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[Laitch]

Hi all,
Im working on a game that is mostly inspired by Settlers (2), Anno and transport tycoon. The main idea is to setup a small humblet settlement and keep it running by getting supplies. The idea is that you would build a structure close to a resource to get that resource and then build infrastructure to get it back to the settlement, for instance building a woodcutter close to a forest would give wood and then the player has to build a train line to get the wood back to the settlement.
The game will take place in a randomly generated voxel world (not infinite) and the player has to not only get resources to keep the humblets happy but also defend them from enemies. I’m not sure yet how the gameplay for that is going to be.

What is a Humblet?
I haven't decided exactly on that yet but for now I imagine that they are like dwarves that prefer to live on the surface.

Images:



Old screenshots:
http://www.laitch.com/Media/1.jpg
http://www.laitch.com/Media/2.jpg
http://www.laitch.com/Media/3.jpg

Videos:












Humblets - Tech demo #4

[Lexonite]

sounds like a cool game idea with the resource transferring business. I could imagine there being upgrades for better ways of protecting your cargo from robbers/etc..

[Liosan]

Im working on a game that is mostly inspired by Settlers (2), Anno and transport tycoon.

Would it be an elephant in the room if I asked about Dwarf Fortress?

I like the Transport Tycoon idea, I think it'll work out nicely. I'll stay tuned

I'm actually working on something similar myself, more geared towards Anno and Ceasar than Transport Tycoon gameplay-wise, though (no devlog yet). I see you've got the same 'slope' algorithm like I do (triangular thingies instead of voxels). I warn you - it was murder to get it right when I came to terrain modifications Always some weird corner case... Anyways, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your project, maybe we can share some experiences

Liosan

[impulse9]

Looks like Transport Tycoon in real 3D! I like this idea!

[Paul Jeffries]

Looks good, I like the style of the triangulated terrain map.  Is it possible to do overhangs etc. in your engine or is it more of a straightforward height map?

Does it really have to be Dwarves again, though?  I don't have anything against Dwarves, you understand, it's just that they seem a bit overexposed in the whole procedurally-generated-settlement-survival-management genre...

[Lexonite]

how about dwarven frogs!.. or..
dwarven sloths?
dwarven kitties?..
idk..
regular dwarves are cool too.

[Laitch]

@AlexHW - Yes, there needs to be some way to defend your dwarves and their trains from enemies... I haven't decided on exactly how yet

Im working on a game that is mostly inspired by Settlers (2), Anno and transport tycoon.

Would it be an elephant in the room if I asked about Dwarf Fortress?

Well, I did say mostly inspired, so they are not the only source of inspiration ... But honestly I don't plan on having many similarities with Dwarf Fortress. I guess they share the same core idea, but gameplay wise I want it to be closer to the other games.

I don't know that triangular algorithm thing. I was thinking about using marching cubes but I ended up doing a more traditional (minecraft) voxel engine. I then modified it so that I could have more shapes then just squares. The shape of the voxels are based on it's neighbors, for instance if there is a block underneath and to the side, the voxel will be a slope:



I guess you can barely even call it a voxel engine anymore
Also when you get a devlog, send me a link... I'm really interested in seeing that slope algorithm in action

@impulse9 - thanks! I was going for that classic "tycoon" look for the terrain

@Paul Jeffries - Yes it can do overhangs:


I choose dwarves because I was inspired by the warhammer dwarves with guns and machines without it being to steampunk'ish.
However nothing is settled in that area so I'm open for ideas... maybe even invent a new race

dwarven frogs would be a cool race

On another note... can anybody tell me the rules for doubleposting on this forum?

[Liosan]

I don't know that triangular algorithm thing. I was thinking about using marching cubes but I ended up doing a more traditional (minecraft) voxel engine. I then modified it so that I could have more shapes then just squares. The shape of the voxels are based on it's neighbors, for instance if there is a block underneath and to the side, the voxel will be a slope:
(...)
I guess you can barely even call it a voxel engine anymore

Oh, I get it, now I see the differences. I tried to implement the model from Dwarf Fortress, so blocks are the size of one dwarf. Also, I have some blocks marked as "slope" and some not - this allows me to have both sharp cliffs and slopey edges. But since not all slopes are legit I have to update this setting... which is troubling. For instance, when a dwarf digs out a tile, the tile above it can no longer be a slope. I'm not sure if you have this problem in your code

Liosan

[Eigen]

This looks and sounds interesting, mainly because Transport Tycoon is awesome! There was a 3D version of TT on some console but it wasn't very popular but I can't remember why ... either the graphics or performance or usability. Getting road and track laying working well in 3d might be quite tricky. I'm really used to the auto tool in OpenTTD and the original game feels quite clunky and slow in that area.

I know this is all very early and temporary and perhaps you haven't even thought about the style you're going for but you should try a very clean style with textures and art, I think it'll look very good. Maybe even cell shaded? Currently the noise makes it look dirty.

It'd be great if you could like dig coal from deep inside the terrain and have to carry it out with trains. Anyway, keep at it. I'm liking the concept.

[Paul Jeffries]

Excellent.  A tunnelling I shall go...

I think if you want to go with Dwarves that's fine, it just might lead people to assume that it's Just Another Dwarf Fortress Clone, wheras this actually looks a lot more unique.  I vote for monkeys with big Brunel-style stovepipe hats.  Or Yetis.  With stovepipe hats.  Actually, on second thoughts I don't care what they are but they have to have comedy stovepipe hats.

[Laitch]

@Liosan - Yes with the conditions I have now a voxel can only be a slope if there is a block underneath it... I don't know if it's a problem though

@Eigen - Thanks. I think the 3d version was for ps1 although I'm not 100% sure. There is a video on youtube somewhere
And yes I need to figure out what style I want to go with but it's still early in development and since I'm not an artist I'm going to postpone it a little more.

@Paul - I cannot guarantee that there will be any stovepipe hats before I know what artistic look I want

Just a small pictureless update:
Ive been reading up on different instantiating techniques in XNA and I finally think I'm getting the hang of hardware instantiating. With that in place I can begin to work on some vegetation!

[Rumrusher]

first question "Will we be able to derail and wreck trains, can we wreck trains into our dwarven settlement, can we shove a cart loads of dwarves on a track and ramp them into a lake/volcano/pit of fast moving trains?"

[Laitch]

@Rumrusher - I'm afraid that the only train disasters I have planed is two trains colliding. I don't plan on being able to derail the trains

I'm working on vegetation and here is the result so far:


As you can see I'm also experimenting with some cleaner higher-res textures for the ground (as suggested by Eigen)

Time to stress-test the vegetation system!

[s0]

Im working on a game that is mostly inspired by Settlers (2), Anno and transport tycoon.

Would it be an elephant in the room if I asked about Dwarf Fortress?

Welp DF is pretty much the Settlers on steroids anyway, so...


Game looks cool 

[Liosan]

Heh, you're making faster progress than we are

As you can see I'm also experimenting with some cleaner higher-res textures for the ground (as suggested by Eigen)

Aaand you fixed the UVs for the slopes, right? They look better.
I've got more or less the same question as Eigen - are you planning on mixing the terrain types a bit more fluently (multitexturing?), or are you staying with the sharp lines between them? They look nice if you ask me.

Would it be an elephant in the room if I asked about Dwarf Fortress?

Welp DF is pretty much the Settlers on steroids anyway, so...

Heh, more like The Settlers + Rogue

Liosan

[Laitch]

@C.A. Sinclair - Thanks


@Liosan - Actually I haven't changed the UVs... I guess they look off because the slope is not a perfect square but rather a rectangle and since the texture is a square it will look stretched. This becomes less visible with a higher resolution texture I guess
As for having more fluently changes in the terrain I don't think I will be working on that now. I'm about to start optimizing the terrain engine and when that is done I really want to move on with other parts of the game

I've been working on new animated water and I have added a skybox (I need a better looking skybox texture )


I was considering making the water reflective but I decided against it. (I fear that it will look to realistic compared to the rest of the scenery)

[GeoffW]

Looks really nice.

One small criticism is that the grid lines alias quite badly.  Probably worth checking you've got MIP mapping enabled.

[Laitch]

Looks really nice.

One small criticism is that the grid lines alias quite badly.  Probably worth checking you've got MIP mapping enabled.

Unfortunately turning mip mapping on gives some weird results:

[GeoffW]

Unfortunately turning mip mapping on gives some weird results:

Are you using a texture atlas / a grid of texture cells all on one surface?  This could be bleed caused by nearby samples from different cells being mixed together.  The solution for me was to add a 4 pixel padding region around each cell, filled with a similar colour to that texture cell.

[impulse9]

That looks gorgeous. But is it intentionally so low-res?