Omnimaga

General Discussion => Technology and Development => Computer Projects and Ideas => Topic started by: ben_g on July 20, 2011, 02:09:09 pm

Title: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 20, 2011, 02:09:09 pm
Back to Cretaceous is a java game which i'm working at with a few friends. The engines are almost done, so now we have to start working at the graphical part. There is still one problem: We can't agree on how the dinosaurs wil look like, so we decided to append a poll. There are three possibilities:
 - Scales: The dinosaurs will have a scaled skin, which will make them look like giant reptiles. This is how almost everybody thinks abouth dinosaurs.
 - Feathers: Te dinosaurs will have feathers, which will make them look more like birds. Recent investigation has proved that some small dinosaurs had feathers. Weather the big dinosaurs had feathers is still uncertain.
 - A mix of the two: small dinosours will have feathers (becouse that's proven) and the big ones will still look like giant reptiles (becouse that's how everybody thinks abouth dinosaurs).

I'm not saying which one I prefer becouse that could have influence on the results, which isn't fair, so please don't ask for it.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 21, 2011, 04:55:20 pm
The results are in: Small dinosaurs will have feathers, big ones wil look like reptiles.

Thank you all for voting.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: yunhua98 on July 21, 2011, 04:55:42 pm
woo!  I voted for the winning opinion!  :P
Although that's generally true.  XD
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 21, 2011, 05:35:48 pm
Yup, that's how voting works ;)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: yunhua98 on July 21, 2011, 05:38:16 pm
oh, yeah, that too.  but I meant how small dinosaurs got the feathers first.  :P
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 21, 2011, 06:26:51 pm
That theory is based on the fact that many walking birds (or however non-flying birds are called in englisch) have feathers when they are young, but lose most of heir feathers when theygrow older.

And there are already som small dinosaur fossils found which where preserved good enough to see the feathers.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Munchor on July 24, 2011, 05:18:16 pm
Also ben_g, you and your friends could make a topic on the game too? :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 24, 2011, 05:28:33 pm
Well, we could do that, but it's still in a very early stage. I just made this thread becouse i needed the data of the poll.

The game still looks bad: there aren't many textures, and the texture coordinates aren't right. So we can't give screenshots. This is why i only used the poll and didn't post anything abouth the game yet.
But maybe I could post stuff abouth the storyline and stuff, if that's what you want.

what I can show abouth the game is a badly drawn logo (I'm not very good at drawing):
(http://www.picturestack.com/970/173/L31btclogodko.png)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: chattahippie on July 27, 2011, 05:01:53 pm
I like the font.  Gives it an old feel, which is great with dinosaurs.
Good luck!
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 27, 2011, 05:49:43 pm
for those who really want to know more: here's the current (may change(again)) storyline:

You start as an assistant of a scientist who is working at a time machine. The year is 2164. Earth has become a dead place after a climate disaster in 2082, and everybody has now moved to the moon and mars, where they filled the atmosphere with oxygen. The scientist who you work together with wants to use his time machine to undo this climate disaster so people can live on earth again.

The problem with the time machine is that there is still one component missing, and you'll have to bring that component to complete the time machine. But of course, traveling through time can cause a time paradox, so to see if it's safe, they first travel to a time period called cretaceous, the time in which the dinosaurs lived, to study the dinosaurs and the climate of that time. To make it safe, they do it in a copy of this dimension, so a time paradox won't have any effect on their lives.
But when they try to come back to the present, something went wrong and the time machine explodes, opening a giant wormhole that sucks them and many dinosaurs back to the present. This is where the real game begins: you can catch and train dinosaurs, and fight against other players. When you catch big enough flying or aquatic dinosaurs, you will be able to swim or fly while sitting on their backs. You will also be able to use vehicles to move around, and some weapons to kill or injure dinosaurs. There will be some quests to complete and three different worlds (the moon, mars, and after some quests about saving it: earth)

for those hungry for screen shots:
(http://picturestack.com/803/326/cjwUntitled8TH.png)
Yes, I know i still have to do textures, and the aspect ratio is bad in windowed mode, but i couldn't take screen shots in full screen mode.

btw: progress is about 15%
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2011, 04:09:25 pm
Oh nice a new 3D game. I hope it is still being worked on though. :D
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on August 31, 2011, 04:35:59 pm
Quote from: DJ_O on August 31, 2011, 04:09:25 pm
Oh nice a new 3D game. I hope it is still being worked on though. :D
Yes, there's still worked on, but progress is going really slow: I had much problems with this that needed to be solved like a problem with the resolution causing a crash on MAC's, model import scripts that suddenly stopped working, shaders not working correctely etc.

But as soon as this is all fixed and there is already some gameplay, I will release a demo.

BTW: the screenshot is already outdated. Instaed of one big model of the intire world, the world would be made out of multiple terrains(those are a special type of models that take up a lot less memory than normal models), and separate models of buildings which can be used multiple times.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Ashbad on August 31, 2011, 05:37:21 pm
I noticed the icon in the top left of your screenshot's window -- I'm guessing you're using either Xith3D or LWJGL?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on September 01, 2011, 06:34:01 am
Quote from: Ashbad on August 31, 2011, 05:37:21 pm
I noticed the icon in the top left of your screenshot's window -- I'm guessing you're using either Xith3D or LWJGL?
Yes, it's LWJGL, and it uses openGL, so it won't be supported on computers with a bad graphic card. I must have the system requirements somewere, I'll post them in the evening. i haven't got enough time right now.

EDIT: here they are:

Operating systemMac OS X, Windows, Linux, or Solaris
Memory (JVM heap size)> 10 MB (10MB is the absulute minimum)
CPU1GHz, but more is recomended
Graphic cardATI Radeon 9500, NVIDIA GeForce 5 FX, Intel GMA 4500, or better.
supporting OpenGL 2.0 or better
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 12, 2012, 04:20:51 pm
This sounds incredibly like Pokemon!? O.O But if it is computer and 3-d!! WOW THIS COULD BE AWESOME!! I can't wait!
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 12, 2012, 04:20:54 pm
so this is till being continued? as seeing the background music/soundtrack ?

amazing how you did this..great 3D, you say that it's not that good yet, but i think it's really good, congratz!
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 12, 2012, 04:24:19 pm
hopefully I manage to finish the level editor soon, and there might be a simple gameplay demo in a week. (but don't expect to much from it, it will be a very simple demo and maybe not even dinosaurs yet).

EDIT: by the way, the screenshots are outdated. The world is now based on an other system based on tilemapping that can handle huge worlds, while the screenshots are from a model-based world, which would be very slow for a big world.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 12, 2012, 04:25:52 pm
..again, lol, It sounds like pokemon! Which is cool cause I love pokemon and dinosaurs and computers and Java!! Can't wait :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 20, 2012, 06:18:46 pm
As promised: here's a demo:
English version: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11215358/btc-EN.zip
Dutch version: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11215358/btc.zip

It's really short and the graphics are quickly drawn in blender. But anyway, I hope you enjoy.

To run it: UNZIP the dist folder and run mygame.jar.  then you can choose the resolution and other technical stuff. Don't choose a very low resolution and if you're not sure that your computer supports OpenGL, do NOT start it in fullscreen mode, or your computer wil crash instaed of just the window. The instructions are given in-game. On the login screen, just click login, without typing something into the textboxes.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 02:38:05 pm
I made some screenshots:
(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/Screenshots.png)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 21, 2012, 02:41:03 pm
so by texture...you want color too? right
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 02:48:35 pm
This part will later become the beginning of the game, which is set on the moon, so it's supposed to be gray. Here, everything eccept for the wheels is textured.
But right now I could use a building texture: just a simple texture of a side of a building, with and without door.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 21, 2012, 03:21:36 pm
ok so dimensions? and do you want brick, or a space syfy texture? and colors? can I get creative or do you want it to be certain shades?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 03:26:25 pm
dimensions: 256x256, 512x512 or 1024x1024 pixels.
Texture: something similar to concrete, with a heavy looking metal door and small windows. You can get creative for the colors, but I would like it to fit in a sci-fi or futuristic theme.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 21, 2012, 03:28:52 pm
I know exactly what you want :) I'll get it done soon, give me a day
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 03:35:35 pm
thanks. Do you want 'saintrunner' in the credits or something else?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 21, 2012, 03:45:47 pm
looks great so far, it might have no real content yet, but it looks nice.. the only thing is that my pc begins to ventilate really hard, quite strange, but i guess that's just because of the 3D stuff, i don't have any problems or lags or so, just the noise xp

do you plan to add trees and roads and stuff?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 21, 2012, 03:48:07 pm
Quote from: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 03:35:35 pm
thanks. Do you want 'saintrunner' in the credits or something else?


Well I haven't done them yet lol, but if you like and use it then yeah saintrunner is fine (make sure it isn't capitalized) or you can use my real name, Jon Klabunde, but you can choose
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 04:14:03 pm
Quote from: Nick on January 21, 2012, 03:45:47 pm
do you plan to add trees and roads and stuff?
This part is set on the moon, so not in this part. On mars and earth there will be trees.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 21, 2012, 05:46:10 pm
here's two attempted textures. let me know what you think and what direction you want me to go from here? I'll get a big door soon
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 06:06:23 pm
I like the concrete one best. It fits best with the other textures that I already made (of which most of them aren't in the demo yet). can you make it into 2 textures? One of the front of the building with a door and if it fits, one or more windows, and the other with one or more windows. If it's possible, can you also make them seamlessly tileable?

But it looks good so far.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Spyro543 on January 21, 2012, 06:13:42 pm
There's no login button on your Alpha demo program when I start it, so I can't even try the demo.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 06:16:42 pm
if the login screen doesn't show up, then set the fourth option on the settings screen (the screen you see when you run the jar) to disabled.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Spyro543 on January 21, 2012, 06:18:34 pm
Ok, I got it, but I have a QWERTY keyboard. The ZQSD keys are not in any arrow key pattern whatsoever. Could you add an option for using the WASD or arrow keys instead?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 21, 2012, 06:21:57 pm
I'm working at a menu to customize controls. The default is ZQSD becouse all developers have an azerty keybourd, and on it the WASD keys aren't in any logical order. It's on the top of my TODO list, but for now you'll have to use ZQSD.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 21, 2012, 06:56:55 pm
Ok ben_g I'll make those changes and I'll get them to you soon
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 23, 2012, 07:47:26 am
can i ask you what kind of file that car is? is it a .blend, or a .stl or whatever? because i can work with other programs than blender, so if it's a universal extension (like .stl) i could help you for the car, dragons etc
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 23, 2012, 12:59:43 pm
It is used as a .j3o file in the demo, but I have it as .blend and .obj +.mtl on my computer. If you want any of the models, I can easily export them to any format that blender can export to and I can use any model files blender can import. And I just checked: STL is supported by blender.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 23, 2012, 02:01:00 pm
do you want me to help, or not? i thought it might be useful, but it's not that you have to accept it xp but i would love to help :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 23, 2012, 03:10:35 pm
I could definitely use some help. What exactly would you like to do?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 23, 2012, 03:53:19 pm
maybe some designing stuff, for the car or the dragons or other things.. not for the coding :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 25, 2012, 08:32:12 pm
Here is your door :) I added some dino-scratches at the bottom for that Jurassic Park feel :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 26, 2012, 12:58:19 pm
It looks good, but can I modify it a bit to make it fit the drawing style of the game better? It matches the drawing style of the jeep, but that texture was only a placeholder. Apart from that, it's really good and I will definitely use it.

I hope you didn't understand me wrong: you have done a great work, I should have given some example textures.

Quote from: Nick on January 23, 2012, 03:53:19 pm
maybe some designing stuff, for the car or the dragons or other things.. not for the coding :)
would you like to color 3D models, or would you like to start from scratch?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 26, 2012, 02:44:56 pm
the car itself, not the texture, so the modelling, but i don't know if i can do it, i might just give it a try :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 26, 2012, 03:05:30 pm
Ok, can you try to make a futuristic plane (something similar to a jetfighter)?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 26, 2012, 03:27:06 pm
Yeah feel free to modify it to fit your game as you wish :) Its your game after all! And after nick is done with the models I might be able to color those if you want
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 26, 2012, 03:29:36 pm
i'll give it a try, but you're sure blender can read .stl files? otherwise it's not very useful :)
i added one (of my pokedex), you might give it a try, and if that works it's ok xp
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 26, 2012, 03:34:39 pm
if it's supposed to have no material, then blender opens it correctely.

Quote from: saintrunner on January 26, 2012, 03:27:06 pm
Yeah feel free to modify it to fit your game as you wish :) Its your game after all! And after nick is done with the models I might be able to color those if you want
Thanks.

This is almost becoming a community project :) Let's show the world what omnimaga can do :P
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 26, 2012, 04:39:33 pm
lol yeah, but it stays your game :)

her are some quick drafts, tell me what you think of it, it's just to know in what direction you see "jet" and "future" xp
(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/jet.jpg)
(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/jet2.jpg)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 26, 2012, 04:46:15 pm
Maybe a little less skinny in the middle around the wings, and less of a point, BUT really really good! (don't listen to me this isn't my game lol)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 26, 2012, 04:49:30 pm
yeah, i also think it has to be bigger at the wings, but i did not have the energy to do it right now :) where do you think it's too much of a point? in total, or just in the front/back?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: saintrunner on January 26, 2012, 04:52:22 pm
well the front and back seem like some sort of needle point, which due to the abrupt 'bulge' if you will, at the center just before the wings, it would just explode once it start flying (if it got of the ground) at around 30 miles an hour.....but it does look really cool O.O and don't forget the wheels

edit: I would have gone for something like this
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 28, 2012, 02:13:00 pm
It looks great, but can you make the front less pointy and add an engine?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 28, 2012, 02:40:20 pm
do you mean jet engines?

something like this:
(http://files.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_736/7363405/file/eco-friendly-energy-jet-engine-rabbit-small-81295.jpg)

or more something like this:
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSeS5kr33tunolmmAvWEP5ltP_Y3uqN2lh4fnf6A7LhXTSE-xv6yZ_9U-ml)

i think the last one is better :)

and do you want some guns/bombs and stuff?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 28, 2012, 02:59:53 pm
I meant the secound one, and no guns/bombs, as they are only meant for transportation.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 28, 2012, 04:30:49 pm
something like this?

(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs2/plane.jpg)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 29, 2012, 01:22:42 pm
exactely.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 29, 2012, 02:14:55 pm
should i add some wings in the fron too? since now (like saint said) it's kinda bit unrealistic i think with the wings that far at the back

oh, and maybe wheels or so?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on January 29, 2012, 02:42:01 pm
wings at the front aren't nesisary, but you can add them if you want. For the wheels, can you make the landing gear without the wheels? It's easier if I can define the wheels as individual objects in the code.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: runeazn on January 29, 2012, 02:43:37 pm
if i am honest it looks more like a rocket than a airplane
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Nick on January 29, 2012, 02:58:27 pm
lol, that's true.. but it's hard to make it look like a real jet xs maybe i could change that with placing the wings more to the front, i'll try it
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on February 22, 2012, 02:51:25 pm
just to prove I'm still working on this: Here are some screenshots. This time the graphics are permanent, so this will show how the game will look like once it's finished.
(http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/ingame%20screenshots.jpg)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Spyro543 on February 22, 2012, 04:31:24 pm
Wow, you've been busy! I can't wait to try new versions!
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on February 22, 2012, 04:35:28 pm
do you like the new graphics?
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on February 22, 2012, 04:37:27 pm
For some reasons the wall bricks don't seem aligned between each sides of the textures, but otherwise it looks good so far.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on February 22, 2012, 04:46:52 pm
I know that. I've been editing the texture coordinates manually becouse the coordinates generated by blender were entirely wrong. This was the best i could make them. Also the center of the texture is brighter than the edges which gives an ugly effect. Maybe it will give better results when I use a good camera instaed of the one of my cellphone.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on February 22, 2012, 05:25:50 pm
AH ok sorry to hear about BLender. And a suggestion for textures would be to try using ones that are generated with softwares or something, so the brick effect, for example, is not curved or something. Camera lenses tend to give walls some sort of circular effect sometimes.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on May 09, 2012, 02:51:49 pm
just too prove I'm still working on this: here's a screenshot of the terain in the cretaceous period. The terrain can easily be made bigger because only a few tiles are loaded at the same time.
(http://picturestack.com/589/59/uFkUntitledlQK.png)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: hellninjas on May 09, 2012, 02:53:43 pm
I couldn't help but +1 this, it looks like it's going along nice Ben!
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on May 09, 2012, 03:01:11 pm
Looks very nice indeed. Glad it's still being worked on. :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 10, 2012, 10:43:34 am
a screenshot of a test of the multiplayer system (currentely only chat):
(http://picturestack.com/930/25/18uUntitledVrH.png)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: TIfanx1999 on July 10, 2012, 10:47:47 am
Wow, this is actually coming along quite nicely! O.O
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 10, 2012, 02:31:21 pm
I just tested a slightely updated multiplayer system (you can now see each other (as white cylinders (placeholder))), with a friend who lives a few kilometers away, and it worked. This means that the next public demo will almost certainly be a multiplayer game.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on October 14, 2012, 04:24:39 pm
<necro>
This project had been on hold for quite a long time, but now I'm going to pick this one back up. I finally started adding some gameplay, and now it's possible to harvest leaves, sticks and logs from trees. You can't use them yet, but it's a start.

Here's a video to show how the current system works:


And as you see, the graphics are still pretty basic. I promise that I'll improve them after I've added most of the gameplay.

Currently, harvesting works by right-clicking the tree until it falls over. You need to have an axe in the inventory to do this. Then when it fell over, you can take the leaves by right-clicking the tree again (leaves will be food for herbivores in later versions) and you don't need an axe for it. For harvesting the sticks and the trunk, you need an axe or a saw. When the tree is fully harvested, a stump will appear and the tree will regenerate in approximately 35 seconds.

If you have a better idea of how to harvest resources, please post.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on October 14, 2012, 07:40:29 pm
The graphics seems to have improved a lot, though. They went from half-Life '90s style to more early Xbox 360 for grass and trees. Of course for the building and the car that's a different matter but I'm glad this is progressing again. :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: lkj on October 14, 2012, 08:06:24 pm
Wow, it seems you're coming along with this game quite nicely :)
And the nature graphics are fairly good.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on June 27, 2013, 04:48:02 pm
There has been very little progress for a long while, and most of it was just some changes in the code which would be barely visible on screenshots.
But now the hollidays started, I have time to pich this up again!
I have started working on the characers. I'm currently working on the professor from the tutorial (the guy that causes a lot of trouble by making a malfunctioning time machine).
This is how he looks like now:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1013698_544109962313912_1860253256_n.jpg)
The texture could still use some work, but as a first attempt, I'm quite happy with it. And maybe it would look better if I had used a camera of a better quality.
Anyway, I hope you like it!
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on June 30, 2013, 05:36:50 pm
Some parts look a bit flat, but other than that I like the detailled texture. :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Kerey on July 02, 2013, 04:16:26 am
My artist has had good luck with CrazyBump for giving his textures that extra pop that they get from good quality normal and specular maps. Looks like the student version would set you back $49 though.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on July 02, 2013, 02:02:18 pm
It mainly looks so flat because the texture has no shading and the persfective is turned off. But some normal maps would indeed make it better, but I'm not willing to pay €35 (rough estimation) for software I would probably use only once. And I also try to use freeware software when possible, so I don't end up not having enough money and having to sell my games instaed of giving them away for free.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on July 02, 2013, 03:34:43 pm
I hope you can find freeware equivalents that can do some of that stuff D:. I hate when I google how to do something in particular (for example, I was searching for tweening once) and all I can find are shareware softwares with lot of limitations, paid ones that tries to pass themselves off as freewares, paid ones and free ones that don't work.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Kerey on July 02, 2013, 06:52:33 pm
You can do heightmaps by hand in GIMP, and then convert them to a normal map. It just takes longer than CrazyBump, which just goes off of your base texture and automates the process.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: Keoni29 on July 19, 2013, 05:28:48 am
HL with dino's? :)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on August 08, 2013, 06:34:13 pm
I just decided that it might be better to update this topic a bit more often. That way, you guys know how the project is coming along, and for me, writing about it makes me more motivated to do more.

Since my previous post, I've done a lot of programming. This is what I've done:
 - I have created a crafting interface. This works by having a central item, and on the sides of the item, you can add more items. When you've laid out a combination that matches a recipe, you can craft the item. There's a textbox next to the craft button to decide how many times you want to craft, and the result (item + amount) you will get after crafting one time is displayed. Next to the crafting grid, there's a list that contains the recipes that can still be made by expanding the already present items on the grid.
The only thing left to do here is making the interface give you hints abouth how to make a recipe selected from the list of possible recipes. Adding/moving items in the crafting interface or between the inventory and the interface is done by drag&drop.

 - The entity system is slightely improved. Okay, this doesn't really change anything gameplay-wise, but it makes it easier for me to add more entities with having to worry less abouth crashes (in the previous system, they were poorly initialized), and it made it possible to add:

 - An interaction system! A simple interaction system was already present in previous versions, but this one is a lot better. Firstly, it allows the player to interact by using items on entities. This is done by dragging an item from the inventory and dropping it on the entity you want to use it on. Secondly, the interaction system is now entity-based, which again makes it easier for me to add new ways of interacting with new entities, without having to worry a lot abouth typing mistakes. And finally, the interactions with entities give feedback, which makes it possible to make interactions do more than just change the entity. For example using a key on a door could destroy the key while opening the door (zelda style).

 - You can chop down trees again! This feature has also been present in previous versions, but it has been temporarily taken out because I converted the tree from being a model with interaction data stored in it's name and a controller class (for usage in the old interaction system) into an entity. The tree entity also has the added feature of supporting multiple types of trees with different propperties (like the time needed to chop them down), and it can react differently on different types of axes. The way you cut down the trees has slightely changed as well: instaed of right-clicking them with an axe in your inventory, you have to drag an axe from your inventory and drop it on the tree.

I've also fixed some things in the multiplayer controller class that were poorly initialized.

That's what I've done in that time. And as soon as I've improved the graphics of the new interfaces, I'll post some screenshots or a video.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on October 21, 2014, 03:18:40 pm
First off, sorry for the necropost, but I have an anouncement to make about this project:

As you may or may not know, this project started with a small team of people, but quite soon after developement started, the activity of my team mates decreased (mainly because they had a lot more work for school and such), so afther a while, I was basically working alone on it. And off course, working alone means that progress goes a lot slower. It happened regularly that I was working for hours for a small feature or bugfix that's only barely noticable, which off course didn't give me a lot of motivation to keep up with it. I think that most of the time, the only thing that kept my motivation just high enough to not declare it dead is that this game is the first programming project I ever started (or joined, since I didn't start it alone).

But life stories aside, here's the real anouncement: I decided to stop working on this project for now, because this project is way to big to be able to finish it by myself. I'm not declaring it dead just yet, but untill we (the team behind this game) have time (and motivation) to work on it again, there won't be any progress on this game at all. That's why I'll declare it as in 'deep coma': it's not quite dead yet, but it's chances of survival are - unfurtunately - very slim.

Well, you may have been able to guess what was above, but there's still something that might make this necropost worth it: You may have noticed how most of my projects are open-source, but not this one. Well, I'm not confortable with uploading the source to be downloadable by anyone, but if you want to view the source of this project, or want to use some textures/models, send me a PM. In the case of models, I'm not sure I can give them to you though, since not all of them are made by me.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on October 21, 2014, 03:25:46 pm
This is the main reason why I never liked to participate in team projects, let alone start them. At least as solo author I have more guarantees that everything will move forward at my pace and without much pressure. For team work I usually prefer to just ask some help, such as for sprite design and coding small parts of the game, and I don't take the help for granted. With team projects it's almost guaranted that at least 1 team member will lose interest faster than the others, putting the project in jeopardy.


As for source I prefer things that are open-source now, but considering what happened to Doors CS 7, I can understand why someone would restrict source to only specific community users or even make their projects completely closed-source.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: pimathbrainiac on October 21, 2014, 09:58:45 pm
Ben_g, do you need a teammate? I know JME :P
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: ben_g on October 22, 2014, 03:27:25 am
Quote from: pimathbrainiac on October 21, 2014, 09:58:45 pm
Ben_g, do you need a teammate? I know JME :P
You want to join the team? Well, I have to warn you, the code is a huge mess.

I'd also like to have at least one team member who's good at modelling and/or texturing, but I'll deffinately consider your application.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: pimathbrainiac on October 22, 2014, 10:08:54 am
Alright. I know XiiDraco can model and texture really well, but I don't know if he'd be up to it.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: XiiDraco on October 29, 2014, 12:55:18 am
Funny that I just saw this randomly. Omnimaga needs a tag option? Yeah I can model, and I'd do it to. Pimath and my's game is currently on hold anyway so yeah...

Sorry Pi about the hold on Cogs of Rust. Got a little busy on a handful of other projects. (We are totally still working on it though!)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on October 31, 2014, 12:10:10 am
By tag option, do you mean like on CnCalc.org (Chinese TI website) where you can flag your new topics as TI-83+, Nspire, game, etc or like Youtube vid tags? That could be handy when people are seeking for specific discussions, but unfortunately not many people might use it unless admins forced everyone to use at least 1 tag per topic.
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: XiiDraco on October 31, 2014, 01:30:45 am
Actually I was thinking like a message sent to your inbox when someone mentions your name in any post. That way If people were talking about me like what was said below, I could actually Know about it instead of randomly stumbling across it XD.


Granted it would have to be optional, cause not everybody wants an inbox full of mentions....
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on November 02, 2014, 06:48:33 pm
That would probably be abused quite a lot if certain immature users signed up though. Perhaps it would need to be restricted to moderators like on yAronet (over there they use !call <nickname> to notify that an user is wanted in a topic)
Title: Re: Back to cretaceous
Post by: XiiDraco on November 02, 2014, 08:53:52 pm
Or have it limited to a required number of posts? Isn't that how the IRC works? It's 40 right?