The Yin and Yang of Dojo Game

This is about opposites.
 * Return to Make a game


 * The metagame and the microgame
 * The client and the Server
 * The begineer and the Master
 * Javascript and Php
 * Multiplayer and Single Player

From the very first steps with the "choose your own adventure" style code to a complete immersive, massive multipler, game system that can incorporate alements from arcade and platform games to MMORPG's and Social/Casual Games, JiGS (the game system) and Zen and the art of DojoGame- (the teaching style) is a lighthearted attempt to combine the spririt of Martial Arts (and other elements of Eastern Culture such as the Haiku) with Web Programming ,in particular Web game programming

JiGS is a web system that combines all of the games produced by the dojokidz into one online environment, where the students can avail of an API type structure to extend the dojos instance of JiGS. Plugins from simple "choose your own adventure" pages to complex platform games are created by the kids and plugged-in to the main website.

What happens in one kids chapter (a simple choose your own adventure html page) can affect the outcome of another kids game (a martial arts platform game) by using a php server (and in this case a customised instance of Joomla!) to manage the metaVerse.

For beginners on Part one of their journey we introduce their chapters or games as

Thees first step games are largely left right choices with no real integration to the system, but they allow the coder to begin game design. Using only the and tags the ocder begins the process.
 * iframes linked by the gamesmaster in the admin section of the site.

For intermediateries on stages II we can introduce their games as


 * iframes
 * views in an MVC framework
 * plugins

In part II ,by converting the html files to php and introducing message arrays, the coding element can build on the foundations of part I.

For advanced coders and mentors, there is developing a games infrastructure using a content leader in CMS. Here we refactor the core code and extend the api.

JiGS is built on top of joomla and uses it's structure, security system and API to access numerous other third party extensions that complement and enhance the game system. We can use this to create new elements to the game customising our own instance of the game for others to enjoy.

In accomodating the Yin of attracting begginers and its Yang keeping students interested over a two year period by looking at both the simple plugins and the complex game engine, we create a perfectly robust, fun and useful way to learn to code.

There are two sides to web programming, the browser and the server, using javascript and php together on the same page, students learn both languages in parralell, the importance or dominance of either switching as the students moves his/her focus on the single player(graphics, frames per second, sound) or multiplayer ( security, balance, connections) aspects of a game.