Defining Awesome

Apparently the client on Linux doesn’t work cause it fails to create a video device. I don’t know why cause it’s not my code but Irrlicht. I’m fed up with Linux development for now. The server works and I want to release the alpha badly to public. I think it has everything an alpha version should have now.

I just played a little game called Combat Arms. I was positively surprised. This is really rare for me these days. There is even one thing I envy and it is their backend – lobby, matchmaking, online shop, chat, invites, the whole thing. If there was 10 of me I would like to make that.

Success! After many hours I have a working Linux dedicated server. We still need to test it cause there’s a million tiny things changed to make it run. I’m really proud how this worked out because the dedicated server is exactly the same executable as the game + I compiled the binaries in such a way that no installation is necessary and it works out of the box even on my server which has an old Ubuntu running.

The question every Linux guy on earth is asking right now is: does the game client run on Linux?
The answer is yes I think so. I have no way of checking that right now since I’m running Linux emulated and any video device fails to create in the game. Once I get a hold on a real installation I promise to post a screenshot.

Of course from this point compiling the game under Mac OSX should be easy as pie.

I encountered the first roadblock when porting. Apparently the wide character type (wchar_t) is 4 bytes instead of 2 like on Windows. Do these crazy Linux ppl really think there’s a language with 2.1 billion characters?

Game compiles under gcc, there are some rendering errors and probably more. I haven’t tested it cause I went straight into Linux compilation. There’s a million little functions and things that need to be changed to their Linux equivalent.

Another alpha released, we still need to play a bigger match to test it. I’ve taken the first step to compiling LD on Linux by attempting to run it through GCC. It’s a pain in the ass to say the least.

I released a new private alpha version. I was working really hard on this and am feeling really tired by now. I hope that playing/testing the game will rejuvenate me. Here is a list of some of the stuff I added or changed. Public alpha will be available if this test goes well.

– movement and climbing is now more automatic and simple (one key for climbing down, climbs and ducking in small corridors is done automatically)
– added inventory searching/scavenging animations
– improved dust processor physics – the smoke now behaves and looks 5 times better than on the recent videos
– added re-throwing (picking up from ground) and disarming grenades
– added  smoke bomb
– synced the ragdoll through network
– added Ubermen wrist attachment claws (like wolverine, this one is my personal favourite)
– added cloaking device for mutants
– added help display with all keys for noobs (F1 key)
– added spawn menu music
– added dynamic ambient music (changes based on what is happening on the screen; really simple now; but I have big plans on this one)
– added dynamic echoes based on walls
– added muzzle smoke

I posted on my Youtube channel 5 new videos. They were used in my lecture 3 months ago. The lecture itself is 50 minutes long and I’ll need to chop it up. Also it’s in polish and I don’t have time to translate now.

If Soldat was Rambo 2, Link-Dead will be Rambo 3 – scroll to 3:00

I added all I wanted to add and fixed tons of little glitches & bugs. Testers are very useful! I still got to do some testing on my own and then a new private alpha release. If that goes well public alpha release!