About the latest version of the game

Kor · **Reply #200 on:** January 13, 2009, 09:22:58 AM

Good luck to all those with various projects and classes.

action9000 · **Reply #201 on:** January 17, 2009, 07:21:09 PM

Okay everyone, I'm just letting you know what I'm doing.

The only way I found that I could maybe fix the invisible wall problem is by breaking the map into smaller pieces. This is what I'm trying to do now: convert the one big map into (maybe 4, maybe 16) smaller maps and connect them seamlessly.

The reason for this, if anyone cares, is because the Collision engine I'm using has a limit to how many polygons can be on a single object when checking collision between two objects (usually the player and the map). With a single texture on the map, I don't go over this limit, but I do when I have more than one texture. The only fix is to make sure the polygon count of any one object is less than about 250k (250k works, 300k doesn't

). The map with 3 textures is about 450k, which would explain the problem.

I'll need some time to do this, so bear with me.

I have to edit the map, connect the pieces seamlessly and recode a bunch of stuff.

Some more good news is, doing this will give us a lot more detail level control and will help improve performance, especially later on.

Kor · **Reply #202 on:** January 17, 2009, 10:52:04 PM

Sounds like a good idea and that you are on the right track of things. I'm sure you'll continue to do well.

Mumbling · **Reply #203 on:** January 18, 2009, 02:52:29 AM

Quote from: action9000,Jan 18 2009 on 01:21 AM

The reason for this, if anyone cares, is because the Collision engine I'm using has a limit to how many polygons can be on a single object when checking collision between two objects (usually the player and the map). With a single texture on the map, I don't go over this limit, but I do when I have more than one texture. The only fix is to make sure the polygon count of any one object is less than about 250k (250k works, 300k doesn't ). The map with 3 textures is about 450k, which would explain the problem.

Good luck Tim. Take all the time you need

Serris · **Reply #204 on:** January 18, 2009, 04:20:55 PM

I ran into a few problems:

1.) Can't see character choice.

2.) Stats screen does not show up.

I'm assuming the white cube is a place holder.

action9000 · **Reply #205 on:** January 18, 2009, 04:31:07 PM

Quote

1.) Can't see character choice.

2.) Stats screen does not show up.

The stats screen by pressing C doesn't show up in the release I posted here. That was a screenshot of the latest version I have on my computer here. I'll release it when I get maps working better.

action9000 · **Reply #206 on:** February 05, 2009, 07:30:07 PM

Thanks for your patience, everyone.

Turned out that I had to totally rework how we're going to load maps into the game, after a lot of research and messing around with code.

Anyway, I am making progress! My current work plays beautifully fast, rendering fewer than 1/3 of the polygons that it used to, while also destroying the "invisible wall" bug!

I'm just playing around with lighting right now. Here's a neat screenshot I came up with when stumbling across a sort of "evening-style" lighting.

Enjoy the teaser, new release coming soon, once I figure out how the lighting actually works and I tweak a few more things.

http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/act...the-evening.jpg

Explorer · **Reply #207 on:** February 05, 2009, 07:32:30 PM

Nice!

Can't wait for the latest version of it!

I was wondering will you be including various times of day during gameplay? Maybe this was asked, but, anyways, eheh.

action9000 · **Reply #208 on:** February 05, 2009, 07:34:59 PM

Quote

I was wondering will you be including various times of day during gameplay? Maybe this was asked, but, anyways, eheh.

Absolutely!

We'll have a system that cycles through various sky graphics (maybe even animations if we can figure out how!), through a day/evening/sunset/night/sunrise sort of cycle, with the lighting keeping up with the current sky.

As for the timing of it, some will be event-based, location-based or real-life time-based. I don't plan on having the sky match the server's time because depending on when the player could get around to playing, they may only see a certain time of day. Therefore, I will have the time of day start random and cycle faster than realtime.

We're still working out where the sky graphics will come from. I have a great program for producing sky graphics. Mumbling is also very interested in designing some background graphics for us. Perhaps a combination of both could result in something very cool!

Explorer · **Reply #209 on:** February 05, 2009, 07:39:03 PM

Quote from: action9000,Feb 5 2009 on 11:34 PM

Quote
I was wondering will you be including various times of day during gameplay? Maybe this was asked, but, anyways, eheh.
Absolutely!

We'll have a system that cycles through various sky graphics (maybe even animations if we can figure out how!), through a day/evening/sunset/night/sunrise sort of cycle, with the lighting keeping up with the current sky.

As for the timing of it, some will be event-based, location-based or real-life time-based. I don't plan on having the sky match the server's time because depending on when the player could get around to playing, they may only see a certain time of day. Therefore, I will have the time of day start random and cycle faster than realtime.

We're still working out where the sky graphics will come from. I have a great program for producing sky graphics. Mumbling is also very interested in designing some background graphics for us. Perhaps a combination of both could result in something very cool!

Sounds like great plans! Good luck!

raga · **Reply #210 on:** February 05, 2009, 09:18:19 PM

Wow, this looks amazing, how can I try this game out?

action9000 · **Reply #211 on:** February 05, 2009, 10:23:16 PM

I suppose you gave me an excuse to release an update now.

The latest version can be downloaded here!
The Land Before Time RPG, v0.14!
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?acti...UMGMzS3BFQlE9PQ
[EDIT] See the next page of posts for version v0.151. This one is outdated now.

To install:
Just put all the files somewhere on your computer. Run LBT RPG to play!

Click "Host Game" to play the game. The controls are in the instructions file, included.

New Stuff in this version:
1) Completely redesigned map system, that actually works now!! . The result is a smaller file size per map, faster load times (though the character select map is still slow to load. I haven't replaced it yet), better framerates and a fix to the "invisible wall" bug that was a royal pain in the last version.

2) You can now press the C key to see your character's stats in a popup window. Press it again to close the window.

3) Increased the view distance back to 16000, basically the entire distance of the map.

4) Changed some map textures and lighting. I'll get it prettier later but it's good enough for now.

5) Added a "Polygons rendered" counter on the top left, so you can see how the program controls the amount of stuff it's drawing, as you're playing the game. It used to be stuck at around 460 000 until this new map system. You should see it around 150 000 to 200 000 now. Much faster, needless to say.

6) New graphics, including a new Load screen and new Start and Back buttons, designed by Mumbling.

7) Better folder organization.

This is kind of a quick release, I meant to do some more before releasing this but meh, I'll have more stuff cleaned up and fixed for next time.

Because of this, some things still aren't very polished but...I'm sure you'll find a way to have some fun.

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #212 on:** February 05, 2009, 10:31:50 PM

Oooh, I'm so excited to try this out

raga · **Reply #213 on:** February 05, 2009, 10:43:31 PM

wow, this is pretty impressive. I don't really know anything about game design but I'd love to help out any way I can on this project

action9000 · **Reply #214 on:** February 05, 2009, 11:04:28 PM

Quote from: raga,Feb 5 2009 on 07:43 PM

wow, this is pretty impressive. I don't really know anything about game design but I'd love to help out any way I can on this project

Glad you like it so far!

Honestly, there isn't much that can really be done by anyone else right now. Most of the work, especially now, is just programming and 3d modelling. We already have 2/3 people working on 3d modelling. If you're interested, for sure we can definitely use another!

We also have Mumbling helping me with interface graphics, which is probably the next most useful thing to me right now. If you're interested in drawing some graphics for the game interface, let me know and I can get ya some details on what we could put in the game in the near future. Basically, every graphic that you see when you play the game that looks "ugly" can be replaced if you want to send me anything!

Other than that though:
I am the only programmer and I do intend to keep it that way, simply because I'm not a very good programmer and I don't expect anyone else to have to read my code, especially not the 4500 lines' worth I've written so far.

Until we get quite a bit later in development, most of the work is just programming. I'm more than happy to have you on board and feel totally free to post up any ideas or suggestions you may have for the gameplay! Have fun and go through the topics and posts about the project. I'm happy to answer any questions and take a listen to any ideas!

Thanks for all the support. This project is definitely very long-term and I look forawrd to see where we all go with it!

raga · **Reply #215 on:** February 05, 2009, 11:55:35 PM

Don't know much about 3D modeling but I've just downloaded blender and going through some tutorials, I learn this computer stuff pretty fast

So give me some time to get on my feet and I'm sure I can help u there. Learning about blender has been pretty interesting so far so Im sure it won't take too long

:

action9000 · **Reply #216 on:** February 06, 2009, 12:38:59 AM

Awesome news, let me know whenever you want to take on modelling of some characters for the game!

Aaand guess what? Time for a new feature

Pressing M will now bring up a full-screen map of the area you're in, as well as show the location of your player in real-time.

Now I'm wondering how I could make a minimap.

Aaand a quick demonstration:
Game screen:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/action9000/map1.jpg

And the map view of that spot (when pressing the M key in-game):
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/action9000/map2.jpg

Matches up pretty good, I'd say.

I tested it quite a bit and the dot on the map lines up with the player beautifully.

Took me half an hour to figure out why it seemed so messed up, thinking I had to do some stupid ratio math and blah blah blah

Here I was, trying mirroring the map image, working out different ratios for widescreen and standard resolutions....
until I finally realized: I had to invert the y-axis

Code: on
//Invert the Y axis... playerPositionOnMapY=1-playerPositionOnMapY;

and life was good.

..Okay I'll stop with the tech-babble.

I'm just glad it works!

Kor · **Reply #217 on:** February 06, 2009, 12:47:51 AM

If you put in a night time, and also in dark places like caves, characters would need 2 color schemes, daytime, and night/dark places. As seen in some movies and lbt episodes. I can't do 3d modeling since I've no idea how. The most I can do I guess is screenshots (no idea how to get them to you) and that is about it.

action9000 · **Reply #218 on:** February 06, 2009, 01:00:22 AM

You definitely bring up a good point.

The plan is to use lighting effects to change the colours of the characters in those environments. In the event that doesn't do the job, we'll look into alternate colour schemes.

Mumbling · **Reply #219 on:** February 06, 2009, 02:21:24 AM

Quote from: action9000,Feb 6 2009 on 04:23 AM

6) New graphics, including a new Load screen and new Start and Back buttons, designed by Mumbling.

Ugh lol.. That loading screen was just boredom but if you like, sure

"Stop"

And I'm gonna check this version out after school.