The Gang of Five
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Multiplayer LBT RPG game

action9000 · 224 · 20782

Malte279

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I suppose many task ideas would come the moment we had a central plot (or something like it) for the game.

Maybe there could be a task involving the bullies from LBT 3. In order to defeat them in a competition there could be many tasks which couldn't be managed by one, but several players. Winning the contest against them might get them to give the characters some information they are looking for, or the bullies themselves could help out as NPCs who won't do a job only they can do unless they are defeated in the contest by Littlefoot and the gang.


action9000

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aybe there could be a task involving the bullies from LBT 3. In order to defeat them in a competition there could be many tasks which couldn't be managed by one, but several players. Winning the contest against them might get them to give the characters some information they are looking for, or the bullies themselves could help out as NPCs who won't do a job only they can do unless they are defeated in the contest by Littlefoot and the gang.
Ahh, I like this one!
Good idea. :yes


action9000

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Seems I should have a bit more time available nowadays, for awhile (until June or so) so I'll have more time to plug away at this project for a few months.


Coyote_A

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That's sounds great. BTW, any progress this far? :)


action9000

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I've hit a bit of a snag with the physics engine, specifically gravity.  It's causing some issues that I need to resolve before I can get anything else implemented.  I've spent quite a few hours on the issue so far but it's not working too well. :(


Kor

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Gravity problems like Petrie can't fly, or that Littlefoot can walk into the sky, things do not fall that should?


action9000

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things do not fall that should?
This is half of the problem I'm having.  I can get the program to have jumping function properly but have falling (without jumping first) Not work....or get the program to have falling work but jumping Not work...:p.

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Littlefoot can walk into the sky
This is the other half of the problem. I can get one or the other of these problems fixed but as soon as I fix one problem, I cause the other problem. :p

Long story short, my collision detection with the ground isn't working as intended, for unknown reasons.  When the player is on the ground, the value of "entityCollided" should be TRUE  (which basically means "yes, the player is colliding with the ground") on every check.  My program, however, alternates the value of "entityCollided" between TRUE and FALSE while the player is on the ground...I have a *vague* idea why but I don't have a fix for it yet.
I'll mess with it when I get a chance.


Kor

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Good luck.  I doubt it is the same as on mush code.  But on mushes if a character, except for a wizard, does not have the fly flag they are unable to enter a sky room or use sky exits, same for vehicles.  

Is the ground considered a type of wall?  So something can't walk through walls?  Not sure if it works the same or not.


TRex

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Are you absolutely certain that you know how to program a multiplayer game? If not then your game is likely not going to be multiplayer, if you can get a game done at all. I'm telling you this because I've been working on a similar project myself for a couple years now   :bang  and I'm just now really coming to grips with the fact that I likely NEVER would have been able to do what I was planning on doing.

As far as setting up gravity, here's something I threw together that you might try. I didn't get a chance to test it or anything, but it might give you an idea of what to do:

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Function SetupGravity(Character.Character)

   ;Enable gravity on land characters
   If Character/movement = walking

  ;Increase the fall rate only if the character is not touching the ground
  If EntityCollided(Character/model,ground) = False
 
     If Character/lateral_Speed > maximum_fall_rate
     
    Character/lateral_Speed = Character/lateral_Speed - 0.1
   
     EndIf
     
  Else
 
     Character/lateral_Speed = 0
     
  EndIf
 
  ;Jump
  If KeyHit(Jump_Key) Then Character/lateral_Speed = 1
 
   ElseIf Character/movement = flying
   
  ;Your flying code here
 
   EndIf
   
   ;Move the character up or down
   TranslateEntity Character/model,0,Character/lateral_Speed,0
   
End Function



action9000

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Are you absolutely certain that you know how to program a multiplayer game? If not then your game is likely not going to be multiplayer, if you can get a game done at all.
You're right, I have no experience with working on multiplayer games.  I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this project. :p
That being said though, I do understand enough programming and game design principles that I'm confident that I can figure it out eventually.

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Function SetupGravity(Character.Character)

;Enable gravity on land characters
If Character/movement = walking

;Increase the fall rate only if the character is not touching the ground
If EntityCollided(Character/model,ground) = False

If Character/lateral_Speed > maximum_fall_rate

Character/lateral_Speed = Character/lateral_Speed - 0.1

EndIf

Else

Character/lateral_Speed = 0

EndIf

;Jump
If KeyHit(Jump_Key) Then Character/lateral_Speed = 1

ElseIf Character/movement = flying

;Your flying code here

EndIf

;Move the character up or down
TranslateEntity Character/model,0,Character/lateral_Speed,0

End Function
Hmm, do you have experience in Blitz3d programming, because this code you posted up is the same language we're writing the game in.

Problem:
 If EntityCollided(Character/model,ground) = False
This doesn't work half the time.  I'll look at this eventually but...well, we'll see when.

A project of this size will demand one of:
1) Me to give up years of my life to complete
2) A team of developers.

I'm hoping more for an option B.  :lol


AvestheForumFox

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Nice to see other Blitz users here on these forums, aye, Action? =)

I'd do more if I had more time between my art projects and what not



mcr mad

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i dont have the time to keep up, i have to play saints row, write new music and study for my mock exams :(


TRex

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Hmm, do you have experience in Blitz3d programming, because this code you posted up is the same language we're writing the game in.

Yes I do, actually. I'd probably still be using it if I'd have backed up my copy before my computer crashed.  :slap

Anyway, why not just go to the Blitz forums to get your questions answered?


action9000

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Anyway, why not just go to the Blitz forums to get your questions answered?
I haven't spent much time on this project so far, to be honest.  I haven't even gone through tutorials or anything outside of the Blitz help file.  Obviously there is just logic which needs to happen and I have a theory on what I'm doing wrong.  I'll work it out.


Kor

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Not sure if I mentioned it idea here or not, but maybe taking Tria, Tricia, whichever her name is, some pretty stones.  She has a lot in the Canyon of Shiny Stones episode.  maybe some of the pc's took some to her.  It can be either she asks some, or Threehorn in his brusk manner says Tria/Tricia likes pretty stones so take her some now.  



action9000

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Behold, our first step towards a 3D LBT RPG, programmed in C++:


.....

Okay, I'll admit it doesn't so much just yet. :p  It has controls similar to an MMO:
W, S, Q and E move the cube around.
A and D rotate the cube left and right.
If you hold the left mouse button, you can move the camera with the mouse.  The camera orbits and faces the cube automatically.

I'm trying to figure out collisions now, so that the camera will physically crash into the ground instead of going through it. :p

Here's a link to download the game as it is right now.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4YM07ESW

Please be aware, load times are not yet optimzed.  It may takes 15 seconds on a black screen to load.  Press ESC to close the game at any time.  It may take up to 5 or 10 seconds to close, as well.

I've made updates to camera collisions as of now but the framerate seems to suffer as a result, so I haven't posted it up here.  I'll post something once I get it stable. :)

[EDIT] Okay, I found the performance problem!  Actually, it was related to my computer, having a billion programs running at once. :p  This game itself runs fine.  I"ll post up the update shortly. B)
Here's a new link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RV09O4CH


Mumbling

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action9000

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I would definitely be interested in this. Please let me know if I can be of help
Malte, if you're still willing to help out, there is a major part of this project that needs to be developed eventually: the world map.  Basically, my goal is to reproduce as much of the LBT world as completely and accurately as possible, but I don't have any maps drawn yet.

For now, what we really need is a map of the Great Valley.  The rest of the world can come later, but anyone willing to work on any part of the map is much appreciated!

If anyone is willing to look over the movies and figure out, as accurately as possible, the relative locations of as many places in as much detail as possible, that would be awesome!  We can make the game map as detailed as we can figure out, so the more detail you can gather, the better off we'll be.  Relative locations of major regions (the Great Valley, the desert, the Valley of Mists, Big Water, etc.) are important, as is the geography of each region (aka. what sorts of land formations are in each part of the Great Valley, where is the volcano from LBT 2 in comparison to, say, Littlefoot's nest, Ducky's nest?  Where was the "hole in the great wall" in LBT 2, relative to these other locations?

Again, the Great Valley is the most important priority for now.  Other stuff can come later.

I understand that the movies aren't always consistant, but I'm sure we can figure something out.  I know this won't be an easy task but if anyone is willing to help, I can focus more on programming and we can get this project closer to reality that much sooner.

The more details of the LBT world that people are able to figure out, the more genuine our world map will be.  Anyone who wants to work on this, please, feel free! :)

I realize that figuring the exact location of everything in every movie is impossible.  What I'm looking for is a map that lays out as much detail of the LBT world as possible, with as many elements as possible, in logical places that would allow each movie's events to be possible on our world map.

In order to simplify this task for now, I intend to first design a small-scale version of this project, taking place entirely in the Great Valley.  If we can get that working, we can move onto a larger-scale game.  That being said, we need detailed maps of the Great Valley that allow every event from every movie to be possible.  Who's up for it? :D  :lol

Feel free to draw maps in any way you want, as long as you have some way to send it to me eventually. B)

If we can get started on the maps, I can do some programming in the meantime.


Mumbling

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The problem is.. The great valley seems to change every movie.. :o

So you must focus on one movie.. or make something from all together.. =D .. I'd like to help with finding places though.. Time enough.