Hi Again Guys ( Did I said Guys again ???[/blue])

As Many of You Guys( better with "You Girls" instead) helped me out in many things in the game I think Version 1 is finished.

Sprites is taking quite time but I think I am grabbbing it quite much so I will leave the 3D cars in next version of Traffic Control.

The Golden Q? is to how to deploy my Game in the web from where users can download it (the Msi file is 6 Mb's).[/blue]

I think we can use cab file from P&D wizard but I want user to download just one complete Installation file.

So How to do it ??

And can the size be reduced (6 Mbs r lot of bytes)????

And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.

I have not been much into web developement.
The site will b having source code and my works and my resume and definately a page about You guys( Can also change it to You girls)
And good doesnt refers to complex.

And one Ethical Question for You All ..

Should I keep a price tag on the Game or give it free or publish its source code on web ???[/blue]

Well it took me around 3 months to complete it fully.

As most of you Guys know it is meant for age group 6-14.

I decided of selling it for 5$ US. ( Is it too high or low or shouldnt be a paid game atall)

Well to decide the users to check it for free I coded it for running free for 25 times( yes 25 times and not 25 days).

It means anyone for trying purpose can play the game for 25 instances but after that he had to pay 5 US $ .

My chioce will be highly affected by Yours Opinion that whether to sell the game or freely give it or even publish the source code with it.

I can follow any one of above three options very well.But need Your opinion on the matter as a VB programmer and a User of game both.

Waiting...

Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

: And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.
:
: I have not been much into web developement.
: The site will b having source code and my works and my resume and definately a page about You guys( Can also change it to You girls)
: And good doesnt refers to complex.


Well I can't help you with installation for your game becuase I havn't got around to dealing with this for games I have made, but I can help you with web developement.

If you're looking for a nice but easy website, you may consider purchasing domain space and getting a website host that supports cgi scripts and mysql databases and use PHPnuke. Its a nice outline for webpages but I dont use it myself.

The fist thing you should do is learn up your html if you going to be doing the page on your own. http://www.netstrider.com/tutorials/HTMLRef/ is a nice website that has most every command for html in it. Then after you get a grasp of html, you can goto www.morrowland.com/apron/ and they have some nice asp/php tutorials there.

my webpage is www.firesickle.com if you visit it, right click on the page and do a veiw source. I do my webpage's programming in notepad so I keep it orginized and it might give you an Idea on how these functions are supposed to be layed out.

A good webspace provider (free) is www.freewebs.com . They provide a nice free webspace but you will be tied down to the www.freewebs.com/mydomain/

Hope this helps, don't hesitate to ask me any more questions

: The Golden Q? is to how to deploy my Game in the web from where users can download it (the Msi file is 6 Mb's).[/blue]
:

MSI is one file.

: And can the size be reduced (6 Mbs r lot of bytes)????

Yes and no. It's that big, in part, because of the runtime. You can remove the runtime and include a link on your website to where the users can get it. They will have to have it, but many people will already have it.

: And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.

Get a WYSIWYG editor. Many free sites come with one.

: And good doesnt refers to complex.

Good often means simple. I can't tell how many sites I've never gone back to because they were so bloated and full of c**p that they took forever to open. Who wants to hear my rants on bad web-design? (No, Jonathan, not you!)

: Should I keep a price tag on the Game or give it free or publish its source code on web ???[/blue]
: ..........
: My chioce will be highly affected by Yours Opinion that whether to sell the game or freely give it or even publish the source code with it.
:

That depends. In all honesty, would YOU pay for the game? If not, then don't charge. I've run across dozens of games and apps that I never tried again because they were poorly designed; the authors wanted payment for that garbage. A couple of thoughts:

Give out v1 for free. Charge for v2 after you get feedback from customers and can decide what the customers want.

Similar to the above but request "donations to support you so that you can continue to improve it".

Or go ahead and charge, but keep the amount small ($5 or $10 should be fine). What you really need is to get it out to enough people to get useable feedback so you can create a better v2, not make your retirement from v1!

As for the source, that's entirely up to you. After looking around the net and programming for a while, does your app likely have any code that everybody doesn't already know? Mine rarely do... I don't divulge the source usually, but I'll freely tell people how I did it. There's nothing spectacular in the code for me to keep hidden but I often work on it for too long to let people rip it off.

I agree with KDL.

A small contribution would be fine...if You think YOU would pay for what You get.

Bye


: : The Golden Q? is to how to deploy my Game in the web from where users can download it (the Msi file is 6 Mb's).[/blue]
: :
:
: MSI is one file.
:
: : And can the size be reduced (6 Mbs r lot of bytes)????
:
: Yes and no. It's that big, in part, because of the runtime. You can remove the runtime and include a link on your website to where the users can get it. They will have to have it, but many people will already have it.
:
: : And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.
:
: Get a WYSIWYG editor. Many free sites come with one.
:
: : And good doesnt refers to complex.
:
: Good often means simple. I can't tell how many sites I've never gone back to because they were so bloated and full of c**p that they took forever to open. Who wants to hear my rants on bad web-design? (No, Jonathan, not you!)
:
: : Should I keep a price tag on the Game or give it free or publish its source code on web ???[/blue]
: : ..........
: : My chioce will be highly affected by Yours Opinion that whether to sell the game or freely give it or even publish the source code with it.
: :
:
: That depends. In all honesty, would YOU pay for the game? If not, then don't charge. I've run across dozens of games and apps that I never tried again because they were poorly designed; the authors wanted payment for that garbage. A couple of thoughts:
:
: Give out v1 for free. Charge for v2 after you get feedback from customers and can decide what the customers want.
:
: Similar to the above but request "donations to support you so that you can continue to improve it".
:
: Or go ahead and charge, but keep the amount small ($5 or $10 should be fine). What you really need is to get it out to enough people to get useable feedback so you can create a better v2, not make your retirement from v1!
:
: As for the source, that's entirely up to you. After looking around the net and programming for a while, does your app likely have any code that everybody doesn't already know? Mine rarely do... I don't divulge the source usually, but I'll freely tell people how I did it. There's nothing spectacular in the code for me to keep hidden but I often work on it for too long to let people rip it off.
:


CarryFlag
...debugging is futile.[/red]
[/size]

Thankz For Ur wonderfull mindblowing Approaches. It really had given my mind a completely new vision.

But besides Ethical Q? all q? r still unanswered.

And I will appreciate new answers abt the Ethical Questions
Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

: Hi Again Guys ( Did I said Guys again ???[/blue])

Dude, you need to stop saying that. As much as the feminists and/or political correctness police hate it, "guys" can mean either a collection of males or a collection of persons.

: As Many of You Guys( better with "You Girls" instead)

Stop it!

: The Golden Q? is to how to deploy my Game in the web from where users can download it (the Msi file is 6 Mb's).[/blue]
:
: I think we can use cab file from P&D wizard but I want user to download just one complete Installation file.
:
: So How to do it ??

If you already have an MSI file then what is the problem?

: And can the size be reduced (6 Mbs r lot of bytes)????

How much of that is for your actual program? Like KDL said, a lot of that is probably the VB6 runtime which users can download separately. If you want an installer that doesn't add a ton of bloat, then NSIS is a good one, though not at all idiot-proof (meaning you have to deal with assembler-like syntax).

: And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.

Find host. Create html file. Upload files to host. Voila.

: I have not been much into web developement.

All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.

: The site will b having source code and my works and my resume

All can be done with basic HTML skills and all you need to do that is a text editor and a browser. Sure you can use fancy-schmancy WYSIWYG editors, but real men use something like gVim. There are plenty of tutorials around for writing HTML.

:and definately a page about You guys( Can also change it to You girls)

For the love of Pete, stop it!

: And good doesnt refers to complex.

Most certainly not. Not necessarily, at least.

: And one Ethical Question for You All ..
:
: Should I keep a price tag on the Game or give it free or publish its source code on web ???[/blue]
:
: Well it took me around 3 months to complete it fully.
:
: As most of you Guys know it is meant for age group 6-14.
:
: I decided of selling it for 5$ US. ( Is it too high or low or shouldnt be a paid game atall)
:
: Well to decide the users to check it for free I coded it for running free for 25 times( yes 25 times and not 25 days).
:
: It means anyone for trying purpose can play the game for 25 instances but after that he had to pay 5 US $ .
:
: My chioce will be highly affected by Yours Opinion that whether to sell the game or freely give it or even publish the source code with it.
:
: I can follow any one of above three options very well.But need Your opinion on the matter as a VB programmer and a User of game both.

Whether or not you charge for it and what amount is a purely business decision.

Whether or not you provide source code is not tied directly to charging a fee. You can do either, both, or neither.

Personally, since you're talking about one simple game, I would be inclined to give it away free and to release the source code under a license like the GPL. That way other people are free to improve your code but if they release those improvements they are required to make the improved code available too. There are enough free and Free games available online that unless yours is really special I would probably not pay for it.


infidel

$ select * from users where clue > 0
no rows returned

: : Hi Again Guys ( Did I said Guys again ???[/blue])
:
: Dude, you need to stop saying that. As much as the feminists and/or political correctness police hate it, "guys" can mean either a collection of males or a collection of persons.

Ok Ok just puttin some fun in guys which are not like You (Kiddin)!!

: : The Golden Q? is to how to deploy my Game in the web from where users can download it (the Msi file is 6 Mb's).
: :
: : I think we can use cab file from P&D wizard but I want user to download just one complete Installation file.
: :
: : So How to do it ??
:
: If you already have an MSI file then what is the problem?
:
The prob is that infidel as u have known with my q? I dont have much Idea about web publishing. So even if I write a page which contains an label saying Click to download then how to actually make the msi file available to user desktop.
And another good q? is that is it possible to control an msi file to not contain vb runtimes ??? [/blue]

: : And can the size be reduced (6 Mbs r lot of bytes)????
:
: How much of that is for your actual program? Like KDL said, a lot of that is probably the VB6 runtime which users can download separately. If you want an installer that doesn't add a ton of bloat, then NSIS is a good one, though not at all idiot-proof (meaning you have to deal with assembler-like syntax).
:
The real problem of size is alos due to the soundtracks I am using in the game. The sound track folder in uncompress sate has 2.2 Mbs bcas they r in wav format. Doesnt the msi Installer compress wav format ????? And if it doesnt shd I use Mp3 format but I use sndplaysound for playing files which is very easy.
And BTW the main form has around 40 pages of code as checked by word editor.
[/blue]


: : And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.
:
: Find host. Create html file. Upload files to host. Voila.
Which host You prefer and free is the keyword
: : I have not been much into web developement.
:
: All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.
Certainly not for me [/blue]

: : And good doesnt refers to complex.
:
: Most certainly not. Not necessarily, at least.
:
I put that because lots of people have an Idea of stylish heavy weight graphics in name of good things [/blue]

: : Should I keep a price tag on the Game or give it free or publish its source code on web ???[/blue]
:
: Personally, since you're talking about one simple game, I would be inclined to give it away free and to release the source code under a license like the GPL. That way other people are free to improve your code but if they release those improvements they are required to make the improved code available too. There are enough free and Free games available online that unless yours is really special I would probably not pay for it.
:
Is GPL the code name for Russian Federation Hackers society ?? Sorry but cant stop me anymore.
Whats GPL ??? Any good website to learn that.
And how will I assign my source file an GPL licence.
I dont want an hacker to put a code like
fso.deletefolder ("c:/windows")
which will not make the user of my game feel like a king.
If I am giving it free I will like to give in the right hand not the wrong one.( just a thought)
So this GPL thing will provide restriction to any code change also.


And thanks for the Encouragement You (Non Gender now onwards) have provided for a small small programmer like me.

More thoughts are welcome on the matter !!

Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

AAARGH! Enough with the bold type!

: The prob is that infidel as u have known with my q? I dont have much Idea about web publishing. So even if I write a page which contains an label saying Click to download then how to actually make the msi file available to user desktop.

All you do is create an anchor tag and specify the url of the file. I mean really, take a moment to read a basic HTML tutorial.

: And another good q? is that is it possible to control an msi file to not contain vb runtimes ???

I wasn't aware that the P&D Wizard created MSIs. News to me. At any rate, it's been a long time since I used the P&D, but it seems to me you could specify the files you wanted to include.

: The real problem of size is alos due to the soundtracks I am using in the game. The sound track folder in uncompress sate has 2.2 Mbs bcas they r in wav format.

Well then there's not much we can do about that, now is there?

: Doesnt the msi Installer compress wav format ?????

Why are you asking me? You're the one claiming to have an MSI. The NSIS install system can compress everything. I imagine other install systems do too. A file is a file is a file. Not all files, however, lend themselves to compression. It depends on how much repetition of data there is at the byte level.

: And if it doesnt shd I use Mp3 format but I use sndplaysound for playing files which is very easy.

Makes no difference to me.

: And BTW the main form has around 40 pages of code as checked by word editor.

So what?

: Which host You prefer and free is the keyword

I can't recommend any as I don't use any. "Free" is likely to come with severe bandwidth limitations no matter where you go so if a lot of people start downloading your files you may have to cough up some cash to keep your site online 24/7.

: : All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.
: Certainly not for me

Unless you're a chimpanzee, HTML is easy as pie. Probably easy for chimpanzees too.

: Is GPL the code name for Russian Federation Hackers society ?? Sorry but cant stop me anymore.

Seriously, do you know how to use Google?

: Whats GPL ??? Any good website to learn that.

www.gnu.org

: And how will I assign my source file an GPL licence.

You are the author of your code, therefore you are the copyright holder of your code, therefore you say "this code is released under the GPL".

: I dont want an hacker to put a code like
: fso.deletefolder ("c:/windows")
: which will not make the user of my game feel like a king.

What would stop a hacker from doing that anyways? That's why the GPL requires source code to be made available if a modified version of the program is made available. So people can see for themselves exactly what is different or new.

: If I am giving it free I will like to give in the right hand not the wrong one.( just a thought)

What?

: So this GPL thing will provide restriction to any code change also.

No, people can change anything they want, but if they try to distribute a version of your program then they have to also provide their source code. Software licenses are legal agreements. There will always be criminals who ignore them no matter what they specify, but I'd be willing to be that anyone bothering to modify the source to make a new public version would be more than willing to participate honestly.


infidel

$ select * from users where clue > 0
no rows returned

: AAARGH! Enough with the bold type!
Some prob with my highlighments.I usually do to specify my answers/comments from my previously given. Do U have same problem with blue also ???? (Just asking and plzz dont go mad for this)

: All you do is create an anchor tag and specify the url of the file. I mean really, take a moment to read a basic HTML tutorial.
well soryy, but forgot to do homework
:

: : And another good q? is that is it possible to control an msi file to not contain vb runtimes ???
:
: I wasn't aware that the P&D Wizard created MSIs. News to me. At any rate, it's been a long time since I used the P&D, but it seems to me you could specify the files you wanted to include.
:
It doesnt. Msi file is a single Installation file created by Microsoft Visual Installer which is much much and I really mean much more superior than the P&D wizard. It creates shorcut at desktop ,single installation file and addins for future verison for error resolvement and its free ofcource.

: : The real problem of size is alos due to the soundtracks I am using in the game. The sound track folder in uncompress sate has 2.2 Mbs bcas they r in wav format.
:
: Well then there's not much we can do about that, now is there?
I thought mp3 format is an compression of wave format
10 wav = 1 mp3 (approx)

: : Doesnt the msi Installer compress wav format ?????
:
: Why are you asking me? You're the one claiming to have an MSI. The NSIS install system can compress everything. I imagine other install systems do too. A file is a file is a file. Not all files, however, lend themselves to compression. It depends on how much repetition of data there is at the byte level.
:
I thought U know what is an Msi

: : And if it doesnt shd I use Mp3 format but I use sndplaysound for playing files which is very easy.
:
: Makes no difference to me.
size compresses to ten times by using mp3 instead of wav
and besides that sndplaysound doesnt play mp3 files

: : And BTW the main form has around 40 pages of code as checked by word editor.
:
: So what?

I am not a proudy type. But since u asked actually whats the real code. So I thought that file size in a program has to do something with the amount of text written in it. If I wud be having some bit of proud in it I wudnt be even thinking of publishing the source code. But still convey my apologies.

:
: : Which host You prefer and free is the keyword
:
: I can't recommend any as I don't use any. "Free" is likely to come with severe bandwidth limitations no matter where you go so if a lot of people start downloading your files you may have to cough up some cash to keep your site online 24/7.

Yes I know even and odds of free and paid webhosting. But I think You are not aware of the Financial differences of a man working in India and in Europe.
Well to give u just a glimps I just finished my Engineering and I would consider myself very lucky if I managed to get a job or Rs 10,000 / month which would be around $200 US (Two Hundred Dollar only).
Yes its true and dont even doubt the conversion.
So free has to be the limit for guys like me and I am planning to do a Mtech in CAD-CAM which means no more earning for next 2 yrs so have to look for an economical lifestyle for me.

: : : All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.
: : Certainly not for me
:
: Unless you're a chimpanzee, HTML is easy as pie. Probably easy for chimpanzees too.
Well Infidel whom do u have evolved from ???

: : Is GPL the code name for Russian Federation Hackers society ?? Sorry but cant stop me anymore.
:
: Seriously, do you know how to use Google?
:
Yes but thought u could save some time

: : Whats GPL ??? Any good website to learn that.
:
: www.gnu.org
Thankz for that I will chekc it out
:

: : And how will I assign my source file an GPL licence.
:
: You are the author of your code, therefore you are the copyright holder of your code, therefore you say "this code is released under the GPL".
Sounds good


: : I dont want an hacker to put a code like
: : fso.deletefolder ("c:/windows")
: : which will not make the user of my game feel like a king.
:
: What would stop a hacker from doing that anyways? That's why the GPL requires source code to be made available if a modified version of the program is made available. So people can see for themselves exactly what is different or new.
:

The thought was that when I release version 1 and some people ( I Hope ) will download the game and play it. And suppose they format the disc and search google (If they know how to ) for the version 1 of my game and some hacker puts the BAD CODE in version 1 exe itself and the user will rerun the setup and after playing the first instance of Hacker version 1 (Not original one) he prpblably will not recognize the different version and will think that the fault is all mine.
U cant stop a hacker but u surely can stop him to use ur good work in his bad ones.

Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

: I thought mp3 format is an compression of wave format
: 10 wav = 1 mp3 (approx)
MP3 is a lossy compression format. It is not a compressed wave file, it's more related to the MPEG line of formats, whereas wavefiles are built upon the RIFF format. 10 wav = 1 mp3 is the normal statistic given if you assume 128kbits is good enough for CD quality MP3s. It's usually fairly OK.

: : : And if it doesnt shd I use Mp3 format but I use sndplaysound for playing files which is very easy.
: :
: : Makes no difference to me.
: size compresses to ten times by using mp3 instead of wav
: and besides that sndplaysound doesnt play mp3 files
This was what I meant in another post. PLaying MP3 is harder.

: : : : All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.
: : : Certainly not for me
: :
: : Unless you're a chimpanzee, HTML is easy as pie. Probably easy for chimpanzees too.
: Well Infidel whom do u have evolved from ???
:
This all assumes evolution is correct. Ooops, now *there's* a big can of worms I just opened.

: : : I dont want an hacker to put a code like
: : : fso.deletefolder ("c:/windows")
: : : which will not make the user of my game feel like a king.
: :
: : What would stop a hacker from doing that anyways? That's why the GPL requires source code to be made available if a modified version of the program is made available. So people can see for themselves exactly what is different or new.
: :
:
: The thought was that when I release version 1 and some people ( I Hope ) will download the game and play it. And suppose they format the disc and search google (If they know how to ) for the version 1 of my game and some hacker puts the BAD CODE in version 1 exe itself and the user will rerun the setup and after playing the first instance of Hacker version 1 (Not original one) he prpblably will not recognize the different version and will think that the fault is all mine.
: U cant stop a hacker but u surely can stop him to use ur good work in his bad ones.
:
And lets stop the use of the word "hacker" to mean "someone how does bad shit" right here. Someone who takes source code and adds shell("echo y | format C:") isn't a hacker. There is nothing even slightly clever about that, it's certainly not a "hack". It's like doing grafitti or vandalism. It's that low. That is how to view people who do these things. Don't associate the word hacker with these fools like the media likes to. It's just plain wrong.

OK, rant over. But on a serious note, do you really think anyone would bother to do this?

Jonathan

###
for(74,117,115,116){$::a.=chr};(($_.='qwertyui')&&
(tr/yuiqwert/her anot/))for($::b);for($::c){$_.=$^X;
/(p.{2}l)/;$_=$1}$::b=~/(..)$/;print("$::a$::b $::c hack$1.");

: This all assumes evolution is correct. Ooops, now *there's* a big can of worms I just opened.
:

Nope. Evolution is correct: The idea is sound and viable. Evolution has also been proven: Small scale environment changes result in genetic changes of the organism. The can of worms is large-scale evolution where species change radically, such as man from lower primates (no, we didn't evolve from chimps, we AND chimps evolved from even lower primates).

: "echo y | format C:"

Did you know that will cause format.exe to lock up waiting for the next set of keys from the same pipe? I actually tried it once cause I got tired of telling it yes every time I wanted to format a "NON-REMOVABLE DISK". Format will later prompt for other info but it won't read input from the keyboard anymore...

: : This all assumes evolution is correct. Ooops, now *there's* a big can of worms I just opened.
: :
:
: Nope. Evolution is correct: The idea is sound and viable.
The idea of me having a girlfriend is sound and viable too, but to say I have one would not be correct. OK, where's my "worst analogy ever" award?

: Evolution has also been proven: Small scale environment changes
: result in genetic changes of the organism. The can of worms is large-
: scale evolution where species change radically, such as man from
: lower primates (no, we didn't evolve from chimps, we AND chimps
: evolved from even lower primates).
:
Ah, difference in terminology. To me "evolution" is about the "large-scale" stuff. Small scale changes I'd talk about as natural selection - and that I don't disagree with. Of course, you can say that's small scale evolution too I guess.

: : "echo y | format C:"
:
: Did you know that will cause format.exe to lock up waiting for the
: next set of keys from the same pipe?
No, I didn't. Then, I didn't plan to post a working "how to format drive C" code. And I sure as hell didn't test it first.

: I actually tried it once cause I got tired of telling it yes every
: time I wanted to format a "NON-REMOVABLE DISK". Format will later
: prompt for other info but it won't read input from the keyboard
: anymore...
:
Geez, how often do you format a "NON-REMOVABLE DISK"?

Jonathan

###
for(74,117,115,116){$::a.=chr};(($_.='qwertyui')&&
(tr/yuiqwert/her anot/))for($::b);for($::c){$_.=$^X;
/(p.{2}l)/;$_=$1}$::b=~/(..)$/;print("$::a$::b $::c hack$1.");

: : The can of worms is large-
: : scale evolution where species change radically, such as man from
: : lower primates

Less than 2% of our genes are different from Bonobos. Even less difference existed between specimens such as "Lucy" and the equivalent ancestors of Bonobos. Over the course of millions of years, I fail to see how this is "radical".

: Ah, difference in terminology. To me "evolution" is about the "large-scale" stuff. Small scale changes I'd talk about as natural selection - and that I don't disagree with. Of course, you can say that's small scale evolution too I guess.

Dude, that's the macro-/micro- evolution false dichotomy. There really isn't any difference. Species change over time and at some point a population changes enough that it's considered a new species. The "difference in terminology" is a purely human construct - used to great semantic effect by the anti-evolutionists to cast doubt on that which they refuse to believe.



infidel

$ select * from users where clue > 0
no rows returned

: Less than 2% of our genes are different from Bonobos. Even less difference existed between specimens such as "Lucy" and the equivalent ancestors of Bonobos. Over the course of millions of years, I fail to see how this is "radical".
:

Although not entirely accurate according to the definition, I would define "radical change" as one which results in genetically non-compatible species (can't inter-breed).

: Dude, that's the macro-/micro- evolution false dichotomy. There really isn't any difference. Species change over time and at some point a population changes enough that it's considered a new species. The "difference in terminology" is a purely human construct - used to great semantic effect by the anti-evolutionists to cast doubt on that which they refuse to believe.
:

Ouch! many big words... hurt head. fire friend. wheel good. <laughs>

Seriously though, I consider micro- or macro- to be evolution while Jonathan considers macro- to be evolution. He has a point, but as always, I'm right. And since he disagrees with me... <grin>

: The idea of me having a girlfriend is sound and viable too, but to say I have one would not be correct. OK, where's my "worst analogy ever" award?
:

<laughs>

: Ah, difference in terminology. To me "evolution" is about the "large-scale" stuff. Small scale changes I'd talk about as natural selection - and that I don't disagree with. Of course, you can say that's small scale evolution too I guess.
:

To me, "evolution" is pretty much any genetic change that can be carried on to descendants ("mutation" is any genetic change). "Natural selection" is the result of evolution where the stronger/better traits win out. I think you have the more common definition though where evolution is natural selection resulting in non-compatible species (large-scale changes).

: No, I didn't. Then, I didn't plan to post a working "how to format drive C" code.
:

It's easy!

With Human.MouseInteraction
    .MoveTo "Start Button"; .Click
    .MoveTo MenuItem("Programs"); .Hover GetMenuDelay()
    If WinVer = XP Then
        .MoveTo EnumShortcutsFor("cmd.exe", Recursive); .Click
    ElseIf WinVer = 98 Then
        .MoveTo EnumShortcutsFor("command.com", Recursive); .Click
    End If
End With
Human.WaitForWindow "*Prompt*"
With Human.KeyboardInteraction
    .Type "format /u C: /v:id_10T"; .KeyClick "Enter"
    Human.WaitForPrompt
    .Type "y"; .KeyClick "Enter"
End With

See? Perfectly easy!

: And I sure as hell didn't test it first.

Now Jonathan, all good experiements/scientists test their own formulas!

: Geez, how often do you format a "NON-REMOVABLE DISK"?

Well, I have about 5 computers under my control and they do need reinstalling occasionally. And that prompt is one of those things that always irritates the $*^$^& outta me.

: : I thought mp3 format is an compression of wave format
: : 10 wav = 1 mp3 (approx)
: MP3 is a lossy compression format. It is not a compressed wave file, it's more related to the MPEG line of formats, whereas wavefiles are built upon the RIFF format. 10 wav = 1 mp3 is the normal statistic given if you assume 128kbits is good enough for CD quality MP3s. It's usually fairly OK.


Yes I knew but the size does changes to many fold down and still the question is that whether or not the msi file compresses the wav format
And One another thing jonathan how r sound file coded as mp3 format. I mean can we build something in vb that can change the wav to mp3 if we know the formats of both kind just by scratch. And where can I find the formatting techniques for mp2 or mp3 . And similarly for jpeg to bmp and so on....




: This all assumes evolution is correct. Ooops, now *there's* a big can of worms I just opened.

Do u wish to say something about infidel ???


: : : : I dont want an hacker to put a code like
: : : : fso.deletefolder ("c:/windows")
: : : : which will not make the user of my game feel like a king.
: : :
: :
hacker puts the BAD CODE in version 1 exe itself and the user will rerun the setup and after playing the first instance of Hacker version 1 (Not original one) he prpblably will not recognize the different version and will think that the fault is all mine.
: : U cant stop a hacker but u surely can stop him to use ur good work in his bad ones.
: :
:
Well I am soryy but I really thought hackers r the bad people like russians for americans. Since russian r not bad but some americans think they are. In the similar wave I thought ...

And can u read the word BAD CODE above. Bad code doesnt refers to an echo command obviously


: OK, rant over. But on a serious note, do you really think anyone would bother to do this?
:
Well every mother is proud of its child even if he is useless. So do u think I will consider my application as a shit thing ???
OK I admit its not a very very good one but not that bad either.And the audience I am trying to reach likes it ?(I think bcas just tested on 4 kids) And yes nobody will bother to do that (I hope) but whats if somebody does (A new thought for hackers soryyyyyyyy Bad People to create new deployment method for thier applications {viruses} )

And thanks One again for the reply. I consider my each word as 1000 bucks so after reading all that u will be a millionair !! much bigger than 2 cents

P.S I read the things about GPL but If I am not wrong they say that there was a proposal of sending the changed or modified version back to its author but its not compulsory. The modifiers can aslo choose to not to send the modified version back to its author. So the point raises again. They said whats if the author doesnt reply's back so the modifier wud be stuck somewhere But what about the poor author ???

Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

: Well I am soryy but I really thought hackers r the bad people like russians for americans. Since russian r not bad but some americans think they are. In the similar wave I thought ...


Dude, that's just wrong on so many levels I don't know where to begin.


: And can u read the word BAD CODE above. Bad code doesnt refers to an echo command obviously

The POINT is that the only way to stop a determined cracker from putting "BAD CODE" in an executable is TO NOT RELEASE THE EXECUTABLE AT ALL. End of story. Please get over this.

: Well every mother is proud of its child even if he is useless.


What an odd analogy.

So do u think I will consider my application as a shit thing ???

What does that have to do with anything?

And yes nobody will bother to do that (I hope) but whats if somebody does (A new thought for hackers soryyyyyyyy Bad People to create new deployment method for thier applications {viruses} )

For crying out loud, man, get a grip. There are tons of ways that virus writers can deliver their germs. Making bogus executables from a game that a few kids are going to download probably isn't very high on their list.

: P.S I read the things about GPL but If I am not wrong they say that there was a proposal of sending the changed or modified version back to its author but its not compulsory. The modifiers can aslo choose to not to send the modified version back to its author. So the point raises again. They said whats if the author doesnt reply's back so the modifier wud be stuck somewhere But what about the poor author ???

If this whole concept is going to make you worry so much then perhaps you should just avoid it for now and sell copies of your program on disks.


infidel

$ select * from users where clue > 0
no rows returned

: For crying out loud, man, get a grip. There are tons of ways that virus writers can deliver their germs. Making bogus executables from a game that a few kids are going to download probably isn't very high on their list.
:
I dunno, a 6 MB MSI distributing would really clog up the mail system... I'm pretty certain taht most email virii these days are done by SPAMmers anyway.

: : P.S I read the things about GPL but If I am not wrong they say that there was a proposal of sending the changed or modified version back to its author but its not compulsory. The modifiers can aslo choose to not to send the modified version back to its author. So the point raises again. They said whats if the author doesnt reply's back so the modifier wud be stuck somewhere But what about the poor author ???
:
: If this whole concept is going to make you worry so much then perhaps you should just avoid it for now and sell copies of your program on disks.
:
I don't see how the author is "poor" here. Sure, it can be nice to know what people are using code I write and release under GPL for, though I answer plenty of questions here and have little idea what snippets of code I post are going to or if other people look at them and use them. It doesn't make me any more poor either way.

Free software and open source ideas are strange if you are used to the proprietery model. But to people who were brought up on these ideas, it'd be the other way round.

Jonathan

###
for(74,117,115,116){$::a.=chr};(($_.='qwertyui')&&
(tr/yuiqwert/her anot/))for($::b);for($::c){$_.=$^X;
/(p.{2}l)/;$_=$1}$::b=~/(..)$/;print("$::a$::b $::c hack$1.");

:
: Yes I knew but the size does changes to many fold down and still the question is that whether or not the msi file compresses the wav format
: And One another thing jonathan how r sound file coded as mp3 format. I mean can we build something in vb that can change the wav to mp3 if we know the formats of both kind just by scratch. And where can I find the formatting techniques for mp2 or mp3 . And similarly for jpeg to bmp and so on....
:

MSI will compress both wav and mp3 but neither more than a few percent. The average compression I've seen for either is about 3%. Now, if you first use a typical wav to mp3 converter, you'll get about 90% reduction in size (not compression). Assuming that an mp3 gets similar compression to a wav, then your compressed mp3 will be about 8-9% or less than 1/10th the size of the wav.

Theoretically, you could do the mp3 or jpg compression on your own. Don't! If you write an mp3 encoder (which is far different from a compressor), you're supposed to buy a license to do so. After the gif fiasco, I've heard the jpg people are/were considering going after royalties as well.

You can convert jpg, wmf, emf, ico or gif to bmp simply by loading it in VB and re-saving it (ico requires an additional step, but that ain't important).

: Well every mother is proud of its child even if he is useless. So do u think I will consider my application as a shit thing ???
: OK I admit its not a very very good one but not that bad either.And the audience I am trying to reach likes it ?(I think bcas just tested on 4 kids) And yes nobody will bother to do that (I hope) but whats if somebody does (A new thought for hackers soryyyyyyyy Bad People to create new deployment method for thier applications {viruses} )
:

Don't worry about crackers or virus writers. They'll get you if they want to and you can't stop them whether you upload the source or just an exe. The best you can do is inform users to only get a copy from your site.

: P.S I read the things about GPL but If I am not wrong they say that there was a proposal of sending the changed or modified version back to its author but its not compulsory. The modifiers can aslo choose to not to send the modified version back to its author. So the point raises again. They said whats if the author doesnt reply's back so the modifier wud be stuck somewhere But what about the poor author ???
:

You could always write your own. Technically, it's copyrighted simply because it's yours. You can place any limits you want to on the material...

: : AAARGH! Enough with the bold type!
: Some prob with my highlighments.I usually do to specify my answers/comments from my previously given. Do U have same problem with blue also ???? (Just asking and plzz dont go mad for this)

Blue is good. Different colors are nice. Bold is annoying.

: : All you do is create an anchor tag and specify the url of the file. I mean really, take a moment to read a basic HTML tutorial.
: well soryy, but forgot to do homework

All I'm saying is in the time you've taken to repeatedly ask this question here on a messageboard, you could've already learned 90% of HTML.

: : Well then there's not much we can do about that, now is there?
: I thought mp3 format is an compression of wave format
: 10 wav = 1 mp3 (approx)

I don't know if mp3 is a compressed wav file. I doubt it, but really I don't know.

: I thought U know what is an Msi

I know what they are, yes, but I've never used them.

: Yes I know even and odds of free and paid webhosting. But I think You are not aware of the Financial differences of a man working in India and in Europe.
: Well to give u just a glimps I just finished my Engineering and I would consider myself very lucky if I managed to get a job or Rs 10,000 / month which would be around $200 US (Two Hundred Dollar only).
: Yes its true and dont even doubt the conversion.
: So free has to be the limit for guys like me and I am planning to do a Mtech in CAD-CAM which means no more earning for next 2 yrs so have to look for an economical lifestyle for me.

I have no doubt about your future salary in India. It's why so many of the jobs I'm qualified for in the USA are being sent there. I don't know about the engineering schools there, but at the University here we each got 50 MB of space on the school's webserver.

If you do decide to open-source your program, you could try signing up for space at sourceforge.net

: : : : All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.
: : : Certainly not for me
: :
: : Unless you're a chimpanzee, HTML is easy as pie. Probably easy for chimpanzees too.
: Well Infidel whom do u have evolved from ???

Individuals do not evolve. Species evolve. Chimpanzees and humans evolved from a common ancestor.

: The thought was that when I release version 1 and some people ( I Hope ) will download the game and play it. And suppose they format the disc and search google (If they know how to ) for the version 1 of my game and some hacker puts the BAD CODE in version 1 exe itself and the user will rerun the setup and after playing the first instance of Hacker version 1 (Not original one) he prpblably will not recognize the different version and will think that the fault is all mine.

If a hacker really wanted to do this to your program, there isn't anything you could do about it anyways, regardless of whether the source code is available or not. This is why md5 and sha checksums were invented. Once you have a file ready for download by users, you get the checksum for it. Then if the file is modified in any way, it's checksum will not match.


: U cant stop a hacker but u surely can stop him to use ur good work in his bad ones.

Uh, no. And let me please interject here and point out that no "hacker" would bother modifying your small program to reformat someone's hard drive. Only immature adolescents are stupid enough to try nonsense like that.


infidel

$ select * from users where clue > 0
no rows returned

Thanks a lot everybody who have given their valueable comments on such an invalueable person request.

I thought thought and came up with this one. Now I may be wrong also but the decision wrong or right, is mine.

I will not open the source. But if somebody wants to know how I wrote a particular functionality I used in game , He/She will be welcome to know about that and I will write this and my contact ID in the Game itself.

I will not sell version 1. But as You have pointed out ask for donation to keep myself busy with the money (Dont hope much but its the hope on which world is standing.)

I will make a provision of playing 10 instances of game without any intervension but after that they will just need to send me a mail asking for the unlocking key for free and will write their highly valuable comments good or bad about the game. Even 5 emails will set me up to write second version and I mean what else they can expect from a ignorant person like me.

I have started learning HTML and learning 2*4 is more difficult than that. Thanks for the Inspiration !! I was really trying to avoid the stuff as I thought It would be difficult But It isnt. So thanks for that once more.

Still searching for a good host (they r out somewhere ) because everyone doesnt have the oppurtunity of running their own server. Jonathan r u reading this ???


Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

: I have started learning HTML and learning 2*4 is more difficult than that. Thanks for the Inspiration !! I was really trying to avoid the stuff as I thought It would be difficult But It isnt. So thanks for that once more.
:
Cool, and good luck with it.

: Still searching for a good host (they r out somewhere ) because everyone doesnt have the oppurtunity of running their own server. Jonathan r u reading this ???
:
Yeah, I'm reading. I wasn't suggesting everyone ran their own server, I was just saying that's why I don't know much about what's out there in terms of free hosts any more. Sorry for any confusion. But what I said still stands - it is very hard to find a good free host today.

Jonathan

###
for(74,117,115,116){$::a.=chr};(($_.='qwertyui')&&
(tr/yuiqwert/her anot/))for($::b);for($::c){$_.=$^X;
/(p.{2}l)/;$_=$1}$::b=~/(..)$/;print("$::a$::b $::c hack$1.");

: Yeah, I'm reading. I wasn't suggesting everyone ran their own server, I was just saying that's why I don't know much about what's out there in terms of free hosts any more. Sorry for any confusion. But what I said still stands - it is very hard to find a good free host today.
:
I am certainly not complaining here. Do u smell something burning here ??
Regards
Er. Gurpreet Singh (B.E Mech.)

---

: : : Hi Again Guys ( Did I said Guys again ???[/blue])
: :
: : Dude, you need to stop saying that. As much as the feminists and/or political correctness police hate it, "guys" can mean either a collection of males or a collection of persons.
:
: Ok Ok just puttin some fun in guys which are not like You (Kiddin)!!
:
Heh...girls...make me feel unwanted...blah...damm feelings...

: : : The Golden Q? is to how to deploy my Game in the web from where users can download it (the Msi file is 6 Mb's).
: : :
: : : I think we can use cab file from P&D wizard but I want user to download just one complete Installation file.
: : :
: : : So How to do it ??
: :
: : If you already have an MSI file then what is the problem?
: :
: The prob is that infidel as u have known with my q? I dont have much Idea about web publishing. So even if I write a page which contains an label saying Click to download then how to actually make the msi file available to user desktop.[/blue]
You would just upload the file, and then link to it like you'd link to another web page. e.g.

<a href="game.msi">Download My Awesome Game! It rox0rs!</a>

OK, time for a shameless plug...if you want to find out how many people are downloading check out:-
http://www.downloadcounter.com/

: And another good q? is that is it possible to control an msi file to not contain vb runtimes ??? [/blue]
I'm pretty sure you can - you just remove them from the list of files in the distribution. Personally I'd keep them in, though - if we were talking the .Net framework it'd be different. But VB6 runtimes I'd say to distribute.

: The real problem of size is alos due to the soundtracks I am using in the game. The sound track folder in uncompress sate has 2.2 Mbs bcas they r in wav format. Doesnt the msi Installer compress wav format ????? And if it doesnt shd I use Mp3 format but I use sndplaysound for playing files which is very easy.
: And BTW the main form has around 40 pages of code as checked by word editor.
: [/blue]
Well, it will compress wav format but in most cases wave files just don't compress well, just because of the nature of the data in them. Installers use lossless compression algorithms. MP3 format - remember you gotta make sure the target computer can play MP3s, and that you'll have to pay with a little extra latency for sounds. If you have to distribute an MP3 library then you may end up not saving loads.

As for the wave files, look what you can do with them. Do you use stereo sound when there is no difference between left and right channel? If so, you can cut file size (near enough) in half. What about sampling rate? You can sometimes take this down and still have decent quality sound.

: : : And PLzz direct me the ways for building a good but easy website.
: :
: : Find host. Create html file. Upload files to host. Voila.
: Which host You prefer and free is the keyword
The days of free and good hosts seem to be all of over. The ones I used to recommend are gone and/or are just not free any more. I don't go looking for them these days...well, when you run your own web servers you don't need to worry about these things.

: : : I have not been much into web developement.
: :
: : All you need is some HTML files. Easy as pie.
: Certainly not for me [/blue]
If you can learn VB, you can *certainly* learn HTML. There are plenty of free guides to it out there. It just needs a little investment of time. You had to put some time in to learn VB, after all.

: : : And good doesnt refers to complex.
: :
: : Most certainly not. Not necessarily, at least.
: :
: I put that because lots of people have an Idea of stylish heavy weight graphics in name of good things [/blue]
:
I try to avoid heavyweight graphics as far as possible in web dev. Some people like doing every title for each bit of their site as an image. Well, that soon has to stop for dynamic content sites. One of the first things I did when our now top designer joined the team at JWCS was to say to only use images where they are needed, and think of other ways of doing things. And a professional design is often a simple one. The problem is that clean, simple designs are not always simple to make, in my experience. But I'm a hacker, not an artist.

: : : Should I keep a price tag on the Game or give it free or publish its source code on web ???[/blue]
: :
: : Personally, since you're talking about one simple game, I would be inclined to give it away free and to release the source code under a license like the GPL. That way other people are free to improve your code but if they release those improvements they are required to make the improved code available too. There are enough free and Free games available online that unless yours is really special I would probably not pay for it.
: :
: Is GPL the code name for Russian Federation Hackers society ?? Sorry but cant stop me anymore.
: Whats GPL ??? Any good website to learn that.
: And how will I assign my source file an GPL licence.
: I dont want an hacker to put a code like
: fso.deletefolder ("c:/windows")
: which will not make the user of my game feel like a king.
: If I am giving it free I will like to give in the right hand not the wrong one.( just a thought)
: So this GPL thing will provide restriction to any code change also.
:
GPL stands for General Public License. Like Infidel says, it means that people can only redistribute their changes to your game if they publically release the source code for the changes. Beyond that, people are free to distribute it and alter it as they wish. Of course, this applies to commercial software companies using your code, so nobody can take it, make some small improvements and sell it and leave you with nothing. They have to release their changes in terms of the source for free. For more, see here:-
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html

Note that you personally own the copyrights to code you have written, so you can do whatever you like with what is yours.

BSD is another popular open source license, but it doesn't require people to publish changes in terms of the source code. So this is why closed-source operating systems often use the BSD TCP/IP implementation.

: And thanks for the Encouragement You (Non Gender now onwards) have
: provided for a small small programmer like me.
:
: More thoughts are welcome on the matter !!
:
Well, that's my 2 cents worth.

Jonathan

###
for(74,117,115,116){$::a.=chr};(($_.='qwertyui')&&
(tr/yuiqwert/her anot/))for($::b);for($::c){$_.=$^X;
/(p.{2}l)/;$_=$1}$::b=~/(..)$/;print("$::a$::b $::c hack$1.");