FB RPG with RPGMaker GFX

[Halifax]

Well, for better or for worse, I've moved my game to a pixel based movement system.

Each NPC has
Acceleration (rate at which speed climbs and falls)
     &
Speed (maximum pixels per sub iteration, divided between H and V axes)

Now all I gotta do is work out the formulas for pathfinding and AI on a high definition grid  0.o

At the most basic level I'm gonna need the ability for an NPC to move towards its destination but edge around objects at a low enough slant. After that, as long as NPCs can find each other, I can add simple range finding for certain spells, etc.

First up, making NPCs move toward their destination using the proper ratio, in stead of diagonally till they intersect the closest axis.

[Lachie Dazdarian]

Any chance for a video showcasing the engine?

[Halifax]

If there is one thing that bothers me, it's developers who won't take a minute fraction of their day to spit out a simple "demo."
Here is an executable along with the graphics and source code.

http://www.mediafire.com/?9pw0yjq5z056mya

Several things to note:

Extract anywhere and run the program Demo.exe
"Esc" to end program.
"M" to open the menu.
Right Click moves the character you are controlling.
Left click does nothing (possibly)
Click the maximize box to enter full screen mode, doesn't work too well with widescreen monitors.
The only things of interest on the Battle Map are at the very bottom.
The unit seems to move faster depending on your cpu speed... gonna hafta fix that.
The program is primarily a tile editor, see if you can figure it out!

[Lachie Dazdarian]

You are still using pure GFXlib2? Anyway, it scrolls smooth enough. Nice. Your engine coded from scratch?

So how far are you in developing this game? Still messing with the engine, or started coding the actual game? Do you have the story laid out?

[Halifax]

Yeah, using GFXLib still. I've had serious urges to move in the
direction of integrated OpenGL and 3d, etc. Been learning the geometry slowly. I just believe it's best for me to get the entire game structure built before niggling with details. More interesting, anyway.

From scratch, yeah, pretty much. Obviously I'm using high level FBGFX commands, ya know, not doing custom PUT functions or anything. Or, God forbid, ASM (shudder). But the tile display, timing system, input routines, etc are my own. With lots of help from the FB community, of course.

As for completion %, I'd say about 10%. I am constantly rebuilding and trying new things with the engine. I'm sure that if I forced myself I could build a complete game with any of the previous iterations the engine has underwent, I just seem to be uninterested in story/mapping.

I have a couple of simple guidelines for teh story;

1 - Open world - free exploration, large play fields, large amounts of less "deep" gameplay. I.e. spend development hours on content, not quality. For example, Fable vs Oblivion (a large amount of semi random caves vs a few unique caves)

2 - highish level of realism - no fighting Gods or conquering empires. Even the best swordman should be overwhelmed by 4 or more opponents. Magic should be subtle and rare. (or a major part of the story)

For gameplay I have a few guiding principles;

1 - challenging at all times - the best gear and abilities in the game should not lower the challenge of any encounter too low. You should never be able to auto attack through any fight.

2 - Low levels of HP and damage - I want to keep HP to two digits, and damage to below 25% of any given enemies HP. If I don't have HP at all, it should be slower combat. Think Everquest (3 minute fights) vs WoW (15 enemies per 20 second fight)

3 - never obviate mechanics - healing items should be limited by money, availability, and scarcity, never by a cap or effeciency. Currency should always be relevant, and a consideration in every financial decision.

[Lachie Dazdarian]

I like your approach to both story and gameplay. I always preferred a bit more "realistic" fantasy stories, and definitely more grey (not clear good and bad side). Also, consider the player controlling different (and maybe antagonistic, not necessarily arch enemies) characters. I remember playing a great indie and freeware RPG entitle Love and War (http://antioch.snow-fall.com/law/), where, beside playing the main character for 90 % of time, there were few really cool episodes where you played alternative characters, either friends or antagonists of the main hero, and these episodes provided great insight into the background and motives of these characters, which added depth to the story.

If you are interested I could try to create a setting and outline of the plot for you (I was always interested in doing something like that), and maybe that will motivate you to build around it. You'll just have to give me a rough sketch of setting/races characteristics I can work with.

Also, I hope you will work on the gameplay based on few, but strategy-demanding battles. I always disliked console style RPGs that forced you to play hundreds of easy battles to level up and be able to beat some boss.

[Halifax]

Sounds like a fun idea.

Instead of making a large storyline for the whole game, focus instead on a suitable story for a demo. Create a simple but memorable character, a small scale event to drag him/her into, and a quick resolution. Later, in the full game, this character could make a small cameo or something.

Here is something off the top of my head.

A wizened old drifter scrapes his way into a dusty, barren town on a cold night, and spends his last few coins on a late dinner and a dingy room.

As the day dawns he wanders out into the scrub in search of water, only to discover the riverbed has completely dried up long ago.

Asking around the town, he learns that the spring in the nearby hills was buried by a band of trolls.

Hm, getting off track here, but something simple like this will serve fine.

Couple of guidelines -

stick to creatures and people included in the RPGMaker RTP sets, or something similar. The animation is set up a certain way, and it'd be lame to have some units be totally different graphically.

Similarly, the setting must be in a geographical location included in RPGMaker. The desert town set is not well fleshed out, etc.

A cave would be cool. And easy.



About the pacing and difficulty of battle -

I envision battles involving up to 18 units, a limit which I intend to reach fairly quickly. I like the concept of a small scale skirmish.

If I do a tile approach, I'd like between unit scuffles to last several turns at least, with time for planning the opening tactic, time to try alternate tactics, and time to move another unit into the action.

However, if the pixel based thing works out, I would prefer to create a single main character. The AI for multiple pixel based combat units would be pretty complex, imo. With a single character you could do some cool lone wolf thing. You could always allow the character to summon other creatures, who would have limited capabilities (thus simplifying the AI). Also, manipulating the enemies would be central. Traps, slowing effects, artificial summoned barriers, illusion magic, all of these would fit well with a single unit running around the screen.

[Lachie Dazdarian]

You got mail.

[Halifax]

Big improvements, today. Using Lachie's tutorial on simple geometry I got the units moving properly. They all slide toward their destination at the proper angle, at a set speed (which will later be set according to an acceleration scale). Also made a new MiniMap. It updates only the areas it needs to display, only when that area has changed. So, it's useable in real time (for example, on the walking around screen), and as a static display (in the menu, large size). Now I just gotta set the individual colors for each of the 1120 tiles...

Perhaps some sort of averaging function would be appropriate. Simply average the colors of the pixels in the tile... Hm. Man, I've programmed for 10 hours straight. And I just got that urge to do more!

Bah, not gonna happen. Turns out the average color of a tile filled with brown and green is purple. Just wouldn't look right.

[Halifax]

Putting this on hold for just a wee bit while I dig into Blender. Fun stuff!

[Halifax]

Back at it, mixing up the menu systems. Adding Radio Buttons and a new menu graphic system, more flexible. Gonna end up with direct text buttons, radio buttons with and without text, and buttons with pictures, with or without text.


By veeshanam at 2011-11-15

Having a bit of trouble with automagically generating maps based on bmp data. I use paint to make a simple map, green for grass, deep green for forest, etc, then generate a map file with the data. Then my map modification file goes in and fails to automatically edge the different terrain types. Gonna be a bit of work.

EDIT : Radio buttons done, bit tricky but very fun to make, and they look freaking awesome. Still no luck on the map modification, that's some crazy logic.

[3D]

this looks really interesting any new progress Halifax?

[Halifax]

I did make a little video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0v9GlX8sn0

I haven't made much progress since the video or since my last post. I've been busy buying a house and, frankly, I'm lazy. Losing interest

[sirToad]

Good work though. Maybe you'll go back to it later. I take long breaks but always seem to return to projects. 

[Lachie Dazdarian]

I take long breaks.... :/