TIGSource Forums

Time permitting, Murderbots will be a squad based, overhead shooter with procedurally generated levels, enemy AI that adapts to your tactics, and chunky 3D graphics. The emphasis of the game will be on action and highscores but I'd also like to create a PG storyline for each level set.

Also, a PG cussing engine because Murderbots have foul, creative voice synthesizers.

This sounds great! Oddly enough, I think we have plans for two or three random swear generators on this forums.  :D

Well, no voice synthesizers, I think :)

Chunky 3D grahics sound nice, as does the idea.

So here's some early screens from the game:

(http://26k.org/dev/zero/img/murderbots_v09_1.jpg)

(http://26k.org/dev/zero/img/murderbots_v09_2.jpg)

Really haven't had the kinda time I hoped for, so the chance of me finishing this by the deadline is more none than slim. I really like the game concept tho, so I'll just stick with it past the deadline until it's done.

Anyway, this shows one of the bots in game and some simple shooting. It's taken longer than expected to get the PG levels working and I'm still having some issues with aligning my 3D tiles (the gray ones work, the yellow and white not yet). I still haven't touched texture and lighting so everything is kinda flat and bland. I'm hoping next week will be less compressed than the previous 2 have been and I'll be able to show off some more of the game

Woah! That *does* look nice and chunky  :)

The "flat and bland" really works here though.

Yeah, I think it looks very good as it is now! ;D

I loved the way you're flat poligons worked in Rocket House and I love them here.

Most aptly named member of TIGS goes to... Lowpoly!

Looks ossum

looking great :-*

Your low-poly, high-def look is really awesome.

2nd-ed!

And it's great to know it's written in a language closest to my heart, Blitz. :-*

Did you check out the announcement about the new Blitz3D in development?!

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm def going for a look similar to ERH, but a bit darker and moodier. Maybe somewhat Tron-ish for the environment. The big problem I faced with ERH was how long and ultimately resource heavy that look took to create so I'm trying to find a way to implement something similar but WAY more economical.

Still have a long way to go with the PG stuff but I'm glad everyone is digging the visuals. More chunky goodness to come!

Yeah, I agree too! Awesome screenshots! When I first saw Rocket House I thought it was pre-rendered because it looked so nice. Although I think the objects there seem a bit 'rounder'?
I think the look here works well because of the strict angles. Maybe as long as all of the objects have right-angle-ness to them (not all angles but some), they'll harmonize each other?
It would be cool if somehow you could finish for the deadline, but either way good luck with the project! =)

What? Where? :o

You should still finish this.

Or I shall eat you >:D

Blitz3D actually looks quite interesting.

Unfortunately for me, it costs $100. Maybe by the end of this year I could get it?

Hideous, I'm not sure about a new B3D - I haven't heard about it, but for the original version you can now purchase the 3D SDK on its own (costs the same $100).  Have a look at blitzbasic.com (I came here from the Blitz forums actually, along with Lowpoly.)  It will integrate with your favourite programming language and the nice thing about B3D is it will run on almost anything (it's DirectX 7).  My experience with the high-powered Ogre in my latest game has given me all kinds of grief with unsupported cards / setups, but then it's all about what you want to achieve.  I can vouch for B3D being stable, simple and hassle-free.  I've been using Mark Sibly's software since 1993 (Amiga Blitz Basic), and always felt he could have done really well given better marketing.

Anyway, sorry to veer off topic... Please PM me about the new Blitz, Lowpoly, because I can't find anything besides the SDK announcement on the site. 

Oh and well done for getting on the front page, never spotted that before!  Would have loved to have my Emo Harvest on there, but I think it would just be too bloody!  :D

Does it integrate with Python?

It's not listed, but someone may have written some bindings for it.  It's listed as "Static libraries and interfaces for C, C++, C#, BlitzMax and PureBasic" - have a look at www.blitzbasic.com.  But if non of these are good for you, you might as well use the vanilla B3D, because the language is fine for the job.  My choice would be BlitzMax, which I absolutely love (although there are one or two small things I'd like to change, such as better access to pointers and overloading operators...)  It's basically C++ without pointers but with a much nicer syntax (no curly brackets or semicolons, BASIC-like For / While  loops etc, English-like words like 'Global' instead of 'static' etc...) and loads of useful things like dynamic arrays and a great list type that save you loads of re-inventing the wheel.

See what you think!

Lowpoly, I hope you don't mind me posting this here - I'm sure you'd want the word spread too!

Is he dead?

What's going on this thread? :D :D


Still working on it, I'll probably have to make a new thread for it since this compo is over but it's coming along nicely. Definitely going to need some playtesters in the near future...

ok, the Blitz stuff. Check out Mark's (the developer) worklog for the initial announcement and some status updates:
http://blitzbasic.com/logs/userlog.php?user=1&log=1043

He's posting every week now and things are really looking good. He's basically making a charged up version of the current engine, but with support for all the DX8+ stuff people have been asking for over the last few years. So we'll get built-in shadows, shaders, physics, and even support for LUA all while keeping the ease of use at the same level. Lots to be excited about.

The great thing about Blitz is its simplicity and versatility. It's a great starter language that you can really grow into (and maybe out of) and do some pretty solid work with. The $100 price point may seem steep for no-budget indies but after 5 years I feel like I've gotten my money's worth even if I've never made a dime from using it. Think of it as a long term investment I guess.

Blitz is great, especially if you take a look at the user created libraries.
I recommend checking Devil's 3d and shadow libs, as well as DRAW3D (for 2D in 3D games)

Mark's new Max3D looks interesting, but he's been known over the last few years to start projects and get bored and abandon them.  That said, he seems to be on a roll and what he promises is all I ever really wanted, so I'm trying not to be too excited, but am anyway!  Interesting to see how he handles shaders, the biggest headache of modern 3D.