Eye Of Chaos(or better name wanted)

[Taghor]

Well, i posted awhile back about creating an Eye of the Beholder/Dungeon master clone, and it appears that it is going to have to come to life...

A2 Computing coursework time is here for me folks...and ive decided to dedicate my coursework to this project. I have created the ability to walk around the dungeon, and load levels from text files..the scripting engine will be done soon also. I need to decide on Runes or Spellbook for Magic. Also what stats and classes to have included.

The only real reason i suppose for wanting to include some eye of the beholder concepts is the scripting and interactivity it can provide...

I shall create a website soon enough with the Alpha Release. I already have the prototype from the original version i created.

The finish release will be complete with User manual and technical documentation..along with source code, Alas, the whole game will have to be done in visual basic..but fear not, i shall be Using API as opposed to the ugly and bulky Visual Basicesque Objects.

Any feedback and ideas would be greatly appreciated. Also a good Plot or quest/sub quests would be Very greatly appreciated. So far im thinking of an Eye of the beholder 4. Including Cameo's from some dungeon master monsters

[PadTheMad]

Nice idea, although I've never used VB so I can't really comment on that (we only use C++ on my course) You say this is an A2 coursework project? I'm just wondering on the level of help we can provide because I know they're quite strict at times on the level of outside help / input you can recieve. Overall though it sounds like a nice project and if you can get it all finished and working in time, very impressive too

[Tom Hatfield]

Finally! Someone else who respects VB as a real programming alternative.

One comment, though: ugly and bulky objects? You realize that if your objects are ugly and bulky, it's because you made them that way. As for scripting, you don't need much power. Pre-compiled command classes would suffice. If you want a functional language, Select Case, command classes, or CallByName will all get the job done. If you need real power, you might look into VBScript and the Microsoft Script Control. VBScript interfaces naturally with Visual Basic and is very easy to use, but you could also use JScript if that's your bag of chips.

Better not use the Eye of the Beholder name, even as a subtitle. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Stick with your own name and give yourself some credit, for crying out loud! I'd recommend trying to improve on whatever you didn't like in those previous games rather than copying them bit for bit.

By the way, as a fellow VB programmer, have you looked at any performance sites? VB Fibre and VBSpeed are the best ones out there, and Unlimited Realities still has their old VB articles in the knowledge base. WinsockVB is the place to go if you want to do networking.

http://www.xbeat.net/vbspeed
http://www.persistentrealities.com/vbfibre/index.php
http://www.winsockvb.com/
http://www.ur.co.nz/static/default_pageid_5.htm

Good luck on your project. Hey, maybe you should post status updates to keep us interested and you motivated.

[Taghor]

i was referring to the fact, if you refresh the picturebox's or the image box's you get a blocky style flicker... i use alot of vb's built in code, like picture box's just not for the main game world..

hmm a lawsuit probably would happen..but then one could argue the same about dungeon master there has been many clones with same name, also my name is Eye of Choas at the moment, ile probably change it becuase it sounds naff..i hav never conciderd making a multiplayer type EOB/Dm clone, though i think that could be a interesting development in the 'Dungeon master World' lolz. though i did have Infinate Dungeons as a name awhile back... im trying to get a decent name, im doing this all by myself (and with the help and guidance of ppl like u in this forum).. i do use Select Case an awfull lot, it has helped me alot, and has narrowd me to only using about 40 if statements so far throught the entire Game.

And Visual basic is a great progamming language, my native language is VC++ sooo laborious compared to VB, some of its features are badly programmed though.. the API calls are not tied in all the greatly and there is no class implimentation untill you get to VB.Net, and then the upgrade wizard throughs most of the old vb6 api calls out of the window..

Joe

[Taghor]

http://www.angelfire.com/amiga2/joe.shaw

the first screenshot is here, okay okay it took longer then i thought, but im not very good with websites!!! especially angelfire... suggestions would be most welcome

Joe

[Tom Hatfield]

I wasn't talking about Dungeon Master. The license on that is so flexible, you could almost consider it public domain. (Almost.) I was referring to Eye of the Beholder, which you seemed interested in using for yourself.

Regarding implementation: you are mistaken. VB5/6 supports implementation — but that's all it supports. You may be referring to inheritance, which is supported by .NET, but most (if not all) VB5/6 programmers consider VB.NET a completely different language.

Eye of Chaos is a fine name, provided it fits your theme.

I'm not seeing any pics on your site. . .

If you're from a C++ background, perhaps you'd be interested in learning C#. It has the power of C++ with much of the simplicity offered by VB and Java — not to mention it's the native language of .NET.

[Taghor]

well its been awhile since i started the project, and as usual i havnt kept people up to date... well its come a long way since the beginning
let me give u a run down..
Remember the website i posted, i figured out why the links didnt show up..as the font color for links is blue and the background was blue it didn work...anyway
Interface --- 90% complete

Wall Graphics --- 100% complete - Created Photoshop Actionfile for this

Monster Graphics --- 100% complete

Magic Graphics --- 100% complete

Character Generation --- 100% complete

Editor --- Non Existant but considering building one and need ideas on how to go about doing so, but i imagine it will be pretty simple

Ai --- 5% complete -Please please please, if anyone can offer any links to tutorials, source code for 2d array's AI or anything like that, i would be very greatful

Doors --- 100% complete - these were irritating to do!!!!!

Level Transistion --- 60% complete - stil some bugs in items being written to the wrong part of the map etc, this shouldnt be to hard to fix.


http://www.angelfire.com/amiga2/joe.shaw/screen03.JPG
that should be the link to a screenshot but i dont know if that fails just remove the screen03.jpg

Hope some of you are interested!!

Taghor

[Sophia]

One little trick I often do in game programming when I want to test out the gameplay but don't have a full editor yet, and don't really feel like making one, is to save the levels as small image files-- one pixel = one block. It's a little tough for more complicated data structures, or for squares that can have a lot in them, but it usually works well for testing purposes.

Otherwise, re-use as much code between the game and editor as humanly possible-- even if the code isn't the most efficient thing for the editor (checking to see if it should render non-existent player sprites or particle systems or whatnot, updating at 60fps, or whatever), who cares! You save a lot of time.

As for the AI, I'm not sure what you mean by "2d array AI," but if you mean something like an algorithm to tell the monsters where to go, look into something called the A* pathing algorithm, it's fairly simple but also flexible and fast.

[Taghor]

thanks for the quick reply!!! , i have created a map screen that displays the wall blocks and the posistion of monsters, i guess adaption of that could be used. at the moment im using an idea for roaming in which:
1)the current monster starts by choosing a random direction
2)when the monster reaches a wall it scans and then determines which way to go aslong as it wasnt in the previous direction
3)it continues its roaming

this is all well and good, but when in a room it has a tendancy to just stay in that room, i have to have it i guess that when the player is in within say 5 spaces it heads towards the players location..like with a pathing algorythm as u suggested..

btw i allways thought Chani was the coolist look character alongside Gothmog of course!!!

ile post a compiled version when ive tidied it up abit, and when i can work out how to change the color of a hyper link font

Taghor

[Adamo]

you made a lot of great work, Taghor!
could you put some screenshots HERE, because I dont see any on your page?

[Taghor]

i hope these work, im never that lucky with websites
This part of the dungeon look fammiliar? i use the first level of dungeon master as my test dungeon:
http://www.4vu.net/view/personal-52fcc391bf.jpg
Here's an Evil looking Drow Door:
http://www.4vu.net/view/personal-82266d4148.jpg
and here's a screenshot of the main screen your greeted with upon loading up...the module name is a bit corny, but Dran was a very evil/cool character!!
http://www.4vu.net/view/personal-31d29cbe88.jpg

Hope you think its ok!!
Taghor [/url]

[Sophia]

It looks neat!

What kind of FPS do you run at? (Or are shooting for, anyway?)

[zoom]

I like the colour setting of Form2(personal-31d29cbe88.jpg)

world screen:

could you put some item slots below the four character
portraits? I think it would be great to have those
(easy item handling, space)

Yo!

[Selur]

Hi

..well I think the color of the walls little sux ..should be more realistic.

[linflas]

graphics design by coders... that remembers me PC demos compared to Amiga demos in early 90's