tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14955063946430620952024-02-07T20:52:32.462+02:00Pixel NostalgiaIndie game development, my projects and my thoughts.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-80294784547675138532013-05-30T15:43:00.001+02:002013-06-19T17:41:41.728+02:00MovingHi guys I've moved this blog to a new home, please follow this <a href="http://ancientpixel.com/blog/">link</a>. Some of the newer post has also been moved over to the new website.<br />
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See you guys on the other side.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-87005836371470479092013-04-19T12:44:00.003+02:002013-04-19T12:45:34.545+02:00Simple Planet Texture Generation 03<br />
In this article series we are going to discuss the creation of a simple planet texture generator that will allow us to texture a three dimensional sphere.<br />
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In the <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-01.html" target="_blank">first short article</a> we started by looking at building a sphere out of a textured box. In the <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-02.html" target="_blank">second one</a> we created a height map generator using simplex noise. In this, the last article, we will be taking the height map and colouring it according to some simple rules to give the visual effect of a planet seen from space. I'm going to use C# and keep it as straight forward as possible so that it can be easily ported to other languages.<br />
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<b>The Colours</b><br />
Ok so now we have a height map from <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-02.html" target="_blank">article two</a> that is lying in a buffer, we can use this buffer to texture the sphere from the <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-01.html" target="_blank">first article</a> but we want to give it some colour so it would look something like this:<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/bGT7ZyV.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/bGT7ZyV.png" /></a></div>
<i>Continued below....</i><br />
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So how are we going to do this? As simply as possible. We are going to take the height map and for each pixel, which is a byte in the range of 0-255, select a colour according to its range and put that colour in a destination buffer that we are going to use as our final texture for the sphere.<br />
Here is the structure for each of the 'regions':<br />
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/AncientPixel/5419378.js"></script><br />
We then populate the array of regions like so:<br />
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/AncientPixel/5419425.js"></script><br />
Now we have a set of regions that will define a colour for each height map value from pixel value 0 to 255 and will populate the destination buffer/texture like so:<br />
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/AncientPixel/5419484.js"></script><br />
Now all that is left to do is wrap the texture around our sphere mesh and you have a little planet:<br />
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So that's it, if you have some knowledge in the field of programming you will be able to figure out all the other nitty-gritty things of implementing this planet generator, this was not a step-by-step tutorial so please feel free to ask questions and use Google. :D<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">PS. Please note this is my first set of articles so please leave suggestions in the comments, also if you find parts of this article that you could improve upon please share with us, this would make it worthwhile for me to have written this as well as contribute to everyone's learning. :)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-16645641243142351552013-04-19T11:50:00.002+02:002013-04-19T14:02:31.107+02:00Simple Planet Texture Generation 02In this article series we are going to discuss the creation of a simple planet texture generator that will allow us to texture a three dimensional sphere.<br />
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In the <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-01.html" target="_blank">first short article</a> we started by looking at building a sphere out of a textured box. In this, the second article, we are going to create a height map generator using simplex noise. In <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-03.html" target="_blank">the last</a> we will be taking the height map and colouring it according to some simple rules to give the visual effect of a planet seen from space. I'm going to use C# and keep it as straight forward as possible so that it can be easily ported to other languages.<br />
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<b>The Heights</b></div>
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What is a height map? There are a lot of resources online that can explain it, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heightmap" target="_blank">wiki</a>, but put into context of how we are going to use it: a height map is a two dimensional image with each pixel's alpha or RGB value representing a height of the terrain at a corresponding position.<br />
What we are aiming for is this:<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/iViwMzg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/iViwMzg.png" /></a></div>
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<i>Continued below....</i><br />
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Each square on this cross-shaped height map represents a face on the the spherical-cube that we talked about in the previous <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-01.html" target="_blank">article</a>.<br />
This is all good and well but how are we going to create a seamless height map for a three dimensional cube? By using 3D simplex noise and representing each face of the cube as a plane we create a small height maps for each. Since we now know the spherical position for one plane we can derive the positions for the other five planes simply by switching the x, y and z values. The structure to hold the faces are very simple, we basically just create six height maps which are byte arrays, we then populate them then stitch them together to form that final height map.<br />
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Here is the code to generate the height maps for each face, I'll link the simplex noise library I used at the end. The code is the bones of the planet generator and we'll handle the meat in the next article. There are a lot of comments in there so please feel free to read them if you do not understand. Try these base values in the "GetComplexNoise" function and then substitute your own:<br />
<ul>
<li>- frequency = 28.0</li>
<li>- elevation = 4.0</li>
<li>- roughness = 1.75</li>
<li>- detail = 0.5</li>
<li>- normalization = 30.0</li>
</ul>
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/AncientPixel/a12c82ecc3743f376cb0.js"></script>
Ok so now we have six buffers/height maps so all we have to do now is copy them into the destination height map buffer at the right location where we mapped the faces texture coordinates and so we have something like this, use the uvTest.png file I linked in the previous <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-01.html" target="_blank">article</a> as a reference:
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As you can see if you look close there are some artefacts at the edges of the faces, this is caused by WPFs 3D implementation no having a clamping texture function but it does show off how the faces are mapped.<br />
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So now we have a height map to work from, in the next article we'll look at how to add some colour.<br />
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Files:<br />
<a href="https://gist.github.com/AncientPixel/5419268" target="_blank">SimplexNoise</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">PS. Please note this is my first set of articles so please leave suggestions in the comments, also if you find parts of this article that you could improve upon please share with us, this would make it worthwhile for me to have written this as well as contribute to everyone's learning. :)</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-62394564694009678802013-04-15T17:11:00.000+02:002013-04-19T12:46:51.461+02:00Simple Planet Texture Generation 01In this article series we are going to discuss the creation of a simple planet texture generator that will allow us to texture a three dimensional sphere.<br />
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In the first short article we going to start by looking at building a sphere out of a textured box. In the <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-02.html" target="_blank">second</a> we are going to create a height map generator using simplex noise. In <a href="http://ancientpixel.blogspot.com/2013/04/simple-planet-texture-generation-03.html" target="_blank">the last</a> we will be taking the height map and colouring it according to some simple rules to give the visual effect of a planet seen from space. I'm going to use C# and keep it as straight forward as possible so that it can be easily ported to other languages.<br />
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<b>The Globe</b><br />
After some research on the web I've come across quite few people that are using sub-divided textured boxes that they then transform into a sphere in code. This gives you an easy why to texture a sphere and minimizes the distortions you get at the poles using more traditional texturing methods especially at lower texture resolutions.<br />
I've decided to use Blender to create the base mesh because of the ease of use of the new Blender interface, its free, it can export to the 3DS format and I can easily update the base mesh and re-import. There are many articles/tutorials online on how to create a subdivided cube mesh in code.<br />
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Starting with the basic box mesh we add Seems to create the classic 'cross' UV Unwrap pattern. This will give us six faces that we can easily texture. Make sure that you move the UV coordanites to the bottom of the texture, if you are unsure check the uvTest.png file linked at the bottom of the article as a guide.<br />
Also; search for 'Blender cube unwrapping' if you are having problems.<br />
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<i>Continued below....</i><br />
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When we have the cube unwrapped we add the Subdivision Surface modifier and set the following parameters: View to 3, tick off Subdivide UVs and click on Simple. You can increase the complexity (View parameter) for a rounder looking planet. This gives us:<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/zTvBByK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://i.imgur.com/zTvBByK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After the mesh has been subdivided we can save and export the it as a 3DS file, we can then import it into our C# app using <a href="http://helixtoolkit.codeplex.com/" target="_blank">HelixToolkit</a>. I used the toolkit as WPF has no facility to import 3D mesh formats except if you convert it to xaml... nasty. After the import we modify the vertices to create a sphere. To do this we normalize them then project them out by the required range. The following code does just that. Ignore the WPF specific code, all we are doing is accessing the raw mesh data, modifying it and then replace it.<br />
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<script src="https://gist.github.com/AncientPixel/5388546.js"></script>
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What we are aiming for is the following, a sphere that looks like it was made out of 6 square patches:<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/0aO6UBf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://i.imgur.com/0aO6UBf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ok so that's it for this part of the article, in it we created the base mesh on which we are going to wrap out texture using Blender but any method can be used to create the required spherical box the only impotent thing is the UV layout.<br />
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I'll keep all articles up to date with any changes needed so please leave comments, even bad ones. :)<br />
Please note this is my first set of articles so please leave suggestions in the comments, also if you find parts of this article that you could improve upon please share with us, this would make it worthwhile for me to have written this as well as contribute to everyone's learning.<br />
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In the next article we will be discussing height map generation:<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/iViwMzg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/iViwMzg.png" /></a></div>
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Files:<br />
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43365724/planetCube.zip" target="_blank">Original Blender 2.6 File</a><br />
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43365724/planetCube.3ds" target="_blank">3DS Blender Export</a><br />
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43365724/uvTest.png" target="_blank">UV Test Texture</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-89303026683959301782013-04-10T11:02:00.000+02:002013-04-19T14:03:21.649+02:00Some Updates, Article IncommingThanks to the exposure I got from the great guys at <a href="http://indiegames.co.za/">Indie Game Blog</a> and my friend <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/DavianBlack" target="_blank">DavianBlack </a>on <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1bziv0/random_planet_generator_try_it_out/" target="_blank">Reddit</a> I have been getting a lot of traffic, bug reports and tutorial requests.<br />
So I've uploaded an updated version of Playpen and I'm working on a set of simple spherical planet texture generator articles and it will be up probably end of next week.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/XctXFP8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/XctXFP8.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-74395786827971266152013-04-08T17:16:00.000+02:002013-04-15T17:31:04.724+02:00Playpen ReleasedI've progressed with the Name Generator and Planet Texture Generator to a point where I can release it to the public for you guys to test, use and/or play with. This was done using Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) so you will need .Net Framework 4.0+ runtime installed on you computer, I'll link it below.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/CwzxIaz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://i.imgur.com/CwzxIaz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Continued below...</i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
With the Name Generator you can create a rule set that will generate random names, you can look at the xml file in the .\<i>XML\name</i> directory for some idea on how it works, I've included both a rule set for star names and British place-names.<br />
You can also load a text file with a single column list of names, using the <b>Generate</b> button, and the app will try to extract a rule set from it. Remember it does not do fancy pattern recognition so stuff like 'Tau' and 'Cen' prefixes and number designation postfixes for star names or 'burg', 'ton' or 'ville' postfixes for town names should be stripped when creating the list and can be added manually after rule set generation.<br />
The <b>Dump</b> button will dump the name list to a single column text file in the .\<i>Output</i> directory.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/772EfTR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://i.imgur.com/772EfTR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next we have the updated Planet Texture Generator, with this you can generate planet textures that will fit the spherical-box model. I'll explain how that works bellow. The sliders for the generation of the texture is mostly self explanatory, just keep in mind the second slider under each 'Height Map Variance' slider is the amount of variance that is going to be applied each time the <b>Generate </b>or <b>+ Save</b> button is clicked. It is on 0 by default.<br />
Regions are the coloured areas that you see on the textures and represent certain height range, so for example 0 - 155 on the height map represents water and will be coloured blue. New regions can be added and/or removed but be if you start getting weird coloured area make sure that all the ranges match ex. 0-155 Blue 155-160, Light Blue, 160-190 Yellow etc. Remember when you make a change click on the <b>Update </b>button, its the blue arrow icon pointing to the bottom right.<br />
Splats are 'decals' that are blended into the heightmap and are grey-scale texture, like heightmaps. If the value in the splat image is 129 or above the value is added to the heightmap if below this value it is subtracted. Splat images need to be smaller then 64x64 but do not need to be standard power of two as with textures but try to keep their width and height the same. You can add extra splats in the <i>.\Textures\splats</i> directory and then to the rule set using the green plus button. Another facet is the distribution of the splats, it the other green button on the right side. :) It will open the following popup where you can use the sliders to set the likelihood of each splat being used in the generation.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/8Crsdcx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://i.imgur.com/8Crsdcx.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ok so the middle splat has a 56.1% chance of being used per splatting-cycle.<br />
The 'Density' slider controls the amount of splats that the generator is going to try and add to the heightmap.<br />
The <b>+ Save</b> button will generate and write out the texture file as a PNG to the<i> .\Output</i> directory.<br />
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Ok back to the planet model, I've included both the 3DS file, which was used in the app, and the Blender source file in the <i>.\Models</i> directory. All I did was take a subdivided and textured cube that was of unit-size and then I normalized and projected outward each vertex to form the spherical planet in the app.<br />
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If I missed anything please ask in the comments section and if I get enough requests I'll do a Youtube tutorial. Also if you make a awesome rule set for the name or planet generator please share it. :D<br />
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Here are the downloads:<br />
<a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43365724/Playpen.zip" target="_blank">Playpen</a><br />
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30653" target="_blank">Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-89706807311655643872013-03-20T23:14:00.001+02:002013-04-15T17:45:01.440+02:00An Update<br />
Hey, finally an update! I've been working on a lot of things, one of which was a 2D platformer engine. Weeeee! After it became obvious that I was writing an engine AGAIN I sat down and thought about it and decided that I want to make a game; not an engine. This led me to look at a few game creation tools and existing engines and I settled on Unity3D. I've played around with it now quite a bit and have come to grips with most of the concepts.
This led to me focussing my thoughts more on game design then engine design which was a breath of fresh air. :) But being a programmer I found myself writing some auxiliary content generation tools for the the game idea I'm sitting with. This idea for my new game will be explored in another post for now I'll just share some shots of the tools.
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/HJjxY7P.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/HJjxY7P.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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<i>Continued below...</i><br />
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As you can see its a name generator. :D You can great different rule sets for different types of name. The rules can be created with hand or a name list can be fed in and the rules are then extracted.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/2WGcqtD.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/2WGcqtD.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Generated galaxy with kind-of accurate distribution of star types their planets.
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/Tud9VRT.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/Tud9VRT.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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And lastly, that which I've been slogging over and is not done yet, the planet generator. When its done you will be able to specify the type of planets to be generated, their elevations and feature and colors.
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All these tools generate a XML file that will be used in Unity to generate content.
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Well that's me for now, next post might be more tools shots or a blurb on what my idea for my game is we'll just have to see. :D
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Ps. If anyone was wondering the tools is written in C# using WPF.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-14430462804472358032010-10-22T09:40:00.001+02:002013-03-21T07:39:15.046+02:00Art TrafficSeeing as I'm getting WAY more traffic then I've ever gotten it might be a good time to ask if anyone knows of a pixel artist (artist used in the loose sense of the word) or/and a low-poly modeler to help with the art of the game. Any input would be greatly appreciated. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-7549180930531774122010-10-20T20:56:00.012+02:002010-10-20T23:16:59.617+02:00Page bang! Update.Ok I've updated AlphaHack to version 1.01, although I feel it should be 0.01 ;), and uploaded it to my new... static download page! No more searching for a post that has a download link. Yeeee.<br /><br />Changes:<br />* Going into Help now will pause the game. (thx GamerD)<br />* Tweaked the help content a bit.<br />+ Health can now be found in skull drops.<br />* Leveling fixes, ability gain at 3,5,7 and HP boost on 2,4,6. Attaining HP boost levels is faster than ability levels.<br />+ Extra player levels.<br />* Fix a few minor bugs.<br />* UI tweaks.<br />* Level tweaks.<br /><br />Please find the new version on the Download page.<br /><br />NOTE: equiping health items stacks, putting an ability in the item equipment slot will discard all items in that slot.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-13618702997365089292010-10-19T18:40:00.005+02:002010-10-20T09:03:19.815+02:00IGF 2011 Entry!!!Ok so yesterday I finished my entry for IGF 2011, if you have no idea what that is go <a href="http://www.igf.com/">here</a>. This release is not all I wanted it to be and I could not add all the content that I wanted, content creation is hard work and I have a lot more respect for all levels of the game indistry's content creators... some long running MMOs come to mind; EvE, WoW. :)<br /><br />Below you will find the build I submitted as well as the screenshot. PLEASE go play-test it. I need some feedback. The controls might be a bit tricky but there is a README file plus in-game help via the 'H' key. ;)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxYr5jlKGjzNNreMYJ6czIxMs2FR5beig7CCy9UTOwzPKs61pSodb600tw9Ra7rLwgtJY1PhuOS2hI8ZbYTkrksCGiFv4K4Q4QT6v1CVhqp_GLIVhaFp8SUa1-3sNNxvCXC1Y3lkMFrEM/s1600/screenshot01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 335px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxYr5jlKGjzNNreMYJ6czIxMs2FR5beig7CCy9UTOwzPKs61pSodb600tw9Ra7rLwgtJY1PhuOS2hI8ZbYTkrksCGiFv4K4Q4QT6v1CVhqp_GLIVhaFp8SUa1-3sNNxvCXC1Y3lkMFrEM/s400/screenshot01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529800678891433442" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/pnvd3536hzbf3ob/AlphaHack-10192010.zip">Download</a> (MediaFire)<br /><a href="http://www.filehost.co.za/file/914-2745494f7e.html">Download </a>(FileHost.co.za)<br />[7.2Mb]Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-32407173836597743822010-08-31T10:09:00.000+02:002010-08-31T10:21:43.136+02:00A sound level of music ability...Hehe, I've been working on adding Levelling and Abilities as you level and was surprised to find that I had no real difficulties. Yeeee! While abilities needs some visualization, and I cannot work on that stuff while at RL work, I thought I needed to add some music and sound effects. This also was not too hard to do and thanks to some awesome free-to-use 8bit music and sfxr to generate the audio effects the game has some audio goodness in now.<br /><br />My next drive is to expand the level/ability system with content as well as add extra minor features to the audio system and some random loot to pick up to add to a score system.<br /><br />A new release will probably be done for end of next week.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-49096132913823082402010-08-24T16:04:00.000+02:002010-08-24T16:19:18.437+02:00Combat Alpha TestAfter a lot a work on the backend, changing the animation system... twice and updating the model format to allow for better skinning and animation blending (and a bit faster), plus making the whole application a lot easier to take crossplatform by using the SFML 2.0 framework.<br />Small optimizations here and there plus beter LUA integration plus a slightly updated combat control system allow us now to test the combat system as it is in alpha. There is a lot of room for change so PLEASE test and comment.<br />Multiplayer will come later and most of the alpha level architecture is in place but still needs some work.<br /><br />This is a very simple level just to test combat, blocking has been reworked. There is a readme file in the root of the game folder with extra info.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/sjcr37r6t6kv93d/Tech%200.5.2.zip">Download</a><br /><a href="http://www.filehost.co.za/file/864-3201025e79.html">Download (SA local mirror)</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-46966824709064827242010-07-07T15:15:00.000+02:002010-07-07T16:25:49.620+02:00Model format, animation and jumping.We are reaching the end of our RL project and my contract will be up end of August so there is a good chance that I'm going to get VERY busy and my dev. time will drop to zero... but until then:<br /><br />Jumping has been added and it looks cute, you have minimal control while jumping over your character which will allow for some challenging platforming. ;) A jump animation will be added.<br /><br />Updated the export of models and now you can define more complex 'skins' for meshes plus animations now can support multiple bone influences on a single vertex. This will allow properly skinned animations and I'll be creating a more complex character model to show this of in-game.<br /><br />The basic framework for terrain has been added; it will have a small disk print but a lot a variety and still keep the retro look. Terrain will be usable indoors or out. This has been put on hold at the moment so that I can focus on networking.<br /><br />Busy with a simple client/server architecture that will allow 4 people to play over any network type. (Hopefully) I will have a little test app of this running in the coming weeks.<br /><br />PS. I would advise anyone to get a good quality SSD (solid state drive) when doing a lot of compiles it REALY makes a lot a difference. But note: only good quality SSDs, the market is full of cheap kaka that promises lots and really fails to deliver. Intel, Toshiba (good but hard to find), Supertalent Gseries and Corsair in that order. Read reviews!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-56372985343347881822010-07-01T10:57:00.000+02:002010-07-01T12:25:22.837+02:00New ReleaseHere it is after almost a month of delays with actual work and new features eating up the time. So what is in this release, glad you asked:<br /><ul><li>FX System redone, scriptable and managed. (Particles and Animated textures)</li><li>Trigger system added, when triggered a script function is called.</li><li>Items are fully scripted.</li><li>Some actor properties are scriptable.</li><li>Blocking is working and now comes with animation.</li><li>New map with new tiles.</li><li>New weapons and health pickups.</li><li>A lot of bug fixes and optimizations.</li></ul>Little screen:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbDWIXJV0CNBRxyEyXEkj6hNR9RmSo9KBC3c6n9IcRIuVMotQ9LkDsuAl-F6WPazjaTaS57HJ2uGFzQ8tvK9nyWJPl37x1POOpbfhyphenhyphenr1VrclrrwSSrAPrlVCguYaBW58GCjWjF4I7VWU/s1600/tech05.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbDWIXJV0CNBRxyEyXEkj6hNR9RmSo9KBC3c6n9IcRIuVMotQ9LkDsuAl-F6WPazjaTaS57HJ2uGFzQ8tvK9nyWJPl37x1POOpbfhyphenhyphenr1VrclrrwSSrAPrlVCguYaBW58GCjWjF4I7VWU/s400/tech05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488864411058290034" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/dmalnoy34md/Tech%200.5.zip">Download</a><br /><a href="http://www.filehost.co.za/file/815-94343324c5.html">Download (mirror)</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">=Instructions=</span><br />-Left click to attack when in-range of a bad guy.<br />-Right click to block if you picked up a shield. NOTE: You can not attack and block. Only attacks from the front are blocked.<br />-To pick up stuff just run over them.<br />-The game will end when you die, pressing ESC will quite the game also.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">PLEASE </span>help me debugging not only the game but the new tile set, if you see any jaggies or weird lines please take a screenshot and send it to me. Thanks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">=What’s coming in the next release=</span><br /><ul><li>Multiplayer (already started)</li><li>Outdoor/Indoor terrain (already started)</li><li>Sound!!!</li><li>Upgrade to animation system and model format.</li></ul><span style="font-style: italic;">PS</span>. If anyone knows a low-poly modeller who wants work please contact me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-15494794542214071722010-05-31T09:04:00.000+02:002010-05-31T11:26:33.889+02:00DelayedDelayed due to weather... well not really, my last two weekends I was supposed to be working on this but was very unfocussed due to rugby, water cuts, birthdays and awesome games.<br />I can tell you that I'm working on:<br /><ul><li>Better scripted items</li><li>Fx system scripting</li><li>Fx attachment and management</li><li>Item attachment to animated actor</li><li>Extra animations</li></ul>Also I fixed the flickering shadows, which was a simple change. Blocking of attacks as well as item pickup is in and working.<br /><br />All that needs to be done is testing on fx attachment and extra graphics for nicer looking levels.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-54791717211841010202010-05-21T13:24:00.000+02:002010-05-21T13:34:33.444+02:00Loot in the boot... ok not completely, item pickup and proper weapons will be in the next release this coming Monday. (24 May) There will also be a bunch of other small tweaks and additions like more detail in the levels, a new level, shadows will also move along with the player as if there was a big light above his head, fewer tile seams... yes I saw them. ;) Plus whatever I can add and test before Monday. A full list will be posted with the download link as with the previous post.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-75187711534947239862010-05-15T13:08:00.001+02:002010-05-15T13:29:35.573+02:00Update to Tech DemoThe tech demo has been updated with a few fixes and improvements under the hood:<br /><br />- Fixes<br /><ul><li>Death animation now displays properly.</li><li>Pause did not work on the whole system only on bot updates.<br /></li></ul>- Improvements<br /><ul><li>Bots are now destroyed and removed properly.</li><li>Attack does proper area damage according to type. (You can now hit more then one target at once)</li><li>Slight optimization in physics checks for attacks.</li><li>Slight optimization when instancing a bot.</li></ul>- Additions<br /><ul><li>There is now a performance ticker on the right hand side. (This is not frame-rate and is very sensitive to computer environment)</li></ul>- Changes<br /><ul><li>The way the game plays has been sped up.</li><li>The player now does a whole lot more damage and the bots less.</li><li>A max of 30 bots can be spawned. (Over 200 at one has been tested but it gets a bit crazy)<br /></li></ul><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ywqizt2tmjy/Tech%200.4.2.zip">Download</a><br /><a href="http://www.filehost.co.za/file/774-1390811146.html">Download (Mirror)</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-17091095714178358242010-05-11T11:14:00.000+02:002010-05-13T10:10:23.753+02:00Back in action.EDIT: Updated demo with correct relative path to the resource file, thanks to Nerosis for picking this up. ;)<br /><br />Wow it's been a long time since I posted anything on this blog... a lot has happened, as it normally does, and I'm in the process of releasing my first tech. demo. Currently its being tested on a friend's computers (and a virtual machine) for compatibility but as soon as that's done I'll post the download link here.<br /><br />The dev. logs I've been posting will be updated and new ones posted, probably in a txt file that can be downloaded with a summation of the important points in the post.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/tkizzzhwwgw/Tech%200.4.zip">Download link</a><br /><a href="http://www.filehost.co.za/file/772-399810119d.html">Download link (mirror)</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSo7_LSEml197T415pvouTuxy7v0qXYNc8upMGy5KcYx8DS7skNCRJxHW_tC29-z18ElJTYecI337342Uk-VE9HfX4JPF1-XTQr9DmFZef5I460Q6nx1bEGnLTAi0-ILNJ1cupgEUFbX4/s1600/Tech_demo_0.4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSo7_LSEml197T415pvouTuxy7v0qXYNc8upMGy5KcYx8DS7skNCRJxHW_tC29-z18ElJTYecI337342Uk-VE9HfX4JPF1-XTQr9DmFZef5I460Q6nx1bEGnLTAi0-ILNJ1cupgEUFbX4/s400/Tech_demo_0.4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470512734666669298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />PS. Mediafire really works for small projects like this. :)<br /><br />EDIT: Please note that it might not work on all computers as some compatibility issues might still exist.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-48618861492867935272009-08-07T14:27:00.001+02:002009-08-07T14:28:51.355+02:00ScreenshotsIt a long weekend so I'm going to try and get some art assets done and post some shot of my little builder in action... :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-92229052237651037322009-08-07T14:17:00.000+02:002009-08-07T14:59:07.727+02:00Update------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />-= 07 Aug. 2009 =-<br />Epiphany time kids, I was struggling to find an art/design direction for the tiling used in the game. I realized that because all 'rooms' are exactly the same size on a chunk level you make the floors the needed size to fill a room chunk. This will simplify collision geoms as well, AND allow rotation on the floor tiles! Statics should be marked as floor, wall or misc. tiles in export script or builder.<br />Doing it in the builder would be faster than updating the script.<br />Orientation on bones in 3dM needs to be investigated as they are aligned on the +x axis and I need -z. Check if a static or animated model in script and then rather use world coords. on export on static models and parent coords. on animated models. Would help with bone orientation fixing to -z not being needed as much.<br />Converting the builder to the new 'mode' based pattern is almost done, it just needs refining.<br />New numbering method in logs ;)<br /><br />Ideas:<br />* 001-. Add a gravity geom that will allow holes in 'solid' floors.<br />* 002-. An extra pixel length lip on tiles will give a very nice feel... or... adding an alpha map to textures so that they pixelate out of existence like with corridor' sides.<br />* 002a. A wall should include one corner when modeling. (left one)<br /><br />Next goals:<br />* 005b. Create a very basic UI with hot spots and RtT.<br />* 006-. Create new test models using new exporter. (need more)<br />* 006a. Create new models using room chunck sized floors.<br />* 007a. Investigate collision geom offset.<br />* 007b. Fix AABB offset.<br />* 008-. Investigate bone orientation in 3dM<br />* 009-. Do check in export script for static or animated meshes and use<br /> world coord. sys. for static and parent coord. sys. for animated.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-12712475332704850942009-08-07T14:12:00.000+02:002009-08-07T14:25:51.374+02:00Update------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />-= 01 Aug. 2009 =-<br /><br />I've started revamping the builder, creating a easier way of adding extra functionality via builder window and builder mode base classes that can be used to extend and add stuff to the builder. This is mostly done but will be tweaked as needed. The actor, item and map builder still needs conversions and there are still some bugs left to fix.<br />Also thinking of adding a better curser then a pixel as well as a very pixel like basic UI using hotspots and render-to-texture. O yes and goal 002b needs to be done on the builder.<br /><br />Next goals:<br /><br />* 002c. Builder support for 'facing'. (done)<br />* 004-. Convert all builders to new method. (done)<br />* 005a. Complete render-to-texture (RtT) testing. (done)<br />* 005b. Create a very basic UI with hot spots and RtT.<br />* 006-. Create new test models using new exporter. (done: need more)<br />* 007a. Investigate collision geom offset.<br />* 007b. Fix AABB offset.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-3376862132323600972009-08-07T14:11:00.000+02:002009-08-07T14:26:39.960+02:00UpdateAs on-one is reading these I think I'll be dumping my private 'Captains log' on my blog... so lets start with this months newest stuff:<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />-= 01 Aug. 2009 =-<br />I'm back ffs! Sometimes finding oneself is only half the battle... These logs helped me a lot to orientate my thoughts, and now I need them again.<br />Maps, massive grid, graph for low detail offscreen movement and planning (skeleton).<br />LUA integrated, ODE integrated.<br />Map/entity builder in alpha.<br />Model animation and rendering pipe GO!<br />AI and weapon/ sensory/inventory/targeting systems in!<br />Script level mechanics need some flesh, basic UI also.<br />Resource saving/loading/deleting is good.<br />Animation selection via animation map must be implemented.<br />Particle system need a mount point/root transform. Benchmark: point or quad?<br />A lot of little things needs testing, fixing and adding plus my asset creation chain need to be work for animated models as well as geoms with an offset from the models centre. Aaaaaah! Where to start?!<br /><br />Next goals:<br />* 001-. Animation mapping with behaviour & item sensitivity. (done IpF)<br />* 002a. Hiding of away-facing statics. (done)<br />* 002b. Camera support for 'facing'. (done)<br />* 002c. Builder support for 'facing'. (done)<br />* 003-. Use phBuilderObject in Builder and replace it with phInstanceTemplate in current build. (replaced)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-38161747804621146602009-07-09T17:42:00.000+02:002009-07-09T17:54:03.079+02:00Not dead yet!I'm back after a very turbulent and crazy few months. Been busy fighting the recession and securing income :D so that I can continue my indie project, which is going slowly but surly.<br /><br />I've been working on the level editor so that I can rapidly test other aspects of the game and not worry about editing text files. I'll post some screenshots when its close to alpha state.<br />The game itself is also in a refactored and working state, the player can pick up items and attack NPCs, just need some animations for the actors... I'm tired of using mushrooms...<br /><br />I would really, really, really-really like to have a beta (or better) build ready for <a href="http://www.igf.com/">IGF</a>'s 12th Annual Compo. so I'm going to draft to have somthing before that that is totally play-testable.<br /><br />Anyway, as first posts go this was not to bad, I'll be posting more updates as I have some intresting shots to show... thanks for reading. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-51085323406285362812008-11-27T13:29:00.000+02:002009-07-09T17:55:11.403+02:00Download-= AlphaHack v0.001 =-<br /><a href="http://www.rapidspread.com/file.jsp?id=bzchqteavb">Download</a> (Unavailable)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1495506394643062095.post-26547205897427766682008-10-21T14:57:00.000+02:002008-11-27T13:34:39.221+02:00First ReleaseYes, after an absolutely ghastly struggle to find a steering/movement model that I like and would work for what I want I have done it. Using a combination of grid navigation using A* searches and a flexible steering model, plus quite a few interesting meta data tweaks to do grid queries, the actors run around without problem and can swarm the player.<br />There are a few tweaks left to make so that you get proper piling of attackers and smoothing out cross room movement but they are all in the box basically thanks to my current ground work. :)<br /><br />Also work on the scripting, AI, attack system and particle system is at a level that allows me to... TADA release my first pre-alpha tech./gameplay RTP (release-to-public) test. It will be on the Download post shortly.<br /><br />If you want any more details about the technical side of things please drop me a <a href="mailto:ancientpixel@gmail.com">mail</a> and I'll be more then glad to answer them.<br /><br />PS. Ignore the date on this post, it was in my draft box for a long time while I sorted out a lot of other little things.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135486962578359908noreply@blogger.com0