playapolis' messages

I used Ruby on Rails and CoffeeScript (compiles to JS), but it’s similar to using HTML, JS, PHP/MySQL, so good guess.

I’ve heard good things about codecademy.com, never used it myself. I just learned by figuring out what I needed one step of the time. I don’t know what you know and don’t know, but my advice is, think of a something you want to make and go make that, then Google or StackOverflow it whenever you’re stuck.

You can learn HTML, JS, CSS all on your local computer without having to install anything fancy, just use a text editor like TextMate or Sublime Text 2.

After you’ve done a few things with JavaScript, then start to use jQuery, because it’s the defacto standard JS framework library on the web. Most companies are using jQuery nowadays. I just checked and Kongregate is using Prototype, a less popular JS framework. I’ve used both, and prefer jQuery, but a four years ago Prototype was more popular. http://trends.builtwith.com/javascript/jQuery

Then, when you want to use PHP and MySQL, I recommend installing them locally but also getting something online with a web host. This will give you a feel for typical LAMP production environment, configuring .htaccess files, and so on. I recommend Elief.com for web hosting. It’ll cost you $7/mo or so, but that’s really not that much if you’re learning from it. You’ll want to use a FTP client to transfer files to your web host, and I recommend FileZilla for that.

Eventually, when you’re getting good with PHP, you might think about using a web application framework. (Ruby on Rails is a web app framework) I’ve never used any PHP frameworks but that’s not to say PHP won’t work. PHP is often considered a simple web scripting language, yet many serious companies use PHP, including Facebook and WePay (Rasmus Lerdorf works there), and yes, they’re using PHP with frameworks.

Hey man, if you haven’t heard, Orbs CCG has a new Kickstarter project: http://kickstarter.orbsccg.com/ The project is to remake Orbs CCG with better cards, more colors, a better UI, and really jumpstart the game again. If you’re interested, back it at Kickstarter.OrbsCCG.com – hope to see you around! – Jeff

Hey, long time no talk. If you haven’t heard, Orbs CCG has a new Kickstarter project: http://kickstarter.orbsccg.com/ The project is to remake Orbs CCG with better cards, more colors, a better UI, and really jumpstart the game again. If you’re interested, back it at Kickstarter.OrbsCCG.com – hope to see you around! – Jeff

I’m a contributor there. It’s true that MobyGames popularity has waned over the recent years (remember it’s 14 years old!), but please point me to a better games database (new websites deal mostly with latest games and their info is poorly categorized; Wikipedia sucks – no screenshots etc.).

I’m sure MobyGames is good for this. I was going to create a listing a few months ago but got stuck (it wanted a ton of required info). Also, if you haven’t heard, Orbs CCG has a new Kickstarter project: http://kickstarter.orbsccg.com/ The project is to remake Orbs CCG with better cards, more colors, a better UI, and really jumpstart the game again. If you’re interested, back it at Kickstarter.OrbsCCG.com – hope to see you around! – Jeff

Hey japeke, if you haven’t heard, Orbs CCG has a new Kickstarter project: http://kickstarter.orbsccg.com/ The project is to remake Orbs CCG with better cards, more colors, a better UI, and really jumpstart the game again. If you’re interested, back it at Kickstarter.OrbsCCG.com – hope to see you around! – Jeff