It's the right forum.... but you're REALLY trying to make an MMO?
Do you really know what all that involves? Are you experienced enough for such a task?
I hope you've made lots of games before this one.... What exactly is the compensation for working on this new MMO?
Just a sneak peak at the rendering engine doing some tiling using some placeholder graphics and only two 'complete' tilesets.
The artist did the ground/grass (before he stopped working on the game) but I had to edit them a bit and they look worse now, lol... I did the rest of the stuff for placeholders.
I know it's not that great... but it's a pre-pre-pre-pre...... pre-alpha version... Just let that sink in before you view it again.
All of these tiles can be edited and their 'edges' will be automatically adjusted in-game... Which was the biggest hurdle to complete.
I got a couple of layering things to work out still, but I'm moving on to other things for now.
As you can also see, it is currently running at almost 400 FPS and this is on CPU power alone, it's not even touching my graphics card... Sure nothing fancy is going on, but still...
Edit:
I know it's not much... but I just wanted to give you guys something so you know 'Hey, this is real.'
Edit:
I also took out the 'Player' since he as just a placeholder from another game, and I didn't want to 'steal' anything, nor have an awkward character in there messing up the scene.
This sounds like the game of my dreams, can't believe I never saw this thread before.
Just don't do a Peter Molyneux on us!
Heh, I'll try...
I'm working on this in my spare time with zero resources (cash) at my disposal. So I intend to provide everything I stated in the OP, but I can't promise that the game will live up to everyone's expectations.
Of course, if the first game goes well enough there are always sequels. ^-^
*sigh* ...Well I knew some things were just too good to be true.
I'm back to doing everything on my own. The artist is busy with real life now and is no longer working on tilesets. So I am back to the drawing board on art. So I guess I'll have to use placeholders for everything.
(Edit: If anyone can do pixel art and is interested in working in your spare time on a game, then please contact me. I can't pay you, but if you stay till the end then you'll receive a share of the sales. Not too much going on yet, but you can get in on the ground floor of development. )
In any case, 'auto-tiling' is pretty much almost done. I had some really stupid bug (a compiler bug?) in it for a while, but I finally managed to fix that... There is one more bug in it, which I'm working on and will hopefully be fixed tonight, and then I can move on to better stuff.
After tiling I plan to add some more animations/collision for 'interacting' (like talking to NPCs, opening treasure chests, etc.), 'attacking', damage, and etc.
I with tiling actually working, I also plan to work on building the dynamic towns & NPCs systems... which is a large core of the game. That part should be fun, and I've been looking forward to it for a long time.
If you don't care about cross-compatibility at all, then just use XNA for the convenience of not having to set up Mono and Monogame.
I would personally recommend Mono development for real game projects intended for public release, between these two options. Simply because platform compatibility is a good move in the gaming market (even for free games).
If it's just a personal project for learning, just use Visual Studio/XNA unless you want to learn about Mono/Monogame now.
Performance really should not even matter, to be honest. The difference would likely be very negligible.
You could probably look up some benchmarks, but again... This shouldn't matter. Any modern PC should be able to handle a 'Voxel-based' game decently if coded properly.
Go home folks. I am going to quit programming forever.
I'm quitting my job to become a professional basketball player.
Edit:
Better yet, I'm still going to quit my job, but continue making this game and change the entire theme of the game to be about basketball. It will be a fan-made spiritual successor to this game: Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden.
Edit 2: And I think I will have to integrate some form of Google's new 'Nose' technology (in beta), so you can actually smell the players' sweat: http://www.google.co...n/landing/nose/
Edit 3:
Obviously an April Fool's Joke. The project will not be cancelled.
I'm working on a graphical piece of map-rendering, which I've found is sometimes called 'Auto-tiling', but has no true name. http://www.codeproje...ity-in-a-Tile-M
Basically it's getting tiles to look nice and render correctly over other tiles when you place them. Otherwise you only get perfect squares...
The way I'm doing it is dynamic to compensate for any number of different types of surrounding tiles (out of the 8 possible), and to layer each one properly given it's context ('layer id' and 'layering type'), and so I guess you could say is an 'advanced' version of what you see in the link above.
I hope that makes sense...
I'm working on it right now in fact... It was very close to completing, but I never put the structure in to determine the exact tile needed to display. It's almost done now.
I don't know about anyone else, but if you find yourself bored at lunch sometimes, I like reading detailed updates of your project. Whether you're talking about the latest decision to implement something for the engine, or a feature you're working on. Don't feel pressured to do so, though.
I'm not really very good at that sort of thing, but maybe I'll try.
Been really busy lately so I haven't had time to work on anything, but when I get back into it I should be making a lot of progress since I've got one of the toughest parts close to complete. So I'll try to provide a few updates for you and explain what I'm working on, if I can.
Great there are so many willing pixel artists too.
Sadly, not that many professional level pixel artists will work with someone without pay. We still probably need a 'character' artist, unless the current artists finds himself with a ton of free time.
Enthusiasm is one of key components of getting a game developed and you definetly have that, if I was you I'd try to get something minimally playable as soon as possible and not be satisifed until that exists.
Don't worry, that's what I'm working on. You always have to prototype a game before you can really create it!
(Edit: Assuming this really has been fixed within Minecraft and that this car mod was not taken down because it was fake? I guess someone who has looked at the code more recently could confirm the change.)
Edit 2: Well just ignore what I said... Apparently the mechanism for importing models has been improved.
Why would a modeler be made specifically for Minecraft?
Most 3D models use the same file format and paramaters, if you need something free get Blender, otherwise you would have found what you were looking for already if it existed.
Last time I modded Minecraft it didn't actually read models from files. Instead it was all hard-coded in. (yeah... I know, right?)
Maybe this has changed since the last time I looked at Minecraft code was like... over a year ago and it was still 'in beta', but as far as I know it still does this. If it still uses this format then it definitely would require a specific program just for Minecraft modelling, or at least an extension for another program to output the code.
What version of OpenGL are you using? Better be 3.3+
I actually haven't implemented OpenGL yet... and actually I may have changed my mind about using SDL with OpenGL altogether.
I may decide to use SFML instead to save some time, which will do all the OpenGL stuff (and a lot of other things) I need for me. I'm not sure what version SFML uses.
Right now I'm not even using hardware acceleration at this point. My code is efficient enough that I already get over 300 FPS (200+ steady) just using software acceleration alone. (This is in a pre-alpha build without optimizations, too)
I will add the hardware acceleration (or just use SFML) later on. So I can't confirm anything right now.
Also, you should be VERY careful with quitting your job. It could totally screw up your life and such, if you stopped working on the game/engine, or it got deleted, or something else.
Well I'll only be quitting if I got a successful funding, through Kickstarter or wherever. At that point I'd have no reason to stop working on the game.
As for it 'getting deleted', I doubt that will happen. I know the importance of backing up my work. If a Kickstarter project was successful then I'd also make sure to have backups off-site, which I'm actually going to do rather soon anyways. I already set up the repository, I just haven't pushed it yet.
Then I'd say it'd be better to just work on it as much as possible, as things are now, and not take such big steps towards something, which you have no idea about becoming successful or not.
Well if I've learned anything in life... It's that sometimes you just gotta take chances!
Thanks for the suggestions, but don't worry I'll be fine. I'm a pretty decent programmer (if I do say so myself) and I don't think I'd have any problems finding another job, if I needed one.
But again, that wouldn't happen unless I got funding to actually allow me to afford to quit.
Have you thought of perhaps using a scripting language) to define custom behavior for entities, and let the XML files contain scripts that activate on events?
For example...
-snip-
Yeah, I considered it.
I've thought about it before but I've had to cross that feature (and many others) off my list because I've already got too much to do and not enough time to do it. I had planned that if a Kickstarter project did amazingly well I could maybe hire another programmer to help me add additional stuff like this, but I'm not going to get my hopes up for making hundreds of thousands of dollars on Kickstarter.
It's going to be a niche title from some no-name indie developer in retro-ish 2D graphics... These sort of projects never do amazingly well on Kickstarter.
... But if the game was popular enough for a sequel, there might be room to add it there.
As a solo programmer creating an entire game engine, and a game alongside it, and having a family and a full-time job in the meantime, it means that I've already had to cut features I wanted from the original idea I had. I would tell you some of the ideas I cut, but I want them to someday be a surprise for everyone if there would ever be a sequel.
Really what it comes down to is that the KickStarter will be needed so the game gets done in a reasonable amount of time (aka: so I can quit my job and work on it full time). So when time is already a concern, major features like this have to get pushed aside for the core gameplay.
As well, I think the system I've implemented, as I explained above, will give the majority of people (aka: non-programmers) a lot of room to do the stuff they want to do, like adding new terrain, armor, weapons, and etc.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion though!
You very most likely won't see it in the first iteration of the engine... but maybe someday!
0
No not yet. I haven't done animated tiles yet, but it's on my to-do list.
lol... For now it is.
0
Do you really know what all that involves? Are you experienced enough for such a task?
I hope you've made lots of games before this one.... What exactly is the compensation for working on this new MMO?
0
The artist did the ground/grass (before he stopped working on the game) but I had to edit them a bit and they look worse now, lol... I did the rest of the stuff for placeholders.
I know it's not that great... but it's a pre-pre-pre-pre...... pre-alpha version... Just let that sink in before you view it again.
All of these tiles can be edited and their 'edges' will be automatically adjusted in-game... Which was the biggest hurdle to complete.
I got a couple of layering things to work out still, but I'm moving on to other things for now.
As you can also see, it is currently running at almost 400 FPS and this is on CPU power alone, it's not even touching my graphics card... Sure nothing fancy is going on, but still...
Edit:
I know it's not much... but I just wanted to give you guys something so you know 'Hey, this is real.'
Edit:
I also took out the 'Player' since he as just a placeholder from another game, and I didn't want to 'steal' anything, nor have an awkward character in there messing up the scene.
0
Heh, I'll try...
I'm working on this in my spare time with zero resources (cash) at my disposal. So I intend to provide everything I stated in the OP, but I can't promise that the game will live up to everyone's expectations.
Of course, if the first game goes well enough there are always sequels. ^-^
0
I'm back to doing everything on my own. The artist is busy with real life now and is no longer working on tilesets. So I am back to the drawing board on art. So I guess I'll have to use placeholders for everything.
(Edit: If anyone can do pixel art and is interested in working in your spare time on a game, then please contact me. I can't pay you, but if you stay till the end then you'll receive a share of the sales. Not too much going on yet, but you can get in on the ground floor of development.
In any case, 'auto-tiling' is pretty much almost done. I had some really stupid bug (a compiler bug?) in it for a while, but I finally managed to fix that... There is one more bug in it, which I'm working on and will hopefully be fixed tonight, and then I can move on to better stuff.
After tiling I plan to add some more animations/collision for 'interacting' (like talking to NPCs, opening treasure chests, etc.), 'attacking', damage, and etc.
I with tiling actually working, I also plan to work on building the dynamic towns & NPCs systems... which is a large core of the game. That part should be fun, and I've been looking forward to it for a long time.
0
Monogame is cross-platform compatible. DirectX is Windows only.
If you don't care about cross-compatibility at all, then just use XNA for the convenience of not having to set up Mono and Monogame.
I would personally recommend Mono development for real game projects intended for public release, between these two options. Simply because platform compatibility is a good move in the gaming market (even for free games).
If it's just a personal project for learning, just use Visual Studio/XNA unless you want to learn about Mono/Monogame now.
Performance really should not even matter, to be honest. The difference would likely be very negligible.
You could probably look up some benchmarks, but again... This shouldn't matter. Any modern PC should be able to handle a 'Voxel-based' game decently if coded properly.
0
I remembered this topic last week. Thanks for finding it for me.
I'll try to finish it sometime when I've got some time... Been so busy lately.
0
PROJECT CANCELLED
Go home folks. I am going to quit programming forever.
I'm quitting my job to become a professional basketball player.
Edit:
Better yet, I'm still going to quit my job, but continue making this game and change the entire theme of the game to be about basketball. It will be a fan-made spiritual successor to this game: Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden.
Edit 2: And I think I will have to integrate some form of Google's new 'Nose' technology (in beta), so you can actually smell the players' sweat: http://www.google.co...n/landing/nose/
Edit 3:
Obviously an April Fool's Joke. The project will not be cancelled.
0
http://www.codeproje...ity-in-a-Tile-M
Basically it's getting tiles to look nice and render correctly over other tiles when you place them. Otherwise you only get perfect squares...
The way I'm doing it is dynamic to compensate for any number of different types of surrounding tiles (out of the 8 possible), and to layer each one properly given it's context ('layer id' and 'layering type'), and so I guess you could say is an 'advanced' version of what you see in the link above.
I hope that makes sense...
I'm working on it right now in fact... It was very close to completing, but I never put the structure in to determine the exact tile needed to display. It's almost done now.
0
I'm not really very good at that sort of thing, but maybe I'll try.
Been really busy lately so I haven't had time to work on anything, but when I get back into it I should be making a lot of progress since I've got one of the toughest parts close to complete. So I'll try to provide a few updates for you and explain what I'm working on, if I can.
0
Why is that? The reason I'm doing it is because I think it is the 'least cruel' thing realistically possible to do.
Sadly, not that many professional level pixel artists will work with someone without pay. We still probably need a 'character' artist, unless the current artists finds himself with a ton of free time.
Don't worry, that's what I'm working on.
Thanks for the support.
0
Ha! Well then ignore what I said...
(Edit: Assuming this really has been fixed within Minecraft and that this car mod was not taken down because it was fake? I guess someone who has looked at the code more recently could confirm the change.)
Edit 2: Well just ignore what I said... Apparently the mechanism for importing models has been improved.
0
Last time I modded Minecraft it didn't actually read models from files. Instead it was all hard-coded in. (yeah... I know, right?)
Maybe this has changed since the last time I looked at Minecraft code was like... over a year ago and it was still 'in beta', but as far as I know it still does this. If it still uses this format then it definitely would require a specific program just for Minecraft modelling, or at least an extension for another program to output the code.
0
I actually haven't implemented OpenGL yet... and actually I may have changed my mind about using SDL with OpenGL altogether.
I may decide to use SFML instead to save some time, which will do all the OpenGL stuff (and a lot of other things) I need for me. I'm not sure what version SFML uses.
Right now I'm not even using hardware acceleration at this point. My code is efficient enough that I already get over 300 FPS (200+ steady) just using software acceleration alone. (This is in a pre-alpha build without optimizations, too)
I will add the hardware acceleration (or just use SFML) later on. So I can't confirm anything right now.
Well I'll only be quitting if I got a successful funding, through Kickstarter or wherever. At that point I'd have no reason to stop working on the game.
As for it 'getting deleted', I doubt that will happen.
Well if I've learned anything in life... It's that sometimes you just gotta take chances!
Thanks for the suggestions, but don't worry I'll be fine. I'm a pretty decent programmer (if I do say so myself) and I don't think I'd have any problems finding another job, if I needed one.
But again, that wouldn't happen unless I got funding to actually allow me to afford to quit.
0
Yeah, I considered it.
I've thought about it before but I've had to cross that feature (and many others) off my list because I've already got too much to do and not enough time to do it. I had planned that if a Kickstarter project did amazingly well I could maybe hire another programmer to help me add additional stuff like this, but I'm not going to get my hopes up for making hundreds of thousands of dollars on Kickstarter.
It's going to be a niche title from some no-name indie developer in retro-ish 2D graphics... These sort of projects never do amazingly well on Kickstarter.
... But if the game was popular enough for a sequel, there might be room to add it there.
As a solo programmer creating an entire game engine, and a game alongside it, and having a family and a full-time job in the meantime, it means that I've already had to cut features I wanted from the original idea I had. I would tell you some of the ideas I cut, but I want them to someday be a surprise for everyone if there would ever be a sequel.
Really what it comes down to is that the KickStarter will be needed so the game gets done in a reasonable amount of time (aka: so I can quit my job and work on it full time). So when time is already a concern, major features like this have to get pushed aside for the core gameplay.
As well, I think the system I've implemented, as I explained above, will give the majority of people (aka: non-programmers) a lot of room to do the stuff they want to do, like adding new terrain, armor, weapons, and etc.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion though!
You very most likely won't see it in the first iteration of the engine... but maybe someday!