Game Clans Are Here

Risk Game Clans

Major Command Risk Game Clans

The game clans feature of Major Command Risk has largely been behind the scenes and only available to staff.  Well, no more.  We are opening it up to strategists and commanders.  We don’t have any huge plans for game clans just yet, but we just want to see what happens when they are public and open.  Is there enough demand for a formal clan league?  We will see.

What are the Game Clans about?

At the basic level, a clan is a group of players who are identified together.  They may be veterans, people from Ohio, real-time players, or just a group of guys and gals who want to dominate other players and clans.

Clans will get their own clan page and also their own private clan forum where only clan members can see and post.

There are two types of clans.  Social and Competitive.  If you are just looking for like-minded compatriots to hangout and play with, a social clan is for you.  If you are looking to be ‘on a team’ and compete, then you want a competitive clan.

You can be in multiple social clans at the same time, but only one competitive clan at the same time. Where do competitive clans compete?  I’m not sure yet!  This, like any new feature, is a test.  If a bunch of competitive clans form, then we can set up some sort of league.

Consider this a clan beta!

There may be bugs or issues with the clans as they have not been extensively tested.  Please let us know of any issues at first.  You can also let us know of feature requests, but they may not be a priority.

Requirements to start a clan!

To start a social or competitive clan you will need the follow:

  • Commander class.  (Strategist can join, but not start clans)
  • Four members minimum to start.  These members must have agreed to join prior to application.
  • A clan name, insignia and banner (details in the link below)

If you can pull those together, click this link to get started.  All clans must be approved by the Clan Director… which for now is me, Badorties.  If you have any questions, just ask in our forums.

Bug Fixes: Stuck Game and 0-Troop

Major Command Risk Bug Fixes

Major Command Risk Bug Fixes

It looks like we have the two most detrimental bugs under our proverbial thumb.  Marcos, our resident developer has identified the issues and we will be implementing few bug fixes within the next 24 hours.

The first of the few planned bug fixes will be for the “stuck game” bug, where a player will eliminate all others, but the game won’t end.  Instead, displaying “jump to next” rather than “game over”.  These games remain permanently stuck.

The second of the few upcoming bug fixes will be for the 0-troop bug, where a region will have no troops on it, preventing the game from finishing.

We are making these bug fixes directly to the production server as there is still work to be done on the dev server.  This is important. If you encounter these two bugs going forward, please post the issue and game in this forum thread of the bugs forum.

We hope there are no unintended consequences, but you never know, be on the lookout.

Thank you all for your patience.  We will also work to unstick currently stuck games.

Next on Major Command Risk?

Major Command Risk Bugs

So as many of you know, things haven’t been running smoothly in the Major Command Risk. This site is sorely in need of a game engine recode to live up to its full potential and get the hell out of beta. Over the past 6 months, I have set out to find the right developer who can accomplish this task.  After a few false and drawn out starts, we have a new recruit up to the task. Cory is an excellent developer, and will be dedicating his Christmas vacation to getting us out of beta. Future Plans for Major Command Risk

Major Command Risk

While there are some bugs around tournaments and some other issues, the single biggest issue is the game performance. The current code is not up to par and for a modern web game to take so long and crash so readily is unacceptable.

We’re going to try to avoid patching up our current problems and instead to start over on the nuts and bolts that make up the game experience. If you are interested in the details, we will be continuing using PHP but using Symfony or CakePHP, we’ll be changing to a Redis for live games, and MySQL for the historical data. Flash will be dumped for html5 using canvas as well as jQuery. If you are a developer with experience in any of the above and interested in participating, let me know.

This all begins around the week of Christmas holidays and I promise to update you all as I know more about the progress and development. I’m not going to put an exact time frame on it as I’ve found that’s often inaccurate, but will keep y’all in the loop.

In the meantime, we will try to manage the issues as best as we can. We’ll be keeping an eye on the servers and errant scripts. I apologize in advance for any future issues.

And for all those people who have supported Major Command Risk by becoming a subscriber … Santa has come a little early this year.

Thanks for everything,

Badorties

Battle Of The Belt – Season 2

Battle Of The Belt

Battle Of The Belt

Well, Season 1 of the Battle of the Belt has concluded.  It was a bit of an experiment in terms of format and we have made some changes to make it run smoother in Battle of the Belt Season 2.  But first let’s congratulate your season 1 winners.  If you are unaware, these are the best of the best (in their weight class)  in playing 1v1… to be feared and respected.

battle of the belt heavy weight

battle of the belt middle weight

battle of the belt light weight

Season 2

This season will run the same as season 1 except we will be keeping scoreboard in the wiki instead of a forum post.  This will allow multiple people to track and officiate the belts which will make it a smoother ride.  We have also taken out some of the confusing queueing rules.  This season KungFuDuet will be the head official, but if you are interesting in officiating then please let KFD know.  We could use some help.

Belt battles are one of the rare opportunity to pick up some bonus points.  Not only do you get the normal points for a win but each attainment of the belt is 150 points and each defending of the belt is 50 points.  Season 2 winners will receive 300 points.

So if you have one it takes … then sign up!
Season 2, singles 1v1 signups

We are also running a doubles belt this time!
Season 2, doubles 2v2 signups

The deadline for signups is Sept 21st.

Competition is on! League and Belt Battles

Belt Battles and The League

Belt Battles Major Command Risk

So you think you are pretty good at the Belt Battles and The League? Got yourself a few wins and have some strategy down pat.

Well, it’s time to put those skills to the test.

We have two ongoing competitions here at Major Command Risk.

MasterJSkye is running our official League play.  It’s singles and you will be up against some of the best.  Season 1 is already underway but if you want to get involved or know more, it’s all in this forum.

The other competition is for head to head specialists at the Belt Battles League.  That’s 1v1 or 2v2.  I am running a tiered competition to see who can hold the belt for the best head to head player.  It will be run like a boxing league with a reigning champion and various contenders.  You can sign up and find out more in this forum.

There will be bonus points and awards for both competitions to sweeten the pot.  So if you are looking for a few extra points on the line, give it a shot.