SDGDE

[ShadowDust702]

A.K.A Role Playing game Creator..
Well since I now have something to show. I Thought I'd post some information about what I'm upta
So I'm developing an IDE basicly that uses gorgon for it's graphics and stuff. It's also using Physics2D.Net, and lua. I havn't gotten to sound yet.

So basicly my goal with this project is to make a game dev kit. That's as easy to use as the RPG-Maker series (If not easier). But with much more dynamics mainly from physics, render targets, Shaders, particles, And Lua entity/Add-on coding. Plus it'll support future OS's etc.

So far there is no limit to the size of the game you can create. Tile Maps are only limited by the size of RAM your computer has. And how long you want to take to load/save. And I've tested RPC on maps size 2048x2048 with 32x32 tiles, with no bad effects on the frame rate. Map file size was 8MB.
However this is without physics implemented yet, and is purely map rendering, so I shall see.

here's an image of the IDE in action

[Tape_Worm]

Awesome. I've added this to the screenshots section on the site:
http://www.tape-worm.net/Gorgon/screenshots.php?Gallery=3
It may take a second for the image to load when you click on it, sometimes it'll show as broken while it's loading... annoying I know.

[ShadowDust702]

sweet I'll post a link to the website once there is something to look at there lol.

[ShadowDust702]

Just to show this project is in fact still alive lol I've decided to upload an image, mainly so suggestions can be made to improve the interface. 1 thing I'm thinking of doing is combining the tile list, and map list forms, because the layout is quite annoying right now, espeically if you maximize the map form.

Once I get the game running some user generated Lua code, that's when a demo will be available in this thread



But it's progressing slowly so don't expect anything soon lol

[ShadowDust702]

Well after a holiday of my own... (not having the net, along with my brother moving in, and basicly stealing my PC lol) I'm back

[ShadowDust702]

Check them out!! any comments just post a reply (duh)




things you may see:
Engine generated tile selection, so you can place EG tiles anywhere with no hassle
Entities have been implemented. (and fully save now!)

EDIT: and I'm now using the SVN version...

Higher resolution screenshots available here:
http://www.sds.co.cc/index.php?page=screenshots

[Tape_Worm]

Awesome. I've updated the screenshot gallery to include these images. I've placed these images under their own sub gallery.

[ShadowDust702]

Just a screenshot of the particle system. notice the colourband setting the colours
Still needs finishing though, TODO:
Emitter doesn't save.
Emitter doesn't load either lol.
Integration into Lua.
Integration with physics(collision detection only)

[ShadowDust702]

Just an update on the RPC demo, I've been working on, currently im getting 20 FPS in it, I want to improve this performance before I release the demo, I believe the lag is coming from LUA.. So yes, optimizing :p

[ShadowDust702]

OK, so this demo is for view of forum members, and their friends lol ... It doesn't include the actual creator, but a game made by it please bear in mind there are some more optimizations I'm working on. But I thought before I start breaking code again lol I should give you guys some Eye-Candy ..

BTW to win the game push that colourful ball A.K.A the orb in to the cloud of smoke somewhere else on the map lol.
Also to access the simple console press F11, the console is kind of hard to use because of some weird lag issues that I'm to resolve later. Push F11 to close it again. if there's any bugs in the lua you wont know unless you look at the console, so don't forget to just check plz xD

any tips for enhancing the engine some more would be greatly appreciated.

here's the download address
(7zip) (only available as zip now)
(winzip) http://homepages.xnet.co.nz/~dargent/Demo.zip

Tip: use the following line (push F11 or paste in to the main script) to see the collision shapes
"TileMaps[GetCurrentMap()].DrawCollision = true"

[Zeraan]

I got an unhandled exception while trying to launch your demo.

************** Exception Text **************
System.BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or assembly 'LuaInterface, Version=2.0.0.36605, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1e1fb15b02227b8a' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format.
File name: 'LuaInterface, Version=2.0.0.36605, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1e1fb15b02227b8a'
at GameApp.frmGame.frmGame_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

I tried to launch "GameApp". Was there something I needed to do?

[Tape_Worm]

I get the same exception. Zeraan, are you running an x64 operating system? If you are (I am), then it's possible the LUA bindings are meant for x86 and Shadow's app was compiled for 'AnyCPU'.

[ShadowDust702]

hmm ok, I'm not very good at x86-x64 stuff lol. Now at least I know what it does if I compile for that, with a x86 DLL. Gosh VS2008 Express doesn't make it easy, I had to manually edit the Project File . I'm not even sure if it worked, and I don't have a 64bit OS with me at the moment , so if you guys could test it, that'd be very appreciated

EDIT oops I forgot to upload the fix lololol. So you guys will have to hack my machine, to gain remote access .. or I could just upload it lol
it's in one of those autoextractor thingies, so just extract it to where-ever you put the demo.

EDIT: The update below includes the x64 fix, hopefully lol.

[ShadowDust702]

This update improves the performance substantially when the tiles are very different. Now our framerate doesn't drop down at some parts of the map
The secret behind the improvement is tilemaps is now implementing batching when not in the editor. How it works: it splits the map in to sections, depending on the size of the map. It then places those sections in to batches, a batch for each sector. But as another performance increase, even when you are in the editor, it will rearrange the drawing order so that it places the images that are the same, one after the other.

If you don't understand any of what i said above, that's ok. Tape-worm should know what i mean, though :p..

The download link on an older post also links to this file. Don't worry, it's been updated.
http://homepages.xnet.co.nz/~dargent/Demo.zip
if you're on dialup or something and don't want to download the whole 1.5mb file lol. There's the update below (for the old Demo, in case u downloaded that one earlier).
http://homepages.xnet.co.nz/~dargent/Update_Test.exe

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the optimizations break the continuity of the map edges. So that'll be fixed on the next update.(that's why there is pink when you're off the map)

[Zeraan]

I get the same exception. Zeraan, are you running an x64 operating system? If you are (I am), then it's possible the LUA bindings are meant for x86 and Shadow's app was compiled for 'AnyCPU'.

Yes I am. Will try the fix later and let you know if it works.

[Zeraan]

Okay your links were missing ~dargent

It's working now, and ran at about 40 FPS (according to the number on top)

Is the slowdowns due to shadows?

[Tape_Worm]

I ran it on my system, it runs at about 80 FPS give or take (Radeon 4850). I'm wondering if your slowdown isn't due to the interop being performed by using LUA bindings? Making interop calls can be costly in .NET. Have you considered maybe using C#, F# or even Iron Python as the scripting language? I know Microsoft included a sample on how to perform such a task (with C#) in their DX SDK.

[ShadowDust702]

80FPS is the fastest it should run.. I limited the FPS (to 80FPS) in the hopes to reduce unnecessary CPU usage. So on Tape-Worms machine it's basicly at full speed. However on Zeraans it could possibly do better. I'll have a look at another scripted language. But I'm at work right now, so I'll have a look when I'm home.

[ShadowDust702]

OK, so every1 must be thinking my project is dead. But infact! it is not lol, I'm just working on a different segment of it; The scripting/AI. This library is going to be a seperate DLL from RPC so it can be used with other projects too. It'll be using C# and the CLR, and a rudementry fuzzy logic. I'll even make documentation for it .

Hope it turns out as good in real life as it is in my mind lololol

[Zeraan]

How's the AI stuff going? That'll be the next thing I'll work on after I finish pathfinding, so I was wondering if there were any challenges or gotchas that you've encountered.

[ShadowDust702]

well the library isnt really that complicated, and the path finding/AI really needs work. So it at the moment it only really allows for scripting using c#. Also it still majorly needs documenting

[ShadowDust702]

Just a warning before the next test of RPC is uploaded.

List of things to be finished before next test:

Reimplement animations (using GorSprites)
Finish rewriting the test game.

I'd like as many as possible to test this version. And yes it will include the editor, and allow you to make/edit games. However I wouldn't recommend starting on a game with RPC just yet, as there will likely be some breaking changes to the saving system pretty soon.

[ShadowDust702]

ok! well i hope it works on other peoples computers lol.
just a couple of notes first.
In order to run the test game you must first open it in the editor. This will automagicly copy everything required in to the Demo games directory. you may run the game from the editor using the menu at the top (or pressing F5).

The in-game controls are W A S D.
There is no objective lol.
Animations are dodgy, this isn't the engines fault, it's my poor animating.
To move the editors camera around hold the right mouse button.
To drag objects use the left.
To edit stuff click the right.
To edit tiles just select one on the right panel. (to stop push the unselect button)
To access the script editor look in the tools menu at the top. (The script editor is very early in development, however is usable(barely)). dont forget to compile and save the project.

Please report:

- your FPS (reported on the top of the game) 79-80 is perfect. but 70+ will do, plz let me know if it's below.
- what you think of the editor, so far.
- any bugs. I need to create a list.
- oh, and how it looks on your monitor, for example if the image gets stretched (in the game, not in the editor)
- any questions

here's the download link
http://homepages.xnet.co.nz/~dargent/Test2.zip

[Zeraan]

I'll give it a try when I get home from work!

[Zeraan]

Okay I gave it a try. It seems like half of things I tried, I get unhandled exceptions. Also, the tiles don't show until I create a new map, and switch to that map. It's just black with no tiles for me to select before then. Trying to run the map pops up the "game" then instantly closes it.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to see here?