3D pixel style coop action RPG (IRON FIST?)

[Buch]

@Julius:

Is selling items an available feature? If so, I could put together a double-sided shop, using three sections (left one to see items in shop, right one to see items in inventory, center one to see info, buy and sell).

Besides that, I was wondering if you plan to add support for buttons integrated with window frame (to be clear: like the bottom box in the mockup, the one with the ok/cancel/back buttons). If so, I'd make a simple text reading interface with a box like that (with buttons to navigate through the pages) plus a title like the one in the conversation box...

Also, what kind of skill and crafting systems will the game use? That'd help me designing the respective windows...

As for the license, I was planning to release the whole thing under CC-by-SA too, so there should be no problems with that...

[Julius]

Right now the ingame menus etc are all rather simple text interfaces meant to be controlled with the mouse-wheel or the arrow buttons, so all these kind of features that require mouse interaction are only really basic right now. It is however on the todo list to improve this, so instead of trying to work with the current limitations, how about working on it in a way what you would like to see (e.g. as a sort of concept drawing) and we can see how to implement it then.
Buttons in the window frames should work already though, at least for a few selected features... need to look into that a bit more.

Crafting is still rather simple too: you can find a recipe and if you have the fitting ingredients in your inventory you can create it. But as I wrote above, do a mock-up how it could be done so that we have an target for implementing it later. Just don't go overboard with complex GUI elements like tabs and so on

For those wondering about my progress... yes yes I am on it I just had to promote FOSS gaming a bit on a local LAN party here and was thus busy with other things.
I did however start to create a base for a playermodel using the build in md3 system so that Robert can experiment with the animated directional sprites.
I have been using an upscaled and separated version of this ( http://opengameart.org/content/2d-sprit ... -animation , lacks 45° views though) as a temporary template for now. The idea is to have all parts that are animated as a pixelated sprite, and the major static exchangeable items (helmet, torso armor, shoulder armor) as 3D objects with a fittingly pixelated texture, so that it is a sort of 2D/3D hybrid. In addition the textures and sprites will be procedurally recolored etc. and texture (magic) effects added via quake3 like shaders so that there can be some more variation without having to redraw the sprites or textures.
Let see how that turns out.

[qubodup]

I'm looking forward to the first compile-able github revision.
I could help with sounds and website. I don't know if this is my type of game but I'll find out as soon as it's possible to test.
I run Arch Linux with a very weak gfx card:

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}

Distro      Linux qbox 3.11.1-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Sep 14 19:30:21 CEST 2013 x86_64 GNU/Linux
CPU         AMD Phenom(tm) 9550 Quad-Core Processor
Video         [AMD/ATI] RS780 [Radeon HD 3200]
Video memory   256M
RAM         Mem: 3.6G
VGA driver  OpenGL vendor string: X.Org

[Julius]

Your sound contributions to OGA are already in my collection for potential sfx Thanks a lot.
A gcc compilable Linux version is one of the top priorities for Robert right now AFAIK (well after his holidays).

What would be your type of game? IMHO I see this also a bit like a basis for other (similar) games, and definitely as something that will make 3rd party contributions (level campaigns etc.) as easy as possible. Mid to long term I would also like to use this base for a Savage2 and a 3rd person view DOTA like game/mod which should be quite easy to do with this RPG basis, but for now the focus is really on getting the SP and COOP parts nicely done.

[qubodup]

What would be your type of game?

Perhaps I should have said "project" instead of "game". The factors of an open source game project affecting my interest in it are:

• My ability to compile and run it at playable performance on my weak system.
• Feasibility of game design goals.
• Tangibility of the development progress of the game (as opposed to the engine or game content only).

[Julius]

Not sure I understand what you mean... ok point one is clear, but the rest?
Game design goals? There are (intentionally) none Tangibility (had to look that one up ) of development progress? No idea what you even mean by that.
For now it is a "lets solve the art problem of ya3dag" project based on a pure who ever does something (well) decides what and how gets in approach.
Sure I have some opinions and ideas and try to steer the project into a (mostly art) direction that seems the most feasible, but that's about it.

[BioHazardX]

Iron Fist isn't a good name for an RPG game...

[Julius]

Why? I think it is catchy and is a nice reference to Gauntlet.

But IMHO I am sticking with Ya3dag (Yet another 3D adventure game) for now

Other suggestions are also welcome though.

[Carver413]

I'm not really seeing a game here, no story to build around,no programer to build the game.I dont really think you can count on robert to build your game for you. just a couple of silly Ideas and a cheasy name. if you want people to take you serious then you need to do the ground work and show us something interesting. where are the models ? anyone working on them ? how about a prof of consept, surely you don't need a whole game engine for that you could do that in blender. if you had an actual model to work with then I might be inclined to play around with them an see what can be done. I'm not a C++ programer but I do like to program in pascal. and I have an intrest in building a proper Rpg engine some day but until then I am working on graphic tools and bits and pieces that I will need in the future.

[qubodup]

just a couple of silly Ideas and a cheasy name.

"silly" -2 diplomacy. "cheasy" -2 spelling -1 diplomacy.

• Feasibility of game design goals.
• Tangibility of the development progress of the game (as opposed to the engine or game content only).

Maybe I shouldn't write at 4 in the morning (so now I do it at 5). "Realistic goals" and "progress in the development of the game (and not just the art or just the engine)" are the important factors to me.

To be blunt, I consider creating a multiple-purpose engine to be a huge (possibly unrealistic) goal in it self and not a mere "first step" on the path of creating a game. Also seeing progress on the art side but no game reminds me of DungeonHack and PARPG, which makes me want to wait until there is something reasonably playable (even though SumWars and SCOURGE and even DungeonHack's old playable demo unfortunately showed how having a playable prototype doesn't prove that a game's development will progress).

[charlie]

I'm not really seeing a game here

Julius has been around long enough to know what's what.

He's pursuing an idea that he enjoys and has passion for. It's obviously early days and in the concept stages.

It's much easier to anonymously snipe from being your keyboard though. See how far that gets you in life.

[Julius]

Thanks for the defense guys, but he is not completely wrong. I do hope I know what I am doing though

My main problem is actually a lack of time (and attention deficit ). One of the main points about this project is however that ya3dag is already a pretty mature game "draft" (note: not only a game engine). For the coop-game everything is already there, you can play it NOW if you want and it has all the tools needed to create more content easily.

The problem with it is the totally out-dated art, some engine inefficiencies and a severe lack of overall polish (+ lack of Linux port ), but at least for the COOP/SP game Robert is totally willing to program the few things that are left for it to become a truly enjoyable game if we are able to cover the art part. Additional help in the coding part is of course appreciated.

The other game modes are obviously more difficult, but if there is a proper game-type scripting (which again Robert actually wants to implement anyways) I can program that myself also (can't wrap my head around C code sadly, or at least I don't have the patience to learn it). But I am also not really worried about those longer term ideas which will probably never be realized anyways.

tl,dr: download and try ya3dag and you will see that this project isn't just an "idea"; Robert has worked on it for several years already.

Edit: for those wondering: Robert told me that as a German he isn't very fluid in English and that is why I am sort of representing him here (besides him being a busy guy with a family also).

Edit2: for those too lazy or on Linux only: http://www.ya3dag.de/page_screenshots.html
scroll down for some videos; they are partially pretty outdated, but none of the features shown were removed The ingame level editor (or lets better say terrain and scene editor as full indoor/underground levels are still made the regular Quake2/3 way with the level editor Radiant) is especially neat.

[Carver413]

I don't think a little reality check is sniping but if I have afended you I am sorry. an yes I'm quite aware that my spelling is lacking. just one of my many flaws. I dont dought that robert will continue to develope his game engine, but that does not mean that he will be dedcated to this project which means you have no programmer. the best chance to recruit one is have a good visual of the project. the more that you have the better chance you have. a good back story will go along way toward giving the game focus. if you like Iron fist so much then build a back story around that and see where it goes. make that the focus of this thread and maybe you'll shed a little light on this project .

[Skorpio]

It's not a fault to talk about ideas, brainstorm and dream, even if the goal is a bit overambitious. Maybe some programmers and artists (some are already here) will see this thread and decide to join. Without it nothing would happen at all. If all goals can be achieved in the future doesn't matter so much now (the way is the goal). The conceptualizing and brainstorming are actually some of the most exciting aspects in game development.

As for the story, I think that's one of the least important things in an action RPG. Much more important are loot/nice items, a good skill and class system that provides tactical deepness, and cool looking, challenging enemies and boss monsters. Surt's concepts look already very promising.

[andrewj]

After browsing around the media in Ya3dag, I think the licensing of that media needs to be considered. Some of it has "non commercial" clauses. At least one I saw has a "cannot be modified" clause. There is also a lot of "this was grabbed from site xxxxx" and lacking any license or (more rarely) author information.

[Bertram]

Hi,

While this project seems a bit optimistic in term of objectives and all, I do think Julius made a good catch in taking an existing engine and be willing to fix what is flawed in that project (the art) as it is something he's good about.
I'd say let the momentum flow and all the art produced won't be done for nothing, even if it's not only for this game. I'm eager to see the first official repo of it, and I'd be glad to help here and there to make this happen on Linux.

(Let's hope the dependencies are less a burden than for OD, mehhh).

I couldn't say otherwise anyway, I made the same thing (or mistake?)

Best regards,

[Julius]

Hmm, honestly I don't see why the goal is overly optimistic. Maybe all the brainstorm about ideas and potential extensions shrouded the actual only goal I have for now: Make a complete and FOSS compatible media replacement for ya3dag in a way that looks cool (+ doesn't "age") and is as little work as possible (hence the special art style and the reuse of existing pixel art).

This will fully address the art licensing issues Andrewj mentioned and since I intentionally make art and content creation as simple as possible, I hope to attract a lot of crowd-sourced 3rd party contributions. Once I have the basis running, I expect creating new content to be about as difficult as for Minecraft, thus expanding the reach of potential game developers much beyond the current base.

Creating a new player/enemy "model" will be possible to to in MS-Paint and a text editor, making new levels can be done in-game (!), and static level props and items/weapon/armor will require only the most basic modeling skills (can be done fully in Wings3D or Radiant). This will also require only minimal code changes (which Robert is willing to do) and the game download will come with pretty much all (fully multi-platform) tools & full documentation included.

Having a story or a full game-design is total non-sense at this point, and personally I don't even really plan to make anything but a single & short "example" COOP campaign to show off game-play.

Edit: Forgot: I also hope to make some minor polishing refinements to ya3dag gameplay and fighting style, to make it more appealing to 3rd person RPG players. Character handling target is a Savage2 like system, which is proven, awesome and relatively close to what there is already.

[Bertram]

Oh well. Didn't want to offense at all when I spoke about optimism.

Plus, with your latest post, I do think the primary goal is realistic.

Best regard,

[Evropi]

Actually I think this project is going very well! I've been following another project called Trillek for a bit that was intended to complete Notch's vision for 0x10c, but it's going nowhere despite the massive pool of contributors they have acquired and infrastructure (e.g. a wiki) they have put in place. I cannot stress enough how far 'Project X' has gotten already, just because it uses a complete, pre-made engine solution. Seriously guys, making your own engine is a lot of work; Julius is definitely doing the right thing here.

[Julius]

Ehhggg, was quite sick this weekend, so I didn't manage to do much

But here is a quick preview of the sprite character I am making to help Robert implement the animated and directional sprites:

sprite adaped from: Brett Steele (CC-by-SA): http://opengameart.org/content/2d-sprite-skins-walking-animation

(the washed-out look is just a WINE bug)

[Julius]

Short update from Robert: He is back from holidays and his next steps are switching to Codeblocks as the crossplatform IDE, and porting ya3dag to SDL2 (based on the work done by the UFO:AI team, another idTech2 based game). Once this is done, he will likely open an Github for the code so that others can contribute more easily.

In addition he will look into the GUI issues mentioned above. However we are currently discussing how to make menus, inventory etc. accessible by a wide range of controller options. The typical drag&drop Diablo style inventory really only works with a mouse, and I would rather like to see an interface style that works nicely with a keyboard (for quick access in multiplayer), a touchscreen or controller only. Don't worry though, we will not make a "shitty console port"
Edit: If any wannabe human interface designer has a good idea or example, please post about it here.

[Bertram]

Hi Julius,

Once this is done, he will likely open an Github for the code so that others can contribute more easily.

Thank you, Robert.

and porting ya3dag to SDL2 (based on the work done by the UFO:AI team, another idTech2 based game).

Hmm, could it possible to get the github repo before the SDL2 migration? A sdl2 branch could easily be created and merged back once
done. This way, porting the idtech engine to Linux for other people could be easier, and maybe come sooner.
I might be wrong though, would Robert port the game to SDL2 very quickly.

Best regards,

[Evropi]

You should get this 'Robert' fellow to make an account on this forum.

[Julius]

As I wrote before, not everyone is able to speak English fluently enough that contributing to a forum discussion doesn't become a hassle. He is following this thread as an observer though.

[Julius]

Making slow progress (quite occupied with unrelated stuff right now):

sprite adaped from: Brett Steele (CC-by-SA): http://opengameart.org/content/2d-sprite-skins-walking-animation

animated_testdummy.png (105.54 KiB) Viewed 18318 times

(still the WINE bug that washes it out)

It is now working as a sprite and cycles through the animations correctly.
Robert will make it pick up the direction for sprite rendering now and also sync the texture animation to player input.

NOTE: This is just a test to implement the feature! The proportions, texture-resolution and overall look will probably vastly differ for the real models. It also doesn't have the 3D armor etc. yet, nor a normal-map. So don't judge the look of the game by this (yet). I am sure it will look much better later on.