39 replies to this topic

[dhm]

/>It costs money to port anything to iphone, doesn't it? I'd like to eventually try my hand at creating a few new maps for you, dhm. But i'd like to play the demo first to get a feel for what you're looking for.

I believe the cost is for pushing apps to the app store. With iOS that is the only way to distribute and there is a cost to do so for both Android and iOS. The benefit of writing an android game is you don't have to distribute your executable through the market if you don't want, and the licensing cost to publish to the Android market is much cheaper.

And maps would always be great. I can always use maps. I'm toying with the idea of having certain areas randomly-generated, but I think for the first few releases I'll stick to static maps.

11/1 EDIT: Don't want to double-post just yet, but Items are functional and I've continued cleaning the code. A barebones status effects system is in place to handle some of the ideas I've had, too.

I'm certainly releasing a demo of the desktop version by the end of the weekend. Android is a maybe. I just need to get to a point where the controls work properly for touchscreen.

[dhm]

If you have java installed, you can play a short tech demo here

EDIT: there are some minor rendering issues if you resize the window, due to the awkward aspect ratio. I will fix it.

...and a video.

[Monkeydog]

My thoughts:

I enjoyed it, it has a lot of potential and it looks great. Buuuuuut...

I think it'd feel better if the jumping button was mapped to the up key.
I also think it'd also feel better if the player didn't stop just by attacking. It feels weird.
Also I don't like the Castelvania-esque blow back by being hit, it sucks especially if you're making it a vertical platformer. Annnnd monsters respawn way too quick, which especially makes everything tedious if you fall down.

Was there an end point to that demo?

[dhm]

/>My thoughts:

I enjoyed it, it has a lot of potential and it looks great. Buuuuuut...

I think it'd feel better if the jumping button was mapped to the up key.
I also think it'd also feel better if the player didn't stop just by attacking. It feels weird.
Also I don't like the Castelvania-esque blow back by being hit, it sucks especially if you're making it a vertical platformer. Annnnd monsters respawn way too quick, which especially makes everything tedious if you fall down.

Was there an end point to that demo?

Thanks for the feedback -- nope there's no end. You just run around bashing monsters to get a feel of the mechanics.

• key binding will be implemented... eventually. The "keys" section of the menu will have that.
• It felt weird being able to move while attacking. Maybe if I let the player resume moving quicker? Some of the skills I implement should make combat more fun.
• Yeah the level design is by no means final. I also fell a lot and it's sorta frustrating. I'd like to focus more on the RPG elements rather than frustrating platformer-esque. I can control how frequently and where monsters come from, so I won't put them in any annoying places.

woot! I'm glad you played it. I'm working on transitioning between maps now.

[dhm]

Teleporting map-to-map is done. I ran into an ugly snag where my collision manager was referencing an old pointer to the monster list (It gets wiped and rebuilt when you change maps), but all is working now.

I've also made some minor changes to the forest tileset:



If you want the tileset (either to make maps or for your own personal use) there's an updated link to the tileset here. Enjoy!

[dhm]

I've added a new area, check it out!

[Glaciermage]

I love the gfx DHM.

[Monkeydog]

Ohhh neato. I love beaches.

[dhm]

Folks, thanks again for the great feedback and ideas.

I'll be posting updates regular now on my blog: heroesofumbra.com.

Of course anything noteworthy (releases, etc) will still be posted here, but more granular updates will be available there.

[lazlo falconi]

Can I mention that I love the Zelda 4 reference when you wake up on the beach?

[dhm]

/>Can I mention that I love the Zelda 4 reference when you wake up on the beach?

One of my inspirations. I'll be referencing that game to practice the silent hero mechanic. :)

I figure I'd update you guys... network programming is painfully difficult; however, it also is very rewarding. I'm hard at work at synchronizing gameplay experiences across the wire. I've even implemented PVP! If there is enough interest I'd like to get together some folks to try to stress test the game's networking capabilities. Perhaps I could create an all-out team battle type mode? I don't know. Things are inching towards code completion, though!

[Monkeydog]

Sign me up for interested.

[Glaciermage]

/>Sign me up for interested.

[dhm]

So on a whim I played with this at a friend's house. The current LAN capabilities are actually pretty solid.

Here's what's synchronized:

- Players (position, health, exp gains, etc)
- Equipment
- Skills and Animations
- Damage display
- Enemies

Here's what I really want to also synchronize:
- Moving Platforms
- Loot
- Chat!

Issues at this point are minor; some packets aren't getting received occasionally, but the game handles missed packets (fairly) gracefully and updates the game state accordingly. All in all, netplay is not perfect but I'm about 80% happy with it right now. I even implemented PVP!

Because this is so close to completion feature-wise, and SU is more in "conceptual" development (e.g., writing cutscene dialogue) you'll probably see more of this project again! />

With that being said, within the next week or so I will follow-up on my goal of getting out another demo. Specifically, this will be the PC version "netplay" demo, so you can play with your friends over the LAN. I might also experimentally try running a server over the internet to see if it's at all playable.

In the mean-time, if any of you have spare time, I'm always open to adding your maps to the game.

[Monkeydog]

Do you have any more tilesets besides the one you posted forever ago?

I'm just interested in case I feel like map making some time soon.

[dhm]

I currently only have these ones:

http://alcuria.net/tiles/

Any and all maps are appreciated. I need to write up a guide with the next build on how users can create and test their own!

[lazlo falconi]

Did you ever release a netplay version? Does it require specific servers, or can it run just off of my PC?

[dhm]

/>Did you ever release a netplay version? Does it require specific servers, or can it run just off of my PC?

It's not quite there yet, but it's pretty close...

How it works is it doesn't require specific server info, accounts, or any logging in of sorts. When you start a game, you effectively start a server that players can connect to, if you wish (and if they have your IP). You can start or join games from android, desktop (any OS with Java), and even Ouya when it is released. It's pretty neat. :)

With that said, update from my previous post: Platforms are synchronized, I've implemented chat, and I need to implement a few more skills. However, I will very soon release a beta and open up a quick server from my home to see how the server handles the load of several players. There's no limitation on the client at this time, so I'm curious what it can handle.

So in short the only thing stopping my release at this time are a few bugs with netplay and implementing a few skills.

[dhm]

Guys I can't believe I've been working on this for a year already.

 

I've finished the third dungeon and have one more to go.

[Monkeydog]

Awesome! All of the +1's