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Murdoc

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Posts posted by Murdoc

  1. I like them. On the big axes try putting the highlights on the far edges; it will look better. Also the swords look too round. This can be fixed by bringing the highlight towards the top middle as well and going down about half way. The blade will look more like well.. a blade.
  2. Thanks for the feedback everyone. 

    I'd like to show the word map we've made for Ascent. This will be the basis for the different areas in the game. It may be one of many "planes", but we haven't quite decided yet.

    ![](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b550/murdoc1983/AscentMap_zpsicid9hvx.png)
  3. May I present to you Ascent Online. A title being created with Intersect engine. The goal with our game is to create an open-world sandbox mmo, while taking ideas from famous single-player rpg titles - in other words the best of both worlds. Ascent will have mini-games, an elaborate main story, timed events, battle arenas and more. All while retaining the core aspects of an online rpg, such as PvP, quests and guilds. We hope the result will be a fun and unique experience for the hardcore and easy-going gamer alike.  

    Recruitment: We are actively recruiting people to help map the world. There will be special in-game rewards for people who help in the mapping process. If applying please send examples of your own work. Thank you.

    ![](http://ascensiongamedev.com/images/ASCENTwebpost.png)
  4. Hello Eclipse! The following is a project that's being done by Irokaiser (aka. kibbelz) and myself. It has been in the works for some time, and recently we started mapping the world. The engine that will be used for the final version will be written in C#, which will allow for a true mmo experience. Currently, we are looking for mappers (experience necessary) to help development along. Stay tuned! 

    >! ![](http://ascensiongamedev.com/images/ascentwebpost.png)
  5. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I've enjoyed the last eight plus years being part of the Eclipse community, but I regretfully must be leaving.

    I'll remember the good laughs, talking with other people about making games, playing games, music, art and just about everything. I've learned some valuable stuff from some amazing people here. And I thank you.

    The reason I'm leaving, is because I feel like I've outdone my stay here. I'm 31 now, and I don't feel like I fit with the hipper crowd ahead of me. Plus, I also feel like Eclipse is more centered around programmer friend cliques, and holds little for the artists. We get to talk to eachother about our artwork, but get very little recognition (not unlike the real world) unless we're professional. (A standard that artists don't hold programmers to, ironically)

    In the end, I hope this place all the best. And I hope you all learn to learn from eachother, instead of competing. The community can be a productive platform for people who like to make games if you work at it.

    Regards,

    Murdoc
  6. To be honest, I don't know why you're apologizing Yukiro. You're not responsible for people leaving and the engine not making sufficient income. Furthermore, I think it shows that you care and I wish you luck in those regards. 

    As far as people saying the site is dead. It's not dead. What's dead is vb6 - how many times has this been said? lol I mean has anyone else noticed how poor the fps is for 2D games on a full featured Eclipse? You cannot make a true "mmo" with a vb6 based server, because you max at about 100 people (if you're lucky). One would wonder then why google shows Eclipse as a 2d MMorpg maker. But that's beside the point. It COULD be. And I know of several people who are working on translating the language into one that is user friendly, and can handle the player load of an mmo.

    In my opinion this site just needs another boost. Since the community is primarily focused on the engine which it promotes, a product upgrade would make sense. Most people seem to agree with this from reading other comments.
  7. This is cool. I used to play the game quite a bit. I can verify that it's a dead game. The downloadable client doesn't even have the correct i.p to connect to. You gotta go looking for it one someone else' site. Anyway, it's pretty fun if you like to grind for gear. The "quests" are mainly done by means of collecting items from monsters and turning in combinations for gear, which takes a long time but is worth it.
  8. ![](http://eclipseorigins.com/community/filehost/f5440296bb794b5dfe416ea8f4f01f20.png)

    **A side-scrolling fantasy adventure**

    **–-------------------------------------------**

    Drawing different elements from classic side-scrolling adventures of the past, Willy the Wizard will be a unique gameplay experience with a rich story-line. Not to mention, an open world in which you can revisit previous levels to solve puzzles or complete quests.

    **Graphics Preview**

    **–-----------------------**

    These images are for mock-up purposes, and may or may not be used in final production.

    ![](http://eclipseorigins.com/community/filehost/43ace7e766264e45fc7985aea75eccb7.png)

    **What's the Story?**

    **–----------------------**

    Willy the Wizard is reading a magic book in his tower, mid-day, when he notices it becomes eerily dark outside. After some hours he realizes that the Sun won't come up. News quickly spreads and a messenger comes to tell Willy the news. He quickly learns that another powerful wizard, and Willy's rival, Philly has cast a powerful spell over all the land making it permanently night. This won't do of course, and Willy goes on a quest to destroy the "Night Creatures" and eventually encounters Philly, who resides in the Tower of Doom.

    **Positions Available**

    **–-------------------------**

    Programmer - In order to really follow the vision for Willy the Wizard, and to make it both mechanically and visually appealing the project will need someone who is adept at programming. Preferably, someone who is good with C# and Unity.

    Writer - The story work will be split between me and another person, assuming this person displays high proficiency in the English language and is also highly imaginative.

    Developer - The developer will be responsible for map creation (must be willing to learn to map with given engine) and possibly other minor details.

    **Contact**

    **–---------**

    If interested in helping with the titles development, please contact me via pm with an example of previous work. Thank you.
  9. > Game developers must be smart problem solvers. The reason why I am so mean to noobs is cause you need to rely less on people as possible. The game industry is not a easy hobby. You gotta be dedicated and passionate. There's plenty of cookie cutter games out already…

    I totally agree with this statement. I just don't think being mean helps this community or yours. Fortunately for us Veterans and other long time users, we have enough knowledge to do stuff like change data sizes. But we we're all noobs once too, and didn't know a thing about programming, art or anything else related to game dev. Didn't mean to start a flamewar or anything :=/

    Anyway, I think it's perfectly fine that you have support on another site. I've personally been using this engine to work on something I'm not showing because I tend to lose motivation when I do lol. Up until this point it's been mostly GUI work, craploads of tiles, and a base character sprite. Secret of Mana has been my main inspiration. I did so much stuff that I had to take a break after making a few maps for testing purposes. In testing I ran into very few problems with this engine.

    > Seth you are a joke.

    Totally inappropriate. At least give a reason lol
  10. > Thanks, I am okay with this type of comments. I am not okay with people like Murdoc who act like I have to do it.

    I never said you had to do anything mate. I quite realize it's open source.

    > I also quit making this engine for the community a long time ago cause people expect too many handouts and never actually get better at making games. If I saw any decent games come out of Eclipse then I wouldn't be such a *, but I am tired of people like you.

    I didn't ask for you to make me a game lol Fact is, I'm not a programmer, I'm an artist because I don't have time for both. When you say "never actually get better at making games" I assume you mean learn to program. Which I have no plans on doing. If this makes you hate me, fine. But making a game requires art and coding. I don't know if people around here forgot that along the way or what with all the stock graphics floating around.

    Point is, you admit you gave up on it and that your attitude stinks. So I don't know why you're getting mad at me for saying it. You don't like people without programming knowledge using it, because we'll ask dumb questions. This reminds me of when Robin made EO. He makes the community something, and then resentfully tells us "You're a bunch of spoiled brats who need to reach my intelligence level" All hail the elitist programmers. >.>
  11. *sigh* Everytime someone asks you for help with a bug or minor issue you either ignore them or complain that it's open source, and you don't feel like doing it. If you're going to keep this released and have people use it, do us all a favor and care about it. Your attitude stinks.
  12. > Have you taken into consideration that the coords start at (0,0)? So if you want 31x21 map you should use the numbers 30 and 20.

    Yes. This, however, causes the screen to be less than the desired 992x672 resolution. Due, of course, to the way the formulas are set up to use minmapx and minmapy to formulate the picscreen width and height. I'm assuming (i'm not a great programmer by any means) that this means I'll need to put in additions somewhere to make up for the screen-size reduction. I tried playing around with it but ended up with impenetrable borders and tons of glitches. lol
  13. Hey Aeirex,

    First let me just say great job on the engine. It's definately the best custom version here. That might not be saying much, but the fact that you took the time on it and distributed freely deserves respect. So kudos!

    More to the point: I've been playing with the engine and I'm trying to re-size the game screen to 992x672 with non-scrolling 31x21 maps. I've tried playing around with this bit of code but I'm running into a minor, albeit annoying problem:

    ```

    ' Used to resize the game screen
    Public Sub ResizeScreen(ByVal XWide As Long, ByVal YTall As Long)
    ' Set Min Map X and Y
    MIN_MAPX = 31
    MIN_MAPY = 21

    frmMain.Width = PixelsToTwips((MIN_MAPX) * PIC_X, 0)

    Do While (frmMain.ScaleWidth < (MIN_MAPX) * PIC_X)
    frmMain.Width = frmMain.Width + Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
    frmMain.Left = (Screen.Width / 2) - (frmMain.Width / 2)
    Loop

    frmMain.Height = PixelsToTwips((MIN_MAPY) * PIC_Y, 1)

    Do While (frmMain.ScaleHeight < (MIN_MAPY) * PIC_Y)
    frmMain.Height = frmMain.Height + Screen.TwipsPerPixelY
    frmMain.Top = (Screen.Height / 2) - (frmMain.Height / 2)
    Loop

    ' Resize and position the screen
    frmMain.picScreen.Width = (MIN_MAPX) * PIC_X
    frmMain.picScreen.Height = (MIN_MAPY) * PIC_Y
    frmMain.picForm.Width = (MIN_MAPX) * PIC_X
    frmMain.picForm.Height = (MIN_MAPY) * PIC_Y

    ' Recalculate the other variables
    HalfX = ((MIN_MAPX + 1) / 2) * PIC_X
    HalfY = ((MIN_MAPY + 1) / 2) * PIC_Y
    ScreenX = (MIN_MAPX) * PIC_X
    ScreenY = (MIN_MAPY) * PIC_Y
    StartXValue = ((MIN_MAPX + 1) / 2)
    StartYValue = ((MIN_MAPY + 1) / 2)
    EndXValue = (MIN_MAPX) + 1
    EndYValue = (MIN_MAPY) + 1
    CameraEndXValue = EndXValue + 1
    CameraEndYValue = EndYValue + 1

    frmMain.picScreen.Top = 0
    frmMain.picScreen.Left = 0
    frmMain.picForm.Top = 0
    frmMain.picForm.Left = 0
    frmMain.picMapEditor.Top = 0
    frmMain.picMapEditor.Left = 0
    End Sub

    ```
    The screen and form changes no problem (made sure to change the backbuffer, and form sizes as well), but there always seems to be an additional tile on the x and y axis. IE. If the map is 31x21, its actually 32x22? Was hopin you could tell me where I'm going wrong.
  14. If you're using 32bit version of Win7, download regtlibv12.exe and put it in System32 folder.

    The command is: regtlibv12 c:\windows\system32\msdatsrc.tlb

    Also make sure that "Microsoft Windows Common Controls 6.0 SP6" is checked under Project > Components. Save and reopen.

    I managed to get vb6 running on Windows 7 32bit, now with zero problems, doing these two steps.
  15. > which is better? a classless rpg that lets you decide to mix and match how you please, or a rpg with a structured class system which determines what kind of stat development and skills your character will gain?
    >
    >  
    >
    > additional comments will be added as posted
    >
    >  
    >
    >  
    >
    > **No Class system pros**
    >
    >  
    >
    >  equipment can be worn by anyone increasing its desirability and worth
    >
    >  
    >
    >  
    >
    > **No class system cons**
    >
    >  
    >
    > MageTank (high range offense high defense) would be prominent and decrease variance of builds
    >
    >  
    >
    >  
    >
    > **Class system pros**
    >
    >  
    >
    > provides players with a sense of identity
    >
    > promotes teamwork and group play through role sets
    >
    > **class system cons**
    >
    > certain classes would suffer in solo play and/or pvp. such as a lone healer
    >
    > impossible to balance classes between pvp and pve

    I put some thought into this, and figured I'd bring something else up which is how the choice affects replay value. Let's say you have two games which are equally as fun to play, but one has no classes and the other has say 12 (maybe a bit high, but I've played several D&D influenced titles with close to or more than this).

    Which game will have a higher replay value? I'm going to guess the one with more classes, since players get to experiment more with the alternate classes. That's not to say that the amount of time creating and playing new characters wouldn't end up being the same in the end, but I somehow think people like the option of classes and stick around longer when given the choice. It's up for debate.

    You're right in that it also gives a sense of identity to have a class system. But this can be made up for with character appearance customization (lots of it), and maybe some end game branching of skill trees. I don't know about other people, but some games that have class systems give me no sense of identity, because usually people of the same class and level are wearing the same quest gear. In that respect, you can lose identity both ways.

    As far as pvp and pve balance, you're also right. But in a no class system (assuming there is no equipment restrictions) how will there be any more balance? Then you're looking at the hard task balancing equipment, so that everyone who does pvp or pve is not all wearing plate armor and a two handed axe.

    With these kinds of comparisons, you have to first think of how the ideal classless system would even work and also what kind of class system you're comparing it to (since they're not always implemented the same way). If either form is able to compensate for it's cons, then I think it could be done well. In the end I think it comes down to giving players lots of choices. That's up to the developer to decide, of course, as to how and when players can make these choices. 

    For example, you may want a classless system. But will there be any point at which you can focus on a set of skills, whereas another player might focus on others? Are there quests that you can do, that maybe other players can't do which provide unique skills? The same can go for equipment. Why wear cloth when there's plate? Both systems need to have balance, and quirky design elements to make them work well.
  16. > I wish I had the money to buy out eclipse when marshy dearest sold it to Amish, I'm not trying to be offensive towards him or be really arrogant, but I feel like having the owner be more active towards eclipse might help for one thing, and the second thing is I'm on here almost every day, lurking, reading, posting, and chatting with members. I just feel like It's something I'd be good at, running a community.
    >
    > The second thing is. If you're going to profit off open source software just offer hosting and say no one else is allowed to provide hosting of any kind to others. Meaning, they can host their own servers, but people can't sell or give hosting to other people.
    >
    > Third, if they're going to let people sell services on here, make it something you can profit off of. Create a system like CoderHirer where you can sell scripts on the site and you make 10%. 
    >
    > Fourth, The forums is really an eye sore… especially that random slideshow thing at the top that never change. I mean... the theme is kinda ugly too..  but that slideshow... is there even a purpose? I mean atleast update it here and there and put it some cool images.

    Good suggestions.

    > Make suggestions all you want but it may or may not make  a difference.

    ![](http://eclipseorigins.com/community/filehost/a15d66c0a12e44707e7ed82a45e5e9d8.png)
  17. > Before getting me wrong, please read: _**This is not a complain thread, I'm not trying to make this community look bad or any of the staff, I'm just telling what I have in mind and in my heart, trying not to offence people.**_
    >
    >  
    >
    > _**Please read everything before posting !**_
    >
    >  
    >
    > _**Thank you!**_
    >
    >
    > >! My past here is not really important, though I was here since 2008, seen a lot of stuff, had great and bad times, met various personalities, some annoying and interesting ones.
    > >!  
    > >! Anyhow, I bet everybody can notice the emptyness of this forum, and that's why I made this thread, to talk about it, and what could we do.
    > >!  
    > >! Some attempts were made by Crest and other nice members, but no luck.
    >
    >  
    >
    > **Why Eclipse went  from 99+ Members online/day to 5+/day ?**
    >
    >  
    >
    > >! The main reason wasn't that marshy dearest sold the forum to Amish, and people got upset, even though that is partially true, it ain't the main reason.
    > >!  
    > >! What the Main Problem was: the EO4 Engine and the Staff. [keep in mind: "was"]
    > >!  
    > >! How so?
    > >!  
    > >! Everyone had great hopes for a nice EO4 engine with all kind of new features, they got disappointed, closed source, buggy and expensive.
    > >!  
    > >! That was their first Main Mistake, there are better ways to make money out of an engine.
    > >! [Like: selling "features" scripts]
    > >!  
    > >! Their 2nd and biggest mistake was the Staff.
    > >!  
    > >! They were too closed minded, even the smallest mistake or word was severely punished.
    > >! Deleted Threads and Posts for Unknown reasons.
    > >! Temporary even Permanent Bans for dumb reasons.
    > >! "They were never helping people, being nice and greeting people doesn't mean help" -Dr.House [banned member of Eclipse]
    > >!  
    > >! Because of that, people who felt that they don't belong anymore to this community, leaved and started their own communities, dragging after them other members from eclipse.
    > >!  
    > >! With no real updates and news about EclipseV, people started to slowly avoid this community, knowing that there is nothing new and most likely will never be.
    > >!  
    > >! From time to time they drop by to read and stalk some members, 5 minutes, and they fade away for another few weeks, months or years.
    > >!  
    > >!  
    > >! After a few complains, things got better, staff no longer deleted threads and posts for their personal reasons, no more unfair bans.
    > >!  
    > >! But now is too late.
    > >!  
    > >! The forum is deserted.
    >
    >  
    >
    > **What they can do?**
    >
    >  
    >
    > >! They should find a way to please everyone, not only the VIPs.
    > >!  
    > >! In a Pay2Win mmorpg, non cash shop players quit first, that's 50~80% of the playerbase, the rest of them are cash shoppers, they compete with eachother until a certain point, everyone is strong enough, economy is a mess, chat is filled with stupid childish messages, and eventually they quit too.
    > >!  
    > >! **Translated will be like this**:  If you release an Engine that only those who pay or buy it benefits, and the rest of people who cannot afford or who refuse to pay are left out, they will quit first.
    > >! After a while, when VIP members made their games and post them, criticism and other complains appear, most of them get upset and quit, lose motivation to make games, or they continue making games for themselves until they get bored and quit.
    > >!  
    > >! The community gets smaller and smaller, everyday threads you used to see are not that common anymore, until a point when everything stops.
    >
    >  
    >
    > **My suggestion for Eclipse V**
    >
    >  
    >
    > >! Either Closed or Open Source but with a Scripting feature, wich will allow people to make their own unique game, whatever style and type, sidescroller, turn based, arpg, etc.
    > >!  
    > >! **Making $ by having a Script Shop**
    > >! Selling Custom Made Graphics
    > >! Of course there will be scripts made by members for free, but those won't get your official support.
    > >!  
    > >! That would be a Real Engine, instead making different versions of the engine.
    > >!  
    > >! Because what EO4 is now, is much like a game, and you sell the game with tools to modify it, that's why all game projects here are looking the same, having the same gameplay, nothing new under the sun.
    > >!  
    > >! Imagine Ragnarok Online Private Server, you got the tools to modify it, but even so, everything feels the same whatever private server you play.
    > >! It's not like  it can get turn based or sidescroller, because the game was never meant for that, meaning it's not an engine, that's how EO4 is.
    > >!  
    > >! Take a look on Construct engine, you can make all kind of games, sidescrollers, top down, card games, etc.
    > >!  
    > >! In my opinion that's how an engine should be, **Flexible**.

    While I agree with you, Eclipse V is not in full development. I have my sources.

    Let me add to this, so I don't sound like a pessimist. The way this community will evolve is like it always has in the past. Some are gonna disagree with me. But, having been around long enough to see the trends, I can tell you that the community itself is the key to our survival. If people care enough about the engine or the community dying then it won't. There's no need to wait for the Holy Grail to descend from the Gods, so to speak. Let me elaborate.

    When Eclipse was called Elysium (I can't go back any further in history, but I'm sure someone else here could) it was supported and added onto by the community at large. People made contributions (code, graphics etc) and others compiled these contributions into various versions of the Engine. Move ahead in time and we have Eclipse Origins. While, largely created by Robin it too was a community project in the end. And it was graciously made for a free by a community member, not staff. 

    Until Eclipse became closed source, the engine was like one big community project. Now that it doesn't feel like that anymore, its no wonder people feel more alienated. Like they're not part of the big picture. Much like the poor folks on mmo titles that don't realize they're playing a pay-to-win game.

    You also failed to mention several other variables in relation to community decline. Such as the lack of interest in 2d mmo genre. You can say "Well look at Mabinogi, and all those other foreign isometric p2w you can play in your browser". Don't matter in the slightest, considering they are professionally polished and funded by companies with more money than Scrooge. They pay for advertising and they're crappy micro-transaction, linear, boring games make moola.

    The main point I agree on you with, is to revert Eclipse from something you pay for back to the community based engine it used to be. This could be done with scripts like you said. Even donations should be considered at this point. *little joke*

    Why? Because with the current trend no money will ever be made to keep paying the programmers. Most hobbyist game creators (Almost 99% of the Eclipse forum) don't care about all these features. Why? Because they have no intention of making money. Now, if they were to decide to make money then an initial investment into an engine would make sense. 

    So here's where I think it all went wrong. Eclipse goes from being a community based engine where someone can make a game for a hobby, to a money making machine. Naturally, people start to wonder if they can make a commercial project to make money like the Eclipse Staff are. Some get offended and take off. Others don't care because they're just doing what they've always done.

    I could be wrong but I just don't think Eclipse should have ever tried to climb the corporate ladder. If Eclipse V ever comes out and people can make return on an initial investment (so many factors here) then I'll stick my foot in my mouth. But I wouldn't hold your breathe.

    > The ignorance… Guys, Eclipse V is under development, and if you were a developer, you'd know how long something like that takes. There are always refactors and rewrites that go into a project that large. Be patient; if you can't wait, you're free to leave and join another forum.
    >
    >  
    >
    > For Eclipse V, $20 is too cheap. Do you realize that RPG Maker is usually around $60, and that's only a single player engine. Not all game engines are free, and should the developer decide on a price, you can either buy it or use a different engine.
    >
    >  
    >
    > Enough with the drama, already. We know that the community isn't as strong as it used to be. Us that were around for years and years are growing up, getting real jobs, starting real lives. Right now, the community is centered around an engine created in VB6, it simply doesn't appeal to as many new users, especially in a world where Unity and UDK exist. Us being less active simply has to do with the other available game engines out there today.

    Hate to disappoint, but it's not "under" development. It's stuck in development.
  18. Making it closed source is dumb. It's not like any features you add will change the fact that vb6 is a laggy piece of garbage that you can't actually make an "MMO" with, let alone a small online game that can barely serve 20 people. There's already better engines out there for game creation that are open source. 

    Not that I'm really interested in the engine. But, at least make it open source so if someone needs a few extra features to make their game unique they can. You've got nothing to lose. Anyone who can actually benefit from your code (a programmer worth their weight), will already know how to implement the features anyway.
  19. > It's just the way in which they are making money is bad. Making money is good, but the heart and soul of Mirage has been butchered. They should not call it Eclipse Origins, because it is just morally wrong. EO's name has been tarnished now.
    >
    >  
    >
    > There are many ways to make money. You can do it open-source with donations. You can make it open-source and sell plugins. Etc.

    I totally agree with this. I think that Eclipse (as it stands now) would be better if it had a substantial base for free (everything needed to make a hobbyist game), with the option to pay for additional features (more advanced ones like guilds, pets and so on). Donations would work if the upcoming release turns out to be phenomenal in every way, and there's a guarantee of upgrades. People only donate, generally, when their money is being put to good use.
  20. Haven't been around in awhile but I'll leave my two cents anyway. In regards to having a new engine to spice things up: The problem is that now with EO4 and eventually EO5 being closed-source and paid for, anyone who creates an orpg engine using C#, Python, Java, C++ etc. will most likely not want to make it free and open source. Why would they when there's potential profit to be made, not to mention the ability to create their own games with a more superior engine if they so wish. It would be like having a store where you pay for a pen, but the whole package is free.

    Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Eclipse is all about business prospects. I remember back in 2006 when EVERYONE was a hobbyist developer, and there was no interest in making money. But, we have to realize that since the Eclipse engine (the highlight of the forum) became a closed source engine you pay for, it was inevitable that many people on the forums would leave and take their fancy engines (or skills to create one) with them. Possibly to sell elsewhere (last I checked you couldn't sell your own engine on Eclipse), or to use them for their own productions.

    In other words, anyone who makes an open source engine that is better than what currently exists is one charitable person. ;-)
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