Defining Awesome

Another site with free game graphics. Is there any catalog of sites like this?

Here is a picture of the new damage model. It is pretty straight-forward, that’s how I want it to be. I have already coded it and it plays really well with bots. One shot kills bring a completely new dimension to this game. It should have been like this from the start. Previously damage was weapon specific and calculated based on bullet speed. I think, even though it is realistic, this is confusing and hard to balance.

This damage model is unified across all current weapons. This means be it pistol or sniper all have nearly the same damage. They vary slightly when hit in other areas except head. So every gun kills when shot in the neck or head (with the exception of multiple shot weapons like nailer or shotgun – damage is spread evenly across bullets then). So guns will vary now only in bullet speed (but does not affect damage), fire rate, maneuverability, weight, recoil, steadiness and so on.

I also fixed a bug which is really caused by the game being played on a 2D plane. If your arms are in front of you, the bullet will hit the arms instead of the chest. I made it to check the chest now first for bullet collision, so there are more critical hits in the chest and head instead of arms.

I need to write a more lengthy post about my plans with LD but I can’t find inspiration to do that. Right now I’d rather code. I’m unifying and fixing the damage model so that it is easier to understand and balance.

Most important bugs are fixed I hope.
I’m going to TEDxWarsaw tomorrow (not to speak this time). More news about Link-Dead’s future will come shortly after that. I’ve got a few announcements mostly concerning the game’s design.


- fixed a couple ragdoll issues
- fixed respawn & nade timers display
- fixed double left game msg on server
- renamed "ProcessPID" to "PID"
- fixed music mixer crash
- fixed jump climb bug
- gun hit angle is narrowed to more perpendicular
- block angle is reversed
- fixed climbing with [UP] pressed when just touching stairs
- fixed sprite depth sorting


I’m not gonna make you wait anymore.
This version is a work in progress (well, all alpha versions are…). I spent a lot of time working on new ragdoll physics code and grabbing your opponent in this version. Unfortunately I overestimated my abilities and it was a tough battle. I had to disable the grabbing because it was too buggy (so head cutting is disabled for now too). I will add it later because there is still a lot of new features and modifications that you can play right now. So the new ragdoll code is there, they still have some Parkinson case, nevertheless should be much more stable now.

It seems like I predicted an upcoming trend creating the Nuclear Plant map. I tweaked it some more by adding more sniping spots in unused areas. Take a look:

The screenshot below shows a backflip. read more »

The interview is done by playeraffinity.com. It covers a variety of topics: such as my fascination with 2D, about my development process, inspirations and the causes of design changes in LD:
http://playeraffinity.com/pc-featured/interview-with-michal-marcinkowsk-1.html

Play-testing the dev version revealed numerous bugs mostly related to grabbing soldiers. Release is postponed until these are fixed.

The built-in TwitPic bug reporter (f5) seems very useful. Here’s a bug report named “Having a good time”.

I’m finishing the next release, should be ready any day now. Got some network bugs to fix especially with grabbing involved.

Rule of thumb in network games: never test it without a lag emulator. 0 ping will never happen so it is pointless testing it without lag.

Right now the lack of variation in content is more issue. Right now having full armour makes most weapons useless so you can choose two gameplay styles. Melee/Shotgun or Railgun. Anything else is useless against armoured players. Also everyone is carrying same items…

This quote by whitebear on the LD forums got me really thinking. It is true. I want Link-Dead to have tons of stuff to play with. Yet, it doesn’t matter that there is a lot of inventory to use. Everybody is using the same stuff. For example IED’s are a big part of Wasteminer weapons but nobody uses them because it is quicker to just kill with a pickaxe or shotgun. There is no reason for you in a competitive game to use something that is worse, so the best gun will always be used. The same goes for best load-out, best armor/class setup etc. Finally after a couple weeks of playing everybody will be using the same winning set. Even though there will be lots of content, variety will be killed. It’s like survival of the fittest. It doesn’t matter that a remote IED is cool, it is simply weaker (or harder to use) so it becomes extinct as a weapon of choice. For variety to exist, as well as for competitiveness and FUN to exist: the game must be balanced. read more »