I actually have multiple questions into one. Hopefully someone can hit all of them.
I wanted to give a try at a massively multiplayer web based game. Basically, the game would have similarities to Evony, or Eve Online (a much scaled down version). The idea is it would be a mostly real time city builder (like Evony) that allows complex actions between players (like Eve Online but without the graphics and much scaled down). It would sort of be like a database game. I want it to be able to support around 500 people simultaneously online off one server.
However, I have multiple issues that I want to pin down before I actually start writing the code.
- Continuous database updating
The database has to be continuously updated on a small time interval to reflect the passage of time in the game verse. Furthermore, the effects of all actions will have to be calculated as well. Right now I'm thinking about using mysql with events using the innoDB engine to do this. Is there a better/faster approach to this?
- Continuous graphical updating
Certain details (such as "time till completion" etc when building something) need to be continuously updated on the user interface. I'm thinking about having each page in the user interface continuously make ajax calls for the information. Again, is there a better/faster way?
Thanks