Hi im Tom. Suddenly I decided i'll give it a go , i'll try to make a text based, multiplayer, online game. So first I looked into coding my own and I have had no luck, all I found out was it's better to use PHP. After that I looked into finding a tutorial on ow todo it atogether and found out I was going to need MySQL database for a login.
So basically what i'm asking of is:
1. Where can I get MySQL database?
2. What web builder should I use?
3. How do you code a login?
Thanks to all replys.

Ok, I'll start out by telling you the same thing that I tell everyone else who wants to build this giant game but with no programming experience. Start smaller. You'll only get frustrated and give up your project, which results in nothing but wasted time and energy.

Before you start coding anything, you need to lay out all the rules of your game. Everything. Once you have that, then you can start planning your game. After the plans are set, then start coding.

To answer your questions:

1. Most web hosting packages have MySQL databases included. It depends on who you have for hosting. I host with 1&1 and I've never had any problems. I also know that control panel well. Let me know what your hosting is and I can help you from there. If you don't have hosting, definitely check out 1&1. They're really cheap and great for learning.

If you're developing locally, get WAMP.

2. I use a plaintext editor called PSPad. It's super awesome, and the more you develop the more you'll be able to appreciate it's intricacies. The syntax highlighter alone is great. The only better one I've found is the vi editor on linux systems.

You could also use something like Dreamweaver or Nvu or GoLive, but I like my plain text editor.

3. As far as coding a login, here are a few things to look at.

Basic Login Script - Use this one only to get the basic understanding of what to do. After I wrote it I realized there are a ton of stupid mistakes I made. Don't use that for live sites. Just use it as a stripped down learning tool.

Professional Level Login - This is a great tutorial that explains how to build a login for a live site.

Finally, I really really really really recommend going to Tizag's site and going through all his PHP tutorials before starting anything. Get a firm grasp of PHP, then start planning your application, then come here for questions.

Wow, I just wrote more than I say to most people in a day. Good luck.

Oh by the way, most of those WYSIWYG editors I mentioned were out of date. Check out the Wikipedia article for a comprehensive list.

List of HTML Editors

This post has been edited by akozlik: 29 Aug, 2008 - 09:23 AM

Hi. Thanks alot for your help, but to get a few things clear I have designed my site out fully on a sketch pad. Also is wamp and 1&1 free as i m not going inot depth with it i'd just like to get a little text based game runing and then see how it goes then expand.

Wamp is free, but it's a local development server. You won't be able to access it from the web.

1&1 is not free, but you'll be able to get a domain name.

When you say you've designed your site on a sketch pad do you mean the appearance, or the actual functionality? The functionality is what is important.

How well do you know PHP? Look through those tutorials and start there. Then come here with more specific questions.

Ok I will and on the sketch pad i've put what it'll look like and what everything is supposed to do eg,click this button to bring up users online and made users online page, is that what you mean.

Also when you say I wont be able to access wamp off the internet do you mean no one could go on my site?

This post has been edited by Mcbazzo: 29 Aug, 2008 - 09:42 AM

That's more of the navigation.

I'm talking about writing down all the rules for the game that you want to make.

Actually, you should check out the Game Programming forum on DIC.

Game Programming Forum

Also, here's an excellent post to read:

Want to Make A Web Based Game?

Go read those and post any questions in the game programming forum. They'll be able to help you a lot more.

Ok thanks foryou time I really appreciate it.