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[Average Software]

Once again, spent this week working on single player stages.  Almost halfway through the third of the four campaigns.

Also made a number of AI tweaks and bug fixes.  Other than that, not much different with this week's demo.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

Still hacking away on single player stages and AI.  I have 17 stages left to create, and after that I need to do a ton of playtesting and AI tweaking.

This week, the AI learned how to use supply ducks to repair units.  I also was able to sneak in a few bug fixes and one new feature:  private chat.  You can now send chat messages to specific players during a game.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

I recently installed alpha 3 of Haiku, the open-source reimplementation of BeOS.  I think it's pretty nifty, and I'd like to start developing projects for it.

I took the first step toward that today by porting the Franchise configuration program.  Behold!



Now, there are some problems with Haiku support for Franchise.  Chiefly, Franchise is written in Ada, and the Ada components of GCC are not yet available for Haiku.  The configuration program and the map editor don't involve Ada, so I plan to port those programs now.

The game is mostly in Ada, but all of the OS front-end code is in a more convenient language for its platform, C on Linux and Windows, Objective-C on OS X.  I can write the Haiku front-end now, in expectation of GCC's Ada compiler eventually being ported.

The Haiku API is pretty snazzy, it's a decent C++ interface.  It's clearly from the earlier days of C++, since modern features like namespaces, templates, and exceptions are conspicuously absent.  It requires a lot more dynamic allocation than I prefer, since it relies heavily on self-destructing objects (delete this; ahoy!).  The interesting thing is that I spawned dozens of objects for this program, but because of the way the API works I didn't have to delete any of them, which is kind of neat.

The code for the Haiku configuration program will ship with next week's demo.  I really see no reason to provide Haiku binaries at this point, since there is no game.  Once the map editor has been ported, I may start providing a binary for that.

[Average Software]

More single player work this week.  I have only 13 missions left to draw up, and a ton of testing to do on them.

The AI now knows how to build supply stations, as well as a bunch of other things that surround that capability.

For those interested, this download is the first to include the code for the Haiku config program, and also contains extremely early code from my Haiku port of the map editor.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

This week was more AI work, and at last the end is in sight!  Ten more single player stages to go.

I also started working on the Franchisopedia, a blatant knock-off of Civilization's Civilopedia.  For those unfamiliar with Civ, it will be a large help file of sorts.  I finished the basic functionality this week, but have yet to actually fill in all the text.



The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

This week I finished the last of the AI functions.  The AI now has all of its capabilities.  The individual parts still need a lot of improvement, but the functionality is all there.  I plan to start running overnight AI matches to test for serious bugs.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

More single player work, I'm very close to having all of the single player missions built, only 5 remain to be done.

Also got some AI bugs fixed and made some general interface improvements.

I created a new health/move indicator for the units, it's much less cluttered than the Done/Sleep labels I was using before.



The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

This week I finished designing the single player stages.  Now I have to enter a long period of testing and AI tweaking.

In more visible news, the hex drawing code has been completely converted to use 3D models.  Right now we just have some placeholder models in there, colored in a fashion that makes them distinguishable enough for play.

Hoping to get some better ones in place soon.



The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

I spent this whole week working on the Franchisopedia help database.  The writing is done, and I added a viewer for the various unit models and such.  At the moment, we only have placeholder hex models so those are the only ones that show up.



The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

I've spent the week working on a network host options window with a bunch of special options for managing network games.

It isn't complete yet, so if anybody is actually playing this game over a LAN or via my Internet server, I strongly suggest that you stay away from this window.



The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

The host window functionality is complete and mostly works for LAN games.  Internet games still need some work, and there are still some minor issues that need to be addressed in both cases.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

As of this week, the project is essentially at 'feature complete' status and I'm mostly working on stage testing, AI improvements, bug fixes, and graphics stuff.

My graphics guy has a whole bunch of new models coming down the pipeline, so hopefully this thing will stop looking like crap soon.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

We got some primitive resource models in place now, but the shaders aren't ready yet, so they're very difficult to discern.  Hopefully we can get them looking better this week.

Most importantly, the resource drawing system is completely in place now, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Also a number of minor bug fixes this week.  I've been playing through the single player campaigns and timing them.  I got through the first one in a little over 10 hours.  Since this is the campaign that I plan to release as the demo, I think this is a good number.  I can realistically estimate a total single player time of at least 40 hours.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

Not a lot to talk about this week apart from some bugfixes and new shortcut command, you can now issue a hold order to a unit by double-clicking it.

My graphics guy's computer died this week and he won't be getting a replacement until sometime next week at the earliest, so the modelling work has taken a slight setback.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[sabajt]

tried this out the other day.  it's an impressive project.  i like how you streamline the movement by autoselecting the next avaliable unit.  

one gripe i had was the readability of some of the features, specifically the potato mines.  on the first training mission i was confused for a few turns because i thought i had occupied all mines, but missed two becaues they were hard to notice. *edit* i see that you are currently working on overhauling the graphics 

[Average Software]

i like how you streamline the movement by autoselecting the next avaliable unit.

That isn't actually what's going on, although it's hard to see it until you play a map with enemies on it.  All units go into a global initiative pool, there is a specific order that they move in.  If you've ever played any of the Shining Force games, it's the same idea.

one gripe i had was the readability of some of the features, specifically the potato mines.  on the first training mission i was confused for a few turns because i thought i had occupied all mines, but missed two becaues they were hard to notice. *edit* i see that you are currently working on overhauling the graphics

Yeah, the graphics are very much in flux right now.  We're concentrating on getting placeholders and all of the relevant code done, then prettying things up.


This week was really just more bug fixes and stage testing.  My graphics guy's computer is still down, so no advancement on that front.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[jamesprimate]

  i wanted to buy this immediately based on the description alone! what is your concept for the unit art? im hoping to see some depraved yet brightly colored plasticy looking fast-food mascots or something, haha

[Average Software]

i wanted to buy this immediately based on the description alone! what is your concept for the unit art? im hoping to see some depraved yet brightly colored plasticy looking fast-food mascots or something, haha

I personally always envisioned things looking a lot like Tiberian Sun, but I don't really know at this point how they will end up.

Not much to report this week.  Still doing a test playthrough of all the single player maps, and fixing various AI issues along the way.

My graphics guy got his new computer, so hopefully I'll have something more interesting to post next week,

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Average Software]

Once again, very little visible progress this week.  I'm almost done with single player testing, and I've fixed a few AI and pathing bugs and did a little bit of interface improvement.

The usual download links:

Linux x86
Mac OS X (Intel only)
Windows

[Udderdude]

Seen this before on IRC, definitely one of the most unique and interesting concepts for a turn based tactics game I've ever seen.  Good luck finishing it.