They (my 389 project and my 489 one to modify) do currently share the same
database table.
I haven't decided whether that is a feature or a bug, and I may change it
later.(Especially if I decide to rework the table.)
The individual area pages got return links to the central areas page.
Similarly, the item page has a return link to the area the item came from,
or the central teleporter hub.
This hopefully reduces user annoyance of having to start over from the
areas for every single item.
The items got a lot more variety, using random number generation to introduce
an element of randomness.
Rocks have the most variety, with both a shape and a color, each of which
has about 10 options.
Some of the items (like the animals) also have a chance to fail to
examine the item. When that happens, the user cannot take the item.
Quite a number of the items have color variety, some have shape
or other details that also vary.
I checked that none of the possible more detailed item names will
exceed the item name character count limit.
Selecting a character checks the database to see if it exists,
and says try again if the character name doesn't.
Creating a character refuses if the name is a duplicate.
Both selecting and creating ignore case for the checking.
It is possible to create a nameless character,
which is unselectable and breaks stuff, and I might fix that later.
Race is also checked and set as a session variable when selecting
or creating characters.
I added a secret and hidden and password protected admin login for modifying and deleting any characters as desired.
I've also done some amount of thinking and planning. (Which is not easy to display, considering that at least part of it is in my head.)