Eracia

[taffer]

For the last two weeks I have been creating a fantasy roguelike in Java named Eracia.  At the moment it supports:

1. A player Stats Panel to the left
2. A scrolling event log on the bottom.  No user scrolling yet
3. An Entity list on the bottom also.
4. Maps that scroll with the position of the Player.
5. Maps need to be mapped out with a very crude Player view.

At the moment I am working on:

1. The Map Generator and its Map Template class.

After  I get a little bit of "logical randomness" I will start posting screen shots. 

I also have a blog of Eracia in my Signature:

Taffer
eraciarl.blogspot.com

[getter77]

More to merrier, keep at it and keep up posted!  Early screens look to have things taking form and shaping up nicely.

[taffer]

Eracia now has some sort of cave-like generation system.  Screenshots of it at:
eraciarl.blogspot.com

Taffer

[Vanguard]

Tell us a little bit about your plans for your game.  What are your goals with Eracia?  What will make it unique?

[taffer]

Funny I realized I never really talked about my plans for Eracia.

First this is my first real project Ive ever started, and  I'm writing it in Java.

At the moment I'm thinking about having the game take place on a small island named Eracia.  I have a few ideas for a storyline but none in concrete yet.

I'm not "new" to game programming; however,  I am new to large scale projects.  I have many ideas, but I'm really not sure if I have the capabilities to do everything I want.  I'm going with the flow and learning things everyday that I work on Eracia.  The main reason I am using these forums and having my blog is to keep me focused on the game, and not just stop like I do all the time.  I promise that this is the longest I have worked on a project and I am happy with that

The things I feel I need to add to the game:

1.) Light sources.  Maybe some light spells.  Fireballs flying down hallways.
2.) Rivers and lakes in some maps.  Bridges will be added.
3.) Game Objects - Buttons that open gates, switches that create pits.  Movable statues that might unlock something. 
4.) A very small scripting language.  That can change an objects character, move an object, tell an object to do something, change its color, edit the map in some way.
5.) A skill based system, weapon/ armor skills.
6.) I have an idea for weapons where I will make the basic weapons, but randomize a suffix and a prefix to it - something like Steel Long Sword of Fireballs.  It would do a little more damage than a regular long sword and if used may cast a level one fireball.  Same for armor.  Iron Chain Mail of Poison - gives a little boost to Defense value and helps protect you from poison.
7.) I will have permadeath.
8.) At the moment the map generator can create cave-like tunnels, and if I tweak it a little it can make something that looks like a forest map.  I do want to add Mazes, dungeons very similar to Rogue, maps that are just full of rooms.  Random city like maps.  And some more.

These things are in debate:

1.) Not entirely sure if I want to make the outside map randomized or not.
2.) Not entirely sure if I am going to have "classes" in the game, or just allow the character choose which skills to bring up during his/her lifespan.
3.) The types of Races are in question too.  Do I want to use Humans, elves, dwarfs.  Maybe allow Kobolds, Goblins, Orcs,  or maybe all Human but different countries they are from.

I have noticed the more I work on Eracia the more ideas I come up with, which can be a bad thing in a Design Way, but I am new at this. 

I hope this adds a little interest in my little roguelike, its been really fun so far

Taffer
eraciarl.blogspot.com

[getter77]

Good aims, I say go for maximum personality and take chances on aspects outside of the usual mold.

[taffer]

Thank you getter77, you seem to be a great motivator on this site.

I have added support for light sources in Eracia.  They still are not where I want them to be.  But they can light a tile from -1.0 to 1.0.  -1.0 being black and 1.0 being the brightest on a the color's RGB scale.  Also I made the Map class have a default light value.  Most caves or dungeons will have a -.20 to -.35.

How the lights work on the colors is simple:

Every tile has a light value - if a tile has no light source then it will use the map's default light value.  A light source will update a tile's light value if it is on that tile and that tile is in the radius of the light source.  The farther the tile is from the light source it will effect the tile's light value a little less until it wont effect the tiles at all.

When Eracia draws the map it make each tile the map's default light value and then it will take the color of each tile, its light value and make calculations on the actual color to draw.  It then will draw it on the screen.

There is probably better ways to do this.  But its dealing with text so I know it will not lag the system.  At the moment it runs well and I am happy with it.

Taffer
eraciarl.blogspot.com

[Pteriforever]

This looks good! Like, REALLY good.

Will there be a hunger system? They're quite irritating unless they're done very well.

[taffer]

   Yes I will be adding a hunger system.  And thank you for your kind words. 

   Today I dedicated my time to clean up my code, proper documentation and comments.  I did add support for 800x600 and 1280x1024 resolutions.  I was creating everything at 1024x768.

   Also I found out my light source idea was fast enough for anything up to 300 x 300 maps, but when I had larger maps it flickered.  Even though 300 x 300 is very large for a roguelike, I've yet to implement monsters AI, so I have to change my algorithm for that, I think I came up of a solution and will test that tomorrow.

Taffer
eraciarl.blogspot.com

[taffer]

Wow its been awhile since I updated, but here is my small update on Eracia:

1.) Finally got my light sources to work well and much faster than before.  The map  generator will start randomly putting torches in rooms and hallways.

2.) Started working on small support for Tiles.  This will be the last thing I honestly will be working on even if it never gets done.

3.) Started working on Player Input, Updating Entities, and updates to the map in a well polished MainGameLoop().

4.) Started cleaning up my classes and using encapsulation to a way that I feel is good.

5.) My map generator now deletes excess walls.

6.) Started working on The Title Screen and Character Creation Screen

7.) Started working on my Stats Class both Monsters and the Player will share this class.

8.) Worked on the Panels so I can show and hide them when needed. And made a Class that they inherit with the same functions.

9.) Started a better version of my input engine.

Taffer
eraciarl.blogspot.com