Tag: arx

Project Resurrection – ARX and SOTC

Acrin1 Leave a comment

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 I’m moving them over to a newer version of the SFML media library which make both games possible.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 Reality X – More encounters…

Acrin1 Leave a comment

After wasting a few hours modifying the monster data file format I eventually reverted to almost the same format I started with – I really need to learn to leave things where they are if they are not presenting any major problems. The main reason for the changes was to save me hand editing the Dungeon monster data I had. I eventually just learned how to use the Visual Studio 2008 editor better to put the monster data into my monster data file structure.

All 74 dungeon monsters are now in the game although I will need to do some work to stop the player bumping into the Basilisk and other one off creatures whilst exploring the Well Lit Area!

One thing that confused me is that the monster data I have doesn’t seem to quite tally with that in the C64 version. I would like to use the correct data. I also need to create all the weapons which Dungeon encounters can carry and bring the City monster data up to the level and data file format. City monsters work in a different way in the do not have fixed stats but have their stats vary to some degree when you encounter them.I would really like to put some encounter tables in place before the 0.4 release if possible.

Alternate Realilty X – Demo 0.3 released!

Acrin1 Leave a comment

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.

Automap working

Acrin1 3 Comments

After my setback at the weekend with the power supply failing on the PC I managed to swap it today and have also managed to get the automap working correctly. Currently the automap shows you everything regardless of where you’ve been. As you can see from the screenshot it shows you where special places such as shops, taverns and smithies are on the map. I think this is a really useful feature – hopefully it won’t spoil the game for anyone.
Originally I made the mini map cells much smaller (8 pixels) but it made it difficult to see some items such as multiple doors in single cells so I’ve opted for bigger 16 pixel cells.
I’ll work on making the map show only those areas explored tomorrow if I’ve time as well as starting work on the full map level view.