Rob Janes
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Posts posted by Rob Janes
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See new Video of the Instant messaging system, still a WIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJmpXbc0yRk
Also, as for Artifact, I was involved as an Administrator and developer for quite some time, and later purchased Samu Games and it's products from the original owners (David and Doug) -
"but I think Ambard got some custom ones made, and even if the graphics are free you still shouldn't rip them from other peoples projects"
Agreed ;) However there are plenty of ORPGs out there using Reiner's work, not just Ambardia, so anyone choosing to use these tiles, shouldn't feel bad because they're used in Ambardia. That's the purpose of royalty free work ;) -
Would appear as though Ambardia is using Reiners Tilesets ;) Again, the joys of royalty free artwork, sadly it means multiple products can have the same graphics.
FYI, looking for a 'cheap' or 'fair' experienced tile artist ;) PM me. Heh. -
By the way, thanks on the comment about Artifact, it's been online almost 13 years now, it's population is slowly getting smaller sadly, only 30-40 people online at any given time now, thankfully though, still enough subscribers to keep paying the bills. I've started some advertising campaigns which are becoming fairly costly for Artifact, but we'll see, hopefully it brings in new players. To encourage 'indies' out there, Artifact has made enough money over the years to pay for a house in full. Just an FYI to encourage people not to give up on their dreams!
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There most likely are ;) I'm still new to the Eclipse Engine it's just an easy way to quickly search through all of the users online. I'm sure there's probably a feature already in the engine that would cut down the process quite a bit. Ce La Vie.
One thing I've learned over the years. You will always find ways to streamline and improve functions and still get the same end result just with shorter and cleaner code however, is it worth your time redesigning a function to get the same results if that time could be spent on another more important function? To this day I still have to look at a piece of code and say "Ok, it works. Done. Leave it alone, it works…No seriously...stop looking at it....It works, you don't need to tweak it...move on already..." -
Note: This isn't something you can just plug into the engine and get working, but the loop is a tutorial on how to loop through all the users connected and see if someone is online. Do with it what you will.
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This is just a quick way to check to see if a person on your friend list is online. This is under the presumption that your friend list is a string array for your character, ie Friends(MAX_FRIENDS).
Anyway, someone was asking about how to compare to see if someone is online, this is a simple server side loop that will compare a string to all the users online and if it's a match, do something…
```
Public Const MAX_FRIENDS = 10
Public strFriendName(MAX_FRIENDS) As String
Public Sub CheckFriends()
'Variables
Dim LoopFriend As Integer
Dim LoopUsers As Integer
Dim tmpUserName As String
Dim tmpFriendName As String
'The first loop, will look through our friend list array (10) above
For LoopFriend = 1 To MAX_FRIENDS
'Load the Friend's name into Memory so we can compare it when we loop through users
tmpFriendName = strFriendName(LoopFriend)
'Now that we're checking the friend, lets compare this friend string to every player online and if it found a match...make it do whatever
For LoopUsers = 1 To MAX_PLAYERS
'Is the User Playing
If IsPlaying(loopuser) Then
'Get the Users Player Name
tmpUserName = GetPlayerName(loopuser)
If tmpUserName = tmpFriendName Then
'Congrats! Your friend is online! Do something here!
End If
'Closing the IsPlaying()
End If
'Next User Online
Next LoopUsers
'Next friend in your array
Next LoopFriend
End Sub
``` -
I'm unsure if anyone ever linked this before but
Reiner's Tileset (Royalty Free) is a great place to get some good media, the downside is that it's commonly used so you will most likely be sharing those graphics with hundreds of other games out there
http://reinerstileset.4players.de/environmentE.html
Good regardless though! -
Thanks
I'm sort of just toying with the engine still creating features that I would like to see if I develop a game using this it. I don't mind sharing the source for certain features if people want it, or if anyone has a suggestion on a feature to add, perhaps I'll create it and share it with the community.
Cheers -
Attached is a screenshot of the snow, using "*" and "'" for rain, it simply has a Public Type of a Droplet that stores the String, X and Y location of the Droplet, and then uses a timer to move the droplet. Simple and very effective!
See Video!
V2ZrtKBJCew -
Wasn't something I really considered, Would require the use of Alpha Blending but I don't imagine it would be that difficult to do. I may ultimately make a seperate 'Chat' window altogether with various chat channels similar to my other online game, people tend to like having various chat tabs, so I'm not really sure how I'll go about having the chat 'appear' in a finish product. But good idea nonetheless ;)
Aside from the instant messaging style chat, I'm just quickly adding in a 'Rain' and 'Snow' system cleverly using ' and * as rain and snow flakes and having them randomly draw (as text) across the screen depending on the weather. Saves a ton on the FPS versus using an image (unless I cracked and went with particle weather) -
I've added a new "Who's Online" list, where it shows a ListView with Small Head Icons, similar to games like 'Graal' online, I'll make it so you can double click a player name and open an instant messenger style chat window next, should be done within the next 30-40 minutes, I'll post a screenshot then as well.
Was fairly easy to do, added SUpdateUserList and SClearUserList handles, and updated the SendWhosOnline list to be called anytime a player logs in or out and rather than sending it to an individual player, it sends the data to everyone connected and updates their user list. -
I'm just making some tweaks to the engine to fit my own needs, so far it's pretty simple, it stores (5) strings that get updated during the HandleData for Map Messages. It works well, it let's 'system messages' get displayed as text on the map as oppose to cluttering up the chat.
Next will be (Map) chat appearing above a characters head in a chat bubble.
I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed with this engine, the spell system is wonderful and the code is very clean and well commented! Kudos Robin! -
I'm not aware of a browser based client, it could easily be ported to a browser based client though with a 3rd party tool such as OSA Kit or Spoon.net Plugin. (Google them)
Cheers -
I'm not saying a game isn't doable by yourself, and hats off to those that do. Most of the people that have created games single handedly use some sort of freeware resource though, be it tilesets, audio etc.
My note was more along the lines of indie 'commerical' games. Unless you're a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none sort of person, you're probably not going to have excellent features (programming) with stunning visuals (graphics) and amazing (sound) without having a team, or contracting out the work to individuals (I generally prefer this method of paying for media rather than having a 'team')
People shouldn't get discouraged by my note, it's just things I've learned through the years. -
I stumbled across this engine and decided to give it a shot. For Visual Basic 6 - a very dated IDE as is, it runs rather nicely compared to other engines of it's nature. Kudos to the developer! I can see me developing some sort of small game with this in the very near future, just to really try it out. Be sure to keep an eye on my website for process at some point!
For those getting started into game development, here's a few steps I believe you should read!
**Prerequisit: Start Small!**
Don't try and build the next World of Warcraft, you're going to fail. But that's okay. We all fail a few times before we succeed. I'd really recommend game development books (The Indie Game Development Survival Guide is a God-send). If you've never created anything (game) before, start small, I'd not recommend using Eclipse or any 'engine' until you can handle the basics, even 'Hello World!' - coders, you know what I'm talking about! Start small and work your way up, when you feel 'comfortable', start tackling various game engines.
**1. The game you create is only as good as the planning you put into it! (OMG Srz bzns right?!)**
One of the biggest pitfalls of many of these 'indie' games is the lack of proper planning. A developer (and I use this term loosely) has an idea, and just starts dabbling with engines, fiddling with the source code, making things up as he goes along but has no real vision of the final product. Not a clear, concise vision anyways. (Not to rag on developers, but we all start as script kiddies, my apologies to any professional developers out there!)
Before you ever lay a finger on the keyboard (metaphorically), grab a pen and a notepad and start jotting down everything about your game. Everything from what resources you will need, what can you accomplish by yourself, set time lines and milestones, what challenges do you foresee, who is your target audience, what controls do you want to use, which engine best suits you needs, what platforms should it run under, the list goes on and on. Once you've penned out as much as you can think of, it's time to start the "Design Document".
The "Design Document" is your point of reference for the game, it's shared amongst your team, and should tell the story of exactly how you plan to go from point A) Concept - to point -B) Product. The Design Document should contain everything from your Storyboard, to mock UI screens, assigned roles and responsibilities, functionality and playability, flow charts, organization methods et all. (Browsing on the web, you will find plenty of example design documents).
**2\. You can't do it alone! (Or probably shouldn't)**
Seriously. I'm not trying to pull the wool over your eyes. A successful game is VERY hard to do by yourself. When you are in the planning stages, clearly map out what you can handle (workload ), what your strengths and weaknesses are; are you a programmer, an artist, a sound engineer, a designer. You'll most likely need to 'pay' your team members somehow, by profit sharing, direct payment per resource or some other scheme. Having many hands in the pot when it comes to managing the game is not a wise idea, I've been down this road. While teaming up is good, be sure you cover the legal side of things so no one gets screwed in the process.
**3\. You aren't going to get rich… (If you do, please share)**
Thinking you are going to create the next big hit MMO and get rich quickly is a dream we've all had. Let's face it, it's just a dream. Find a niche for your game, something 'different' that varies from mainstream games. You may find even a small viable market to turn a profit.
**4\. It's going to cost you money… (Probably quite a bit of money)**
Depending on what sort of 'game' and 'community' you want, your project can cost a little or a lot. If you're looking for a well designed, smooth, commerical game, that you can make a profit with, you have some expenses to account for first. A) Original Media (including Artwork, Sound, Music) is a must; using royalty-free media is also a wise idea but may have your game looking similar to another. B) Dedicated Servers - Hosting your game on your own PC, is never a wise idea. Renting a dedicated machine is almost a must, this can cost you anywhere from 30-200USD per month. C) Advertising - Your game is going to need players, you'll need to invest in advertising. Not all advertising cost money however, free forums, banner exchanges etc are always a great way to increase traffic.
While partnering with team members is always useful, if money is involved, it's always best to draft up legal documents and ensure that you are legally covered. Trust me.
**5\. It's not all about the power… (But it sure feels good)**
That rush you get when logging into something you create and seeing players enjoy your product never gets old. Don't let it go to your head. These players are using your service, and you have to cater to them to keep them happy. Always listen to your community, they know what they want. While you still remain in creative control, the players know what makes a good game, so speak with your community.
**Who the hell am I?**
I've had many years of experience as a developer, both indie and professional.
Like most of the people using Eclipse, or Mirage, I started dabbling with freeware engines in my teens - back then it was Baronsoft's ORE engine v2.0 and v3.0 which is still used today but heavily modified into VBGore (In comparison, I'd recommend Eclipse)
By trade, I am now a Paramedic (new to the field). Before that I've had various jobs in my IT career, providing technical support for Microsoft on the Windows XP/Vista platforms, a network administrator, an ASP.NET/Ajax Web Developer, a VB.NET and C# developer, and a project leader for a knowledge base roll out.
I'm also the owner of Samu Games, an indie game development company (http://www.samugames.com) developing online multiplayer games for PC, Artifact our flagship having been online for almost 13 years now! Check it out at http://www.samugames.com/artifact)
If you have any questions or need assistance, I'm always available at
[email protected] or via MSN Messenger [email protected]
Look forward to getting to know everyone!
-Rob
Just fiddling with the Engine,
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