About the latest version of the game

action9000 · **Reply #260 on:** February 21, 2009, 06:30:33 PM

Just a quick demo of what we're working on now!

When you right-click an NPC, this chat window pops up. I'm still working the bugs out of when it appears/disappears but it's more-or less working.

action9000 · **Reply #261 on:** February 21, 2009, 09:19:31 PM

Okay, got it working beautifully!

Just going to clean up some code before I release an update to the game.

Kor · **Reply #262 on:** February 21, 2009, 09:34:29 PM

Good luck.

action9000 · **Reply #263 on:** February 21, 2009, 09:57:22 PM

Hey everyone!

Just thought I'd get everyone interested once again, with a new update.

The Land Before Time online, v0.17

New Stuff:
1) Right-clicking on an NPC will let you interact with it. Try it on the cone!

2) New arrow graphic for the fullscreen map. Thank you, Mumbling!

3) A few little graphic fixes here and there, including buttons that moved slightly when you mouse over them in some resolutions, blah blah blah. Thanks for the help, Mumbling.

4) Changed the instruction file to a .rtf instead of a .doc. Any computer with Word Pad should be able to read it.

5) A treestar now appears on the in-game menu when you mouse over the various options. ...Treestar thanks to Mumbling.

Known Issues:
When you have a window open that uses text other than the default style (changing the size, bolding, changing colours, etc.), the framerate will go down a little bit. I've seen it go down as much as 4-5FPS. This is most noticeable when you have the character stats and the NPC chat window open at the same time.

I figure the player won't need the really high framerates during these times so it shouldn't be a huge issue.

I don't believe I can fix this because the commands to change the font are just really slow commands. I have to run them every frame to display every bit of text in the proper font/style. I can't really do anything about that .

[EDIT] On my slower computers, my framerate drops in half when the NPC chat window is open..

Getting a good variety of font styles is proving to be very hard on computer power!

Enjoy!

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #264 on:** February 21, 2009, 10:35:36 PM

Yay! I'll give it a run through

Mumbling · **Reply #265 on:** February 22, 2009, 02:45:11 AM

Lets see if I can still run this one on my 512mb computer.

Ran just like the previous version, framerate not going higher than 30 this time. The treestar looks alright now

Oh and, with the npc window open the framerate didn't really drop. (Actually, went up... Just checked that part. When I dont have the window open it will be like 7-13 FPS while with the window open it will vary around 30 FPS.... Which is half of 60 but not half my framerate.. Now why does that happen? :blink: )

And was this the thing about text you were talking about? I didnt really get what you were saying *blames sleepyness*

Coyote_A · **Reply #266 on:** February 22, 2009, 04:06:08 PM

Quote from: action9000,Feb 22 2009 on 04:57 AM

4) Changed the instruction file to a .rtf instead of a .doc. Any computer with Word Pad should be able to read it.

Sweet, thanks.

action9000 · **Reply #267 on:** February 22, 2009, 04:09:47 PM

Quote

Sweet, thanks.

No worries, sorry about that!

Quote

Oh and, with the npc window open the framerate didn't really drop. (Actually, went up... Just checked that part. When I dont have the window open it will be like 7-13 FPS while with the window open it will vary around 30 FPS.... Which is half of 60 but not half my framerate.. Now why does that happen? )

Now I'll have to get back to you on that! I have no idea what's going on there.

raga · **Reply #268 on:** February 22, 2009, 07:08:19 PM

Hey, I'm back! Glad to see my suggestion to name the cone was taken seriously

Mumbling · **Reply #269 on:** February 23, 2009, 02:06:24 AM

Welcome back

oh yea, we like names with shapes in them

action9000 · **Reply #270 on:** February 23, 2009, 11:46:50 PM

Okay I'm working on some fairly advanced stuff right now, so I'm not sure how long this will take.

I'm trying to populate the map with 6 NPCs, set up a few very simple tasks and have the tasks/speech vary depending on which character you are when you talk to them.

Buzz Conedrin (He's gonna be Ruby's legal guardian for now..because I say so

)
Grandpa Longneck (might put Grandma in too, depends how lazy I am

)
Mr. Threehorn
Petrie's Mom
Ducky's Mom
Mr. Clubtail

Since we don't have any 3d models of them yet, I'll just be using simple models and colouring/sizing them differently.

I do have a very simple task system working with Buzz Conedrin at the moment: If you talk to him, you can complete your first task!

I don't have this feature in the version I've released here, since I just got it working. The next version I release here should have some pretty cool basic task stuff working!

[EDIT]
Here's a screenshot of the latest development:

6 NPCs, each one says something different. Talking to Buzz Conedrin completes that task.

I'm still working on getting unique dialog and tasks for each character but that's just grunt work at this point. The engine works beautifully.

Kor · **Reply #271 on:** February 24, 2009, 01:26:01 AM

Sounds like a lot of hard work you put in. I'm sure it'll go great.

Myrkin · **Reply #272 on:** February 24, 2009, 09:36:22 AM

It's getting more interesting with every next update.

By the way... This game is probably the best simulation of moving cube I've ever seen, so you can always release it as separate product if you wont finish GV RPG (I hope you will).

action9000 · **Reply #273 on:** February 24, 2009, 03:36:09 PM

Quote from: Myrkin,Feb 24 2009 on 06:36 AM

It's getting more interesting with every next update.

By the way... This game is probably the best simulation of moving cube I've ever seen, so you can always release it as separate product if you wont finish GV RPG (I hope you will).

Glad you're liking the cube simulation.

I admit, I'm getting a little lazy, looking at all the grunt work that I have to do.

I'll try to get it done as soon as possible.

action9000 · **Reply #274 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:16:05 PM

Hey all! This is a really exciting release to me because we finally have the basics of what this game is going to be all about: Adventuring!

...I'll admit, the adventures aren't very exciting yet but the groundwork is really coming together and we can build up from here!

I present, without further delay, in all its glory, blah blah blah...

The Land Before Time RPG, v0.18

NEW STUFF:
1) Finally, you can go on an adventure! Your dino type determines what adventure you're assigned to. Right now, the adventures are as simple as just talking to the correct NPC but it's fully functional and you'll be able to see roughly how it will work for more complex tasks later on.

2) Fixed the bug where the cube bounced down hills. You now "stick" to the hill unless it's too steep to walk on, in which case, you fall down it as expected.

3) Fixed the bug where the "!" mouse cursor didn't disappear properly when clicking a mouse button.

KNOWN ISSUES:
**NOTE** This seems to have introduced a camera bug where the camera will occasionally drift away from your cube when climbing slopes. Just jump (SPACEBAR) to fix the camera. I'll try to fix this bug soon, I apologize.
[EDIT] Should be fixed in v0.181. See my next post down.

Attempting to climb hills that are too steep is still pretty jerky. I'm still working on how I'm going to fix this.

The "Goodbye" button doesn't work yet. I totally forgot.
Just press ESC or walk away from the NPC to get the chat window to close.

I hope you all can enjoy adventuring as much as I do!

BTW: We're up to 6079 lines of code now.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #275 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:32:15 PM

New Neil Cubestrong picture is up in the "Caption This!" section. It's the one with Buzz Conedrin talking to Neil. Don't every one forget to caption away!

Also, great job Tim! I can't believe how far you're getting with this RP! I can't wait to play this new version!

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #276 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:33:06 PM

This is amazing!!!
I just have to applaud all of your hard work, this is really coming together

A few things I noticed:
The camera moves through the ground a lot, especially when you run down hills.
Also, it might be good to put little icons on the map that represent the NPCs.

Again, this is awesome!!!

raga · **Reply #277 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:39:57 PM

all tasks complete!

haha, this game is fun already

action9000 · **Reply #278 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:45:24 PM

Haha, glad you're all having fun with it!

Quote

A few things I noticed:
The camera moves through the ground a lot, especially when you run down hills.
Also, it might be good to put little icons on the map that represent the NPCs.

Yep yep, I totally have disabled the camera's crashing into stuff because I didn't have it working the way I wanted. It will move through anything. The easiest way to keep your view nice is to use the mouse (hold the Right mouse button to lock the camera or the Left button to just look around).

Eventually I hope to have the camera be a bit more intelligent, sliding along the ground and whatnot but I'll get back to you on that.

Quote

Also, it might be good to put little icons on the map that represent the NPCs.

Sure, that's a good idea! I'll have that in a release in the near future.

Anyone who cares enough, I do have a little update here that I just finished:
LBT RPG, v0.181
with the following fixes:
1) I think I fixed the bug where the camera drifts randomly away from your cube.

2) Updated the version number in the instruction file.

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #279 on:** February 25, 2009, 12:05:27 AM

Quote

Yep yep, I totally have disabled the camera's crashing into stuff because I didn't have it working the way I wanted. It will move through anything. The easiest way to keep your view nice is to use the mouse (hold the Right mouse button to lock the camera or the Left button to just look around).

Eventually I hope to have the camera be a bit more intelligent, sliding along the ground and whatnot but I'll get back to you on that.

Oh, awesome! I just didn't know if it had ever been discussed before, so I figured I'd bring it up