Having data update when app is closed (idle)

[TheHistoricApple]

So i'm wanting to make a idle game. In which you upgrade buildings gain gold blah blah.

However i'm not sure how to go about updating the data while someone isn't online as i've never done any networking or any online development.

What would i need? Where should i start. Can i use a database instead of a dedicated server?

[Nixola]

Why do you need a server? You can just save the time when the app was closed, then when you open it you check how much time has passed and calculate all the things.

[TheHistoricApple]

i'm so stupid and your a genius.

So something like:

Code: Select all

function saveExitTime()
    lasttime = os.time()
end

function comparetime()
    os.difftime(os.time, lasttime)
end

function love.load()
    comparetime()
end

[Nixola]

Just a simple subtraction could do:

Code: Select all

function love.quit()
    local f = love.filesystem.newFile("lastTime", "w")
    f:write(os.time())
    f:close()
end

function love.load()
    local f = love.filesystem.newFile("lastTime", "r")
    if f then
        local lastTime = f:read() -- was f:read("*a"), fixed now
        diffTime = os.time() - lastTime
    else
        diffTime = 0
    end
end

EDIT: how neat, phpBB automatically closes code tags if one forgets

[TheHistoricApple]

What does the

Code: Select all

f:read("*a)

Do i get an error saying number expected got string

[Nixola]

That should just be f:read(). I got confused with Lua files, that's a LÖVE file.