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Warscale - New editors
Warscale - New editors
| Name: | Guimo | |
|---|---|---|
| Date Posted: | Jun 11, 2008 | |
| Rating: |  Not Rated | |
| Public: | YES | |
| Comments: | YES | |
| RSS Feed: |  or Subscribe with  . | |
| Profile Page: | View profile page for Guimo |
Blog post
Hello to everybody!
This week had many surprises for me, the best one was my son who decided to walk by himself and took his first steps. It was amazing.
I managed to finish all my tasks for this week and even more. Actually I planned to redesign the spell system and in the end I had to build a whole new application to manage the spells. All is working fine now so I created an Orc Warrior and Orc berserker units. They are working fine on the logical level so now I have to make them work in the game.
What was planned
End game procedure
I solved all the problems in the end game procedure. When the game ends a dialog box appears saying Victory! or Defeat!. The player can still see the battle behind the dialog (final state) but cannot use any control.
When the player presses Ok in this screen, he is taken to the results screen where you should see a 3D scene on the background and the results. All values are already computed but are still pending to be shown on this screen.
I entered and exitted the game about ten times in a row and got no problems at all. I guess this is solved even when more work in presentation is required.
Game options menu
When in the game you press Ctrl-O you get a dialog with buttons for Video, Sound, Controls, Resign and Close. The first three show the usual setup from TGE (I plan removing the control option). The resign button allows to get out of the game. The close button returns you to the game.
Everything now works more like a RTS option box but again a second pass will be required, maybe a Confirm Resign dialog would be nice. Also you should be able to quit the game when you lose and get no penalties for leaving (for 3 or 4 player games).
Model Editor update
The model editor has been updated to handle the improved magic system. All the spells are now stored in an object called the SpellManager. The spell manager handles the information on spells and figments (spell effects). So now each model links with the spell they want to use and define its usage. I.E. I have created the Berserk spell in the spell manager. This spell uses 3 figments: Damage +2, Armor -1, HP +8.
Now I declared an Orc berserk unit. The orc berserk has access to this power as an activated power. It costs 1 mana to activate this power which affects this unit only.
In the future, I can create an Orc Leader which grants Berserk to all Orcs in an area and costs nothing to activate. Maybe I can create an orc shaman with Berserk as an activated power which costs 3 mana and gives any orc a berserk power.
What wasnt planned
Spell Editor
At one point, I found that the spells were more complicated than I initially thought and I still feel that way. So I decided to rewrite the spell system and of course that forced me to create a new tool called the Spell Editor. The spell editor allows to create a spell and assign figments. A figment is basically a description of what is the spell going to do (damage, heal, slay, modify one attribute). A single spell may have many figments at the same time.
Buying models
I have bought the Critters pack from www.MMOWorkshop.com and plan to adapt it for warscale. If everything works fine then I may buy other packs. I also purchased all the packs from the www.gamecontentpacks.com. I plan buying a couple of environment packs from Arteria Gaming and the zombie pack from 3DRT. That should do for a prototype.
Screenshot?
No shot this week as I have been working with the GUI and this is something to be improved. I promise a shot next week.
The plan for this week
a. New creatures
I need to create a creature to test this scripts. I'm now creating the Orc Warrior and the Orc Berserk units based on the orc in GameContentsPacks. I guess I will need to tweak everything a little and create all the scripts so that they work in Warscale.
b. New armies
With new units comes new armies! I will need to modify the armies manually. I still dont have an arm editor but if I find modifying armies by hand is a problem then I will start working on this before anything else.
c. Equipment System
If I manage to get both units in the game, I will need to start using the Weapons Pack in order to add some weapons to the orcs. This will force to to get working in the equipment system.
[b]d. Special power buttons[b]
Once with the new units in place, I will setup the unit actions menu to allow to enter the special power menu. This should show the Berserker power for the Orc Berserk. I dont plan to make it work yet, just show up.
Luck with your games!
Guimo
This week had many surprises for me, the best one was my son who decided to walk by himself and took his first steps. It was amazing.
I managed to finish all my tasks for this week and even more. Actually I planned to redesign the spell system and in the end I had to build a whole new application to manage the spells. All is working fine now so I created an Orc Warrior and Orc berserker units. They are working fine on the logical level so now I have to make them work in the game.
What was planned
End game procedure
I solved all the problems in the end game procedure. When the game ends a dialog box appears saying Victory! or Defeat!. The player can still see the battle behind the dialog (final state) but cannot use any control.
When the player presses Ok in this screen, he is taken to the results screen where you should see a 3D scene on the background and the results. All values are already computed but are still pending to be shown on this screen.
I entered and exitted the game about ten times in a row and got no problems at all. I guess this is solved even when more work in presentation is required.
Game options menu
When in the game you press Ctrl-O you get a dialog with buttons for Video, Sound, Controls, Resign and Close. The first three show the usual setup from TGE (I plan removing the control option). The resign button allows to get out of the game. The close button returns you to the game.
Everything now works more like a RTS option box but again a second pass will be required, maybe a Confirm Resign dialog would be nice. Also you should be able to quit the game when you lose and get no penalties for leaving (for 3 or 4 player games).
Model Editor update
The model editor has been updated to handle the improved magic system. All the spells are now stored in an object called the SpellManager. The spell manager handles the information on spells and figments (spell effects). So now each model links with the spell they want to use and define its usage. I.E. I have created the Berserk spell in the spell manager. This spell uses 3 figments: Damage +2, Armor -1, HP +8.
Now I declared an Orc berserk unit. The orc berserk has access to this power as an activated power. It costs 1 mana to activate this power which affects this unit only.
In the future, I can create an Orc Leader which grants Berserk to all Orcs in an area and costs nothing to activate. Maybe I can create an orc shaman with Berserk as an activated power which costs 3 mana and gives any orc a berserk power.
What wasnt planned
Spell Editor
At one point, I found that the spells were more complicated than I initially thought and I still feel that way. So I decided to rewrite the spell system and of course that forced me to create a new tool called the Spell Editor. The spell editor allows to create a spell and assign figments. A figment is basically a description of what is the spell going to do (damage, heal, slay, modify one attribute). A single spell may have many figments at the same time.
Buying models
I have bought the Critters pack from www.MMOWorkshop.com and plan to adapt it for warscale. If everything works fine then I may buy other packs. I also purchased all the packs from the www.gamecontentpacks.com. I plan buying a couple of environment packs from Arteria Gaming and the zombie pack from 3DRT. That should do for a prototype.
Screenshot?
No shot this week as I have been working with the GUI and this is something to be improved. I promise a shot next week.
The plan for this week
a. New creatures
I need to create a creature to test this scripts. I'm now creating the Orc Warrior and the Orc Berserk units based on the orc in GameContentsPacks. I guess I will need to tweak everything a little and create all the scripts so that they work in Warscale.
b. New armies
With new units comes new armies! I will need to modify the armies manually. I still dont have an arm editor but if I find modifying armies by hand is a problem then I will start working on this before anything else.
c. Equipment System
If I manage to get both units in the game, I will need to start using the Weapons Pack in order to add some weapons to the orcs. This will force to to get working in the equipment system.
[b]d. Special power buttons[b]
Once with the new units in place, I will setup the unit actions menu to allow to enter the special power menu. This should show the Berserker power for the Orc Berserk. I dont plan to make it work yet, just show up.
Luck with your games!
Guimo
Recent Blog Posts
| List: | 08/22/08 - Warscale - Model store 08/15/08 - Warscale - Equipment editor 2 (w/shots) 08/12/08 - Artwork agreement for Warscale! (Warning: may cause drooling) 08/08/08 - Warscale - Equipment Editor (w/shots) 08/01/08 - Warscale - Orcs! 07/30/08 - Warscale - Army Editor 2 (w/screenshot) 07/21/08 - Warscale - ArmyEditor and GuiGridControl 07/12/08 - Warscale - Spiders! (w/screenshots) |
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Submit your own resources!| Tom Eastman (Eastbeast314) (Jun 11, 2008 at 03:11 GMT) |
Your game always sounds fun but you've never got enough screenshots or movies to satisfy me :)
Keep up the good work!
| Guimo (Jun 11, 2008 at 03:50 GMT) |
I guess I still have one more month to end the first stage so dont expect this to be finished soon, but I will try to post more screenshots in the future when everything gets better.
Thank you for your encouraging words!
Guimo
| Brian Jones (Jun 11, 2008 at 06:50 GMT) |
| Guimo (Jun 12, 2008 at 01:41 GMT) |
This version of Warscale is a second attempt to make the game work. I started this version with a test on the network. After seeing everything would hold fine, I decided to build the game in three stages, as I mentioned previously, with each stage taking 6 months.
The idea for the first stage is to get a working prototype. I dont have a milestone list but I do have a requirements list and I'm not adding anything else to that list. I have learned that adding to that list is to spell disaster. Also, in this first stage, I dont want everything to be perfect, just enough detail to make it functional.
A screen?... just a title and a couple of buttons. A grid? Draw it in paint and continue. Download simple buttons from Internet. I have failed in other project because I tried everything to be perfect. When I started I was worried about the GUI. I wanted to hire a guy for about $2000 to make me an awesome GUI. Fortunately my wife (systems engineer too) cut me inmediatly with a simple phrase... Do you already have a working prototype? Why do you need a nice GUI if you dont have a prototype? That is totally true. Sometimes you need someone to kick you so you start moving.
So, Im focused to get the prototpe working. There have been a lot of moments when I wanted to program one section of the game but I noticed that another part needs to be coded first. So I make that section first. Thats why its taking so long to make the spell system work, because its the hardest part to develop and it will be better if everything is working fine before trying.
And thats how the tasks in this blog come, while Im working during the week, sometimes I notice that there is another thing to be done before. If you read my blog you will notice I sometimes fail my objectives because I focused in other things.
And of course, this blog has helped me a lot to organize myself. I write my objectives for the week so I feel the need to report my progress to the community. Its an excellent way to keep you motivated and on target.
I really dont have a lot of free time but, I program while going to work on the train and on weekends when my son sleeps during the day or when my wife takes care of him so I can continue my work. Sometimes i would like to use more time but family is first.
Have a good luck with your projects, and never stop working in them!
Guimo
| Brian Jones (Jun 12, 2008 at 09:17 GMT) |
Good luck as well! I will do my best in regards to my own project(s), and will heed your advice about getting a working prototype going before worrying about artwork and the like. I kind of feel like that is where I have been hung up in the past, sometimes it's so easy to get caught up on the bits that don't even matter.
Brian
| Morrock (Jun 13, 2008 at 17:07 GMT) |
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