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[Yodhe]

The graphics look inanimate as currently they are, the animation coding/timing is already built in but I am leaving the actual animations till the end, when it is "feature finished", as I still might change the perspective/tile size/graphics. But probably some indication of the current activity of a unit would probably certainly be a useful indicator, like a mini-icon on the unit, in the meantime.
Ideally each and every action would have its own animation, which would show the current state of the NPC/actor/unit, but the core mechanics of the game are more important to finish I reckon first.

Thinking about it, I might introduce a "footsteps" marking system to also show where the units had come from and gone, if they had been in your units line of sight. As well as somesort of noise markers and indicators as well, to alert you of things going on in the vicinity, out of sight, but not out of earshot.

[Birdorf]

Hi, just registering my interest, looks right up my street.
I've used Allegro in the past but not for a while (ver. 3!), I'm looking forward to getting back into it.
I'm also eager to get my mitts on a Raspberry Pi although the longer it takes for it to go on sale the less likely it is that I'll be lucky enough to get one.
Anyway, I look forward to future developments.

[happymonster]

I'm still watching this thread.. 

[Yodhe]

I've started to refactor and clean up the code base as it is a bit spaghetti-fied.

I've been having some issues with the pathfinding, due to whether some squares are discovered or not, which I need to pay some attention to. Nothing major, I just end up with the occasional dreaded unit walking blindly into a wall.

I also need to simplify the squares/tiles in terms of having a variable that described the type of tile, i.e. wall, door, floor, stairs etc, and then have subsets for each type, such as various wall, brick, stone, earthen etc. At the moment there are "special" types of everything which as the game increases in complexity is making it more difficult to add in extra types. Infact I need really to look at all structs/variables and codify them better.

You can now persuade other units to follow (and dismiss) you as well.
Spiders can climb up and down holes in the floor, as well as NPCs with ropes.

I am also working on the "story-mode" which acts as a tutorial/background for game, hopefully introducing game-elements naturally, such as recruiting other units, taking over and building your base, and defending and expanding your personal post-apocalyptic underground fiefdom.

[happymonster]

Are you still going to change the tile sizes to 32 x 32?

For the wall/object types - I would suggest having a set of variables for each tile - i.e. walkable, damaging to player, etc.. then you can mix and match more flexible than types of wall / door, etc. That also will let you say have walls that hurt the player, etc..

[Yodhe]

Regarding the tile size, I will make this decision near to the end, probably when I think whether it is worth spending some money on some paid for graphics, and work with a artist.

TBH as to what variables are useful or not, depends on the code, and really one of the major shifts I have been "avoiding" is moving from a 2D to a true 3D map, probably with tiles having variable heights and types. Of course at this point there is a bit part of me that thinks that it is probably more wise to leave it all to version 2 or another game.

Slowly I can see a game appearing, but sometimes its hard to be emotionally separate from it, and view things objectively. Still just focusing on getting a playable demo out in the next few months, and see where the feedback takes me.

[Yodhe]

I have been debugging and doing little things, like letting you left click on any of your own units to select them.
Also I have been trying to concentrate on other activities other than combat, as I believe too many strategy and RPG games rely on hack 'n' slash/power gaming. Of course if you wanted to shoot and stab your way through the game you are more than welcome too, it is just that is just one strategy that can be employed. Indeed it should be possible to complete the game without killing anyone, if that is how you want to play it, though it seems it is up to me to reward such "good" roleplaying in my game design.

[happymonster]

I find adding UI touches like being able to click on any unit to select them and quick ways to fire/attack made it feel much more like a game (and more fun!)

Keep going!

[Birdorf]

Make sure that your alarm clock is in good working order.

EDIT: Probably should add this

http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/696

[Yodhe]

@Happymonster, you and your game are providing a lot of inspiration to me, so I regularly plunder your thread for great ideas, as it makes me also realise how much I haven't considered, and that I should "before it is too late".

@Birdof, two little kids make for the best alarm clock. But not long now before I hope I can get a slice of the Raspberry Pi to try. :D

[kamac]

Yay. Look promising & polished 

[Yodhe]

Sometime I just stare at the screen for days in a daze, imagining and playing the game in my head, figuring out bugs and code and waiting for the answers to seemingly pop back into my conscious awareness from the void.

I knew something wasn't quite right, and after much deliberation I think I have erred to far into the terrain of the traditional cRPG, where-as what I wanted to create was a top-down strategy game, where you started with a very small number of units, and gradually grew your numbers by various means, whilst carving out your underground base, and finding and eliminating the other bunkers, with a bit of research and development thrown-in.

Basically it was elements of my favourite games that I wanted to combine, into something I would enjoy playing/making. With elements of the research and development + civilisation building from Civilisation, bunker/dungeon building similar to Dungeon Keeper, and the squad based turn tactics of Rebelstar/LaserSquad.

So with this in mind, I am in the process of sitting down and mapping out a development/research tree, broken down in four fields, science / engineering / combat / social (probably).

Each unit, has various skills, such as science, engineering, medicine, close and ranged combat, and leadership, which determines their main profession, though it doesn't limit them to that capacity, as particularly at the start of the game units will have to do many roles.

I haven't figured out resources totally yet, but power/energy will be a concern, as well  food+water, and material/stuff to make into other stuff.

I think I am going to have special rooms, which you can discover or create, like in Dungeon Keeper, which perform special roles, such as medical rooms, workshops, science center, etc. Though I am going with a very simple 3x3 fixed sized room. I would like a similar room generation/carving out assignation as in Dungeon Keeper, but this isn't essential at the moment, and I want to see if it works in terms of the game first before I commit too much time into this.

I am currently working on the backgrounds of the four main factions, and their particular biases, such as the "Morlocks", the "Skaleds", the "Cabal", and the "Astra Argentum".

I haven't quite figured out how to do character progress in the game, and either it will be the traditional D&D route of accumalate and level-up experience, or the RuneQuest style, of a small chance of a skill going up as and when it gets used. (Expedience suggests the traditional D&D route will win).

[happymonster]

Sounds interesting. Looking forward to hearing more soon.

[Yodhe]

I haven't stopped, just shut up and went away had a bit of a break and got back to concentrating on making and finishing the game. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have a playable Beta ready for people to try out.

[Yodhe]

Okay maybe I was a bit optimistic, and probably be a couple of months than weeks...

Some of game design has changed, now you can play any of five factions, from the "Morlocks", mutant worker slaves who toil in the ruins, who are trying to attack and destroy the underground bunker of the
Technological Elite, progenitors of the post apocalyptic world outside. The Elite are trying to seal off their bunker, and "sanitize" the surrounding area/mines/tunnels, before they enter their 100 year
cryo-sleep in anticipation of a new, less toxic and populated, future world.
Or you can play the faction from another Bunker, who are trying to repair their failing bunker systems by finding/stealing replacement parts.
Also there are the Raiders who are basically mercenaries, ex-military types, and other unsavory types, looting the ruins, after rumours of fabled lost technologies, and other treasures, to sell on
the underground market to other Bunkers, and groups.
On the surface there are the Survivors, a small band of hardy wanderers who are making their way to the fable free-islands in the Southern Sea. Having run out of fuel and supplies on the boat they
are traveling on, they must find what they need, and get away before the "evil biker gang" appear who have been pursuing them for days, and are determined to stop them escaping.

So things went out of the proverbial window, such as the technology tree/research, and digging tunnels/rooms, in favour of a shorter, faster paced game.

[Yodhe]

The AI is now fairly stable, and I can leave the game to play itself, which it does for hours on end, to see how the different factions and units interact.
A couple of routines such as units healing themselves, and recruiting other units need to be finished, but I am fairly happy with the level of variable intelligence of the units, even if some sometimes have a habit of hiding in basements/deadend rooms.

Next I need to create the primary victory conditions for each faction, and determine how the player will select their starting units, or whether they will be randomly allocated, or even predetermined (probably I will end up allowing the player to select any of the three options, but one method will do for a playable demo, probably random allocation).

I also need to implement flooding in the game, which I have been putting off for months. I also hope to get around to adding some more tiles to the game, merely for some extra eye candy, that don't actually affect gameplay.

[Yodhe]

Implemented the Giant Cockroach as a wandering monster, after what post-apocalyptic world be without giant mutant cockroaches.
Cooking one on a fire also makes a not-so-tasty meal.

Also been fixing lots of little bugs, that get thrown up by stress testing the game engine for around 1000+ turns each test. Which is about 2 or 3 times the length of an average game.

[Yodhe]

I was going to make a post yesterday, but with it being April Fool's Day I thought I best wait a day.

I have spent the last year quietly working away at improving the game, and along with it, various changes that have emerged on the way.

Indeed it is stable enough that I hope to have a playable alpha demo out at the end of the month, so I can get some feedback.

I have uploaded some new screenshots of the game at the beginning of the thread, and I hope to post in the next couple of days a full list of all the work/upgrades and changes that have happened in the last year.

[Yodhe]

Here is a video of the current state of the game (May 2013). I hope to get a playable alpha out in the next couple of weeks.

[Yodhe]

I've completed a playable alpha of the game (Windows only currently), which you can download at

http://www.justanotherturn.com