Devlog - Hacksilver

[Tireas Dragon]

Thats really cool.

[WarHampster]

Thanks everyone. I'm flying home today so I'll try to finish optimizing the algorithm on the plane.

I've been thinking about how battles and movement will work. I think that I might use RTS style controls, where you click to move to a tile. In that case, I need to decide between turn based or realtime action. Turn based would be easier so I might end up doing that.

I also need to design some sort of queue system for rendering. If I have the player and multiple enemies and possibly other light sources all finding paths to different locations, then the engine needs to know which path is associated with which object and then move them all within the main loop.

[EqwanoX]

omg. need. source. now.

this is epic for rts and tactics gameplay, i can see using this for a mini warcraft. how many lines is it?

 you might want to mess around with real-time a little, it might actually be easier,

[WarHampster]

Well I started working on this again after a break for Christmas stuff, I got it running really quickly but broke it a bit in the process.

Eq, it's 280 lines with lots of comments and whitespace.

[Charlo]

omg. need. source. now.

this is epic for rts and tactics gameplay, i can see using this for a mini warcraft. how many lines is it?

 you might want to mess around with real-time a little, it might actually be easier,

I think the best part of this post is that Eq actually spelled "source" correctly for perhaps the first time in his life.  

[Silverwind]

It's hardly Eq's fault that English makes about as much phonetic sense as a bum flavoured pastry! The only reason we don't all spell it "sorse" is because it's been beaten into us since childhood.

If more of us spelled words the way they ought to be spelled, we might actually see a change to the stupid grammar rules.

[WarHampster]

Update, and inspiration for programmers!

You know those times when you have a bug that you have absolutely no idea how to fix? When you sit and stare at your code for hours, and then finally get so bored that you quit your editor and go play video games or something? Then the next day, you dread working on the project, because you know that if do you'll have to face that same problem.

Well that just happened to me, and I finally got myself to open SC and work on EldritchRL. And then, the first few lines of code caught my eye - "hmm, the order in which I'm putting stuff into that array seems a little funky."

Pathfinding done!!!

[Charlo]

I know exactly what you're talking about WarHampster.  I experienced the same thing with Bricker and then I opened it up the next day and fixed the problem in a minute.  

[Connors]

That happens to me all the time! I always have to stop for a while and come back when I'm fresh and/or less frustrated. Also applies to games I'm playing.

[WarHampster]

So I've been playing with pathfinding, and it is now fast and accurate enough to be used for player movement!!! I've actually developed a new algorithm to do this within SC's constraints. It is a mixture of the flood fill algorithm and standard A* and combines the benefits of each: A*'s speed with flood fill's capability of searching for an unknown location.

Also it is confusing as hell. I will post the source after the contest so you can all use it in your RPGS

I have also chosen a graphical style. The tiles will be detailed (like the tiles that I've been showing in my videos) while the characters and collectables will be cartoony and pixelated.

[WarHampster]

This is my devlog, and I'll double-post if I want to!

Video update: http://www.screencast.com/users/WarHampster/folders/Jing/media/efac3889-5935-4d4b-a5fb-4f930f406a80

Atari 2600ish player:

[Connors]

Lovin' the graphics style man! I've got to see what you do with more charachters.
Good to see there's some good competition, I'd better start adding more to my game!

[WarHampster]

Thanks! First I need to actually design more characters...

Actually on that note, ideas are welcome!

Notes on AI:

I've designed the pathfinding algorithm in such a way that I can easy edit the directions that the algorithm searches in. For example, I could have an enemy that can't walk diagonally.

Notes on story:

I think I'll change this again. I'll probably end up with something like "In your travels, you have happened upon a strange land. Its people are brusque and worship strange idols, and you feel the persistent presence of some nameless dread. You attempt to flee, but no matter how far you venture in any direction, you always find yourself back where you started."

Your objective is therefore to find the source of evil and kill it so you can go home. A much more traditional story that will be easier to implement.

[Charlo]

Nice story.  Been reading some Lovecraft?  Anyway, that demo you posted is really awesome and I'm looking forward to being able to play a game made with that engine.  The main character is kinda cute actually.  

[WarHampster]

Yeah I'm going through a Lovecraft phase

And thanks! The cuteness will make his horrific demise at the hands - err - tentacles - of some extra-dimensional monster all the more terrible!