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[eigenbom]

thx guys, ashkin - i tried your suggestion but it doesn't really work. I'm also planning on adding a 'damage' layer, so the blocks will look more complex with that on.

Update: Moonman was having difficulty convincing Purple to give up his treasure.

[Ashkin]

Man that purple stuff is sinister

[eigenbom]

Moonman wanted to explore, but wouldn't leave his c64 unattended.

[BlueSweatshirt]

Does moonman have the ability to walk without raising his head? 
AMAZING!
(dat ceiling)

[happymonster]

Looks super! I would say stick with this style!!

[eigenbom]

Update: Added deathly spikes of death (currently harmless).

[Andy Wolff]

most of these look good, but that last one doesn't have enough contrast between the background and the foreground. textural complexity is probably the greater offender here than brightness. specifically, the dot pattern of the top left and the mid-bottom left

[Ashkin]

Yeah. Decreasing the contrast between the dots should help.

[eigenbom]

Hmm, yeh I see what you mean. Actually I didn't have the AO shading on in that image, but I think it's on the other ones -- it gives a slight dark outlining of foreground objects to separate them.

I had a little play but couldn't find a suitable replacement, just a single colour with no texture seems a bit flat. I don't actually have any trouble when I'm playing the game, but I'll take another look later..

Update: adjusted more tiles to fit the palette..

[eigenbom]

Update: Simplified the data structure modelling a single block in the world. It is now basically this:

Code:

struct Block {
  uint16 type;
  uint16 data;
};

block.type is split into 6 bits for the mod id and the last 10 bits for the sub-type of the block. This means that each mod can register up to 1024 block types, so lots of room for future expansion.

block.data has 16 bits available for the block states, this includes whether the block is flipped (in the case of slopes), or which variant of the block is being used (e.g., the tree block has 6 variations), and the other bits will be used for other things.

Each block.type has a corresponding BlockInfo which stores information relevant to that type..

Code:

struct BlockInfo {
  string name, doc;
  BlockSprite sprite;
  DamageType damageType;
  ...
};

I was originally going to store block damage and lighting in the Block, but now I think I'll handle the damage externally, doing a minecraft-like temporary damage model, and, as for lighting, I'm not sure it'll make it into the game at this stage.

Also, I'm spending way too much time making things in-game instead of coding.. O_O

[wademcgillis]

Yes.

[HarrisonJK]

This is lookin like tasty

[Ashkin]

Question: Is the pattern of the trees made up of separate blocks, or do you have to choose each block with a certain pattern on it and put them together to get such lovely textures?

[eigenbom]

Some blocks have variations, which just affect their appearance, and at the moment I just manually choose the variation to use. There will be two main systems for adding blocks: procedurally, in which case the 'tree generator' can just choose what block variations to use (so e.g., it might choose vertical stripes for the main trunk); and manually, where the player is building a structure in-game.

I'm not sure how the a player will choose a block variation in the final game yet, probably just by placing the block down again in the same spot to cycle through the variations. Most artificial blocks won't have variations, just the natural chaotic stuff like trees, rocks, grass, ...

[namragog]

Oh my gosh Eigenbom, this is looking phantasm. 

If you go along with your original plans for this, I will be superhappy.

[happymonster]

I wonder what the backgrounds would look like if they were composed of only 4 x 4 smaller blocks and scrolled at half the speed of the foreground scroll speed. 

[eigenbom]

thx nam! haven't seen escalated strange updates in a while..?

hm: makes sense, actually I'm hoping to do a much more interesting background, using a procedural method matching the biome, e.g., ice mountains for tundra, trees and mountains for luscious biome, ..., in which case it'll be easier to just use the same 8x8 blocks, but probably faded by atmospheric scattering.

[happymonster]

Oh.. ambitious! 

[namragog]

thx nam! haven't seen escalated strange updates in a while..?

I haven't had my computer in a month! 

Hopefully I'll have it tomorrow. I've been brushing up on my drawsmithing while i'm experiencing computer-loss.

[Erinock]

Very cool, I like the graphics Keep up the good work!