31
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.21
« on: July 18, 2010, 04:33:44 PM »
Alpha 4 up, check the new thread.
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32
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.21
« on: July 12, 2010, 10:00:15 PM »
Thanks Elohssa. 
To be honest once you get to the Black Ops, its pretty much all there is to it, and the gameplay is stuck in a loop.
Only thing you could do is trying to find the special trackers items, if you haven't already, especially the one which is useful vs the BOs.
Alpha 4 will have more content, you can check my blog for more information.
The gameplay getting repetitive is a major concern with this kind of survival game, I'll keep trying to improve the gameplay flow.
Civilians closing/barricading stuff on your escape route is funny. I just had a playtesting game where a fellow retard survivor kept closing doors and windows right in front of me while I was escaping. Seemed like he was actually fleeing from me
Finally he got stuck along the map border and kept closing the same window I desperatly tried to get through. I was fed up and blasted the window open. I suppose he died a bit later 
To be honest once you get to the Black Ops, its pretty much all there is to it, and the gameplay is stuck in a loop.
Only thing you could do is trying to find the special trackers items, if you haven't already, especially the one which is useful vs the BOs.
Alpha 4 will have more content, you can check my blog for more information.
The gameplay getting repetitive is a major concern with this kind of survival game, I'll keep trying to improve the gameplay flow.
Civilians closing/barricading stuff on your escape route is funny. I just had a playtesting game where a fellow retard survivor kept closing doors and windows right in front of me while I was escaping. Seemed like he was actually fleeing from me
Finally he got stuck along the map border and kept closing the same window I desperatly tried to get through. I was fed up and blasted the window open. I suppose he died a bit later
33
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.21
« on: July 07, 2010, 05:08:51 PM »
Rats
Rats are actually undead rats, they hunger for flesh, they won't go after "normal" food.
In later versions you'll be able to "trick" undeads by dropping meat to distract them (so including rats).
I solved the "too much actors" problem by rebalancing the default settings.
I also added the subways with zombies, and it works nice.
A "Level Of Detail" approach could work but I'm going for full simulation instead, I don't want the game universe to be centered on the player.
Inventory
A more complex inventory system would be interesting/realistic for some players, but I wanted to have a simple inventory system since the beginning, hence the very primitive fixed number of slots + stackable items system.
Personally I don't like roguelikes where you have to mentally compute weights, slots and whatnot before taking/dropping an item.
Rats are actually undead rats, they hunger for flesh, they won't go after "normal" food.
In later versions you'll be able to "trick" undeads by dropping meat to distract them (so including rats).
I solved the "too much actors" problem by rebalancing the default settings.
I also added the subways with zombies, and it works nice.
A "Level Of Detail" approach could work but I'm going for full simulation instead, I don't want the game universe to be centered on the player.
Inventory
A more complex inventory system would be interesting/realistic for some players, but I wanted to have a simple inventory system since the beginning, hence the very primitive fixed number of slots + stackable items system.
Personally I don't like roguelikes where you have to mentally compute weights, slots and whatnot before taking/dropping an item.
34
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.21
« on: July 06, 2010, 11:58:19 AM »Off topic, probably, but I'd long since forgotten the following link existed and wondered if roguedjack had a take on it/had even heard of it to give it a whirl? Not positive if the purchase links and whatnot still even work, but random stuff like this manifests when I start digging through my bookmarks...Don't know about this game, and never tried a zombie themed rl. For some reason I find I am more creative in games if I don't look at other people similar games, which is complete opposite to the way I work with graphics and musics (I need other people stuff to look at/listen to).
http://deadbyzombie.com/
I absolutely love the game! It's got some nice graphics, good gameplay, good design, I'm really impressed. The only thing I've noticed is that it's very, very hard. I find myself dying over and over and over unless I'm very careful. Aside from that, it's amazing, great work!Thanks! Its easier to survive if you make a shelter. Shops are very good for this, destroy the doors and push the shelves to barricade yourself in. Then make runs for food.
35
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.21
« on: July 04, 2010, 07:07:40 PM »
Thanks for all the feedback.
I wanted to see how players coped with the new food situation but its a bit too extreme. I'll make decay more progressive and add more food variety.
You won't be able to push to things through doors/windows, it's a game engine limitation : both door/windows are considered as map objects and you can't have more than one map object per tile. It may sound silly but it makes design much easier... Okay I made the engine and design myself so I'm the silly one here
I didn't change melee weapon break chance (2% per use) you were just being unlucky. Weapon jam chance is 1%,but I might increase that or make it weather dependant.
I also corrected how FoV/LoS range is computed in the next version for less uggly shapes at close range.
I'll consider adding primitives weapons when you break stuff.
About winning the game, it will be possible but this is not a priority. I want the basics done correctly first, I'll do that later (plot + winning conditions).
I wanted to see how players coped with the new food situation but its a bit too extreme. I'll make decay more progressive and add more food variety.
You won't be able to push to things through doors/windows, it's a game engine limitation : both door/windows are considered as map objects and you can't have more than one map object per tile. It may sound silly but it makes design much easier... Okay I made the engine and design myself so I'm the silly one here
I didn't change melee weapon break chance (2% per use) you were just being unlucky. Weapon jam chance is 1%,but I might increase that or make it weather dependant.
I also corrected how FoV/LoS range is computed in the next version for less uggly shapes at close range.
I'll consider adding primitives weapons when you break stuff.
About winning the game, it will be possible but this is not a priority. I want the basics done correctly first, I'll do that later (plot + winning conditions).
36
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.2
« on: June 30, 2010, 01:35:33 PM »
Alpha 3.2 out, first post edited.
37
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« on: June 25, 2010, 12:31:20 PM »
Thanks for the comments.
But yes 3.1 is too easy. 3.2 will be a bit harder.
There will be more stuff going on in later versions.
To know what items are on a stack over the mouse over the tile.
More content will be added.
Plus it block LOS in streets.
Hey guys, sup author-dude. Just dropping by with some remarks, critiques, and what have you.Start a new game with increased difficulty.
First off, this game is fun. I really like where it's going, and I've enjoyed it for hours and hours already, but there's a problem. I'm the goddamn Juggernaut.
But yes 3.1 is too easy. 3.2 will be a bit harder.
There will be more stuff going on in later versions.
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1. Zombies are supposed to be dumb, sure, but these guys are way dumb. Ol' Bob McGready can hide out in his boarded up apartment for weeks without a zombie incursion. I recommend using a cellular automaton to govern the presence of scents in the game. The longer you linger in one space, the further your scent spreads until it reaches equilibrium with the rate of scent decay. Here's a diagram.Already implemented scent spreading, but it ate way too much CPU time for my liking.
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2. An option to build free standing barricades could be nice,You will be able to build makeshift obstacles in later versions.
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3. One exceptionally reliable method I have found for disposing of zombies in a risk-free manner is to wait until they come within melee range, hit them, and step backward.WAD, you are supposed to use your superior speed to your advantage. You are limited by your STA and the tactical situation.
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4. This is a more technical complaint. The game should employ an icon for items that are in your inventory or on the ground which is separate from the decorations used by the actors.Sorry won't happen.
To know what items are on a stack over the mouse over the tile.
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5. I haven't noticed any of the zombified soldiers wearing their old gear. That should change. Armored zombies that take more hits would be a real treat. (Of course, when they mutate they should shed their armor in the process. That could get a little ridiculous.)Not too hot about that.
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6. Lastly, sneaking!Stealth will be added later.
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I'd also like to second the suggestions of unloading guns (Doom RL does this nicely) and maybe adding a little bit more variety to the items found in-game.Unload guns on the enemies
More content will be added.
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Oh and, by the way... Why don't burning cars ever go out?Cause you'll be able to extinguish/light fire in later versions.
Plus it block LOS in streets.
I rescued a soldier from a near-fatal zombie attack who, in spite of having a loaded weapon and ammunition in his inventory, would not fight back. He was out of stamina, also.Known bug (see blog).
The abundance of fully loaded army pistols and ammo, and completely empty army rifles tells me something goofy is happening here. Can NPC actors change weapons yet?
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Upon further inspection, it doesn't seem that soldiers know how to retreat, either. Upon becoming exhausted, they'll stand defenseless and allow themselves to be killed.Odd, they are courageous but should flee when tired. Will check that.
38
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« on: June 23, 2010, 12:28:54 PM »I have been enjoying your game for a few days now, difficult but not too difficult. However, and I know you are aware of this, the exception caused by the "illegal" shout action is driving me crazy. It's ruined 3 of my best games by unexpectedly appearing.Sorry about that. I know where it comes from and it is fixed in 3.2.
If you want to know where it comes from, I think it's caused by a sleeping CHAR Guard, at least that is where it has happened for me 2 of the 3 times. Just as a I break into the CHAR offices and the Guard is sleeping (it shows in the chat that he shouted "HEY YOU!" at me but clearly he has a blue Z over his head.
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In addition, I have been working on some graphics - far from done and really they were just to wet my appetite because - and no offence intended - the default graphics are a bit ugly. My graphics haven't turned out "great" but with the limited number of tiles I think I did a half decent job of it.No offence taken, my graphics skills are terrible thats why graphics are moddable
I'll add a mod section on the blog with links to user graphics mods. Once you have yours finalized feel free to send a link.
40
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3
« on: June 09, 2010, 08:26:04 PM »Do you have plans for any additional locations Roguedjack? Like sewers or subways? That would be cool.Great minds like alike, see my Reply#9 in this thread
---
I'll redo the installer.
I added a Game FAQ on my blog.
Don't worry if I don't reply to everyone, I read the suggestions and comments
, but its taking too much time for individual answers, time away from actual programming 
41
Programming / Re: need help with theory for nodes and adjacency lists
« on: June 09, 2010, 08:05:42 PM »
For N-ary trees, just use a "list of nodes" as children.
Something like that...
(Code will not work right away, you'll have to use typedefs + forward declaration. Its been a long time since I wrote pure C)
For the tree:
and for list of nodes:
I think you are also confusing different data and structures:
- a tree is not a node.
- a node in the search space (where the BFS is at a particular time) is not a node on the map (a cell).
It will be clearer if you start thinking into terms of algorithm and worry about the implementation later.
Just image you already have magically implemented all your data structures, but are missing the procedures/functions to make your pathfinding work.
Write your BFS algorithm using these magic data structures. Then write the data structures.
Remember google is your friend to find sample code and algorithms
Good luck and happy coding!
Something like that...
(Code will not work right away, you'll have to use typedefs + forward declaration. Its been a long time since I wrote pure C
)For the tree:
Code: [Select]
// a tree
struct Tree_t
{
// root of the tree, null if tree is empty.
struct TreeNode_t *m_Root;
};
// a tree node
struct TreeNode_t
{
// node can have any number of children, from zero to a lot.
// so we use a list.
// if no children, the list is empty.
// no pointer as we own the list.
struct ListOfTreeNode_t m_Children;
// node specific data, like position, value whatever... defined by you somewhere else.
struct NodeData_t m_Data;
};
and for list of nodes:
Code: [Select]
// a list of nodes.
struct ListOfTreeNode_t
{
// entry into the list, null if list is empty.
struct ListElement_t* m_FirstElement;
};
// an element in the list.
struct ListElement_t
{
// the node being hold there.
// its a pointer because the node might be in many more lists, we do not own it.
struct TreeNode_t* m_Element;
// next element in the list, null if end of list.
struct ListElement_t* m_Next;
};
I think you are also confusing different data and structures:
- a tree is not a node.
- a node in the search space (where the BFS is at a particular time) is not a node on the map (a cell).
It will be clearer if you start thinking into terms of algorithm and worry about the implementation later.
Just image you already have magically implemented all your data structures, but are missing the procedures/functions to make your pathfinding work.
Write your BFS algorithm using these magic data structures. Then write the data structures.
Remember google is your friend to find sample code and algorithms
Good luck and happy coding!
42
Programming / Re: need help with theory for nodes and adjacency lists
« on: June 08, 2010, 09:07:02 PM »
I think you should look at graphs not binary trees.
Using graphs to express a N->N relationship is the natural way to do it.
If you don't know about graphs, but know about trees, think about graphs as more generic trees where:
- a node as X leafs. (in binary trees X = 2 : one parent = 2 childs max).
- a leaf can be linked from Y nodes (in binary trees Y = 1, one child = 1 parent max).
In your case,
Node = "a map cell"
Link = "is adjacent to".
and there is no parent vs child notion (all nodes are both parents and children of each other = symetric/adirectional graphs or whatever the term is in English)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_%28mathematics%29
Not sure why you would need this kind of structure though on top of your 2d array.
Using graphs to express a N->N relationship is the natural way to do it.
If you don't know about graphs, but know about trees, think about graphs as more generic trees where:
- a node as X leafs. (in binary trees X = 2 : one parent = 2 childs max).
- a leaf can be linked from Y nodes (in binary trees Y = 1, one child = 1 parent max).
In your case,
Node = "a map cell"
Link = "is adjacent to".
and there is no parent vs child notion (all nodes are both parents and children of each other = symetric/adirectional graphs or whatever the term is in English)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_%28mathematics%29
Not sure why you would need this kind of structure though on top of your 2d array.
43
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3
« on: June 06, 2010, 08:09:49 PM »Quote from: flap
<useful ui suggestions>Thanks for the feedback, good ideas that improve the ui with little coding to do, I like that
The new version is awesome.Next version. Then the next one. Repeat.
Actually its THE zombie game that many people were waiting for and its so good, that people started to be really enthusiastic and are suggesting things like crafting, farming on city outskirts, persistent world (like dwarf fortress) and similar stuff. It would be great if you would somehow describe some kind of plan or vision for this project. How far are you planing to go with this?
More seriously, it will basically just stay that : a quite-simple-but-fun open-ended zombie apocalypse survival game.
I won't make a dwarf-fortress-with-zombies, an ultimate survival game with civilizaton rebuilding and sexual reproduction
or a fully fledged rpg.Little by little I'll add features to enrich the gameplay, and develop on features already there.
When I think alll the major features are done it will go beta.
To give an idea, feature I plan to add in next major version (say alpha 4) are :
- more than one map per districts : sewers and undergrounds.
- uniques NPCs, heroes or vilains, with better AI and interaction than average npcs.
May sounds little but its quite a lot of work.
In the next minor version (say alpha 3.1):
- ammo.
- traps and alarms.
- loud noises can wake nearby sleepers (already implemented).
- more useful followers -yeah I know its a never ending improvement quest- : stand guard, patrol the house, give me your stuff etc...
- better difficulty control (zombification rate option, already implemented).
Of course this could change if I find something more urgent to add, fix or balance etc...
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And last but not least, is there a way to support you? (Other than to say that you're doing great.)Feedback on stuff I can fix/improve/add relatively easily with good value for the player :
- Bugs reports. I hate when it crashes on people face.
- UI improvement suggestions for features already there, like flap did.
- Balancing problems : this or that is too hard/too easy/useless/too powerful.
- Content suggestion : new items, actors, buildings...
I also love reading people short aars and see what strategy or tactics they use, discussion between players...
Serves as indirect feedback plus its fun seeing my little creation alive and people having actual fun -or not-
44
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3
« on: June 06, 2010, 02:57:05 PM »
Thanks for the suggestions.
Yes more orders along those lines will come later.
For now I'm mostly interested if the interface for giving orders is good enough or annoying as hell.
As for dificulty it is hard indeed. I'm adding more options to control difficulty (zombification rate), plus features to swing the balance back on the livings side a bit, especially for the player (traps and alarms, loud noises wakes you up etc...)
Yes more orders along those lines will come later.
For now I'm mostly interested if the interface for giving orders is good enough or annoying as hell.
As for dificulty it is hard indeed. I'm adding more options to control difficulty (zombification rate), plus features to swing the balance back on the livings side a bit, especially for the player (traps and alarms, loud noises wakes you up etc...)
45
Early Dev / Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 2
« on: June 05, 2010, 06:50:17 PM »
Alpha 3 out, check new thread.