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[capn.lee]

I assumed open manholes

[Happy Shabby Games]

I assumed that at first too but it struck me as odd that there would be 4 open very close to each other. It might look cool if there was some light coming down through a grate or something to mix it up. Maybe a vent with flickering light from a fan blade?

[SolarLune]

@Jakman4242 - Thanks, man.

@Seasons - Thanks to you as well. Yeah, the lights are a bit odd. I just placed 'em haphazardly - the light spots should be more spaced out. I was thinking about a fan blade shadow already, actually. I'll have to test that out to see how it would work.

[SolarLune]

Better light placement and an improved sewer (with walls now!).



It's coming along. I think the light circle should be larger...

[Happy Shabby Games]

Hey yeah that's lookin' good 

[Aquanoctis]

Wow! You don't know how exciting all this looks!

Also, on an unrelated note, your Sunvox tutorials are amazingly helpful! :D

[Franklin's Ghost]

I like that with the sewer light placement you still can see the rest of the screen even if it's really dark. Although probably would go with a slightly larger circle. So that if you find an object it can be in your light source instead of hanging half in the dark

[SolarLune]

@Seasons - Thanks.
@Aquanoctis - Thanks - I'm glad someone likes the tutorials.
@Franklins - Thanks for the input. You were right about the light size.



So I did some more work with the maps (the sewer is one of them), and I just now found a bug with the lighting that I need to fix. Teaches me to mess around with OpenGL without knowing what I'm doing. It shouldn't be too difficult to fix, though. Otherwise, things are going pretty good. I implemented a nice targeting aid that helps you aim toward enemies that you're facing in addition to the targeting system item, as I found shooting at enemies unaided was too difficult. You don't have to do anything extra to trigger it - it's just easier to hit enemies. Perhaps I'll end up taking out the targeting system altogether - I'm not sure.

I got a few new BGM tracks finished, and this one in particular's done. It's called Aquaduct, and I think it sounds pretty good. I'm not quite sure where to put it in the game, but I'll probably (maybe) find a spot.

[Franklin's Ghost]

Great new song. What program are you using to make your music? Need to add sound to mine and having such a hard time, since I suck at sound.

[SolarLune]

Great new song. What program are you using to make your music? Need to add sound to mine and having such a hard time, since I suck at sound.

Thanks, man. I use SunVox - free and cross-platform. I also make tutorials for SunVox.

[SolarLune]

Didn't have any updates until recently, mainly because I've been pretty busy dealing with some other stuff. Also, I was trying to set up Linux on a computer so that I could try some cross-plaform compatibility action, but my other computer didn't like Ubuntu, or any OS, to be honest. Probably a problem with some hardware. Anyway, I'll probably just set up a quick Linux distro on VirtualBox to try out Blender, and at least export a runtime and test out the game.

In other news, I fixed that lighting bug, which is good. Now, I've got a question for other game developers - what do you all think about encrypting your game files? I mean, are you concerned that someone could get at your source code? Is it worth worrying about?

[BlueSweatshirt]

Depends-- Is there any losses for you if someone gets ahold of your source code? Will it be a bit deal?
Bear in mind if someone wants to redistribute your game(assuming you plan on selling it) a way will be found pretty much regardless of how heavily you beef up the security.

That said, if the encryption comes with other benefits such as, say, decreased file size, then there's no reason not to.

[SolarLune]

Depends-- Is there any losses for you if someone gets ahold of your source code? Will it be a bit deal?
Bear in mind if someone wants to redistribute your game(assuming you plan on selling it) a way will be found pretty much regardless of how heavily you beef up the security.

That said, if the encryption comes with other benefits such as, say, decreased file size, then there's no reason not to.

Interesting. Well, I'd assume that if someone gets ahold of the source, they could make a 'new' game based off of my code, just changing the sprites, sounds, and maps around to make their 'own' creation.

EDIT > While I will probably also only distribute the compiled Python code files, which are un-editable, I believe it's possible to 'de-compile' them to editable .py files, as well, which isn't great. I heard compiled files don't have comments or things like that, though, so it might be at least a little harder to read. < EDIT

Perhaps the best way to go would be to distribute the source with each purchased copy. Maybe that would make it a little more worthwhile for those who want to purchase it, and people could implement features for me to integrate into the game's core, like new weapons or maps...

And yeah, encryption will not stop anyone from redistributing the game on BitTorrent or something, so security is not really a factor. Even the most secure consumer program in the world has a working cracked version floating around on the Internet somewhere.

My encryption (or at least, the kinds of encryption that I understand enough about to implement) won't decrease the file size or do anything other than make the game un-openable in Blender. There are types of encryption that can compress files, though?

[SolarLune]

Now that I'm thinking about it, it wouldn't really be that huge of a deal if someone got a hold of the source. Actually, the source code's separated from the blend file, and so the BGE automatically compiles them at runtime. If someone wanted to really get into the source files, they could (I guess), but I'd think that it wouldn't really be that useful. If they really wanted to know about the source, I could share some things about it myself.

Anyway, things are progressing slowly. I was busy this last week, but things have cooled down, which is good. I'm working more-so on the sewers (as well as other maps). I think I'm just about to add dripping water. That should increase the ambiance - it's starting to feel a little more alive. I'm going to also add rocks and other things from the surface down there.

[SolarLune]

Hey. I've updated my IndieDB page with some news. It'll be a little while before it gets authorized, but the gist is that I'm back to working on the different maps.

I've reworked the bank to look a bit more, well, plausible. Looking at it now, it's a bit small, so I'll probably add some things like turned over rope poles and other teller desks.



The vault door will only open with a combination, which you can get from one of the floors upstairs. Note that you won't need to open the vault door - you could get through the game without what's inside. Hopefully there'll be a lot of little puzzles and side 'quests' like these. Even though it's a simple fetch quest, it still makes me want to work on the game a little more. I want to really make this city 'breathe' with enemies and secrets.

I also worked on the sewers considerably since the last update. One little section is a little platforming area - it feels pretty nice and natural, which is good.



I think a nice area to add next would be a coffee shop next to the park, and also develop the sewer area more-so. Right now, it's pretty short.

I've squashed a bug that would have surfaced later, which is good. I really want to release a demo soon, but I want to at least implement some enemy AI before I do so. Some more areas to explore and items and objects to interact with wouldn't be too bad, either.

The plan is still to have the player work his way to the center of the city. I still have to make the player feel like it's a whole, connected city, though, which will probably prove a little more difficult. Since the invading robot army has destroyed large portions of the city, sections interconnect with other sections in various branching points. For example, you can get into the sewer from the park, and from the sewer can get through a manhole into another district. The sewers will probably phase into the aqueducts / dam / water purification plant, and the cracked and tipped skyscrapers may lead into each other. As you can probably tell, I haven't done a huge amount of planning on this front, but I still have to implement the areas that I've already planned out, so that will keep me busy.

[Kicks]

This game looks terrific, man~! I love the setting and graphics. I can't wait to play it! If you ever need feedback, hit me up. I'd be glad to help.

[baconman]

Better light placement and an improved sewer (with walls now!).



It's coming along. I think the light circle should be larger...

I'd go 2.5-2.75 tiles in each direction. Give you a little idea of what you can close-range and long-range attack, while still preserving the blackout range's effectiveness. Maybe dark-tint somewhere between 1.75-2 tiles, so the longer range requires a little more attention to see in. Better yet - monochrome the outer range.

[Squid Party]

That looks really cool, I love gameboy colour games and there good old graphics, are you going to make the graphics look more linked, if you know what I meanv 

[SolarLune]

@Kicks - Thanks.
@baconman - Thanks for the feedback. That light circle doesn't follow the player - it's light from a vent on the surface. I might monochrome the outer range, but that'd be kind of a fancy shader (that I don't know how to write). I might try, though.
@theDanSharman - The graphics aren't linked, huh? Understandable - it's kind of hard to draw cohesive GBC art. :p I think I'm sticking to the color limits (four for tiles, three for sprites), and I think I stick to a palette, but yeah, the graphics are kind of 'all over the place'. Maybe I'll redraw some of the graphics.

[SolarLune]

Alright, so I'm back working on this a little bit. Got some enemy AI done - they now follow you about and attack you, which is good. The cubes are where the enemies are looking - note that they're visible, but only for debug purposes. The cubes have a rubber-band kind of movement on them, so your rolling and strafing really does make a difference in how many shots you take, making the combat at least plausible. I was a little worried about that before, but it feels alright so far.



A ray is cast from the enemy in the cube's direction, and if it hits you (or any 'good' guy), it'll damage them (while the enemy is shooting). I could do this same thing for turrets, and even have them do friendly fire. I've also made them sit there until you approach them, meaning that you can sneak by them or engage them.

I'd like to implement a "!" above their heads when they see you.

A demo would probably be a good idea, so that I can get some feedback...