Tag: alternate reality

Alternate Reality X – Modifying the City

Acrin1 6 Comments
There are a number of challenges in the changes I’m working on for Alternate Reality X. Nothing too serious but I want to make it look right so I’m taking a bit of time to experiment with Unity and read up on the commonly used techniques that I think will be the best fit for bringing the game into full 3D. 
Overlooking the City now with 3D walls
The paper thin walls of the original maps have been replaced with walls that have some depth as can be seen in the picture below. The notches in the corners are due to the AR map walls having two sides and I’ve a number of methods for fixing this. 
Doors will likely be replaced with ones that you can open and close or that swing open as you approach them (unless they are barred obviously). I’ve experimented with these and the coding seems to work fine. I want to refine my door and wall models though so that they look more professional and are properly scaled. This will allow all the key object parts such as standard walls, doors and archways to fit together seamlessly making up the majority of the map and the basis for the expanded map I’d like to develop.
Not really sure how I am going to handle secret doors because of the two sided nature of many of these in the original game. The nature of secret doors may change slightly as a result of this.
As mentioned previously I would like to add a lot of variety to different parts of the City in terms of buildings and architecture with different wall heights and textures. The City walls will tower above the City keeping it well contained from the threats from the Wilderness outside. I’m also planning to add the three City gates as well as more striking versions of the Arena and Palace.
I’ve tried adding burning torches, tavern signs which swing in the wind and flags to hang from the Palace walls with the King’s Coat of Arms on them. Again it’s worth taking a bit of time to get these looking right and not just throwing them in at this stage because Unity makes it easy to implement them. I want to get the basics right first.
I’m also keen to get started on an example shop and some of the new interface elements.
If you’d like to help support CRPG Dev in the creation of this new chapter of ARX and other games then please consider a Paypal donation or support on Patreon. CRPG Dev is also on Twitter now at @crpgdev. I’d love to hear you thoughts or ideas.

Alternate Reality X – A New Dawn

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Here are a handful of new screenshots showing The City of Xebec’s Demise rendered in full 3D using the Unity game development system. I’m surprised how cool it is to move around with total 360 degree freedom. I think that using Unity has really opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the game. Hope you enjoy these shots and will support this new direction for the game.

CRPG Dev Updates – May 2014

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I feel I’m long overdue on a blog update for CRPG Dev, Alternate Reality X and Stone of the Citadel as there have been a few important changes and decisions.

The biggest change is that I have now switched to Unity 3D for developing both Alternate Reality X and Stone of the Citadel. For those unfamiliar with Unity it is a game development system which allows you to create 3D (and more recently 2D) games across multiple platforms such as Windows, Mac OS X and mobile devices. It’s very popular, powerful but relatively easy to use, has a big online community offering help and advice and has a handy asset store where you can access for free or buy models and code for use in your games. The version I’m using is free, though there is a commercial version and add ons for higher end users or teams.

I feel I’ve gone as far as I can with my current C++ and SFML based code. There are a lot of bugs to fix and some serious architectural problems behind the scenes relating to how objects are represented. A lot of my code will be relatively straightforward to move over to Unity though. SFML’s use of OpenGL has been a constant difficulty for some players as they have struggled to get compliant OpenGL drivers on their systems – Windows & Mac OS X. Unity builds in my experience just seem to work. On reflection the work to port my current ARX to Mac OS X last month was a lot more painful and time consuming that I believe it should have been. Unity allows you to build for Mac with a few extra mouse clicks in the “Build Settings” 🙂

Configuration screen for the new Alternate Reality X

I’ve started work on the introductory sequence for Alternate Reality using the free version of Unity and you can check out my work so far using the link below and the Unity Web Player:

www.crpgdev.com/unity/ARXWeb.html

I’ve converted the old custom map format to a well known, common format and Patrick has kindly provided me with some Unity code / framework that converts the map data into a usable Unity scene. There are some omissions in the scene just now but these should be fairly straightforward to sort out. Lots of work to do with the map(s) from here but this is a really big help in getting started. Thanks again to Patrick for this.

My work in progress for the intro using the Web Player

I’ve also posted several pieces of my design for my Stone of the Citadel party based CRPG. These are available on the Patreon site but I’m going to start putting more of them onto this blog as well. So far I’ve published a number of the character background descriptions. In the real game these will be partially random and you’ll be able to generate a new background (or write your own) if you don’t like the initial ones your characters receive. In addition I’ve published some of the lore and locations of interest to set the scene. SOTC will use a different map model to ARX but it will be able to use all the nice features of Unity to make an attractive game world. It will begin with a small map initially to give people a taster of game play.

Lots of people have suggested I should do a Kickstarter for my games but I don’t think it would be the right sort of platform for me given my personal circumstances. I feel Patreon provides a very good alternative where you can build up an active, interactive community around multiple projects and interests (games in my case) and provide support and feedback in a more manageable way to suit people’s budget. You don’t have to pledge any money to support CRPG Dev on Patreon if you don’t want to or aren’t able to so it would still be great to hear from you there. The CRPG Dev Patreon site is here:

Hopefully you’ll check out the page and might consider becoming a Patron. You can also provide support through one off Paypal payments if you prefer (linked from https://crpgdev.com/). It really is greatly appreciated and makes a big difference. If you’ve already supported CRPG Dev in the past then a big thank you.

I’ve also signed up for Twitter so I’ll probably be making use of that shortly as an alternative way to post updates and other news. The ARX forums have been updated recently and look a lot nicer to use but I haven’t had a chance to dig into these yet and customise them.

I’d welcome your thoughts about the direction above and changes I’ve mentioned so feel free to email me or post via Patreon or Facebook. As always thanks for your support and interest in what I’m doing.

Alternate Reality X – Release 0.72 Update & Quests

Acrin1 2 Comments
If only I had a suitable key?

Work continues on Alternate Reality X – now moving towards release 0.72. So far this release contains several bug fixes, new Dragon and Skeleton artwork and a number of improvements to encounters to really make encounters and combat in the game feel a lot more authentic to the original Alternate Reality. I still have a lengthy list of additional changes which I plan to add to the encounters for this release.

A mysterious tomb

There is a significant change in 0.72 relating to encounters. JPST made a great point on the ARX forums here about not been able to make use of “Charm” and “Trick” against evil lifeforms, therefore compromising your alignment as you were only able to use these on good lifeforms. In turn this meant you couldn’t obtain the Intelligence and Charisma bonuses that are possibly (after many, many successful Charm / Trick actions). This is one of those issues due to me creating a “hybrid” AR encounter system with features from both the City and the Dungeon encounter systems. I really wanted to have “Charm” and “Trick” in ARX. In release 0.72 you can now gain access to the “Transact” menu to attempt a Trick or Charm against Neutral and Evil characters. This makes sense as I want to be able to add more “Offer” options for some encounters as an alternative to combat as in the the original Dungeon.

Run the Devourer!

I’m also modifying a lot of code under the hood to make the source code a lot more readable and maintainable and as I complete this work it makes adding new features much simpler and quicker. The use of OpenGL for ARX has reared it’s head as a frustration though as I recently switched to Windows 8.1 and now my graphics card doesn’t support OpenGL properly (a Radeon HD 4350 I think). Plays Dragon Age Origins and Fallout 3 just fine and I’m fine with Windows 8.1 itself so not changing back. I have the same issue with the Mac port of ARX – it also suffers due to OpenGL driver issues. It makes ARX testing slow though…

Danger in the City at night

I’ve also been working on adding some more of the Dungeon quests as you can see from the screenshots here. Whilst I quite like to jump around during ARX development and work on different things to keep things fresh and interesting, I’m now reaching the point where I’ll be homing in on specific features and areas to fill in the remaining blanks, whether it’s adding the remaining features to the City, adding all the special locations to level 1 of the Dungeon map or finishing off work on treasure types. I’ll then be able to draw a clear line as to which sections of the game are 100% complete.

I really want release 0.72 to add a lot so it will be a bit longer before it’s released. Thanks for your support.

Alternate Reality X – Release 0.71, Mac OS X version and Next Steps

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Alternate Reality X 0.71 running on Mac OS X!

Alternate Reality X 0.71 is now available for download from www.crpgdev.com. I spent a lot of time (about 50 hours sandwiched in around work and family commitments) on this one modifying and tidying up a lot of the display code in the background so that ARX runs much more consistently across different window and screen sizes. I’ve also modified the encounter art scaling code so that encounters in both the original Atari 8 bit style and using Ted’s new art scale properly based on the 3D window size. Another area which annoyed me was the positioning of screen elements when visiting shops and modules. These should now appear neatly centred on the screen or window rather than spread out to the four edges of the screen as previously which I didn’t think worked very well. Hopefully these changes were positive! This release also includes a couple of new encounter images from Ted – a Slime and a Noblewoman (who wasn’t in the original AR).

Mac OS X version running full screen
I’ve got a lot of other visual changes that I have planned for future releases such as a smaller auto map, updated map – hopefully showing the full City and Dungeon 64 x 64 cell levels, encounter animation (at least for the original 8bit art) and lots of new wall textures. I may add a little resolution / display options utility as well so that people don’t have to edit arx.ini by hand. I also need to clean up some of the interface generally in terms of text input and on screen prompts (or lack of)  which confuse people. Expect desktop icons for both the Windows and Mac OS X versions very soon 🙂 
The other major development for me is my first ever game release for Mac OS X. I now have a version of ARX 0.71 available for download on Mac OS X. I can’t really say how satisfying it’s been to be able to make this available for people. Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback and support for this release. Currently it’s only available from this link but I’ll add a proper page / description shortly:
I had to tweak the security settings for the App but this only takes a few seconds and OS X will tell you how when you try and run the game.
Really pleased with SFML running on Mac OS X. The latest 2.1 version seems to be work really well and comes with xCode templates to get you started. Once I got past some of the differences with using xCode and became more familiar with using a Mac in general then SFML seemed to do its job very well. Laurent Gomila has done such a great piece of work with SFML since it started a few years back. If you have any interest in game programming then you should definitely consider SFML 2.1. 

The SFML 2.1 template and test project

In terms of game play updates for Alternate Reality X, I will be focusing on improving encounters and items in the game for the 0.72 release. This will include adding multiple body parts to combat, surprise and waylay, knock downs, fleeing, blocking, stun – you know what I have in mind. I could really use one of those Wands of Cold to cool down those hot headed Flame Demons. Alternate Reality for me is very much about the encounters you have so I really want this element to be very strong and close to the original games. Don’t be surprised if the more friendly characters begin having a lot more to say that they used to – of course it may not always be useful or truthful!
I also want to include some of those juicy treasure items that made the City and Dungeon so enjoyable – eyes, scrolls, trumps and lots of weapons and armour. Some of these essential additions will probably require some fairly major changes to my older code which may require changes to the save game format. I’ll see what I can do though.
I’ve had a few queries about Stone of the Citadel recently and whilst there isn’t currently a downloadable demo work on it has continued in the background (mainly focused on design and content). This will be a Unity 3D project. The initial release will focus on creating your party of adventurers and I think will show how SOTC will capture the best of the classic CRPGs whilst adding some spice of its own. Expect a playable multi-platform demo in the near future.
If you enjoy what I’ve been doing with Alternate Reality X or other CRPG Dev projects then please consider making a small donation via Paypal to cover my time and web site costs. Please also keep your feedback, emails, questions and words of support coming – they are a great encouragement and help shape my future releases and games. Thanks as always for your support.

Alternate Reality X – Release 0.70 – Now Available

Acrin1 1 Comment

Alternate Reality 0.70 is here and available for download from www.crpgdev.com. It includes some new Dungeon features and several pieces of great new encounter art from Ted. There are also some additional pieces of art from the unreleased Amiga version of the Dungeon.


A great looking Knight courtesy of Ted

A Mac OS X version will be available in the next few days which I’m excited about. It’s looking pretty good so far and is a big step for Alternate Reality X. I’m really enjoying working on ARX just now so I would expect to have another fairly rapid release not long after this one, hopefully fixing some of the issues which annoy me such as problems with the different screen resolutions not looking good, fonts and text covering up Ted’s artwork! If you would like to support development of ARX then please consider making a small donation via Paypal using the link. Thanks.



Homunculli attack!






Alternate Reality X – Release 0.70 – Coming Soon

Acrin1 7 Comments
 
The Ferry Man puts in an appearance in release 0.70
 

If you follow the Alternate Reality X Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alternate-Reality-X/277276259054861

then you will have seen that I’ve been pretty busy recently working on a Mac OS X port of ARX and putting together release 0.70 for a February 2014 release. It’s long overdue but it seems like people are still behind the project which is great. I’m using the Facebook page more as it seems to reach lots of people and it’s quick and easy for me to post on it. I will still be using the blog here for much longer posts though so keep watching.

In addition I’ve been looking into the options for Android and iOS ports. Android I’ve already had some minor success with but iOS will require the paying the annual $99 Apple Developer Programme sign up fee. This is required even to test on your own device. Anyway well worth doing and would allow me to make submissions to Apple for including ARX on the App Store! I think they are pretty tough in their requirements from what I’ve read but something exciting to aim for.

Alternate Reality X – Back on track

Acrin1 4 Comments

It’s taken me a long time to start getting back into Alternate Reality X but I finally have my most recent version up and running again on a different computer, with the latest version of the Code::Blocks development environment and the latest packaged release of the SFML multimedia library. I’ve used both of these for some time for ARX development and it’s good to get these new versions installed and working properly with my most recent ARX code before I get stuck into the next stage of development.

I still have some of the new artwork to incorporate into the current version as well as lots of things I see in the program and on the screen which I really want to tidy up. Next step is to draw up a list of these issues that I want to fix for the next release and then start fixing them. I’d also like to get some new content into the next release as well as just bug fixes so let me know if there is something you really would like to see me work on next.