Final Fantasy Character Database

A PHP and MySQL web application built as part of a Web Development continuous assessment.
The project focuses on backend logic, relational data modelling, and session based state management rather than front end frameworks.

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Project Overview

This application is a character database and team builder inspired by the Final Fantasy series.
Users can create, manage, and analyse characters, assemble a party, and test that party against a predefined battle scenario.

The emphasis of the project is on clean server side logic, structured data relationships, and predictable application flow.

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Core Features

• Full CRUD functionality for characters: create, read, update, delete
• Relational database design using roles and characters tables
• Procedural MySQLi queries with prepared statements
• Team Builder that aggregates party stats across multiple characters
• Battle logic against Emerald Weapon with win condition analysis
• Session based team persistence across pages
• Structured multi page PHP application with shared includes

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Technical Stack

• PHP
• MySQL
• Procedural MySQLi
• HTML and CSS
• PHP sessions for state management

No external frameworks are used. The application logic is implemented using core PHP to demonstrate understanding of fundamentals.

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Database Structure

• t_characters
  Stores character details including role, stats, and portrait reference

• t_roles
  Stores character roles used for classification and filtering

The schema is designed to support relational integrity and future extensibility.

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Running the Project Locally

This project is designed to run locally in a PHP and MySQL environment such as MAMP, XAMPP, or similar.

1. Clone the repository
2. Place the project folder in your server root directory
   Example: htdocs or www
3. Create a MySQL database named ff_characters
4. Import the provided ff_characters.sql file
5. Copy includes/db.example.php to includes/db.php
6. Update database credentials in includes/db.php
7. Open the project in a browser
   http://localhost/final_fantasy_db/index.php

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Notes on Hosting

GitHub hosts the source code only.
Because the project uses PHP, MySQL, and sessions, it must be run in a server environment and cannot be executed directly via GitHub Pages.

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Learning Outcomes Demonstrated

• Server side application structure in PHP
• Relational database design and usage
• Procedural MySQLi with prepared statements
• State management using sessions
• Separation of concerns through includes and reusable components
• Translating a functional specification into a working application