"Skang" was a Flash RPG project I started because I wanted to learn more about Flash actionscript and make every RPG player's dream: an rpg of their own. I started working on it during Christmas break in December 2003. At first, it was just you against an enemy which was based on your level, and you would gain levels accordingly. I added abilities for new weapons, new armor, and a magic system as time went on. The biggest change I added was the functionality for a player to save his or her character using a database, so they could resume playing at a later time. I did not know MySQL or any database software at this time, and the first database I tried using was a simple text file that lied in the same directory as the game, and was viewable to all. This obviously wasn't a secure enough solution, so I forced myself to try the MySQL method, and this turned into a larger undertaking than the RPG itself. Once I finally got the database working and you could load and save your character (from Flash to PHP to MySQL and back the same way), I resumed working on the RPG. I then put up a PHP generated page that displayed all the characters in the database and sorted them based on their level, for the public to see and compare against other players. This only created problems though, as more PHP-savvy people found simple flaws with the way I sent and received data from the MySQL server, and I had constant issues with people screwing up the database. Finally, I gave up working on it due to three large reasons. First, it was February 2004 by now and I had schoolwork to tend to, and developing the RPG wasn't as fun as when it was first conceived. Second, constant hacking attacks to the database destroyed the reliability of the game and the whole premise of ranking yourself against others for the best character. Third, it became increasingly difficult to add more functionality to the game as I learned a lot through the weeks of development, and everything was built off what I originally put together, basically. I almost was forced to re-write the entire battle engine in order to make things work seamlessly as I wanted, and I didn't want to do all of that. So eventually (my changelog file says August was the last public version released) I pulled the game from my webspace and it hasn't been seen or playable until now (June 2006), 2 years later.

Here are some screenshots of the game, as it currently remains on my computer using a test character.












Also at this point I wish to thank the three people which helped initially debug the game (Jamie McPeek and Chris Porto) and helped with PHP and MySQL (Amanda Aro) before I knew anything about it.

Here is the final changelog that I kept to inform users of all the changes I was making. This is essentially the history of Skang. Read it and forever remember the awesome legend that was... SKANG!


Changelog:
Version 0.20: (????)
Further work on new battle system.
Now using functions to load enemies into battle.
Version 0.19: (August 10, 2004)
Fixed the magic button problem. Now going to try doing a "select attack, then select enemy" approach, instead of the "select enemy, then attack" method I had before. This changed the battle menu, so I have them temporarily at the bottom of the screen. Later they will probably be moved and be invisible if you don't own certain spells.
Few optimizations here and there. More stuff was added from 0.18 but 4kb was shaved off the file size.
Small fixes around the battle menu. A couple things were mislabelled, and I actually tested a character so now everything should work as it should.

Version 0.18: (June 26, 2004)
Begun converting battle system to one that supports multiple (3) enemies at one time. This includes moving all attack options to selections around each enemy, and having each enemy attack and be attacked separately. Version 0.18a marked the point where the new battle system supported one enemy.
Added HP/Mana meters, moved the stat bar from the left to the top of the screen.
Removed dynamic experience system.

Version 0.17c: (Feb 18, 2004)
More secure saving and creating characters.
Fixed attack rating issue.
Converted current experience system to a dynamic system based upon character level.
Better (and easier for me) menus for weapon shop and other shops. Also added skills to Weapon Shop.
Cleaned up some uneeded variables.

Version 0.17: (Feb 4, 2004)
Changed alot in the RPG. More enemies, better menus.
Game now saves when you level up. Also counts number of wins/loses.
Balancing: Less exp to level, but enemies are harder.
Synergies should be working. If you have a 2nd level spell (Blaze) it should do more damage depending on your level of Flamelet.

Version 0.16: (Jan 27, 2004)
Released this version basically to test the real database out, as it should be completely finished. Tell me if you encounter any errors with the database or the rpg in general. There are a few bug fixes in the rpg release, but really, nothing large happened to the game itself. It plays almost identically to 0.15.
Even though the permanent database is up, this doesn't mean I won't have to clear the database during a new rpg release.

Version 0.15: (Jan 6, 2004)
Alright, this version has a database, however this will be a temporary database, and not the same database as I plan to have. It is simply (very simply) a text file database, and very non-secure. I've put it up because many people have expressed that the game really isn't worth playing much when you can't save. Now, saving should work, but this doesn't mean your character won't me deleted, or stolen, or even work if you try loading. Password protection should work, but again, it may not. My suggestion to you is to make a username that would be hard to guess as well as a hard to guess password. Add numbers to your username just for the hell of it. Once the real database is set up, your character will be deleted.
Armor shop open, and armor is now fully functional.
More balancing done to monsters and some minor bug fixes, I can't remember what exactly.

Version 0.14: (Jan 2, 2004)
Added all magic. 100% done.
More fixes from cheating.
More weapons, new enemies
Loading from database is working, waiting to be able to save to database to implement saving (yay)

Version 0.13: (Dec 31, 2003)
Put Global stats back in.
Added support for buying new weapons.
Fixed more possible ways of cheating (method you could use before 0.13 are now fixed)
Balancing with enemies/weapons. Lowerred levelling formula to (7*CurrentLevel)^3.
Added Town map

Version 0.12: (Dec 30, 2003)
Battle messages working, only choose one weapon at the beginning of the game, took out global stats.
Added misses and critical hits.
Implemented Mana variables, although I don't know how to work with magic as of yet.

Version 0.11: (Dec 29, 2003)
Fixed HP detection, before you could click Attack really fast and it wouldn't let you lose the battle once enemy's HP went below zero.
Balancing on Wood Sword, all enemies.
Balanced HP when you lose, now if you're above level 1, you will only gain back 50% hp when losing. You now also have the option to heal when you lose.
Balanced Gold lost in battle from 75% of Enemy's Gold, to 75% of YOUR gold. This means much more loss for higher levels to lose a battle, but less loss to lower levels.

Version 0.10: (Dec 29, 2003)
Changed battle screen, added magic buttons, and animation finally.
Fixed problem with player having negative HP after a battle.

Version 0.09: (Dec 28, 2003)
Begun changing battle screen.
Took off non-integer attacks, they looked ugly.
Balanced level bonus and monster's attack power.