Who is still here

[svenskmand]

Just wanted to see how many are still interested in the project and keeps contact to it, now that the forum was down

[Andrew]

I'm still here however I'm alittle confused over the username. Are you Andrew Buck?

[hagish]

Just looking like in the old forum. It would be a pity if no one continues this project.

[Tranberry]

yes this was absolutely one of the most interesting project here.

[ghoulsblade]

yep, just looking here too, but interested =)

[Skorpio]

I'm here as well, but Andrew Buck seems to be missing.

[xapantu]

Hi,
I am here but I am not a main developer of OpenDungeons, I have just helped for the website.

[charlie]

Is somebody going to email him or shall we all just twiddle our thumbs?

[Tranberry]

twiddle our thumbs!

[Andrew]

I don't think anyone has his email address. Although more likely he's probably just burned out or busy.

[Skorpio]

Yep he mentioned he had a new job, so prolly he's got no time left for OD. Maybe someone with a Sourceforge account can contact him.

Link to the wiki.
Link to the SF page.

[qubodup]

By the way, does anyone have admin rights on the wiki?

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}

** [http://forum.freegamedev.net/viewforum.php?f=15 FreeGameDev forum for OpenDungeons]
** [http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendungeons Sourceforge page for OpenDungeons]

should be added to http://opendungeons.sourceforge.net/ind ... ction=edit

[xapantu]

Hi,
I have mysql passwords. So, I have found AndrewBuck e-mail. I send it to Andrew.
I can also edit the wiki. So, I have had :

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    ** [http://forum.freegamedev.net/viewforum.php?f=15 FreeGameDev forum for OpenDungeons]
    ** [http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendungeons Sourceforge page for OpenDungeons]

and :

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}

''New forum for OpenDungeons : [1]''

at the home page.

[Andrew]

Unfortunately the email address doesn't seem to exist anymore. Attempts to send email to it fail.

[andrewbuck]

Hey everyone. Sorry I have been away from the forums for a while. I do have a new job working for a wind power company which keeps me pretty busy. Also, the e-mail I use for registrations on forums like this does not get checked often as it is more of a "dummy" e-mail.

I'm glad to hear there is still interest in the project. I haven't really done much coding since I moved but I would like to get back into it at some point. I really do need help with that aspect of it though as now we are getting into AI routines, etc, and I don't really know much about that. The source code is very extensively documented both with comments, as well as with doxygen markup code to make html pages, etc. If anyone is interested in working on the code (it is written in C++ using OGRE3D for the graphics) I would be happy to talk with them on skype, to introduce them to the codebase.

-Buck

[qubodup]

andrewbuck: I made you moderator of the opendungeons forum and you now should be able to give moderator status to other users.

[svenskmand]

I am taking a Machine Learning course in the next quarter, so maybe it can be used in some way for the AI, e.g. to learn the creatures some parts of the maps and such. I will still work on the back story, along with Bodsda (if he is still here?) and sketches/conceptual artwork, and some models (I still need to learn Blender, but I will have some time for this soon, i hope ).

[DrAltaica]

Me! Me! Me!
I'm still here.

[TheAncientGoat]

I'm back too

[Sindwiller]

Who am I anyway?

[Archwyrm]

I really do need help with that aspect of it though as now we are getting into AI routines, etc, and I don't really know much about that.

I recently found out about aigamedev.net which has a lot of useful articles and tutorials on AI. Unfortunately there is compulsory registration to view most content and some of it requires a paid subscription, but for the former there is bugmenot, at least. Anyway, I found this hour long presentation particularly instructive in how to achieve good results using modern game AI techniques. I am definitely going to be taking away a lot of things that I learned from it to use in developing DungeonHack's AI.

I am also looking forward to more progress on OpenDungeons.

[qubodup]

Well, speaking of AI: This article on Wolfire blog contains some interesting links of knowledge.

[andrewbuck]

I've read a lot of the stuff on AIgamedev and it is quite a good site, I'll have to check out the wolfire blog entry though, that looks interesting. As much as I hate to put a damper on things though not only do I need help with the AI aspects, what I REALLY need is help working on the code itself. For a game of the complexity of what we are hoping to do it is not possible for a single person to do all of it. There are already things I am having trouble doing in the code that a second person to bounce ideas off of/contributing code fixes would greatly improve the situation; and these issues will only become more common as the development progresses.

The code is layed out pretty cleanly and is very thoroughly documented. Between this and me helping via skype, etc I think I can get any co-developers up to speed very quickly. As i said, I hate to be a downer, but I cannot justify any further contributions of my time to the codebase without the knowledge that there will be others sharing the burden. I am fully aware that this project is too big for me to handle alone so if no one else steps up to help then I am just wasting my time (and all of yours) because we will never be able to finish it with only me coding.

When I joined this project alienwolf was the one writing the code. He disappeared and so I decided to take over the programming, and I made this decision based on the interest in the project, both in the content development and statements by people who were also interested in coding. Although many people have provided a lot of help with game content and the build system (both of which I am truly grateful for) there has been no one else working on the code itself.

I don't want to give the impression that I am unhappy with how the project has progressed, I have been continually impressed by the dedication that others have put into this project. My only concern is one of my own limitations, without coding help all of the beautiful models, gameplay ideas, and story development we have put together will be useless as I will be unable to pull all that together with the codebase by myself. I hope we can resolve this issue so the code can start moving forward again, but as I said IF the project is destined for failure than I cannot devote any more time to it.

-Buck

[Skorpio]

Maybe we should try to make something like a demo for advertising. Just a very simplified but playable version of the final game, so that people can get an idea of it, and perhaps some will join the project. Digging works already, doesn't it? Then we could add some creatures which spawn automatically for fighting and a dungeon heart as the mission objective and the demo would be complete. I guess it would be similar to a hide-and-seek (and kill ) game. Creating such a demo is probably more difficult than it sounds, but easier than trying to make a playable full game version. And this could become an alternative game mode in the finished version.

Edit: Would be funny, if the dungeon heart could move.

[charlie]

andrewbuck: The problem with your 'either somebody helps or I quit' approach is that this becomes a chicken and egg scenario. Without activity/development, the project won't attract contributors but for the project to be developed there must be contributors.

Honestly, the way to look at this (as an open source project) is that 'if you build it, they will come'. Work on it, simplify your goals and build something basic and playable and (hopefully) fun and along the way people will probably contribute and you may pick up more developers - thus allowing the goals to become more ambitious.