Defining Awesome

I would like to make an early announcement that I will be participating in this years Polish Game Makers Convention between 15 and 19 July in Gdansk. If you happen to come by you can hear my lecture and discussion afterwards. All information is on the official web page. You can suggest what you would like to know most from me.

Mogę wstępnie ogłosić, że wezmę udział w tegorocznym Zjeździe Twórców Gier który odbędzie się w dniach 15-19 lipca na terenie Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. Kto się zjawi będzie miał okazję między innymi wysłuchać mojej prelekcji i wziąść udział w dyskusji. Wszelkie info na oficjalnej stronie. Możecie mi podpowiedzieć co byście chcieli się dowiedzieć najbardziej.

I’m doing the most intense coding right now. Requiring most of my mental focus. Network code is really hard. I had to create a flow chart in Powerpoint just to illustrate what is happening between the two computers connected.

I’m rewriting the whole join game code. Game rules, items, weapons and maps will be serialized by server and sent to client on join game. This is mainly done so that mods are fully compatible over network.

I got to a point where I felt bad in my guts when looking at the little soldiers dying. I won’t spoil the surprise so wait to see it in the game. That will do for now. I’m refocusing now on network code finally. I want to play this game online ASAP!

Btw. Feeling stuff in my body is my usual method of gameplay design. If something is good it just feels good. If I want a certain response for the player I have to feel it for myself first.

I want the gore in Link-Dead to get to a point were it is disturbing and makes you feel sick and sorry for the little bastards dying in agony. I want you to think twice before killing someone in the game and to think 10 times before thinking of participating in a real life war. Play games not war. To give you a glimpse of what is to be expected here is a function I am making today CSoldier::VomitBlood();

Today is the pinacle day of game making for me. I’m designing blood & gore for Link-Dead.

I’m making big progress. I’ve written the main part of the meta-game processing. This means rules defining the gameplay. All the rules are written in basic config files and can be exchanged and modified at will. You will be able to create a capture the flag or domination mode super easy with this.

Here is the rules config files hierarchy:

RULES file – main rules file in which you can define the teams, points you get, damage modifiers, respawn types and others

TEAM files – separate team definition files; there can be 1 or as many teams as you want; you can set the team name, colors, base and target items (like flag in CTF)

CLASS files – separate class definition files for each team; as many classes as you want; each class can use a different actor file (skeleton and animations) and skins.

INVENTORY LIST file – list of available weapons and items for each class; it is done in separate files because they can be easily exchanged and reused in different game modes

ACTOR file – the file for the item which defines how the item is built and setup; it is used for weapons, grenades, bombs and other items; this is were gun appearance details and characteristics are held

SUB-ACTOR file – file for a subitem of the ACTOR; used for example for different ammo and bullets in guns

I’m not posting any screens until I decide so. It distracts me from the process cause people comment on something unfinished and I feel guilty. I might post some screens from the editor really soon.

Ladders and climbing them done. Sliding down ledge backwards done.