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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
 Posted - 28 Apr 2008 : 08:32:29
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Here ideas and concerns/requirements for the game engine will be discussed and commented on.
Most recent version released :(NOV 2, 2009) http://starfrontiers.org/downloadables.asp
This is the download page. I have replaced the direct links to try to monitor downloads a bit better without adding in stats code. |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2008 : 19:59:47
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Capabilities currently in the game:
1. One character figure rigged for motion. Figure uses 30 degree offset sprites and a 3 phase walk to do it's Vrusk stride. It has one speed only. It will be developed into the Parent object for all characters.
2. Ability for the view to track objects (such as the character).
3. Code for hovercraft motion and object interaction.
4. About a dozen different important-looking buildings such as airtraffic control towers, comm centers, Lunar bases, hangars, office buildings, a museum, a stadium, a domed city and some others. We also have about a dozen weird alien trees plants and flowers. These have character interaction code so that if the character walks behind it, the building/tree becomes transparent. The objects all use the same parent object in the game.
That is pretty much it. There is plenty of code for other stuff available, but it is not in the game yet.
Planned capabilities:
Character interaction with objects:
1. Open doors
2. pick up and drop objects
3. enter vehicles
4. Sit down
5. use objects in and out of inventory.
6. squat, prone, kneeling positions, as well as climbing, gliding and Dralasite stretching.
Character capabilities:
1. Some/most Star Frontiers character ability choices (only what is really needed or has application).
2. Object inventory with some kind of graphic display (depends on artwork).
3. Credit/finance.
4. Ability to equip objects.
5. Ability to use cover and LOS observations. Fog of War will cover unobservable areas.
Environment:
1. Buildings with interiors and interactable doors, lifts etc...
2. Vehicles and spacecraft
3. Variable scaling for vehicles scenes (zoom out/in) and inside buildings.
4. Typical isomentric terrain elements.
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 13:01:08
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Cool - although you might want to remain on foot for now - just for the test bed.
Vehicles at this point are going to add many layers of complication. Let's get all of the major RPG elements (walking, running, cover, combat, talking, engage/disengage) before we tackle the intricate nuances of accelerations, turn ratios, and other such vehicular ephemera. |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 18:16:54
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I already have the motion code for hovercraft, ground cars, aircraft, and vector motion for spacecraft done. All that is needed is for me to take pre-existing 3d models of the vehicles and render images of them at the various angles so that we have isometric sprites to use in the game. Vehicles are OH_SO much easier to deal with than animated figures, which is why the actual motion code is done In GML, you can easily create motion physics such as friction, acceleration, gravity etc... My son built a platform game that is even kind of fun in just a few hours. I will add the character motion requirements you stated into the requirements list. That leads us to the other issues however...
1. Taking cover: Mostly, this will involve the character locating his body behind something. Block line of site with fog of war is a major bit of code for me to tackle, mainly because I need to know what it should look like on the screen. I need suggestions to that end. Crouching and prone position are pretty easy. You just code a key to stop movement, and you include a prone position sprite to the character object.
2. Engage/disengage: I assume you mean this as a switch to turn-based motion. I suppose that matters most on how the game is going to progress. I would say that the game need not center around combat, so we may not need that much of a system switch. Do you think we need to have a "Party" of individually controlled NPC's? I would prefer to do the job with AI, and have limited or no control of their actions except by talking to them (perhaps a list of command hotkeys like "attack my target" or "follow me/don't follow me" etc...). Maybe when something goes aggro, just have the game speed slow?. What are your thoughts?
3. Talking: How do you think this should happen? Dialog boxes? Audio/video clips with animated talking characters? A combination of the two? What should it look like on the screen?
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2008 : 14:25:47
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1. In terms of taking cover, we could have a set of pre-made sprites for cover purposes. Our players might start to notice that exact-same shaped rock after a while, but with several dozen sprites I think there will be enough variety.
Fog of War: My solution would be to break up the battles into small pieces - that way fog of war is not really needed. In other words, the PC does not advance until he kills the first set of bad guys, then maybe he walks a little bit, and then is jumped by the next set, etc. - or he retreats. This will make for a slightly disjointed combat system, but will largely solve the fog of war problem. In other words, in combat, there is NO fog of war. The fog of war comes from the circumstances surrounding the battle before it even begins. In other words, if the player gets ambushed, he starts from a real lousy position in the battle, and maybe automatically loses initiative, but all of the bad guys are visible all the time - unless they, of course, retreat.
That will also be a major issue - handling retreat and pursuit.
2. I would say that the non-battle parts are real time, and the battles are turn based. Fallout style.
3. Again, I would go to Fallout on this one, too. Clips for the major conversations, little boxes for the minor conversations. I live in a neighborhood where you can't swing a cat over your head without hitting an actor or actress, so I am sure that I would be able to recruit some wingnuts to do the voices for us.
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2008 : 04:13:27
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The FOW I was thinking about it to not show the player anything on the screen that the character can't see... think on that one and gimmie some ideas.
To expand on your cover idea, perhaps we just assign all objects some variables to help determine what cover sprite to use. One variable could be "hight". Another for East, west north south to describe what edge of that object the character looks around or over to peek or fire. |
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2008 : 11:29:59
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And my response to the Fog of War situation is to not have it at all. Let the player see all of the bad guys on the screen in the battle. The fog of war is handled on a more strategic level, rather than in the actual battles.
That will make the management much easier. Breaking up the battles is the way to go here. |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2008 : 14:12:01
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| It's not just "bad guys", but even having out of view scenery invisible or shaded if it has been seen before. It might allow us to encourage exploration of the whole map, rather than folks just running through an area. |
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2008 : 19:16:18
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Well Art, I was just trying to make your job as easy as possible.
If you want shading - by all means do it.
I'm just trying to keep fog of war to a minimum to make your job as easy as possible. |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2008 : 21:46:03
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Easy? heh...I am not looking for easy.. not my bag. I am looking for the ability to include a greater sense of discovery and provide more mechanisims for the storyline to play out. Really, after the multiplayer dynamic vessel creation and scenario creation/transmission in VECTOR, this stuff is a piece of cake.
Do you think a square viewing area and a side-bar is better, or a bottom row stats window and a more rectangular viewing area. |
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 04 May 2008 : 14:50:46
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Rectangular is better - gives it that letter-box movie feel.
Great! Do Fog of War to the absolute max then! I support it 100%. Good luck - and I mean that.
It just seems rather daunting - there is an operating issue (how does it work) and graphics issues that I know might be a problem.
But hey man - go for it. |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 04 May 2008 : 20:20:24
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| I suppose rectangular will work great. I think I need to make up-down speeds and measured distances proportionally slower/smaller than left-right. That is actually easy to do. With the stats on the bottom or top, the rectangle will be stretched a bit and there may be some viewable area issues, but If I make the windows re-sizable, folks can customize them on the fly to suit their monitor size/resolution. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 23:46:54
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Fog of war took like this much code:
if (collision_line(x,y,obj_character.x,obj_character.y,obj_durable,true,true)&&image_alpha>0){
image_alpha-=.05;}
else{
if(image_alpha<1){image_alpha+=.05}
}
It actually takes less, but this gives is a decent fade-in fade-out rather than having the character just pop into view. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2008 : 09:42:57
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| Great - if it is that easy, then let's have it. |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2008 : 21:28:02
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I have started working on the word recognition code...
I have a version up that has a vrusk that follows you everywhere and is smart enough to walk around solid objects. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
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Imperial Lord
321 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2008 : 23:21:57
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| Any new progress to report? |
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Game engine development
Topic Locked
