(The project was previously named OSARE -- Open Source Action Roleplaying Engine)
Website and Developer Blog: http://clintbellanger.net/rpg/
Google Code projects and subversion: http://code.google.com/p/flare-engine/
Discussion Forums: http://opengameart.org/forums/projects/flare
I'm most likely to be hanging out in #opengameart on irc.freenode.net
Flare is written in C++ using SDL. Game data is stored in easy-to-edit files. Art is pre-rendered using Blender. Maps are drawn using Tiled.
The code is licensed GPL v2 or later.
The art is licensed CC-BY-SA 3.0 or later.
(other licenses available; e.g. most art is also available as GPL v2)
These philosophies have guided the development of Flare so far:
- Make the fun parts first.
- Make it playable now and configurable later
- Rather than plan an extensive framework, build several similar games and reuse/refactor code each time. The result will be a proven engine.
- Invest in a few decent art assets early. Add more variety later.
- Make something good enough and move to the next thing. There will be time to redo code/art once everything else is finished.
- Keep it absolutely simple for now. No online component, no scripting engine, no 3D, no real-time lighting. All those can come later.
- Stick to one thing. This engine will make games that are heavy action, light rpg. Don't try to be a "do-it-all" 2D engine.
Flare v0.01 was released Jan 1st 2010. Today (March 15, 2011) I released Flare v0.12. Releases happen about once per month.
The engine is still Alpha. Here's the basic roadmap to Flare Beta:
- v0.12 NPC Dialog/Conversations. Simple Quests
- v0.13 Main Menu, Load Menu, Character Create Menu
- v0.14 Unicode and Translations support
- Several releases of configuration options
The playable demo shows the early assets and functionality of the engine. Once Flare (the engine) reaches Beta, I will be focusing on creating more art (tilesets, enemies, etc) and tutorials on how to use the engine. Meanwhile this medieval hack & slash demo will grow into a game of its own.
This recent video shows off some of the game action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFQplibkoSE
Screenshots:
So far most of Flare has almost been a one-man show (I've done about 90% of the visual art and the code, and the good folks at OpenGameArt have helped with the audio). Recently I've received a large number of spontaneous contributors from around the world. If you like where the project is going and are interested in helping, just let me know.