SDLRogue 2.0 source liberated

The source to, what was intended as the improved version of SDLRogue, has been released. I got in touch with Thomas and he said he would have no problems with it being freely available. It may not be as functional as the original code, but it's a heck of a lot cleaner.

Check it out at SDL's Sourceforge page.

SDLRogue source code liberated

I've been considering this for a while and decided to go through with it. As of today, the SDLRogue source code is made public, under the BSD License. Feel free to grab a copy at the sourceforge project page here.

I figured that this wasn't going to go anywhere in my hands, and I hope someone else will pick it up, or learn some lessons from it. It's been a great learning tool for me over the past year or 2, working on it and developing not only the program, but also my own abilities.

So have a look see. I made available a forum to discuss it, and other Backyard Interactive topics, here.

It's been quite a journey, but it had to come to an end. Too bad it had to be this soon.

The engine that could... be worked on.

Lots of things happened in the last week. I got a ton of code done, managed to track down a memory leak that's probably related to the crash described in this old post. It might still be an SDL bug, but we won't know unless we've dug deeper on this issue.

Below is a small list of the things I did on SDL-Rogue in the past week. Most of it is code. It may give you a slight insight on what we're doing at the moment.

* Code Bugfix: Combat system now properly progresses to the next phase
* Code Rewrite: Added Quibox call, referenced all current QuickUI drawing there
* Code Addition: New variable for Quibox call. Now allows you to set custom width.
* Code Addition: Created the 'Action' Combat UI, taking advantage of this new var.
* Code Addition: Combat UI now parses input and moves the selector around.
* Code Bugfix: Pressing the 'X' while in the Combat UI now quits the game properly.
* Code Documentation: Documented combqui() modes and return codes
* Code Rewrite: Restructuring of the battle cycle
* Code Addition: New default Player name. For now it's "MANDUDE GUY"
* Code Addition: Basic combat menus added
* Code Rewrite: Engine optimalization. Reduced memory footprint by 1/3rd

* Art Addition: Replaced the 'this is not a combat zone' graphic with a better one.

We'll bring you more, in due time!

Back to business

Vacation time is over. I sure had a blast, and now it's time to get back to work.

A few things have happened since the last update. For one, we put the engine rewrite on hold for now. Thomas was in charge of that but real-life was getting in the way and the project was getting close to a standstill. Because of all that we decided to continue building on the original engine so we would be progressing at very least.

The engine rewrite is still on our to-do list but finishing the first 'release' is of a higher priority right now.

Since that all happened I am now back on the code team, so to speak. The codebase we're working on now was what I originally wrote so I'm already familiar with the way it works and can easily extend on it. This should all be a pretty good impulse of productivity for SDL-Rogue.

We'll be working diligently and report on whatever happens in due time.

Vacational

So Thomas went on vacation for a few weeks so code will be on hold until he returns. I've done a bit of storyverse building for the (eventual) campaign that will be included with SDL-Rogue. It's coming along nicely and should provide fertile grounds for all kinds of wacky antics.

You might have noticed that updates aren't weekly anymore and that's because, now that I don't work directly with the code (which is more or less the main focus atm) I just don't have that much to report on.

Anyway, until next time!

Yup, we're still alive!

Just letting everyone know we're still alive. Work is progressing and all that jazz.

Ever onwards

A small update for this week.

Work continues steadily. The data structures are pretty much all in place and the file loading works with the new code base! Also a small change was made regarding how objects are handled. The way a level-based object works and how it looks are now separate. You can have your doors/buttons look like any other tile now... this will probably allow for some more creative level design upon it's first release.

More to be revealed next week!

Seeing is knowing that it rocks

Well I have a proper update for today! Huzzah. Thomas sent over the current state of the code base this weekend and I had some time to look over it since then. It's a real nice job! A lot better and more structured then my own, nooblet code. There's no real estimate on when it'll be ready but rest assured that it's going well and what we have is looking good.

In addition to the code I've been working on realizing some design documents. Being out of the loop on how the code comes together left me a little 'dazed' in the project but I managed to pick that up and started putting the ideas and concepts for the game that are inside my cranium into a more tangible form so I'm no longer the only one who knows how it's going to end up.

This is an ongoing process but it's going well and each step of the way I feel more confident that this'll be a fun game that can stand on it's own in the big bad indy scene.

Until next week!

Oh Boy...

I've been neglecting the devlog a little lately, this mostly because I'm not in charge of code at the moment.

I'll try to find something to update on next time. This just to let everyone know it's still coming along.

Working...

Just dropped by to let everyone know we're still working diligently. I'm also working on a little sideproject in the spare time of my spare time but I'll report on that when there's something to report. Don't expect much there, that way we get to surprise you!

That's all for now!

Surprise!

As I mentioned a little while back, this past week marks the 1 year anniversary of Backyard Interactive!

And as a surprise to all of you, I have done...

...

... Nothing at all!

That's right, it's only a year and it's not like there's any kind of a release already, so I suppose our gift is that we're making headway. I didn't get any congratulatary e-mails either so I suppose it serves you right!

On a more serious note;

The rewrite is going on, nothing new to report there. I've got the editor figured out. I decided to think of how the entire thing works before I work on it, I may just get stuff done faster and end up with a more efficient program. So I'll start on the code of that soon!

See you folks next week!

Progress on schedule

Work is slowly progressing. There's still a lot to do in rewriting the current codebase and Thomas (the coder I mentioned in my previous post) is steadily working on the overhaul. There's still a lot to do so don't expect any miracles soon.

Also, I've started the design process on the level editor this week. Right now I'm trying to find an interface that's going to provide a good work flow with the way files are handled. The result should be a very manageable editor and very small level files.

In addition to all that, we've also decided on a timetable for the project up until the first release (which will be 0.10). I'll keep the exact times under wraps in case they change, which they might, but if all goes well you should be seeing something more tangible somewhere this summer.

In the mean time, we'll keep hammering away at this puppy. See you next week!

Reinforcements have arrived!

I was really getting fed up with some of the code and how I was struggling to get simple stuff implemented. I had been thinking about getting someone else for the project for the past 2 weeks already, just so the project would go on, and I'd be able to spend the time I reserve (cough cough) for the project on more productive, and more interesting things.

So I was talking to a friend of mine who also does a bit of game development himself, and he told me how he struggled to get his project somewhere as well. In a moment of unadulterated bawl I ask him to come to the code for my project instead, and to my surprise he agreed!

And now there are 2! I've sent him over the current codebase and he said he'd start out restructuring the current code to be more... I think I'd say "proper". Put stuff in classes, get rid of global variables, that sort of things.

In the mean time, I'll start work on a preliminary level editor and get some actual content going so there'll be a world to walk in, stuff to find and baddies to fight, maybe even update the tileset again and get all those unspoken ideas out on paper so they can eventually find their way into the game!

I'm really excited about things right now!

Also, since I'm no longer the prime coder for this project (though I'll keep my eye on it ofcourse. It's hard to let go of your 'baby'...) the updates on the site may be less specific than they where and more geared towards design rather than coding.

Maybe I'll ask him to write up a bit on what he's done the past week. Who knows!

Anyway, see you next week!

Crawl

Not a lot was done this week. There's still the possible API bug, and that's probably what's the leading cause of me not getting to it. I did do some graphical things for the combat system, so it's not a complete standstill at least.

More on this next week.

API Casts Bug of the Unknown

I did some more work on the combat routine. I'm about to start heaving parts over from the QuickUI to the Combat menu, which will appear and work in a similar fashion.

There is a small problem I ran into that might be related to SDL (or something along those lines) because I ran into an unexpected crash when the game screen loses focus. I've been spending some time already trying to figure out where the problem lies and how to fix it, along with some of the folks from the SDL IRC channel. Once this is fixed I'll continue working on the combat routine.

Short and sweet! See you next week!

Productivity and half-promises

So this week has been very productive!

Lots more work done on the combat, I moved a bunch of structure related things from the idea pile to actual functional code. A lot of time was spent on making boring code it seems... or rather... purely functional code.

Most of the systemworks are now worked out completely and I'm currently spending most of my time just making them. Some more concrete formulas joined the mix and I spent a while updating the documentation today as a direct result of finding that the reading of AI moves was already in the code but not in the documentation, and since I use my own docs for reference that had to be done.

I am also glad to report that I have the first actual moving images from the combat sequence! I worked out how to make it so the combat's drawing calls wouldn't cause odd jerky movement and you can now watch both player's endurance points increase (all smooth) when you enter combat.

During a break I took I was looking through some of my old posts here and I noticed that, this April, Backyard Interactive (in it's current form) will celebrate it's first anniversary! My immediate thought was "I wonder if I can have combat done by then..." and I'm not entirely sure... considering my track record... but there's a slight chance that I might.

Maybe I'll do something fun, for the heck of it, and maybe I'll be to busy doing the actual work, but you'll just have to wait for that.

In the mean time, I'll just keep at it. See you next week!

Structure and Design

Things are speeding up a little again.

A lot of design this past week. Getting more of the formula's nailed down as well as structuring. LOTS of Structuring. I've got the basics for the combat cycle done (partly on paper)... I've been thinking a lot about certain combat mechanics and how I'm going to have them interact... as well as how I'm going to implement all of this without redoing the framework I've been building over the course of this project.

Some of this stuff is really interesting, and some of it is tedious and minute.

I've also found out that Design is a lot more work than I initially expected. I've always been more of a designer than a programmer (but it's pretty hard to do one without the other... if you're working solo...) and I always took it as more of the "let's figure this stuff out, and make up some cool things" work. There's a lot of getting those cool ideas down to a level where you can work with them. It's interesting and I've learned a lot about that... and about working with myself, in the process!

I've also been toying with the idea of a forum. I probably won't make it 'Live' until after I've made some sort of a release though. Not much to talk about otherwise.

Anyway, more next week!

Back: Game Development

Well that was an active little week.

So active that by the end I was literally sick and had to sleep around the clock to feel semi-human again. Working with those 2 guys was really fun and we got a bunch of stuff done but I can't really talk about it too much yet. Stuff may happen, and stuff may not happen, if anything does happen expect some linkage here.

Not a lot done on SDL-Rogue this past week. I did look at the combat mechanics some more, realizing a lot was still up-in-the-air design wise I decided to nail some stuff down. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Let's see how the next week goes!

Away: Game Development

I'm currently a few hundred kilometres from home working with 2 friends on a small game development company. Because of this I haven't had the time to work on my usual projects.

See you next week with hopefully more in either situation!

Of file formats and black triangles

So here I present to you another screenshot of the game in progress!

It doesn't look it, but there's a lot of things going on behind this simple 'level with weird red/yellow crap over it'.

The Red/yellow tiles are indicative of where the battle zone ends. I figured that you should be limited to a small 12x12 'arena' while doing combat instead of being able to run around the entire room, and possible the entire level. While the idea sounds interesting, it would cause the program to become too complicated and it would be too much work for the potential benefits you'd gain from it. So I left it out.

Now, as I mentioned already, the monsters get created properly and everything and what you see here is actually the 'in combat' rendering at work. I can pretty much start doing the actual combat system now. Woohoo! I hope it comes along in the next few weeks!

--

Now I said I'd talk a bit about my file format, and I decided to keep things short, because it really isn't all that.

I wanted a file format to store basically anything in. Something that would be fit for savegames, but also monster prototypes and attacks, levels and even the configuration file for the game itself (with video settings and whatnot). Also, it had to be readable in a normal text editor and it should be easy to write a parser for.

The direct result is the RCF file format. RCF stands for 'Readable Comma-seperated Filetype' and it's just that. I can yap on about it, but I think I'd better show a snippet to clarify.

---

** SDLRogue Monster and AI Attack database **
,1
,0,20,0,2,2,2,2,5,1,2,1,-1,30,1,15,2,1,3,-1,35,4,-1,Wolf
,0,25,0,2,1,1,4,5,1,2,1,-1,30,1,15,2,1,3,-1,35,4,-1,Undead Wolf
,-1
,0,0,1,4,3,0,95,0,1,2,1,0,0,0,Slash
,0,0,2,5,6,0,90,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,Maul
,-1
,

---

Looks easy no? With the game comes a readme that explains each variation in great detail so if this looks confusing, don't worry. Also if the game turns out to be played by anyone but me and my closest friends/relatives I'll probably create an editor for it as well. But we'll see how turn out.

So the next few weeks will be the combat system and the GUI for that. Should be interesting/aggrivating.

See you next week!

And... we're moved!!

Woo! I'm officially moved in now! And I got my internet connection!

I tell ya, life without internet is really weird... I didn't realize how important it is to me until I had to do without for a week.

In any event, I've done some work on SDL-Rogue, unlike my expectations, and I glad to say that I finished most, if not all, of the preliminary work. The 'encounter' now triggers creation of a monster somewhere in the area where you can encounter them (which I refer to as encounter zones). The monster is then created by the specifications in it's prototype, which is loaded from a separate data file.

Depending on what level the monster is, it is given different attributes, though this won't be implemented until I've done the player's leveling math. I'll be using that as a reference because some monsters are meant to level on par with the player and others faster or slower, so I'll need the player's leveling code to base the monsters' off. It's no big deal anyway, because when the player doesn't level, the monsters don't need to.

So the next few weeks will be spent on the combat procedure. I've already done some minor work there but there's still a lot to be done, and with my track record of underestimating these tasks... it could take a while.

I'm glad to be able to update on mondays again, and I'll talk about the data file format I've created next week, so you'll have at least that to look forward to.

Until then!

Moving around

Well I'll be moving to my new pad this week, so nothing new done so far, maybe not even by next week, but we'll see how that turns out.

Talked with someone into game development this week. That was cool. We're both doing similar things and it's nice to share experiences about this sort of thing.

Well anyway, see you next week.

Just Truckin'

Just a small update, to keep the habit and let you all know I'm still on this.

Battle is progressing slowly but surely. The ground work was, again, a little more then I anticipated, as I'm working with objects that are sure to be removed from the object array when I'm done, and this space will need to be allocated. This along with figuring out placement was what kept me busy the last week.

Work is expected to continue steadily this week, so I'll see you next Monday.

Happy New Year!

Happy new years to everyone!

It's a bit late, I know, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

I've actually done some considerable progress on SDL-Rogue. I've rewritten the rendering engine, making it a lot faster and more efficient, and in the process some HUD related things where modified which should allow me to do a lot of HUD manipulation very easily, in the future.

The work on the combat system has started, I'm currently in the initial phase of setting everything up, thinking it through (and writing all that down) and getting myself hyped for the (no doubt tedious) work this will be.

I'll be updating, when I feel like it, but always before thuesdays, so check back weekly!

Good 2009!!