Hello everyone,
I'm a java programmer writing a half graphical half text rpg. For the moment I read my data from text files, e.g. Enemies.txt
id name hp
and so forth. However, I want to make it a little more clear to handle, as in a database format. I can work with MySQL, but I want all the data to be on the end-user's computer, so without having to connect to the server database.
The only other thing I can think of is Excel, but I'm wondering if there aren't any other alternatives. If you know how real games used to do it, it would be really helpful.
I'd avoid Excel; that's a nightmare waiting to happen.
A proper database might be overkill, though, especially if your data are simple. Does "clear to handle" mean you want it to be human-readable and editable, or are you referring to making it easier for your code to load stuff in? Or is it a balance of the two?
As a step up from plain text, XML might be a good choice for you. It's structured and well-supported by standard libraries, so it helps the machines, but it's also still text, so it's still easy enough to edit by hand.
JSON is another option for text-based structured data.
If you really want a local-only database, I recommend SQLite . It's been widely adopted for use by Web applications and in embedded systems. I haven't used it from Java myself, but there are a few libraries out there--for example, SqliteJDBC .
