Would it be enough with a simple realm chat which, auto updates online kingdoms and simple messages or do you need a realm chat with much more features like smiles, images etc?

It's not that easy to find a nice coded chat which could be integrated in the game directly. Most of the chat's I've seen so far has been bad supported or not supported at all. I don't think it would be that difficult for me to code a simple chat using same framework (mootools) as I've used in the new layout. I'm also starting to get high knowledge of mootools so building something simple myself shouldn't be that difficult.

For the chat in the Global Council. I found this one https://blueimp.net/ajax/

Which I'm probably going to test to install on a backup copy of the server. I've seen to little images so far but I guess it can need some work to get the elveron style updated to match the chat. This same chat can't be used in game.

I don't think this would be a problem for the server as it has quite high capacity. It may be necessary to upgrade the server with more memory but I don't think so and it would be quite cheap anyway.

No need for images and stuff, a basic chat works imo.

I've heard good things about ajax, so it's definitely worth a try.

_________________
www.ceekayed.com

Ceekayed> Have you heard good about Ajax Chat or ajax overall?

The chat yes. Thought it would be apparent in the context :)

_________________
www.ceekayed.com

I'm not sure about the Ajax Chat, the files are not updated since 2009.

It's still pretty widely used afaik. I'm sure there are regularly updated ajax-based alternatives too.

Moreover, just popped into my mind, a simple shoutbox would probably work better. It would need to be moderateable though.

_________________
www.ceekayed.com

Do you know any phpbb3 forum that use this Ajax Chat so that I can take a look at it before I start spending time on it.

EDIT
Spent some time installing it on my backup copy. It appears that the Ajax Chat isn't the updated. I get error in Chrome and FF. I saw other people talking about this to.
I'll work with in game chat instead.

I've been working quite many hours on the realm chat.

It's still quite a lot work left.

Code the censor user part. (which is almost done already) I'm planing on using same censor database record as those for in game messages but I'm not sure if I'll add it's own record for the chat.

Make flooding/spam detection. (because the chat will be flooded if you have popcorn in your realm ;) )

I'm also planing on adding a bbcode buttons quite similar to those in the global council. So that you at least can post bold, underline, italic, etc. Currently bbcodes works but you must add the manual.

Last I will add periodical request update but this part will probably be very easy to add. Also I'll probably add a setting for different update intervals.

keep going man! you have my support.

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________________
The One and Only

This really sounds amazing and I think would bring an amazing aspect to this game that is in dire need of something new. Keep it up Zip

_________________
Oh Eighty
____________________
Wonderland says
he is pwning you with a wooden spoon!
Immor says
i use chopstick

How should I style the message, right now I have made it like

(2012-03-01 18:38:20 CET) < test100 of test100 posted > Message goes here

I'm not sure how it looks like in IRC or any other chat. Please give advice.

Something similar to IRC should work:

[00:21]<Ruler of Kingdom> Blablablabla, I'm telling a funny joke here
[00:22]<I'm a carrot of Bananas> omfglol :D


Not sure if showing the date is necessary, but it's ok I guess.

_________________
www.ceekayed.com

mIRC

VB Chat

SMF Chat
In SMF chat, the time stamps are in a column (without lines), and the RulerName is aligned right. SMF is easier to read, but VB is easier to see who said what.

Like Ceek said, I do not think the date is absoluetly necessary (seconds aren't either), but I do think it's useful. If possible, have the game post the new date everyday at midnight.

I'm not sure how you should handle the Name to use. Ruler Name is much shorter than full name (makes for easier read), but the full name is perfectly clear on who the person is. (if I had to choose, I would go with rulerName for Realm chat, and Full name for (future) global chat. The best option might be a togglebox in options to select which style the player wants [rulerName|kingdomName|rulerName of kingdomName]).

My Ideal:
The date would only be necessary if there is a new post (no need to post date at midnight, but only upon new messages). If there is a whole day with no messages, the date of those days wouldn't appear at all.

Thanks for feedback.

Right now I'm storing the post time in ms since 1970 and a formatted timedate in the format like:
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss z");
Storing of the ms since 1970 is mainly for cleanup purposes but also for sorting. Creating the whole message use the stored formatted timedate value.

I think it can be quite simple to decide if the timedate should only be time and no date. Maybe I can use javascript to format the date more dynamically and make use of the client computer instead of the server.

Adding a line with new date each day will be more complicated because it's quite simple just to use the posted timedate.

About the poster name. Right now the whole "rulerName of kingdomName" is stored in the database and it's because I used a part of the code from the council. The rulerName isn't unique which the kingdomName is. The kindom Id is also stored in the database so I guess it could be possible to use the id to get either the kingdom name or the ruler name but that will cost slightly more in computing but will be more flexible.

The look of VB chat is quite similar to the style I already created so I think we'll start with that.

I still have some work left on my to do list.

* Filter button of users (almost done already) - Completed made a simple checkbox if you want to display messages from a particular user or not. It will be possible to never show messages from a specific user or even hide your own posts. This option is stored in the database so that you always can hide messages from users which use foul language. There will also be an option to show messages from non enabled users but I'm not sure we'll need this option as the checkboxes seems to work quite good.
* Message styling - Completed.
* bbcode buttons
* Adding chat to the current layout - Completed
* Dynamic resize of the chat while in layout - Completed, must test in IE
* Message formatting before storage in the database - Completed
* Wrong message style information to the user - Completed
* Periodical update of the message and user windows - Completed, nice solution with increased time for updates depending if the content is modified or not. First request comes directly then next content in 2s, if the data isn't modified the time for next request is increased to 4s, etc up to 30s. When the content is updated the requests starts again with 2s periods. The times are not completely decided yet.
* Periodical time update option - Obsoleted
* Testing - Completed.
* More testing - Completed
* Even more testing


Thinks already done
* Dynamic resizing of the chat if in it's own window
* Auto move to last message (if scroll at the bottom)
* Posting and storing of messages
* User list
* Basic layout
* Amount of messages to show with auto update
* Refresh button
* bbcode parsing