151
Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Legacy v0.1.3
« on: October 19, 2011, 10:01:32 PM »
Just put up the latest version; come check it out! https://sites.google.com/site/legacydevpage/home
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153
Programming / Web Hosting
« on: August 29, 2011, 10:01:58 PM »
So, I'm getting pretty close to putting my project up for download, to get feedback from the community. I'm at a playable demo stage; step 12 of the popular "How to Write a Rougelike in 15 Steps."
However, I'm not entirely sure how to go about putting it up. Does anyone have any advice on how to publish a download site? Specifics would be very helpful. I'm not looking for anything super flashy, just a place to download from.
Also, I have no money.
However, I'm not entirely sure how to go about putting it up. Does anyone have any advice on how to publish a download site? Specifics would be very helpful. I'm not looking for anything super flashy, just a place to download from.
Also, I have no money.
154
Other Announcements / Re: When to Release?
« on: April 05, 2011, 04:15:01 PM »
Release it once it's fun.
I doubt anyone who posts on a rougelike dev forum is really interested in the wow factor; you get here by pledging your allegiance to function over form. It's nice to have pretty graphics, but they don't make a game fun; they make it pretty.
Where projects die is in the last 10%; bughunting, endless tweaking, getting this feature just right . . . It seems like that'd be the time to really have a fan base pushing you. You can always add more, but at some point your changes stop being meaningful, and actual players are a good indicator for that.
I doubt anyone who posts on a rougelike dev forum is really interested in the wow factor; you get here by pledging your allegiance to function over form. It's nice to have pretty graphics, but they don't make a game fun; they make it pretty.
Where projects die is in the last 10%; bughunting, endless tweaking, getting this feature just right . . . It seems like that'd be the time to really have a fan base pushing you. You can always add more, but at some point your changes stop being meaningful, and actual players are a good indicator for that.
155
Temple of the Roguelike / Re: Welcome to Temple of the Roguelike Forums! (a.k.a. Introduce Yourself Thread)
« on: March 17, 2011, 05:25:11 PM »
As a hobbyist, I don't have the benefit of experience that a lot of you professionals do. But mostly, I find that I hit a certain point and go, "oh, I should have done this fundamental thing differently." So I'm trying to have a bit more organization, so maybe I don't trip quite so much.
As an example, I had been having the actors handle attacks; when one attacked another, the agressor ran Actor.attack(Attack att, Actor defender). Which is all fine, until I start doing area of effect attacks, and I need to involve the engine (as the actors don't usually have access to the map; just when making decisions). Also, having the engine execute actions allows me to treat non-attack actions like attacks (I can handle it all with Engine.executeAction(Actor actor, Action action, Coord target)).
While this one thing doesn't take too long to change, I find I quickly get a pile of these. Then I start having a hard time remembering where particular routines were, I spend a lot of time bug-hunting for errors caused by gutting and relocating, etc.
And I'm a deli clerk. It's not like I come home from work intellectually exhausted.
As an example, I had been having the actors handle attacks; when one attacked another, the agressor ran Actor.attack(Attack att, Actor defender). Which is all fine, until I start doing area of effect attacks, and I need to involve the engine (as the actors don't usually have access to the map; just when making decisions). Also, having the engine execute actions allows me to treat non-attack actions like attacks (I can handle it all with Engine.executeAction(Actor actor, Action action, Coord target)).
While this one thing doesn't take too long to change, I find I quickly get a pile of these. Then I start having a hard time remembering where particular routines were, I spend a lot of time bug-hunting for errors caused by gutting and relocating, etc.
And I'm a deli clerk. It's not like I come home from work intellectually exhausted.
156
Programming / Re: What do you consider classical features and mechanics?
« on: March 14, 2011, 10:26:10 PM »
I think the idea of megacorps filling in the "gods" roll of most RLs is pretty clever, actually. In a sci-fi setting, why wouldn't they slap a monitoring chip (ie, track the piety) of their endorsees (ie, worshippers)?
They even fit easily into the standard god portfolios; the god of strength becomes a cybernetics corp, the god of good becomes a massive nonprofit, the god of thieves becomes, I don't know, a data acquisition service? Even racial gods could fit well, in the form of planetary governments endorsing characters.
I suppose I immediately think of endorsements, like pro sports. But actual employment would work too.
They even fit easily into the standard god portfolios; the god of strength becomes a cybernetics corp, the god of good becomes a massive nonprofit, the god of thieves becomes, I don't know, a data acquisition service? Even racial gods could fit well, in the form of planetary governments endorsing characters.
I suppose I immediately think of endorsements, like pro sports. But actual employment would work too.
157
Temple of the Roguelike / Re: Welcome to Temple of the Roguelike Forums! (a.k.a. Introduce Yourself Thread)
« on: March 13, 2011, 04:41:42 PM »
Hey, everybody.
I'm a 29 year-old from the United States' West coast. I came to rougelikes through Diablo II, as I'm sure many of us have.
I took a semester of C++ at the local community college when I was in high school, which was a great foundation for learning Java later on. I'm definitely in the "hobby programmer" camp, rather than all you professionals out there.
While I'm working on my first rougelike, I've programmed a few other games thus far; a few ports of boardgames (Mastermind, Battleship), and an original tile-swapping game (think Bejewled, but with objectives).
I'm currently working on the game that's been kicking around in my head since I was 15, though it has obviously undergone a lot of changes since then. I suppose it falls into the coffebreak category, because it'll lack a lot of the intricacy of many rougelikes (only 7 equipment slots!?! Blasphemy!).
I tend to move pretty slowly, as I've got work, family (I'm a dad), and not letting myself get fat again all eating at my time. I'm trying a more structured approach, with a solid design document before I start out, because I keep stalling out at the demo stage (small hard-coded map, functional enemies, movement and basic attack functional).
I've tried a pretty wide variety of RLs, but the ones that hold my attention are the ones that are easy to get into. As I get older, I find that I have less and less patience to learn new, intricate systems. So my most-played RLs are Diablo II and DoomRL, though I spent enough time recently (maybe 20 hours or so) to be disappointed by Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
I'm a 29 year-old from the United States' West coast. I came to rougelikes through Diablo II, as I'm sure many of us have.
I took a semester of C++ at the local community college when I was in high school, which was a great foundation for learning Java later on. I'm definitely in the "hobby programmer" camp, rather than all you professionals out there.
While I'm working on my first rougelike, I've programmed a few other games thus far; a few ports of boardgames (Mastermind, Battleship), and an original tile-swapping game (think Bejewled, but with objectives).
I'm currently working on the game that's been kicking around in my head since I was 15, though it has obviously undergone a lot of changes since then. I suppose it falls into the coffebreak category, because it'll lack a lot of the intricacy of many rougelikes (only 7 equipment slots!?! Blasphemy!).
I tend to move pretty slowly, as I've got work, family (I'm a dad), and not letting myself get fat again all eating at my time. I'm trying a more structured approach, with a solid design document before I start out, because I keep stalling out at the demo stage (small hard-coded map, functional enemies, movement and basic attack functional).
I've tried a pretty wide variety of RLs, but the ones that hold my attention are the ones that are easy to get into. As I get older, I find that I have less and less patience to learn new, intricate systems. So my most-played RLs are Diablo II and DoomRL, though I spent enough time recently (maybe 20 hours or so) to be disappointed by Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
158
Programming / Re: Tracking targets
« on: March 13, 2011, 06:31:33 AM »
So, bringing it back, then.
I'm assuming that you have some random variable in your AI decision-making, and that you sometimes assign actions which take more than one turn. Otherwise, you don't need anything.
You could store the current action as "Get item X" (well, "currentAcion = GET_ITEM" and "currentTarget = item"). Then each turn, the AI checks to see if there is an item of the type within sight, then moves as close as possible, picking it up if possible. This also works for things like slow melee guys (you don't want them charging dead targets), etc.
This is a pretty clean solution, as you can just let the AI figure the best way to accomplish its current goal each turn; this has the emergent behavior of making the NPCs look smart. The only thing is that this means the AI will repath each turn; this can be computationally expensive when the target is far away, or if you have a very large number of NPCs acting.
If you experience slowdown, you could save the path. When the AI checks if its current action is still valid, part of that check is if the item is on the last step of the path. If it is, then the NPC continues to step. If not, it chooses a new task.
I'm assuming that you have some random variable in your AI decision-making, and that you sometimes assign actions which take more than one turn. Otherwise, you don't need anything.
You could store the current action as "Get item X" (well, "currentAcion = GET_ITEM" and "currentTarget = item"). Then each turn, the AI checks to see if there is an item of the type within sight, then moves as close as possible, picking it up if possible. This also works for things like slow melee guys (you don't want them charging dead targets), etc.
This is a pretty clean solution, as you can just let the AI figure the best way to accomplish its current goal each turn; this has the emergent behavior of making the NPCs look smart. The only thing is that this means the AI will repath each turn; this can be computationally expensive when the target is far away, or if you have a very large number of NPCs acting.
If you experience slowdown, you could save the path. When the AI checks if its current action is still valid, part of that check is if the item is on the last step of the path. If it is, then the NPC continues to step. If not, it chooses a new task.
159
Other Announcements / Re: What is good in roguelike gameplay?
« on: March 12, 2011, 09:40:57 PM »
I find that, while I've tried a few rougelikes, far and away the most time I've spent playing is Diablo II and DoomRL. So this reply is mostly about them.
Items: In my preferred rougelikes, items are relatively simple. Often, they can be modified (slotted items, upgrade packs), but they do little other than their intended function.
NPC Behavior: I like 'em simple. I don't much care for exploitable behavior, but I do like the old-school black-and-white morality. I'm not here to understand what motivates my NPCs, I'm here to separate them from their tasty, tasty EPs and swag.
Interface: I like a simple interface. I prefer games which are designed to enable ease of control, rather than depth of control. I'm not going to quaff a wand, nor fire a helmet. I've never enjoyed fighting with the computer to try and word a simple action completely. Any one who's played the text adventure games of the 80s knows what I mean.
I'm totally happy with "equip," "use," "alternate use," "combine," etc.
Equipment Upgrade Path: I'm pretty flexible on this one. As long as it's easy to tell if the swag I find is better than what I've got, I'm fairly good. Oh, and I should be improving fairly often. This can be leveling, new gear, or whatever, but there should be a definite feeling of progression. Infrequently enough to be satisfying, but frequently enough to be fun.
Power Curve: Again, it can be steep or shallow. As long as the game is consistently challenging, without being overpowering, I'm happy. Of course, without some power progression the game gets boring, but I don't care whether I get large or small power boosts when I level (or whatever).
Items: In my preferred rougelikes, items are relatively simple. Often, they can be modified (slotted items, upgrade packs), but they do little other than their intended function.
NPC Behavior: I like 'em simple. I don't much care for exploitable behavior, but I do like the old-school black-and-white morality. I'm not here to understand what motivates my NPCs, I'm here to separate them from their tasty, tasty EPs and swag.
Interface: I like a simple interface. I prefer games which are designed to enable ease of control, rather than depth of control. I'm not going to quaff a wand, nor fire a helmet. I've never enjoyed fighting with the computer to try and word a simple action completely. Any one who's played the text adventure games of the 80s knows what I mean.
I'm totally happy with "equip," "use," "alternate use," "combine," etc.
Equipment Upgrade Path: I'm pretty flexible on this one. As long as it's easy to tell if the swag I find is better than what I've got, I'm fairly good. Oh, and I should be improving fairly often. This can be leveling, new gear, or whatever, but there should be a definite feeling of progression. Infrequently enough to be satisfying, but frequently enough to be fun.
Power Curve: Again, it can be steep or shallow. As long as the game is consistently challenging, without being overpowering, I'm happy. Of course, without some power progression the game gets boring, but I don't care whether I get large or small power boosts when I level (or whatever).