that that passion hasn't died since. The summer camp I'm teaching it is mainly designed to combat summer learning loss, so I'm mostly teaching math and English, with some social studies and science on the side and a few games every now and then. Thankfully, none of my kids have died yet, so I'm calling it a success, haha.
Linguistics? That's an interesting combination to go with CS - although I've considered it myself as well!
Help! I can't play any games on this website. It just makes me download a .dcr file while i put into a browser and it just redownloads it again and doesn't work. HELP!!!
♪ ninja edit: omg, i haven't made a ninja edit in ages
♪ ninja edit: omg, i haven't made a ninja edit in ages
Hi everybody!
I'm really glad you're all still around here; my exciting news is that I just moved to seattle, and am a week and a bit into working as a software engineer at Amazon!
I've also been biking and camping like crazy,which is incredibly fun.
I'm really glad you're all still around here; my exciting news is that I just moved to seattle, and am a week and a bit into working as a software engineer at Amazon!
I've also been biking and camping like crazy,which is incredibly fun.
CoolCharles207, I'm sorry to hear that you've been having problems. Unfortunately, the Adobe Shockwave plugin support has been made unavailable for Chrome and some other browsers.
There are several options; downloading Adobe's Shockwave site, downloading the game's .dcr, and then running it locally might be your best bet. Using Merlin Open to play custom maps (found from the Downloads page) is another option; it comes with all you need.
Unfortunately games like MR Evolution and Created most likely won't work like that, as they need to access the website.
♪, wow, it's been like, a year???!!??!?
Congratulations, being able to work at Amazon sounds awesome! Seems like you landed a big one. :)
As for myself, I came back from a month-long vacation in Japan. The trip was so fantastic that my current feelings regarding the same old Finland are quite mixed. I'll try to get some photos online at some point, but this week I'm loaded with both work and studies; it's going to be pretty busy, to say the least.
Everyone, if you still enjoy games, go play Undertale. It's overrated and overhyped, and many people have many opinions about it, yet it feels underrated and is an incredible game under the hood.
There are several options; downloading Adobe's Shockwave site, downloading the game's .dcr, and then running it locally might be your best bet. Using Merlin Open to play custom maps (found from the Downloads page) is another option; it comes with all you need.
Unfortunately games like MR Evolution and Created most likely won't work like that, as they need to access the website.
♪, wow, it's been like, a year???!!??!?
Congratulations, being able to work at Amazon sounds awesome! Seems like you landed a big one. :)
As for myself, I came back from a month-long vacation in Japan. The trip was so fantastic that my current feelings regarding the same old Finland are quite mixed. I'll try to get some photos online at some point, but this week I'm loaded with both work and studies; it's going to be pretty busy, to say the least.
Everyone, if you still enjoy games, go play Undertale. It's overrated and overhyped, and many people have many opinions about it, yet it feels underrated and is an incredible game under the hood.
Being back to this site brings such memories :). I spent a decent amount of my youth here, and it is nice to see that people are still here, including a few names I recognize. I am even more glad that new games are on the site. It has been around 8 years since I logged on!
However, if we will recommend games, then I must recommend Dominions 4. It is a very detailed strategy game and has enough content to keep one entertained for many hours. It also includes multiplayer.
I also recommend not believing my review and seeing for yourself if you like it because the game is not cheap.
However, if we will recommend games, then I must recommend Dominions 4. It is a very detailed strategy game and has enough content to keep one entertained for many hours. It also includes multiplayer.
I also recommend not believing my review and seeing for yourself if you like it because the game is not cheap.
Looks like the game has very positive reviews on Steam, and it looks interesting based on the videos!
However, that price tag is definitely a bit high. I think I'll stick to the loads and loads of fantastic free games (like MR??!?) until they run out :)
However, that price tag is definitely a bit high. I think I'll stick to the loads and loads of fantastic free games (like MR??!?) until they run out :)
Great to see all the comments and updates. Amazing to see people at university now and Super_merlin teaching in difficult areas. I take it you make the kids call you Mr. Super_merlin? :)
My second and final child is now 2 years old so we are "out of the baby zone". This is the first chance I've had to look at the site since he was born, the last time I did any work on the site was 2 years ago.
I am hoping (and for now it's only a hope, not a plan) that I will gradually start to able to do some things here again. It will never be fully back to the good old days because I have a full time job and family etc etc. But I am hoping to be able to do something...
It's time to drop shockwave. Actually it was time in 2002 but it's really definitely absolutely time now so any new games from me will be developed in JavaScript. So, I won't be looking to make any significant changes to Merlin's Revenge but rather start something new in js. JavaScript gives the best coverage without having to export or do anything fancy. If it runs on Firefox on Windows it will run anywhere. (No doubt that statement will be dis-proved over and over again lol.)
My second and final child is now 2 years old so we are "out of the baby zone". This is the first chance I've had to look at the site since he was born, the last time I did any work on the site was 2 years ago.
I am hoping (and for now it's only a hope, not a plan) that I will gradually start to able to do some things here again. It will never be fully back to the good old days because I have a full time job and family etc etc. But I am hoping to be able to do something...
It's time to drop shockwave. Actually it was time in 2002 but it's really definitely absolutely time now so any new games from me will be developed in JavaScript. So, I won't be looking to make any significant changes to Merlin's Revenge but rather start something new in js. JavaScript gives the best coverage without having to export or do anything fancy. If it runs on Firefox on Windows it will run anywhere. (No doubt that statement will be dis-proved over and over again lol.)
I am just curious, do either of you happen to have steam? I have it, but I am not certain how to link to my account without a risk of tearing down the flood gates that hold back an ocean of spam.
Just the other day, I was like "wow steve hasn't visited in over four months", and were already preparing a final referendum to rule them all:
Should http://themetalbox.com/ leave or stay in the Internet?
Those in favour of the exit often worry about other possible immigration problems. What would we do if there is a sudden abundancy in video game enthusiasts wishing to enter The Metal Box in order to play Merlin's Revenge?
In all seriousness, good to hear from you! Guess the baby zone is some serious business. :)
If you end up developing an open-source game in anything else than Lingo, let me know. I would love to join as a contributor and sharpen up my JS skills! Not to mention building up the contribution chart on GitHub! One can see the timing of my winter and summer vacations quite clearly from here, lol: https://github.com/mmKALLL/
As for Steam, I technically do have it, but very seldom play any games through it these days. Feel free to add me there; the nickname is "mmKALLL".
Should http://themetalbox.com/ leave or stay in the Internet?
Those in favour of the exit often worry about other possible immigration problems. What would we do if there is a sudden abundancy in video game enthusiasts wishing to enter The Metal Box in order to play Merlin's Revenge?
In all seriousness, good to hear from you! Guess the baby zone is some serious business. :)
If you end up developing an open-source game in anything else than Lingo, let me know. I would love to join as a contributor and sharpen up my JS skills! Not to mention building up the contribution chart on GitHub! One can see the timing of my winter and summer vacations quite clearly from here, lol: https://github.com/mmKALLL/
As for Steam, I technically do have it, but very seldom play any games through it these days. Feel free to add me there; the nickname is "mmKALLL".
I sent you an invite on steam, megaman4ever.
Got it, thanks! :)
Oh... Oh dear...
Looks like I opened some sort of Pandora's box here, folks.
Behold, my very own game website in image form, painstakingly handcrafted with the newest of new HTML1:
Well, that's pretty cool.
There are several points of interest here, I think. Considering that the website was made in 2006 at the age of 12, perhaps a few years after the homepage boom, it's pretty cool.
First off, these days I would rather use Game Maker than C++ for creating games. It seems like a very popular choice for building simple JS-based things recently - most likely the transpiling would not be able to handle anything of MR's scale, but maybe in a year or two even that might be feasible with some optimization. Either way, I'm glad to have actually made a lot of cool games (and learnt Java, and later a dozen of languages) than have spent years figuring out C++. :)
Grab the demo, except it's actually fuller than the full version? Pay what you want? Successful advertising much?
MR Fangame Kit was great. I played the old-but-surprisingly-not-terrible summoning spell fangame and woah, it was actually pretty decent. I wonder what my game-making buddy back from elementary school is doing these days; maybe I'll send the guy a message.
As for Chase Game, I wish all of my projects would be quickly done because of no uncovered bugs... ;)
Unfortunately my promise of weekly updates did not last for long, but making games back then was definitely a blast.
Guess this reminded me of why I enjoy programming in the first place? That it might not matter what it is that I'm developing, as long as it's really awesome to do it?
Steve, thanks for the inspiration and numerous kind words to the whole community along the years. Hopefully my next webpage will be as full of enthusiasm as this one. :)
By the way, turns out that there is now a tool to make old Game Maker 6.1 games work on 64-bit Windows machines: http://help.yoyogames.com/attachments/token/lsj0pmbzqeu64hf/?name=GM_Convert_Game.zip
Looks like I opened some sort of Pandora's box here, folks.
Behold, my very own game website in image form, painstakingly handcrafted with the newest of new HTML1:
Well, that's pretty cool.
There are several points of interest here, I think. Considering that the website was made in 2006 at the age of 12, perhaps a few years after the homepage boom, it's pretty cool.
First off, these days I would rather use Game Maker than C++ for creating games. It seems like a very popular choice for building simple JS-based things recently - most likely the transpiling would not be able to handle anything of MR's scale, but maybe in a year or two even that might be feasible with some optimization. Either way, I'm glad to have actually made a lot of cool games (and learnt Java, and later a dozen of languages) than have spent years figuring out C++. :)
Grab the demo, except it's actually fuller than the full version? Pay what you want? Successful advertising much?
MR Fangame Kit was great. I played the old-but-surprisingly-not-terrible summoning spell fangame and woah, it was actually pretty decent. I wonder what my game-making buddy back from elementary school is doing these days; maybe I'll send the guy a message.
As for Chase Game, I wish all of my projects would be quickly done because of no uncovered bugs... ;)
Unfortunately my promise of weekly updates did not last for long, but making games back then was definitely a blast.
Guess this reminded me of why I enjoy programming in the first place? That it might not matter what it is that I'm developing, as long as it's really awesome to do it?
Steve, thanks for the inspiration and numerous kind words to the whole community along the years. Hopefully my next webpage will be as full of enthusiasm as this one. :)
By the way, turns out that there is now a tool to make old Game Maker 6.1 games work on 64-bit Windows machines: http://help.yoyogames.com/attachments/token/lsj0pmbzqeu64hf/?name=GM_Convert_Game.zip
I wonder if Hobbes had known if this was going to be the most popular suggestion in this site when he posted this.
Probably not.
*emerges from two-yearly check of whatever-happened-to-the-metal-box to actually say something for once*
My days is it weird to return to a childhood favourite and remember that everybody else's lives have moved on too...
Steve, congrats on kids! (perhaps slightly belated there)
It kind of seems like everybody's gone on to study techie things? Well, no exception here.
To join in with the update-fest: I'm not so focused on games and coding as I was back in the days when this place inspired me so much, but I've def carried on in the same kind of direction. Really enjoyed finally learning some programming while studying Engineering at uni (C++ - the teacher said that if we could learn that off the bat then we should get the knack of learning other languages as we need them). Just this summer graduated my masters degree in Information & Computer Engineering.
...and right now I'm kind of floating, having (for various complicated reasons) needed to take some time out. But applying for jobs in control engineering, so who knows I might have more to say in a while :P
Anyway that's me. Really cool to see some people still keeping this place active!
My days is it weird to return to a childhood favourite and remember that everybody else's lives have moved on too...
Steve, congrats on kids! (perhaps slightly belated there)
It kind of seems like everybody's gone on to study techie things? Well, no exception here.
To join in with the update-fest: I'm not so focused on games and coding as I was back in the days when this place inspired me so much, but I've def carried on in the same kind of direction. Really enjoyed finally learning some programming while studying Engineering at uni (C++ - the teacher said that if we could learn that off the bat then we should get the knack of learning other languages as we need them). Just this summer graduated my masters degree in Information & Computer Engineering.
...and right now I'm kind of floating, having (for various complicated reasons) needed to take some time out. But applying for jobs in control engineering, so who knows I might have more to say in a while :P
Anyway that's me. Really cool to see some people still keeping this place active!
Hey everyone!
Just figured I'd drop in and see how everyone was doing.
I'm doing pretty much the same thing as the last time I popped in, working when I can and helping take care of my niece when I can't.
Also, for the record NeyBar, I had no clue.
Just figured I'd drop in and see how everyone was doing.
I'm doing pretty much the same thing as the last time I popped in, working when I can and helping take care of my niece when I can't.
Also, for the record NeyBar, I had no clue.
Yo darren! if you instead want to do some seng/ml stuff; we're wanting to hire lots of folks
Yo ♪!
Suggestion v much appreciated - though I have, in fact, now found myself a job. From the autumn I'll be a (graduate) 'mechatronics' engineer - helping to build/write software for big fancy maintenance robots that fix radioactive/superhot/otherwise dangerous scientific machines.
So, uh, woop woop!
Suggestion v much appreciated - though I have, in fact, now found myself a job. From the autumn I'll be a (graduate) 'mechatronics' engineer - helping to build/write software for big fancy maintenance robots that fix radioactive/superhot/otherwise dangerous scientific machines.
So, uh, woop woop!
congrats! both really hot electronics and radiation are pretty cool. It's fun designing for situations where you know all the solder will melt:P
That actually sounds a lot like the geophysics mechatronics job I did for my family as coops -- it once included making gamma detectors to put down a 200C pipe.
How's doing a grad program? I think I'd like to do one in computer vision in a few years
That actually sounds a lot like the geophysics mechatronics job I did for my family as coops -- it once included making gamma detectors to put down a 200C pipe.
How's doing a grad program? I think I'd like to do one in computer vision in a few years
As a control engineer, I think (perhaps fortunately) I'm not gonna have to be the main one to worry about the solder. But it'll def be interesting to learn how they tackle the challenges. They seem to be the UK centre for this area so I guess some of it will be rather sophisticated :P
(When you say grad program - do you mean grad degree at uni kind of thing?)
(When you say grad program - do you mean grad degree at uni kind of thing?)
Great to hear the latest news - congratulations on the job Darren, sounds really interesting!
The website was down for a few days due to my expired credit card.
Not sure how much longer I can keep this site up for. It really needs to go https: but I don't have the time to look at it.
Not sure how much longer I can keep this site up for. It really needs to go https: but I don't have the time to look at it.
What is the difference between an https website and this?
https:// at the beginning of a url as opposed to http:// signifies that site transmits information to and from your browser encrypted. I've just been looking into it and it will cost me an extra $150 per year to do this but I don't see it as optional in today's environment if the site us to keep going in some form.
Speaking of which, the kids are not babies any more so I'm starting to think i might be able to find some time to put into the site. I'm thinking of radically simplifying it and removing the old shockwave games. That technology has really run it's course by now. I'll work on a new JavaScript/php based game and I think its really important to establish a revenue stream up front this time, without that it's impossible to sustain the commitment of effort for myself and other contributors.
The game and site will need to be mobile and desktop friendly. I'm thinking of something based in the merlins revenge world but playable on a phone. I wont say too much more about that now. I'm still a long way from starting, just thinking for now but it's good to be doing that much at least :)
Speaking of which, the kids are not babies any more so I'm starting to think i might be able to find some time to put into the site. I'm thinking of radically simplifying it and removing the old shockwave games. That technology has really run it's course by now. I'll work on a new JavaScript/php based game and I think its really important to establish a revenue stream up front this time, without that it's impossible to sustain the commitment of effort for myself and other contributors.
The game and site will need to be mobile and desktop friendly. I'm thinking of something based in the merlins revenge world but playable on a phone. I wont say too much more about that now. I'm still a long way from starting, just thinking for now but it's good to be doing that much at least :)
Steve i just wanted to drop you a line. I played merlins revenge back in the days of dialup in my parents house. I have absolutely no idea how i found this game, but it brings me a significant amount of joy to see that this site is still up and running.
I truly appreciate the hours and money you dedicated to keeping this around for all those years.
I truly appreciate the hours and money you dedicated to keeping this around for all those years.
What costs make up the $150/yr for making the site https? If it's about certificates, I heard that there are some new services with radically lower https cert costs.
As for making games, I'd totally be down for that. I don't think I posted these yet, but I participated in two game jams this year! Will be looking forward to Ludum Dare next week as well.
The games can be found from the following links:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/invasion
https://mmkalll.itch.io/badasher
Both games were made in just 48 hours, the first one in JS and the second one in C# using Unity. They both only take a few minutes to try, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on them. :)
They are also open source; I'm wondering if there are any places to look for code reviews on the JS game?
As for making games, I'd totally be down for that. I don't think I posted these yet, but I participated in two game jams this year! Will be looking forward to Ludum Dare next week as well.
The games can be found from the following links:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/invasion
https://mmkalll.itch.io/badasher
Both games were made in just 48 hours, the first one in JS and the second one in C# using Unity. They both only take a few minutes to try, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on them. :)
They are also open source; I'm wondering if there are any places to look for code reviews on the JS game?
Of course, TMB only automagically converts http links, not https ones... :)
haha yes of course https "didn't exist" back then and websites were in black and white...
I like invasion - very nice game for 48hrs in JS. I like the full screen mode too, nice touch.
I couldn't play the other one just yet as I'm on my Linux box here and it looks like a Windows exe. Which confirms why JS is a good choice for maximum compatibility with minimum effort :)
I couldn't play the other one just yet as I'm on my Linux box here and it looks like a Windows exe. Which confirms why JS is a good choice for maximum compatibility with minimum effort :)
Indeed! The first one had more than 80% of users give it a try at least, while the second one only had about 25% of users stumbling on the page even download the files... Cross-compilation isn't possible either, so I'll need a linux box to create executables for it.
JS does have its problems, but even for a small project like this I think it's worthwhile to bear those in exchange for the platform flexibility and ease of testing. Unity can export into a format running in browser with WebGL, but still requires the user to download a runtime environment! What a bummer.
The full screen mode was actually added automatically by itch.io! Looks like my 6 hour efforts with CSS on day one paid off, though; the game was nicely fitted in the center without any adjustment.
Something I was thinking about for a while was viewport resolution (it's 650x650 in this case), but I wasn't really targeting mobile so it seems like a good choice. Just wondering how it would be on a HD display, as proper scaling can be a lot of work to do.
JS does have its problems, but even for a small project like this I think it's worthwhile to bear those in exchange for the platform flexibility and ease of testing. Unity can export into a format running in browser with WebGL, but still requires the user to download a runtime environment! What a bummer.
The full screen mode was actually added automatically by itch.io! Looks like my 6 hour efforts with CSS on day one paid off, though; the game was nicely fitted in the center without any adjustment.
Something I was thinking about for a while was viewport resolution (it's 650x650 in this case), but I wasn't really targeting mobile so it seems like a good choice. Just wondering how it would be on a HD display, as proper scaling can be a lot of work to do.
Why bother with TEST when you know the code works? lol
Coincidentally, Invasion was my first time composing music or creating such an intricate background. I think both of them came out quite nicely given the timeframe! If only I had worked more on the UI rather than some CSS-fu that didn't even matter in the end... :)
It's become rich tradition to see a carrying conversation that takes a month or more between replies, So I naturally would check up and see what was going on almost a year after my last
post! (10 months 4 days)
Wow I didn't realize it had already been this long, But as per the usual for me a passing thought of TMB turns into a month forgetting TMB.
Oh well, It seems everyone is doing well so I'll throw my own news into the pot;
I Recently moved further south in the states, and it's okay but I would still prefer my icy landscapes (Side note: not Alaska, I used to live in Maine)
Always a pleasure to stop by!
See you all again (er kinda see you?)
At some point >Year!
(probably)
post! (10 months 4 days)
Wow I didn't realize it had already been this long, But as per the usual for me a passing thought of TMB turns into a month forgetting TMB.
Oh well, It seems everyone is doing well so I'll throw my own news into the pot;
I Recently moved further south in the states, and it's okay but I would still prefer my icy landscapes (Side note: not Alaska, I used to live in Maine)
Always a pleasure to stop by!
See you all again (er kinda see you?)
At some point >Year!
(probably)
Oooh I know Maine - I used to visit there in my youth. Not physically of course, but through the books of Stephen King. Sounds really nice there, except for all the ghosts and stuff. :)
Speaking of moving, I moved from Finland to Japan a few weeks ago. Got scouted by a Japanese enterprise IT company last year, graduated in August, started working in Tokyo last week. A new chapter in life for sure...
If anyone needs a place to stay at while around Tokyo, let me know - although preferably at least two months ahead of time! :)
If anyone needs a place to stay at while around Tokyo, let me know - although preferably at least two months ahead of time! :)
Oh man - Congratulations! That's an absolutely fantastic opportunity and I've always wanted to visit Tokyo so I'll bring the missus and the two sprogs and we'll kip on your floor for a couple of months, ok?
Just let us know if the smell gets too bad and we'll start looking for somewhere more permanent. See you Tuesday!
Just let us know if the smell gets too bad and we'll start looking for somewhere more permanent. See you Tuesday!
Don't take down the old shockwave games! They are still fun to play with every once in a while :).
Can you still play them? I'm always unsure about how well the Shockwave plugin still works for people
Tuesday, huh? I might need to quit my job to accommodate for the schedule, but at least that will allow me to be a full-time housekeeper! Should come handy when that seems to be the minimal requirement for having kids around. Just let me know the flight number and I'll hand in my three-day notice! :)
----
Actually checking out the comment, I would be in favor of not taking out the old games. If the website is getting a full revamp, at least preserving the existing form and games in some unmaintained "old" section would be nice to have. I do need to go out of my way to play them these days, but it made me sad when RandomThoughts.net decided to take down their Java Applet games for similar reasons, overcommitted to a huge revamp, and then died out to financial issues. They were similar to TMB in a lot of ways, and I would hate to see TMB share the same fate; either way, establishing a revenue stream is probably essential.
Overall, I like the "retro" feel of the website, although making the design responsve for various devices would of course be a good thing. (Weird how just 10 years have passed and it suddenly feels retro instead of cutting-edge...)
As for costs, I was wondering what are the downsides to this? https://letsencrypt.org/
It does advertise itself as free, and seems to be backed by lots of big names.
----
Actually checking out the comment, I would be in favor of not taking out the old games. If the website is getting a full revamp, at least preserving the existing form and games in some unmaintained "old" section would be nice to have. I do need to go out of my way to play them these days, but it made me sad when RandomThoughts.net decided to take down their Java Applet games for similar reasons, overcommitted to a huge revamp, and then died out to financial issues. They were similar to TMB in a lot of ways, and I would hate to see TMB share the same fate; either way, establishing a revenue stream is probably essential.
Overall, I like the "retro" feel of the website, although making the design responsve for various devices would of course be a good thing. (Weird how just 10 years have passed and it suddenly feels retro instead of cutting-edge...)
As for costs, I was wondering what are the downsides to this? https://letsencrypt.org/
It does advertise itself as free, and seems to be backed by lots of big names.
I'd be of the opinion as well that part of this site should be preserved for historical purposes, revamp or not, similarly with the games.
With that said, it'd be interesting to see a small rebirth, or even revamp of TheMetalBox and the games to adhere to modern technology and trends.
Also hi, I'm still alive. It's extremely surreal for me to find people still active and around, and the people that were kids back in the day (myself included, I was like... 13, 14 when I joined the site?) now as working adults and developers themselves. But the fact that people are still around is a pleasant thing.
With that said, it'd be interesting to see a small rebirth, or even revamp of TheMetalBox and the games to adhere to modern technology and trends.
Also hi, I'm still alive. It's extremely surreal for me to find people still active and around, and the people that were kids back in the day (myself included, I was like... 13, 14 when I joined the site?) now as working adults and developers themselves. But the fact that people are still around is a pleasant thing.
Yes even I have a job now, and so there will be no revamp. I'll check out let's encypt though, that's a good idea.
I just need to do the minimum to raise security and comply with GDPR
I just need to do the minimum to raise security and comply with GDPR
Looks like Merlin Created had more than 300 plays in April, so I'm assuming these games actually are still playable... :)
Hey guys, anyone still here? Been a while since I've been around due to life and what not, but I missed you guys and thought I'd see how everyone was!
Doing well and still checking back every once in a while, When life slows down for the brief moments that is.
Count me in.
Looking forward to the AI overlords transforming this world into a blissful paradise. I'm betting that there will be more time to check TMB after all of that is over. :)
Looking forward to the AI overlords transforming this world into a blissful paradise. I'm betting that there will be more time to check TMB after all of that is over. :)
Yes, hello.
Actually just checking in with a bizarre story. At work the other week we were chatting about the fall of flash as a trusted plugin and one of the new guys was like "Hey does anyone remember shockwave?"
Anyway to cut to the chase it turns out I work with someone who also used to frequent this forum.
(He told me what his username waa but I didn't recognise it and then I forgot it.)
Actually just checking in with a bizarre story. At work the other week we were chatting about the fall of flash as a trusted plugin and one of the new guys was like "Hey does anyone remember shockwave?"
Anyway to cut to the chase it turns out I work with someone who also used to frequent this forum.
(He told me what his username waa but I didn't recognise it and then I forgot it.)
So, uh, the faithful are out there.
The world certainly is a small place, despite there being more than million people for each TMB user!
Still around!
Hey hey hey! Also alive and kicking. I'm now a senior in college and still very unsure of what I'll end up doing, or even what I want to do. I had a decent stint with computer science as my major before an algorithms class made me fully realize that I don't really love it. I'll graduate in May with a degree in Linguistics and a pretty strong background in Arabic and Indo-European Historical Linguistics. These aren't remotely applicable, but I have enough of a programming background that I can probably get into tech if I need to.
It's great to see people still around! You all were such a hugely influential part of my childhood (though it still sounds weird to refer to my childhood as a thing quite in the past).
It's great to see people still around! You all were such a hugely influential part of my childhood (though it still sounds weird to refer to my childhood as a thing quite in the past).
I don't think I'll ever stop coming back here, and it's good to see that I'm not the only one!
Also, Darren that's amazing!
Also, Darren that's amazing!
Dude, that's awesome!!! I sometimes wish I had gone for linguistics!
Looking at all the names I remember them so clearly... I'm glad all yall are going after your own goals and dreams and occasionally stopping by.
TMB FOREVER!!!
TMB FOREVER!!!
I'm super happy to see the site back up and running! I've been checking back pretty regularly since about august last year to see if we were back up.
How is everyone doing these days?
Personally, I'm enjoying my self quarantine with some games I haven't played in a long time, especially MR now that I can play again!
How is everyone doing these days?
Personally, I'm enjoying my self quarantine with some games I haven't played in a long time, especially MR now that I can play again!
Almost in the same boat as you Hobbes, Just enjoying each day taking it slow at the moment.
Also excited to be able to download MrOpen again and mess around with the old editor.
Also excited to be able to download MrOpen again and mess around with the old editor.
Yeah the quarantine isn't as bad as it could be, being an introvert with an internet connection makes it a lot easier.
I don't have as much time back as I thought I would but it's great to be able to scrape a few hours together and slowly do some TMB/games type stuff.
I don't have as much time back as I thought I would but it's great to be able to scrape a few hours together and slowly do some TMB/games type stuff.
Hey all, hope everyone is well! In the past year or so, I've graduated, worked in an NGO in Jordan, spent six weeks couchsurfing through Europe, worked at a kids museum back home, and made my way back to Boston with a boring but stable IT job, a field which I almost certainly landed in because of this website. I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what I should do with I guess the rest of my life, but for the time being, I'm stable, happy, and all feels pretty good.
And of course, I'm very eager to put in another run through of MR. It's been far too long!
And of course, I'm very eager to put in another run through of MR. It's been far too long!
Welcome back, Super_merlin I sincerely apologise for my part in getting you into IT lol :). Your other adventures sound fun though!
Hey folks!
Despite my historical record of loathing JavaScript, recently I'm learning more and more about TypeScript/React/Node. With types it's not so bad, and being able to share code/types/tests between frontend and backend is fantastic. VSCode makes coding feel like coding again.
Been enjoying a variety of board games too, got hooked on Go and Backgammon for a while. :)
How is everyone doing these days? Everything alright with the lockdowns and what not?
Despite my historical record of loathing JavaScript, recently I'm learning more and more about TypeScript/React/Node. With types it's not so bad, and being able to share code/types/tests between frontend and backend is fantastic. VSCode makes coding feel like coding again.
Been enjoying a variety of board games too, got hooked on Go and Backgammon for a while. :)
How is everyone doing these days? Everything alright with the lockdowns and what not?
To my surprise it looks like there's still roughly one user created per week on TMB. I wonder who these people are and how they found the place after all the years. :)
Could be people remembering playing MR on "Bonus.com", Kongregate, or here when they were 'too young' to have accounts?
Speaking of, did anyone else here originally play MR1 on Bonus?
Speaking of, did anyone else here originally play MR1 on Bonus?
If I remember right, though oh boy is it starting to stretch my memory a bit, I'm pretty sure I actually first came across MR on Bonus.com. Bonus was definitely one of the first Flash/Shockwave game sites I found, when I was around 9 or so?
Whoopsies, more than a decade went and happened.
Also, I've managed to land myself a new job, where in addition to my formal responsibilities of investigating potential security incidents (which is much more boring than it might sound), I'm also finally having to learn Javascript and all these newfangled frameworks so that I can help develop our internal tooling. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it (and I think I'm actually somewhat liking React), but coming from a more C and Python background, it's really throwing me for a loop, and that's without the whole web programming thing that I just kinda never bothered paying any attention to before now.
Whoopsies, more than a decade went and happened.
Also, I've managed to land myself a new job, where in addition to my formal responsibilities of investigating potential security incidents (which is much more boring than it might sound), I'm also finally having to learn Javascript and all these newfangled frameworks so that I can help develop our internal tooling. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it (and I think I'm actually somewhat liking React), but coming from a more C and Python background, it's really throwing me for a loop, and that's without the whole web programming thing that I just kinda never bothered paying any attention to before now.
I always quite liked JavaScript and even started a game in it once - space invaders. Hardly original I know.
I've been dabbling with a bit of python lately and I tried Godot but didn't like it.
I've been dabbling with a bit of python lately and I tried Godot but didn't like it.
My view is that it's amazing to have the flexibility of being able to run the games both natively or in the browser. My hope is that future iterations of Merlin's Revenge preserve this aspect, as the hurdle for trying a game is much higher when a download is required.
This has led me to use TypeScript with Pixi.js for all recent game endeavors (e.g. https://mmkalll.itch.io/magnet-soul ). That combination really works quite well, and with Parcel for bundling all changes are reflected in the browser near-instantly - the default configuration is much more sane than Webpack.
If you've never used TypeScript before the initial setup may present some hurdles, but using it is a luxury compared to plain JavaScript. :)
This has led me to use TypeScript with Pixi.js for all recent game endeavors (e.g. https://mmkalll.itch.io/magnet-soul ). That combination really works quite well, and with Parcel for bundling all changes are reflected in the browser near-instantly - the default configuration is much more sane than Webpack.
If you've never used TypeScript before the initial setup may present some hurdles, but using it is a luxury compared to plain JavaScript. :)
Sounds interesting! I'll have a search for some YouTube videos to get me started.
Cool game as well - you did that in 48hrs???
Cool game as well - you did that in 48hrs???
I convinced my team at work to use TS and everyone loves it:)
for as long as I can remember I've been checking up on this website a couple of times a year just to see if it was still up, it's very surreal to see that there are still people here.
I'm a little sad I never participated up until this point.
I'm a little sad I never participated up until this point.
Better late than never! Glad to have you here :)
Also wow, long time no see Note! Nice to hear you're getting benefits from TS too. For our team, being able to share structural types between frontend and backend has been a great boon. We use io-ts for decoding promises and it's great for getting type guards and static type safety in the frontend.
Also wow, long time no see Note! Nice to hear you're getting benefits from TS too. For our team, being able to share structural types between frontend and backend has been a great boon. We use io-ts for decoding promises and it's great for getting type guards and static type safety in the frontend.
Yep, Magnet Soul was made in 48 hours. There were a lot of even cooler games in that game jam though! ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4Zoagd_40 )
Also I don't think I ever said this but thank you Steve for getting a cert for the website! Great to see it running with HTTPS these days. (Maybe it did that for quite a while already.)
Happy holidays everyone!
Also I don't think I ever said this but thank you Steve for getting a cert for the website! Great to see it running with HTTPS these days. (Maybe it did that for quite a while already.)
Happy holidays everyone!
Magnet Soul really gave me that 00s online game feel which I appreciate, still don't know how I feel about the polarity switching but I respect the creativity.
It's surreal (and great) to hear you all talking about your teams, jobs and tech lol, we've all grown up.
I'm still envisioning carving out some time for porting MR to TypeScript, but it's not easy with everything else going on...
My main bottleneck is preparing a game to be published on Steam later this year. I'll post more details once I have them :)
My main bottleneck is preparing a game to be published on Steam later this year. I'll post more details once I have them :)
Thankfully still remember the password to this account. Hope everyone is alive and well!
I bring with some more details about my current game project, for lo and behold, Mineralis is now on Steam! It's a compact yet challenging JRPG experience, perfect for busy parents - although Windows-only for now. Check it out:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1948210/Mineralis/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1948210/Mineralis/
Wow! Looks really cool
Stumbled upon this video while going through my backlog, I was super impressed by Deluxe Paint 2! If I remember correctly Steve had praised in some time ago :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTojVSHTqLQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTojVSHTqLQ
Love it! The Amiga was such an exciting computer when it came out in 1985. even though I was working in the early 2000's, all the graphics for my games were animated on a later version of Deluxe Paint called Deluxe Paint AGA running on an emulator.
If I was doing it these days though I'd probably use Aseprite.
Thanks for the link, great trip down memory lane!
If I was doing it these days though I'd probably use Aseprite.
Thanks for the link, great trip down memory lane!
Found yet another video worth sharing - never knew the legendary "8 bit trip" had a sequel! Plenty of moments from 8-bit gaming recreated in glorious LEGO stop motion!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCm1fKZGvl4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCm1fKZGvl4
I saw the news about the PHP update, thank you for the hard work! I can imagine the TMB codebase must be pretty complex, but seems like you're still an expert at navigating it ^_^
In fact, I had no idea that TMB had its own YouTube channel! Looks great!
I'm probably still quite proficient at the games, should make recordings for the whole world to enjoy :)
I'm probably still quite proficient at the games, should make recordings for the whole world to enjoy :)
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