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[Jacob_]

Play Online (Java applet)

This is my latest project! A JavaScript toy I made called Worldpaint was more popular than I expected, so now I'm developing it into a full game. I'm going to add multiplayer and finish sandbox mode, then most likely add some additional features like deathmatch (similar to Worms) and CTF.

When you open the game it generates a level (512 x 512 blocks). Look underground for some caves! Use the mouse to create and destroy  blocks; there are 3 layers you can build on: in front of, behind, and on the same level as your character.

Ladders and water are automatically placed on layer 1 (behind you).

Controls:
A, D - move
Space - jump
Q, W, E - change layers (the indicator at the top left shows your current layer)
Left click - place block (must be touching an existing block)
Right click - destroy block

Water flows realistically; the last block is a waterfall that was used for testing dynamic water, and will probably be removed in the final game.

Much of my inspiration came from Minecraft; the original Worldpaint was partially based on PlayPen.

Known bugs:
-If you place a lot of moving water, it will start to behave erratically and cause low FPS. This is difficult to do unless you use the waterfall block.
-There were a few infinite loop bugs with water physics earlier in development, which caused the game to crash. I haven't seen one in a while but I can't be certain the problem is fixed completely.
-The level generator is a bit wild, you can get huge mountains and caverns that are dozens of blocks tall. Not sure whether this is good or bad.
- If you dig to the bottom of the map, you can see the sky.

[increpare]

I dug to the bottom of the map.  I saw the sky

Worked ok for me.

Not too much more to say at this stage.

[Jacob_]

Thanks for testing it.

Has anyone tried it on Mac or Linux? Since it's Java it should work on any platform, I just want to make sure.

Also, version 0.05 is out. I just added a few finishing touches that probably should have been in yesterday's release:
-The block that the mouse is over is outlined
-Mouse wheel can be used to switch blocks
-Sounds for walking. Currently the audio is extremely limited; there are only sounds for hard surfaces and grass.
-Improved the loading screen
-Level saving/loading, use the buttons next to the block list. Can't guarantee that the level format will stay the same forever.

Next update will probably be multiplayer.

[increpare]

Thanks for testing it.

Has anyone tried it on Mac or Linux? Since it's Java it should work on any platform, I just want to make sure.

I'm on OSX 10.6, so.

[deathtotheweird]

Got this weird error on firefox: http://imgur.com/41KLW.png (other java webstart games work fine) Worked fine in Chrome though.

Wish I wasn't so heavy and my jumps were a bit bigger. Other than that, I did exactly what increpare did and dug all the way to the bottom. Don't really have any interest in building things by myself. Eagerly awaiting future builds though. Worms/CTF/Minecraft-ish game would be awesome.

You seem to have a solid start, so it can only get better.

[Evan Balster]

Tried to test with Red Hat (Linux), but also having issues with Firefox.  Providing a JAR or making an applet might be nice...

Good luck with this, though.

[Jacob_]

Building in single player is definitely boring, I've only built a few houses myself. Hopefully when there is multiplayer it will be more interesting.

Linking caves together and putting some spring blocks at the top to make a waterfall system can be slightly interesting, you need a good computer though.

Thanks to everyone who tested. I think the Firefox problems are because I was making a "fake" .jnlp file with PHP, since it doesn't have the right extension some computers might get confused (although it works on FF 3.5 and 3.6 for me, strange.)

Here is a proper .JNLP: http://1scripts.net/cubic/game.jnlp

The only problem with this is that I can't generate it dynamically, so launching multiplayer games off the website will not work. For the people that had Firefox issues, can you try this also? http://1scripts.net/cubic/game2.jnlp - I used mod_rewrite to redirect the URL to the old game.php, meaning it can stil be generated dynamically.

.jar is here: http://1scripts.net/cubic/CubicRealms.jar

If the game2.jnlp link I posted does not work, I'll see if I can get the game to use an applet instead.

I started working on multiplayer today; having some issues with the networking library I'm using though.

[Evan Balster]

I can't run it easily under Red Hat.  The JNLP just recursively downloads itself (when opened) and the jar has a java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError in the class loader.  "Engine 'clearlooks' is unsupported, ignoring..."

The JNLP under windows, while relatively straightforward, was still more complicated than an applet would be.  As long as you're using Java, you should really do yourself a favor and make this a browser game.  A little web query code and you'll be able to get all the information you need from your PHP scripts.

[Jacob_]

OK, I decided to convert it to an applet: http://1scripts.net/cubic/game.php
I think the other error you were getting is related to me trying to use the system look and feel for the save/load boxes, so I switched back to standard Java L&F for now.

[GordonCSA]

  Whenever I try to load it, I get a white box where the game should be, and a looping swooshing/crunching sound, that doesn't stop when I close the tab (have to restart firefox). No error box though...
Mac 10.5.8
FireFox 3.6.6

[Jacob_]

Would you mind posting your Java console?

I'm not sure how to open it on a Mac, but this site seems to tell how: http://fxtrade.oanda.com/support/troubleshooting/view_java_console

Also made some progress on MP:

Might host a public test server tomorrow or the next day.

[Jacob_]

I was able to reproduce the graphics/sound bug on my Mac, so it should be fixed now.

Also tweaked the physics a bit.

[Jacob_]

I have a test multiplayer server up right now, go here: http://1scripts.net/cubic/multiplayer.php

You have to sign up, but feel free to use a fake email address.

[Batmanifestdestiny]

even on single player, it says "could not connect to server!" and I can hear the game behind it, but I can't play...

[Jacob_]

This was fixed a while ago, I was updating multiplayer and accidentally left the code in the client that tried to auto-connect to a server on localhost.

[Jacob_]

I just released a small update, it fixes some bugs/things that were counter intuitive.

-Water and ladders are now placed on layer 2, not layer 1, this means you can put them in front of things.
-Fixed a bug where walking sounds would play when you weren't moving
-Fixed bugs with save/load
-Saving/loading no longer works in multiplayer
-Added sounds for walking on dirt

Here is a tower that was built on the test server yesterday:


Once I get more people to play the game I might release the server software.

[Jacob_]

The server software is now public, see the website to download it.

I also started 2 new servers with different maps.

[Jacob_]

Today I added custom character skins, also fixed a few bugs in the server software.

[Jacob_]

Small update is out: http://1scripts.net/cubic/game.php

I fixed some more bugs and added new sounds. (The grass walking sounds really needs some more work, I'm terrible at audio stuff!)

Also, if the game crashes it will now tell you what the error was, in case you want to tell me.

I started working on realistic lighting, but it's still buggy so I disabled it for now. It's definitely better than the irremovable shadows you see underground currently.

By the way, this doesn't suck like the last game I posted The few people that have tried it said they liked it, and most built some cool stuff in multiplayer.

[Evan Balster]

If your update post frequency is high, you might consider a thread in devlogs...