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Kiekko.tk is a java-based ice hockey game, which has over 31,000 registered accounts (a majority of them are Finnish). The game is developed by Jouko and Mikko Pynnönen. The game is free to play, but some features such as starting a team have to be paid for with either SMS-messages, Credit card or Phone call.
History
Kiekko.tk started in the beginning of 2004 as a simple java-applet, which did not have a registration feature and only 10 players were able to play the game at the same time. Graphics were primitive; players were Smileys (also known as a "smiley version"), the puck was square, and the hockey rink's entries pretty rough. The game has been developed due to its number of active players. Next a list of the most important features:
user registration, 08.04.2004
saved statistics (goals and assists)
human type characters
exact hockey rink's dimensions and improved graphics
creating a team, 21.04.2004
VIP-usership and SMS system, summer 2004
saved goal replays, October 2004
hooking and penalties, September 2006
experience'o'meter, August 2007
auto-play rooms, September 2007
revised website's outlook, October 2007
switching arena's seat's colors, December 2007
spectator's graphic outlook revise, December 2007
separate ranking points for every game format (3vs3, 4vs4, 5vs5), May 2008
optional attribute points for games and experimental rooms, October 2008
new graphic pack, October 2011
ranking points only from team autoplays, April 2012
Gameplay
Every player takes control of one player in the rink. The player is controlled by a mouse. Goalies cannot be controlled, as they are computer controlled. To practice, players can join training rooms where players are allowed to leave the rink whenever they see fit. Players can also join a team and play team matches. Players are able to spectate these matches as well as training matches. By clicking and holding the left mouse button, the puck can be passed or shot. By clicking the right mouse button, an automatic pass is sent to a teammate closest to the cursor the moment the right mouse button is released. To increase the competition of the game, members have organised leagues.
Rankings
There are four rankings in Kiekko.tk. Novice, Amateur, Pro, and Elite. Members are given these rankings based on the number of hours played. Members who have played under four hours are novices. The other rankings go as follows:
10% Elite
30% Pro
30% Amateur
30% Novice
Moderators
Moderators are assigned to ensure that members behave and play the game in a decent manner. Members failing to comply with the Kiekko regulations can be muted by them. Regular members are able to report members using the following command: /report *nickname* *reason of report*
Technology
Game server, server-side code was written in C language (compiler GCC).
Web-interface was developed with dynamic content development system called CWS, which combines the flexibility of JSP- and ASP-like tags with the power and sophisticated features of C++, supports FastCGI.
