Tag: alternate reality

Alternate Reality X – Save games

Acrin1 2 Comments

Lots of people have asked me to include a save game option in the next release of ARX. I’m really surprised as I expected players would be looking for other features first before they would want to save characters. Anyway I think I’ve come up with a fairly good way of providing a save game option in the next release which will allow players to save their characters AND load them into future versions of ARX. I can’t guarantee this but I’m going to give it a good try.

The next release will allow you to save and load into one of 10 save game “slots” similar to the original Dungeon game.

Alternate Reality X – Currency Exchange at the D & P

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My 10 year old son started enjoying the wonders of Alternate Reality last night for the first time. He’s seen me playing the original games and working on Alternate Reality X plenty of times but yesterday he downloaded version 0.41 of ARX from the website and started playing through what’s there. He quickly got sucked into the game but was a bit frustrated once he realised there are some features missing. In the meantime he’s keen to try the originals.

One of his complaints was that he could not trade the gems and jewels he found from encounters for silver so I thought I would put that into the game next. I’ve added the “Currency Exchange” menu to the Damon & Pythias shop so you can now trade in gems and jewels as well as convert silver and copper to gold to lessen your load ( for a fee of course ). I’m away at a conference for a few days but will add the similar functions to the City banks on my return.

Alternate Reality X – Release 0.41

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I’ve finally uploaded release 0.41 of Alternate Reality X to www.crpgdev.com – it’s only about 4 months late! Finally tackled some of the work on the City taverns and I’ll try and totally finish these for release 0.5. Tavern features still missing are buying rounds and friendship levels which determine whether you get help when you’re down and out or get refused entry to certain taverns. I’m also keen to add a save game facility as many people are asking for this.

Anyway here’s what’s included in this 0.41 release:

  • City Courier healer bug fixed
  • Use food packets and water flasks
  • Buy food and drink from City taverns
  • Basic recording of hunger, thirst and alcohol levels added
  • City Tavern jobs and memberships now available
  • Updated city map with correct signs and Arena walls (many thanks to Dalimar who did this work)
  • Added Trolls and Goblins palaces
  • Added Dungeon Chapel placeholder and music
  • Added fountains to Dungeon
  • Mini map and full screen map no longer slow down frame rate due to SFML 2.0 library
  • “Use” command now works during encounters
  • Mercenaries / Paladin guilds in Dungeon no longer crashes
  • No longer crashes when using the secret doors in the outer City walls to move from one map side to another
  • Mini map now displays during encounters
  • Lots of code reorganisaion behind the scenes

Feedback as always appreciated.

Alternate Reality X – Working towards 0.41

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I now feel I’m back into the swing of coding for my long sterm Alternate Reality remake project. I’ve now completed moving it over to use the latest version of the SFML 2.0 media library and I’m pleased with the results such as the automap display now displaying instantly.

I’m now working towards releasing a new version of ARX. This so far contains bug fixes, a few new placeholders for shops / modules such as the  Dungeon Chapel and pretty much the full Troll / Goblin ring quest. I’ve also added in the Dungeon fountains and have made a start on adding more features to the City Taverns. It also features an updated City map provided by Dalimar with all the shop door signs now in place and the Arena walls using the pillar texture. You can also move / wrap from one side of the City map to the other using those secret doors – instead of appearing “outside” the map as in previous versions.

Hopefully have this mini release which I’ve marked as version 0.41 out in another week or so.

Project Resurrection – ARX and SOTC

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After a long break I’m starting to get back into both my Alternate Reality X project and Stone of the Citadel. I’m moving them over to a newer version of the SFML media library which make both games possible. With AR in particular I’m taking the opportunity to try and greatly simplify and restructure the code – it desperately needs it! I probably waste lots of time going backwards and forwards through my maze of twisty, legacy code.

I’m going to update the webpages at www.crpgdev.com to include both projects rather than just Alternate Reality and I’m keen to get a new AR version out soon and a little demo of Stone of the Citadel too so people can start to get a bit of an idea of what direction I’m taking with this and see it actually does exist! I’m keen to hear from people what they would like to see in this type of party based CRPG so drop me a line.

The long delays are due to the usual reasons – work, family life and basically just needing a rest to avoid permanent burn out. To be honest I did think about stopping work on Alternate Reality X but I really want to complete what I set out to do there and it is achievable. However I’m pleased to say I’m keen to get back to it now after the break and I can now go back feeling refreshed and enthusiastic.

One thing I have thought a lot about recently based on many emails I’ve received about the projects on this blog is adding a paypal donations button for anyone who is interested in the projects and wants to put something towards my time. I’ve always been a bit reluctant to do this but from the supportive comments I’ve had asking about this I’ve come around to the idea so don’t be surprised if you see a donate button pop up. The projects will continue to be available for free download for anyone of course.

Alternate Realilty X – Demo 0.3 released!

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Finally demo 0.3 of Alternate Reality X is available for download from

https://www.crpgdev.com/

You can try the latest version of ARX from the downloads page. In addition there are plenty of new screenshots on the home page and on the screenshots page. Hopefully people will find it of interest and think the progress is decent. I managed to add in buying items from the Damon & Pythias shop (below) after all so that was a positive.

Buying weapons and armour from the D & P

This release has been a long time coming but it’s significant because tempted as I was to move onto easier, more interesting sections of the project I’ve recently put a lot of time into fixing the problems that already existed such as the incomplete City gate sequence, lack of mixed case character names and more importantly the purchasing of weapons and armour and creation of inventory objects. The result is a release that doesn’t have a lot more to offer play wise but in terms of my progress and learning has put me in a strong position to make release 0.4 a good one – that’s my plan anyway.