Moody.ink - New ChoiceScript Game Hosting

Game Development
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Hello all,

After a long (long long) time of off-and-on work, I’ve gotten https://moody.ink to a place where it is ready for public beta testing. Please feel free to register and try it out. This site is at heart identical to https://dashingdon.com but with some major new features and improvements:

  • The entire codebase has been updated to use the latest versions of all dependencies
  • The database structure has been greatly improved and standardized
  • Designed primarily to be mobile-friendly
  • Uses centralized up-to-date ChoiceScript code for all games
  • Uploading scenes and assets has been consolidated into a single action
  • Files can be deleted individually from the upload page
  • A comprehensive single-line search provides quick results for finding games
  • Account and Game API keys will allow external applications to create and manage your games (API in progress)
  • Games can be set to public, private, or restricted - which allows only selected logged-in members to play the game (for restricted testing)
  • Option to allow readers to save/load at any point in your game without adding extra code to your game files (and save/load is always allowed for the game author)
  • Saves are stored on the server so they are available on any device for logged-in members
  • “Devslot” editor allows authors to change any game variables in a special save slot for testing
  • Authors have the option of calculating game word count at the click of a button
  • Members can “favorite” games for quick play access from the dashboard

Some caveats:

  • There are no “dashpic” pictures shown in the game listings
  • The “forgot password” feature is disabled for now
  • Announcements and front-page rankings are disabled for now
  • Themes are not offered/supported at this time (it’s a chore to make adjustments to allow them and CSS is a tool of the devil)

For the near future:

  • API access will be opened for third-party applications and web services
  • A “Demo” category will be added where demos can be hosted and linked to purchase of the full game
  • A “Complete” category will be added so that full games can be offered by authors
  • Codebase will be made public on GitHub to allow contributors to streamline code and expand features

Please bear in mind that this is a beta and there are likely bugs here and there. I’ve done a lot of testing myself but public testing is invaluable for finding overlooked problems and user experience issues. I would greatly appreciate it if you post here or private message me about anything wonky you encounter, no matter how minor or insignificant it may seem. Thanks.

The setup for Moody.ink now has a public repo: GitHub - DRElliston/moody.ink

130 Likes
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I don’t know if this is a problem on my end, but when I uploaded files and started the playtesting, I was met with 404.

I looked into the directory link, and there is nothing. I tried to upload again, and it’s the same problem.

It might be me not knowing how to use it correctly.

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If you want to use jam to testing things you can contact me, anything to help you

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Amazing! As you know, please don’t hesitate to let me know when the API is ready for testing. There’s no rush, but I’ll be first in line to start experimenting when it is :grin:

And awesome to see you putting it up on GitHub too! I can’t wait.

Thanks for all you’ve done and still do, this community owes you so much more than we can ever repay :pray:

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You probably selected more than 20 files at once.

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I’m seeing this issue now on one new game I’ve created but not another. I’m working to find and fix the problem now.

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Btw, confirm delete game button is broken. It doesn’t do anything.

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Ok found the issue and the uploads should be fixed now.

@HWKEye Fixed the delete game function as well.

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So will moody.ink eventually replace dashingdon.com

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Yes, that’s the plan. I didn’t want to update dashingdon.com with these changes because there would have been a lot of downtime so I purchased a new domain and began working on a copy.

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Thats cool, what about the abandoned demos on dashingdon? Will those be ported over as well. Also just one complaint, double tapping a choice causes the entire screen to do a transition unlike just the choice box in dashingdon

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No, nothing will be ported over. Everyone will need to recreate their accounts and their games if they want to use the moody.ink app. Mainly this is because of all the empty and abandoned games on dashingdon.com but I will not be taking down dashingdon.com either (at least not for a very long time).

I’m not sure what you’re seeing as far as the transitions but moody.ink uses the latest CoG code without any modifications (with one exception where the advertising check was causing issues due to the domain). I’m not able to reproduce this issue, could you explain it in more detail please?

I want to add that if you have a username on dashingdon.com and you want the same username on moody.ink but a troll takes it please email me at dash@donelliston.com and I will sort it out so that you retain your username.

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Oh wow this looks like a huge upgrade. Aside from there only currently being three save slots, this is looking much better so far.

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The Moody.ink API is up and ready for testing. If anyone wants to connect their app or manage their games remotely please message me and I will provide a developer key. The documentation can be found here: Moody.ink EasyAPI Documentation

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Why is log in required for save slots in moody.ink and not dashingdon?

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Probably because that way, saves are easier to maintain; instead of being held in your cash, it’s held on an account that you can log into, so they’re always going to be there

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@Sujan_Dhakal is correct. The saves on dashingdon.com are stored in your browser cache, which means they are only available on that particular device using that particular browser. The saves on moody.ink are stored on the server and therefore require an identifier (i.e. your logged-in account). The benefit is that your moody.ink saves are available on any device you can log in on.

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Plus, there’s the added benefit that if you go back to a game after not playing it for a bunch of months, your saves will still be there… Although maybe not so viable after the updates

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I’m having problems with running the website on chrome, tried with both my phone and pc, both says the site can’t be reached. Any way to fix this problem?

Nevermind, fixed it, just had to install a VPN.

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I’ve been using Dashingdon since I started learning to use ChoiceScript, and have recently started looking into Moody.ink. I’ve come across an issue.

In my second Choice Set, I have three options where two of them are grayed out because they’re still being worked on. However, when I run it through Moody, only one of the choices is grayed out (the last one) while the first two can be selected. It runs smoothly on Dashingdon and in CSIDE.

The Code:

*choice
	#Determined to get a few hours of sleep, you grope blindly for the blanket.
	*selectable_if (not(demo)) #After a moment, you decide to get an early start on your day.
	*selectable_if (not(demo)) #It might be dark out, but the garden is peaceful.

I’ve also tried this:

*choice
	#Determined to get a few hours of sleep, you grope blindly for the blanket.
	*selectable_if (demo = false) #After a moment, you decide to get an early start on your day.
	*selectable_if (demo = false) #It might be dark out, but the garden is peaceful.

No matter my approach, the first two are always selectable. The last one isn’t. And they use the same command, so I’ve confused. I’m not sure if there’s something else going on there, or what.

The ‘demo’ stat is set on true, by the way. Not that has helped any.

Any ideas?

1 Like