Potential Games

Today’s SLOC count is 96,060 (4,237 less than my 100k analysis and 3,501 less than yesterday). While adding several new gameplay features, I was able to streamline the implementation in several places. This SLOC drop results from isolating (and removing) a good chunk of legacy logic, rules, and display code, which was impeding the integration of new features. Most importantly, playtesters should notice more direction in the gameplay, just as soon as I can deploy the next incremental Alpha release.

This morning, I noticed that my SLOC (Source Lines of Code) chart (in the sidebar of this blog) has breached the 100k mark (100,297sloc to be exact). That count is due to drop with the pending removal of some unused tools, defunct data structures, and legacy logic. Still, I thought it might be interesting to do a quick breakdown of the basic components:

The categories are:

• core: Networking, storage, and application framework libraries
• gui: Graphical User Interface implementation libraries
• client: RPG Client application (67% of which is client-specific GUI code)
• tools: Development helper applications
• server: RPG Server application
• other: Data structures, rules logic, and other game-supporting code

Potential RPG v0.7.3 (Alpha Edition) introduces instance island gameplay. Go solo or form an expedition party from the Mainland’s Dock. Explore remote islands and defeat a variety of inexplicably malevolent foes. Find rare resources with which to craft weapons and cast spells.

Many balance, rules, and gameplay features are yet to be introduced, but this version includes several significant updates. Island exploration now includes fog-of-war-style reveal. Creatures are more varied. Both combat and exploration are directly related to the rewards you receive from island adventures.

Intrepid explorers (Alpha Playtesters) be warned: there are some known issues (see the Playtester Forum for details).

What fantasy RPG is complete without magic? Today’s Alpha v0.7.2 release introduces spellcasting. The current implementation is preliminary and incomplete, but a handful of spells are provided, primarily for playtesting purposes.

In addition to spellcasting, v0.7.x includes streamlined weapon crafting and simplified character abilities. The gameplay continues to come into focus with the game design, with the goal of being feature-complete for Beta.

I’ve posted a minor Potential RPG update for Alpha playtesters (v0.7.1). The core experience remains similar to past Alpha releases, but several gameplay subsystems are in the process of being streamlined, improved, or generally updated. In fact, several elements are currently in flux, as gameplay is not the primary purpose of this release.

The real motivation behind this release is to evaluate a new server hosting environment, potentially for Beta (and beyond). Alpha playtesters should be on the lookout for behavioral changes or technical issues that may arise from the new hosting environment.

My immediate attention remains focused on game design, with the goal of becoming gameplay-complete for Beta. Afterward, I will turn my attention to evaluating technical issues, including stability and scalability under this new hosting environment.

I have returned from my voyage of game design discovery. The preceding software development gap represents not a wasteland of non-coding in the SLOC graph, but a vast sea of game design. Setting out Jul 31 from the lands of Alpha, on the high tide of game system capability, but in the rough surf of gameplay unrest, I navigated the wide ocean of potential game design. Through swells of concepts and torrents of rules, I sought for the tranquil waters of design simplicity and steady wind of compelling gameplay. Having charted such a passage, I struck land Sep 20 upon the shores of Beta, committing the first of my design discoveries to the travel log (software repository), as chronicled under Recent Improvements (see the sandbar… er, sidebar). The fruits of this journey shall be had by all, as I venture forth to forge new Lines of Code, as progress progresses anew.

It seems that I’ve overlooked August. Actually, August was comprised of summer travel, summer activity, summer cold, and summer game design. Despite other activities, I’m really and truly making a push for complete and final beta-worthy game design. The game systems are now (on paper) simpler and more cohesive. The bulk of the design integration will be tweaks to existing Alpha code, but some new development will be involved. Consider the prior (current) Alpha release to be a palette cleanser. It’s now finally nearly time to implement Beta gameplay.

Potential RPG Alpha Playtesters (PRAPs) will find the Alpha v0.7 client and server have been deployed. Upon entering the world, enjoy the new terrain edging. You’ll soon notice the lack of much else in the world. I’ve disabled several components for pending gameplay improvements. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been so busy improving the game world that I haven’t even taken time to write about it lately. There are several significant improvements that are almost ready for Alpha testing. For the moment, here is a glimpse at a new rendering capability: Terrain Edging.

The world surface is composed of hexagonal terrain tiles, which, despite the elevation in complexity they incur, I’m quite pleased with in general. In practice, they do tend to create rather pointy, unattractive edges. The purpose of terrain edging is to provide visually appealing (see artistic disclaimer below) transitions between terrain.

Inspired by the article Handling Terrain Transitions, the world now automatically computes where to place edge tiles where terrain types meet. The system can support general-purpose edging for each terrain type, as well as special-purpose transitions from one terrain type to another. For example, grass edging may include general-purpose crinkly edges, but provide an embankment when next to a lake.

To make this work, each terrain type must include a set of edge tiles. More to the point, all the terrain and edge tiles must be drawn, preferably by someone with more artistic capability than myself. The screenshot shows the potential for terrain edging, but Alpha testers will have to tolerate my graphics until I can procure better art. (Note: Trees not drawn by me.)

As mentioned previously, my current focus is to prepare the game to support improved graphics. At this stage, I’ve adjusted the way graphics are managed by the game, making it easier for me to add new terrain and scenery (and soon, creatures, items, etc.).

Alpha Playtesters should read this forum topic regarding broken maps. Other than that, today’s Alpha testing release (v0.6.3.5) includes a few tweaks. There are likely some new glitches due to the new tileset system, so, as usual, have at it intrepid Playtesters.