Extending Game after release and Protecting game

[Khayalan]

Hey RPG-Makers out there,


ive got one question i asked me for a long time...


How can i update my game? For example there is a new expansion... New Maps and co...


But the users want to keep their current save! Is that possible so that i can only load the dlc into the game?


And if so how can i protect my data from stealing, because every guy can go into the "www" folder and will find the complete resources for the game


(I know i can pack the game into one single .exe but how i can still expand i afterwards?)


-Khayalan

 

[bgillisp]

The first isn't too hard, as new maps will auto load into the game. However, if they saved on a map that changed, your user will probably have to leave the map and return to it for the changes to show up.


However, be advised that *any* database changes you make will mess up a save, as items, armors, skills, and weapons are all saved by their id number. So if the weapon in id 1 was a pointy stick, a user saved, and you then change it to the awesome sword of doom, all your users will now have the awesome sword of doom.


Protecting the game is harder, as MV does not support encryption. You will probably have to use an outside program for that. I don't know of any off the top of my head, maybe the next poster will?

 

[Andar]

As for protection, the game's helpfiles contain some help on using an external program to achieve what you want. If you have problems with that, you can also PM Degica-Staff about help for other solutions (not every moderator here is Degica-Staff, I can't help you here other than pointing to the help file).


That said, if you want to update your program without breaking savefiles, you have to plan for that. A lot of plugins will break savefiles when they're added, but that depends on how they're written - you either need to have your engine complete (no more plugin changes) or you have to make sure that any new plugin is compatible by talking to its scripter.


Adding new data in the database or in new maps is usually not a problem, but changing existing data can break the balance of the savefile, depending on what exactly you change. The important part is to keep the IDs unchanged - it doesn't matter if a weapon changes its bonus, but it will matter if it is moved to another position in the database.

 

[Uzuki]

Depending on what you need to update. If it's just changes to maps, events, the database, or settings that are already in the project then all you need to do is send the data folder and the other person can copy it to their data folder. If your trying to add an plugin then it won't work on an old save so they will need to start over. And just a word of advice: When making the database make sure to make extra slots in each category so if you do decide to add something it will already be registered for the old save.