dungeon game

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:38 pm

This is my first post here, so Hello everybody!

I would like you guys to test something for me. Currently I am developing old skool project - clone of DM, EOB etc. It's 3D, tile based, dungeon game.

Here are some screenshots:

It's not a big thing, dont expect anything astonishing. But could you download, wander around a bit and tell me what you think? It would be good to hear what is your framerate and if you experienced any "freezes" - I have only low-end laptop and it's not good for games

I am currently unemployed, coding it for my own pleasure, but it's huge amount of work and it would be nice if actually someone would like this game. So verbal support would be good. Any constructive criticism as well.

At this moment you can walk around, kill the monsters, operate door and switches. if you kill enought monsters on one location, they should pile up. Works best with zombies, because other animations fly to other tiles when you kill them.

Graphics is not very good, monsters are md2 models from the web so they look all right. I made walls by myself so you can notice strange issues with walls

I have map editor, alpha version, but game version available for download doesn't support it, although the current version I am working on loads the maps (I put the older version so you can see monsters running around - editor doesn't support it yet).

Some people claim they experienced transfer problem, so if it happens (shouldn't), please be patient and try again

You can download game here (~6 MB):
http://www.null-zero.com/Debug.rar

Editor is here (~1 MB):
http://www.null-zero.com/editor.rar

At this moment I am working on Astar algorithm to make monsters a bit smarter - so they can go from location A to location B, instead of random movements. Next I would like to make the proper characteristics system (DEX, STR, INT etc), but I have no idea how should it work, and how equations should look like. Any help would be great.

King regards

zoom · Post by **zoom** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:24 pm

Hi Siegfried, welcome to the forums!
you have the same name like me

Your project is still very unfinished so I cannot really vote!

I have 240 frame rate, no freezes.
you should add a readme
with all movement keys explained, or did I miss it?
Anyway I found that esc quits and w,a,d moves around.
clicking on the hand rectangle attacks.self explanatory, but ..

movement: probably adding a slight animation (feeling
to move towards wall but fail) when facing walls or monsters and
pressing "w" to make it noticeable you actually pressed a key..

the written text at start is too much to read and confuses me,
but generally it is good to have "conversation" built in!
well that's it from me. Thanks for showing the project

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:35 pm

thanks for reply Zoom.

240 fps? Wow! What kind of card do you have?

on my laptop its ~40fps.

I know it's not a game yet, but I am doing my best

If I manage to add the AI, items and implement characteristics, it will be quite close to the proper game

regards!

Post by **linflas** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:07 pm

hmm.. that remembers me a lot my own 3d clone project. i gave it up because the language i used was outdated (blitz basic) and i wasn't good enough to optimize the display routine.
i have 60 fps on my geforce 7300go laptop with your demo.

that's a good start, better than mine ! i hope and see more next time

oh.. and welcome to the forums !

Post by **Sophia** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:18 pm

I also get 60fps (geforce 8800gt), with vsync on. Zoom most likely has vsync off, which is why he gets such a frame rate.

I noticed you're using glut. That's freeglut, and not the old, old glut that hasn't been maintained for 10 years or so, right?

(I hope so!)

One major oddity: the door opening is very slow, and the walls around the door seem to "shimmer" and distort a bit when the door is going up.

Right now I'd vote "it's bad," but that's because there's really nothing to it yet, and you're working on it still. So I too will hold my vote. Keep it up!

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:11 pm

Sophia:
I am using glut 3.7.6 (2001). The reason is that I was using it at work, so I had it installed on my laptop. I didn't bother to install freeglut. But thank that you pointed it - I will link game with freeglut

About strange effects with doors and switches: this is due to my programmers graphics, I cannot make a proper md2 model at this moment. I know how to solve this problem, but it requires a bit of work so... later

This is still rather framework than game. I was just curious if anybody would like to play it.

zoom · Post by **zoom** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:28 am

sophia was right, now I get 75fps!!

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:27 pm

I've put latest version of game - with simple items and inventory. You can download it from link I provided in first post.

I found one annoying thing: if you stand on the tile, you cannot see items on that tile. If change FOV, everything looks like on lsd trip. any ideas?
(hmm I just figured something... maybe I will move camer down a bit, but it may look like looking from hobbit's perspective)
Regards

oh, and btw this version can load maps created by editor

Post by **linflas** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:55 am

instead of lowering the camera can you lower the view angle a bit when the party stops ?

some remarks :
- backward key is Z instead of S
- when the party is facing a wall, your perspective displays it too close from the camera. that may be problematic because you can't see the bottom of the wall.
- same idea when you are in a corridor : when you reach a tile where you could be able to strafe on a side, you don't see the "end" of the wall on the same side (i should post a screenshot to be more precise)..

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 3:31 pm

this is a big issue - when I adjust FOV to see the edge od tile I am standing on, everything else is pushed away. So monsters look like they are 2 tiles from me. Currently I introduced "r" key - to look down at you feet

It sucks a bit, but I have no idea how to solve it - looking down everytime you stop is a bit strange, cos what if yo are fighting a monster ?

Other "news": I solved "shimmering" doors problem, now I am on "shimmering" switches - a bit more complicated, including changes to editor.

What do you think about those 2d items? I wonder if 3d wouldn't be better (it would solve some issues, introducing few new).

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:44 am

I seem to remember that in 3D samples of the scenes I did to try and match the real DM perspective were at a very odd height and angle.. though I have not tried again for some time, so I can't remember if it was because everyone was too high, or too short based on the height of the camera..

I should check that again..

I've always like the idea of trying DM in a 3D environment, but it's always those ones which vanish first for whatever reason..

I would be curious to know what your 3D mesh limitations are.. just out of curiosity.

Roquen · Post by **Roquen** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:21 am

Try not having the camera in the center of a tile. Place it instead in the center of the 'backward' edge from the direction your facing. When you change facings move the camera in the inscribed circle.

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:59 pm

well, currently I am on holidays (very strange term if you are unemployed).

Roquen:
If I move the camera back and then rotate in the way you propose, then it will look a bit strange: imagine you stopped, put a sword in front of you, and then you are rotating around the sword. I definitely have to take a closer look at this solution as soon as I come back - it may be fun.

I've found something like DUNGEON MAKER - it was 3d clone of DM, made by people from India. Anyone knows what happened to it?
Regards

Roquen · Post by **Roquen** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:11 am

I should have been more verbose in my previous message. I was trying to think about multiple things at the same time.

When facing a wall, I'd expect to be able to see some floor for item interaction. (see below)
When facing an alcove (or other centered placeable), I'd expect it to appear centered and near enough to plausiably interact with.
When facing a corner, I'd expect to see the corner. Rather that: solid-wall, side-step, open space.

If I move the camera back and then rotate in the way you propose, then it will look a bit strange: imagine you stopped, put a sword in front of you, and then you are rotating around the sword.

Only if your item registeration (placement) point is at the center of the tile. If it is at the center, then you shouldn't be able to see it at all, without panning the camera down. I'd suggest trying four registeration points per tile, toward each corner. That way, for each facing, you can see two of them. Or go all the way to arbitrary placement within the visible floor region of the current tile. A single registeration point in the center would also visually suggest the classic "bread-crumb" trail.

Also in my previous post, I should have mentioned that using a radius all the way out to the edge might be too much..it's just to get a feel of the look.

Broken_Paladin · Post by **Broken_Paladin** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:42 pm

Hope you do come back from your holiday soon and work on this still. I played around with game for about an hour with no lockups or freezes and I was really enjoying it. I'll be more than happy to help you test this, i really liked the graphics.

I have average frame rate of 150-170 depending on if monsters are near or not. In the inventory i have a frame rate of 270.

Here is a list of things i noticed;

1)While running and the monsters running they can walk through u causing you to be "inside the monster" which looks kinda neat, but you can't attack them, however u can step out fine.

2)There is no delay on attacking, I can just spam attacking.

3)Text at beginning spams real fast from monster dialogue at game start, possibly work on dialogue just a little more. "I've been hit" is not something i see demon saying or a monkey behind you.

4) Every so often "Door is Not Open" text will spam at bottom of screen which i assume is a monster trying to go through the door.

5) When opening the door the sides of the walls move like they are waves. Also doors open kind of slow i just keep hitting w till i can do, im very impatient =p.

6)Backbutton should be S not Z, its out of place. If possible to have arrow keys for movement as well just not wsad.

7)No clue how to equip sword, i put it in the green box and looks like its equipped but its just on the floor. (Need a command readme)

I stacked all the monsters in 1 room piling the bodies up and it lowered frame rate to 120-130 which isn't to big of a deal for me, however people getting 60fps might have a dramatic effect on.

9)Compass is nice, but a minimap might be nicer I got lost so many times had to use doors as markers and i drew map by hand.

All and All i really enjoyed the demo, keep up the good work.

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:07 pm

I am back!
I will start working on it tomorrow

Broken_Paladin · Post by **Broken_Paladin** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:08 pm

Welcome back!! Most excellent i timed that pretty good eh?

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:09 pm

yeah it's quite good timing

Broken_Paladin · Post by **Broken_Paladin** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:57 pm

Siegfried have you done any updates or has anyone heard anything about his game?

siegfried · Post by **siegfried** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:12 pm

working on it, but I am quite busy right now :/
I will let you know here on board

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 1:40 pm

The demo is fantastically dark for me, such that I lost interest almost immediately. I could see only one tile in front of me, and the zombies were practically invisible. Also, the movement is too slow for my reflexes. Otherwise, it ran fine for the short time I played it.

Roquen has the idea: you need to place the camera behind the tile rather than on it to achieve the DM perspective. Unfortunately, this doesn't work for real-time graphics because when your back is to a wall and you turn away from it, the camera will move behind the wall. I'd say, don't worry about viewing items on the tile you're standing on. Just have them drop to the tile in front of you, unless you're facing a wall.

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