Dungeon Master Forum

Hi I am making a new RPG game, and I am looking for talented people. look here http://esenthel.com

..

Downloading now, will let you know what I think in the morning.

Hi Drean

finished downloading!

I'll be glad for you opinios;) there is not much yet, but - Work in progress.. and soon I will be including animated skeleton model in the game

"Vertex Shader 2.0 Required (Found 0.0)
Pixel Shader 2.0 Required (Found 0.0)"

I don't know what this means. Can I download these somewhere, or what?

Nope, it's part of the hardware support in your graphics card. If the game is complaining, you don't have that support. Need a new card...

I'm in the same position and won't be able to upgrade for at least another year!

Pretty stiff requirements for something that looks like it was made in 1999.

My card is 4 years old and Shader Model 1.0 compliant.

So far it works
(after installing direct X Feb 2006 bundle)

Well, there is not much to say.. it runs fast.
Are there any keys that change the perspective/mouse?

What or are you going to make sth. about the specs to
allow for older machines to run this game?

well I don't think that I would be able to finish making of this game in some near time, so that is why I am writing for the newest video cards. when the game will be finished, cheap video cards will support it. (for now pixel shader 2.0 is ok, later I am planning to move to 3.0)
the keys are:
arrow keys = move camera
4thMouseButton + mouse = move camera
CTRL+(arrow keys / mouse) = rotate camera
mouse wheel = zoom
ALT = bloom effect
ALT + ENTER = toggle full screen
F12 = display debug info
] = more light
[ = less light
NumPad + = zoom in
NumPad - = zoom out
CTRL + NumPad+ = increase fov
CTRL + NumPad - = decrease fov

ah.. that is useful;

is the flame behaviour chaotic or is it a (or more) predefined pattern ?

actually quite some cool stuff in there . The FoV altering gives a
slight vertigo effect.
Well done!

most people who develop for bleeding edge hardware provide a downscaled version as to appeal to more people. The downscaled versions of the effects are present.. pushing for pixelshader 3.0 is pusing it a little

Be sure you actually NEED pixel shader 3 support in order to do the things you want.

Also, coming to a retrogaming site and presenting your software that requires bleeding edge.. seems a bit silly to me. I mean, this game we are all here because of.. ran on an Aplle IIe

My card is still fairly new and is shader 3.0 compliant.. but I wouldn't expect everyone to have that

I repeat: when the game will be finished, video cards with 2.0/3.0 shaders will be a normal thing. And i wrote on this forum not because it's "retro" but because it's about one of the gretest rpg game, and Esenthel is also an rpg.
The flame behaviour is sth between chaotic and predefined;)
check out the newest screenshot with a skeleton, on http://republika.pl/drean/esenthel.html

My point was that this is a reto gaming site... not that your game is retro. This site has users with computers they are still using from 10 years ago... and when you finish it.. some of them might still be using those cards.

I have my card because of what I do at work. Otherwise I may not have upgraded. .. and then I to would not have been able to run your demo. Because most new games out there would still run on my other older card.

So, are you not planning to finish it until 8 years or so?

Well, this is the Gaming News & Chat forum.. And there are also threads about Tomb Raider Legend and Oblivion on the same forum. So I don't think it requiring SM2.0 should be an issue.

Of course, you don't need SM2.0 for all the effects.. But if it's a small project by one person, I don't think that the widest possible compatibility is the number one priority.

Besides, there are a couple of DM clone projects with similar requirements. But since they seem pretty dead, they might actually be retro games if they some day get finished..

yes you're right:) but I -do- need 2.0, because it uses advanced texturing mode - parallax mapping. and also I am optimizing it for the newest techniques, so it runs faster. I am working hard, so expect new demo in a few days.

The DM projects that hit the same requirements get less attention because of those requirements. That's why I'm saying something here. Not that I don't like pretty effects.. I do. My job is based around those effects. As for tomb raider and oblivion.. neither are examples of BLEEDING EDGE. This demo can ONLY be played with cards supporting 2.0 and soon will only be 3.0..

I'm pointing out you are cutting your viewers down to nothing. You might want to note that similar discussions have happened in various other theads... There are a lot of regulars who will not meet this spec.

mikko wrote:And there are also threads about Tomb Raider Legend and Oblivion on the same forum. So I don't think it requiring SM2.0 should be an issue.

On a forum about a 20 year old game. There are a lot of not-so-highly specced PCs around here. Tomb Raider Legend will support advanced graphics features if you have them, but it doesn't require them. Read Gambit's posts on that thread and this one-- Tomb Raider was fine, despite not having a particularly advanced PC.

mikko wrote:But if it's a small project by one person, I don't think that the widest possible compatibility is the number one priority.

No, but a small project is inherently going to have less of an audience anyway, so certain things may have to be done to ensure that some people, at least, can actually play it.

Given the graphics teams that these major projects have working for them, a small project made by one person is never going to compete with them, graphically. So, there's really no reason to go for the bleeding edge. To be perfectly blunt, the graphics for this game look like they were made in about 1999 were it some commercial project, and I'm not sure how some high-end 3d technology is going to help that. However, if the game is fun to play, nobody's going to care!

mikko wrote:Besides, there are a couple of DM clone projects with similar requirements. But since they seem pretty dead

You make my point for me.

I suggest end of the "shader talk"- if you don't like it, then skip this thread.
BTW Demo#2 is released http://republika.pl/drean/data/Esenthel.rar enjoy:)

I think they were just trying to point out that your game has high requirements so may not attract much attention, since a lot of the people on this forum use older machines and so don't have whatever graphics thingys or whatever are needed to play the game. So if you were hoping to get a lot of people playing it, you probably won't because of that.
I haven't tried downloading it myself yet, so I dunno if it'll work for me.

drean wrote:but I -do- need 2.0, because it uses advanced texturing mode - parallax mapping.

I don't think you actually need SM2.0 even for parallax mapping, because it can be done with OpenGL ARB_fragment_program v1.0. But since I don't know how DirectX shader versions relate to OpenGL extensions, I can't be sure..

Sophia wrote:On a forum about a 20 year old game. There are a lot of not-so-highly specced PCs around here.

Valid point there. This is not the optimal forum for a project like that. But it shouldn't do any harm to advertize it on this forum. I just hope that drean has advertized Esenthel on other forums too. Especially because it's not a DM clone and has little to do with this particular forum - no matter what specs it needs.

Sophia wrote:No, but a small project is inherently going to have less of an audience anyway, so certain things may have to be done to ensure that some people, at least, can actually play it.

Personally I would at first just code what ever effects I'm going to be using with the smallest effort. After the project has matured a bit, I'd look at what could be done with older hardware and how much effort it would take. But of course all eye candy can (and maybe should) always be made completely optional. For example parallax mapping is so ridiculously easy to leave out that I'd never make it a requirement in any game. Even if it could be done with every single computer on this planet. Since there may be people who don't like the effect at all..

Sophia wrote:You make my point for me.

Well, okay. But I don't think those clones have died because people on these forums don't have suitable HW, but because they were too ambitious and the developers have lost the interest or don't have enough time etc.

Demo #4 release - much has changed, take a look http://republika.pl/drean/esenthel.html

nice additions! keep up the good work

in the last demo i liked the 3d mode more than isometric view.

NOw, I like the isometric view better (with weapon/ attack);
it is fun to watch the skeleton hack and run around...

btw, you have a typo on your webpage ("talented" is wrong written)

thanks:) are you sure with "talented" I searched with google for tallented and talented, and I'm confused, well nevermind about that, Yes I'm working hard for all of the time, now I have to think what to do next;)

I think so, I consulted an english dictionary, and tallented gave no results.

I'm pleased to announce the new version of Esenthel
containing new character, new items, and new physics system
Now you can grab items (with ALT key while fpp view)

excellent demo, especially in fpp view ! very fast on my machine, maybe too much

That's great
I love when people like it, watch out for the new release with rag-doll animated bodies, and the new web page design.

how can I find out what 'shaders' my graphics / computer has?