HeyGames.com

ClownfishGames.com is now HeyGames.com

2007-03-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

To serve Clownfisher's better, I rewrite the game server from scratch making it more stable and the flash game clients. However, I will not maintain the clownfishgames.com domain anymore, the new domain will be HeyGames.com

I like HeyGames.com for severals reasons: shorter, easy to remember, more generic game domain. Just like clownfish, my idea is to put more multiplayer games like Bingo, Keno, etc and I'm adding a social networking concept as well.

I'm in ALPHA stage right now. So if you are interested, register and help me test my multiplayer server by playing. I want at least 20players playing at the same time.

Have fun with HeyGames.com!

Game server occasional downtime!

2007-01-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

As you noticed, my game server goes down once in a while. This is because it is having problem with multiple users playing at the same time. I need to re write my game server and chat code to handle this kind of situation. But this won't happen pretty soon. I still need to migrate all my websites and merge them into one domain (http://www.heygames.com).

After the migration, I'll focus on fixing game server issues and add more games.

Please be patient and thanks for playing!

Wasted Domain Names!

2007-01-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

I was hooked for 1 week searching for a good domain names for my ideas. And guest what? Most of the short good domains were already taken.

My only complain is that they are all taken by domain farmers. I think you know what I mean, those domains points to a directory listings and actually give you nothing but related links or keywords. Oh, what a waste!

Anyway, I'm going to overhaul my site. I really need to. I have lots of projects and it's time to put them together in one domain name. Something like Google or Yahoo, where they put all their products into a sub domains. (Example: maps.google.com or games.yahoo.com)

By doing this, I will be able to show all of my old and new projects I'm working on during my spare time.

Happy New Year to all!

2007-01-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

The title say so... ;-)

Finally, I have a Dedicated Server at home!

2007-01-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

I mentioned last year that I need to setup my own Dedicated Server since it is too expensive to rent one. Now my server is up and running at home. I haven't migrated this site though. Probably this month.

I calculated the cost of having dedicated server at home. I think it is way much cheaper. Below are the breakdown expenses:

Dedicated Server (Home)

1. AT&T ($330)
- $250 for technician
- $80 for gateway/router
2. Windows XP Professional ($300)
3. Desktop PC ($600)
Total: $1,230

Dedicated Server (Rentals)

1. Celeron/256RAM ($130/month)

In 1yr:

Rent: $130 x 12 = $1,560
Own: $50x12 = $600 + $1,230 = $1,830

In 2yrs:

Rent: $130 x 24 = $3,120
Own: $50x24 = $1200+ $1,230 = $2,430

and so on....

If I were Bill Gates!

2006-12-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

If I were Bill Gates...
... Windows will have the same look and feel.

Why?
... Because, Bill Gates and I have same taste!

Note:
I wrote this for nothing. I just get frustrated with our artists 'At Work'. He has a mediocre skills. I don't know why, it's either they don't have a good taste for an art or they just doesn't care. We have this so called 'artist' but we have the same skills. I can easily do what he did and I'm a developer. I want something better if not the best. I want him to come up with a good concept, something I can't do using gradient. This is a challenge for the artist!

Valadorf - I'm not pertaining to you ;-)

Dedicated Server at my Garage!

2006-12-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

I am currently renting a dedicated server for 6 months. The price is ridiculous. My server cost $80/month and after the 6 months contract, they will increase it by $50. Yeah, it's correct 50. So I'm expecting to pay $130 after that.

I need to setup a server in my garage before my contract expires. This is cheaper and practical. First, this site is only a hobby. I don't have sponsors yet. I did this because I want to learn and to beef up my programming skills. I'm having fun and I want to make other people smile with my programs ;-)

Web Joggle Improvements!

2006-12-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

I played Web Joggle and noticed that it's a bit selfish in giving a good words. I can't score past 100+ so I'm frustrated. I noticed that Boggle and other boggle clones like Word Hunt and WEBoggle is very kind when it comes to board generation.

So I spent some time studying the Vowel and Consonant letters distribution in my code and Viola! I found the perfect combination, a balanced board. This will allow players to form more words and get high scores.

Now, my Web Joggle is FUN, FUN, FUN to play!!!

Try and play it here -> http://www.clownfishgames.com

Multiplayer Boggle using Flash MX - WEBoggle!

2006-11-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

I'm working on multiplayer version of Boggle game using Flash. This will allow players to play at the same time in real time.

For Boggle lovers, this is something to watch out for. Keep visiting my site for updates and look for WEBoggle ;-)

Actually, to avoid having issues I called my game Web Joggle!

Clownfish Games goin' multiplayer!

2006-11-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

After spending few months of research and development, I finally finish the basic multiplayer engine for my website. Now, the new Clownfish Games website is up and running!

What's New?

- Added new chat panel so you can chat while playing.
- Disabled guest score posting to be fair with the registered players.
- Monthly featured players based on the highest score for the month.
- Monthly Top 50 Players to give chance to other players.

And more surprises and cool features coming soon...

JDBC/MySQL Communications link failure - SOLUTION

2006-11-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

While working on my Java Game Server, I came across a frustrating error. The JDBC and MySQL connection will fail after 8hrs of being idle. Meaning after 8hrs, any succeeding connection request will throw an exception:

com.mysql.jdbc.CommunicationsException
Communications link failure due to underlying exception

I've been figuring out what's wrong so I tried searching the web for a work around or solution. Below are the possible solutions:

1. Increase the MySQL wait_timeout value (in seconds) to a ridiculously big value (Example: 1 year = 31,536,000 secs) in \etc\ my.cnf config.

2. Use JDBC connection polling. There are lots of free code availabe on the net. Go google ;-)

http://pdf.coreservlets.com/CSAJSP-Chapter18.pdf

3. My simple solution is to register the driver whenever you need to get the connection and unregister after using it. You also need to create a thread to keep the connection alive every hour.

I believe it will be clearer if I'll post my code here:

class ConnectionKeepAlive extends Thread
{
private Database m_database;

ConnectionKeepAlive(Database database)
{
this.m_database = database;
}

public void run()
{
while(true)
{
try
{
sleep(Constants.TIME_ONE_HOUR);
}
catch(InterruptedException ie) {}

m_database.connectionKeepAlive();
}
}
}

//==============

public class Database{

ConnectionKeepAlive m_keepAlive = null;
ConnectionPool m_connectionPool = null;

Database()
{
try
{ m_connectionPool = new ConnectionPool(Constants.JDBC_MYSQL_DRIVER, Constants.JDBC_MYSQL_URL,
Constants.JDBC_MYSQL_USERNAME,
Constants.JDBC_MYSQL_PASSWORD,
Constants.JDBC_MIN_POOL_SIZE,
Constants.JDBC_MAX_POOL_SIZE,
true);
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.exit(1);
}

m_keepAlive = new ConnectionKeepAlive(this);
m_keepAlive.start();
}

public synchronized Connection getConnection() throws SQLException
{
return m_connectionPool.getConnection();
}

public synchronized void connectionKeepAlive()
{
Statement statement = null;
Connection conn = null;
String query = "";

try
{
conn = getConnection();
statement = conn.createStatement();

query = "SELECT CURRENT_DATE()";
}
catch(Exception e) { }
finally
{
try
{
if (statement != null)
{
statement.close();
}

if (conn != null)
{
m_connectionPool.free(conn);
conn.close();
}
}
catch(Exception e) { }
}
}
}

Disclaimer: Use at your own RISK. I am NOT responsible for any damage that this code will cause in your PC. Good luck ;-)

Now it's official!

2006-11-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

I took me a while to think of a good name for my mascot. And while typing this, I realize that I should give him a very simple name.

Finally, it's official, I'm going to call him... Mr. Clownfish!

So what is Clownfish Games?

2006-11-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Clownfish Games is a 'personally owned' website. It is a place to play free online multiplayer games, chat and make new friends. Apart from having simple but elegant, fast-loading games, it has a remarkable key feature: 100% FREE TO PLAY!

http://www.clownfishgames.com

This domain name was inpired by Pixar's movie - Nemo! I want something cute and fun mascot on my website so I came up with a 'clownfish' idea. My friend created the clownfish mascot using 3DSmax, Photoshop and Flash and it turned out great.

Welcome to Clownfish Games Blog!

2006-10-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad that blog became popular. With this I can get rid of the traditional "What's New" link or section in my site and replace it with a Blog instead. It's easier to maintain and at the same time, other fellow bloggers will get a chance to read it.

I intend to post some of my personal blogs too. It's hard to maintain multiple blogs so just skip any blogs that doesn't interest you ;-)

And now, my adventure begins...