Thy Wanderer - a network multiplayer old-school RPG in progress

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Darmakwolf

For fun I'm making a multiplayer old-school (Dragon Warrior, FF1) style RPG. Currently it is not really "a game," however I have made a tile map system which works, along with a toggle-on mini map, and a smooth scrolling free-roaming map with block collision detection. I intend to make two modes - one which allows two separate characters over the network explore by themselves or simultaneously, being able to trade items and fight together, OR allow the connected individual to control enemies in battle while spectating player 1 outside of battle. It's going to be an interesting learning experience. Below is a link to just the executable and media folder inside a zip file on zshare. Basically, there's no fancy menu on the title screen yet. Press "1" to use a shoddy map editor I made. It's not intended for the "end user," but does its job. Left and right selects a map, enter goes to the editor. 1 and 2 in the editor switches between "layers" (like RPG Maker,) and left click draws tiles while right click copies them. Clicking the blue box on the lower-left brings up a tile palette to draw with. At the title screen, pressing 2 loads "first.ini" - (this is hardcoded at the moment.) You can move with the arrow keys to try out the collision detection testing map. F1 toggles smoothshading (should be left off.) F2 toggles Debug Mode (display FPS, coordinates.) F3 toggles the mini-map in the corner. Clicking the scroll in the corner will have the same effect. Let me know what you think! (Tested on Mac Mini, Intel Core2 Duo + 8GB RAM on Windows XP, running at 60 FPS constantly.)


http://www.zshare.net/download/895315901ee9125e/

MrTAToad

I think the graphics could be tidied up a bit more - the initial text is hard to read.

But it certainly moves and scrolls smoothly - and could be a unique game.

erico

Works perfect here too.

map editor:
-can tiles be on screen somehow? it sucks to go to a separate page to select them.
-Works really nice, I´m tempted on spending some time drawing a world on it... =D

game:

The possibilities are endless, gfx reminds me of knightmare. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightmare_(1986_video_game)
look for knightmare msx on google images...or over some online msx emulator.

You should also take a look at POWDER (rogue like) at
http://www.zincland.com/powder/index.php?pagename=news

powder is extremely addicting, if it was real time somehow and multiplayer I probably would stop eating...

Darmakwolf

Quote from: MrTAToad on 2011-Apr-28
I think the graphics could be tidied up a bit more - the initial text is hard to read.

But it certainly moves and scrolls smoothly - and could be a unique game.

Well, like I mentioned - it's obviously a work in progress and the level editor and title screen are not final or even supposed to be close. It's not like the basic menus made for the programmer need to be beautiful. In fact the level editor won't be usable in the final game because the game will have scripts and events and such - wouldn't want people breaking the game in multiplayer! But thanks - it does have some unique potential I think.

Darmakwolf

Quote from: erico on 2011-Apr-28
Works perfect here too.

map editor:
-can tiles be on screen somehow? it sucks to go to a separate page to select them.
-Works really nice, I´m tempted on spending some time drawing a world on it... =D

game:

The possibilities are endless, gfx reminds me of knightmare. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightmare_(1986_video_game)
look for knightmare msx on google images...or over some online msx emulator.

You should also take a look at POWDER (rogue like) at
http://www.zincland.com/powder/index.php?pagename=news

powder is extremely addicting, if it was real time somehow and multiplayer I probably would stop eating...

I've played all the games mentioned here! I played EVERY msx game possible on the GP2X Wiz (every one that worked, anyway.) I loved Knightmare. I do not want it to work like powder, as much as I enjoy that game. I'm thinking more like a more user-friendly combination of Dragonquest and FF1 only two-player. I'm glad you like it so far though! There's some scary programmer tricks going on in the background I don't even know how I accomplished - but it works! xD

erico

then I may have another inspiration for you... although it´s more on the fantasy-time-travel area...

TIMEBANDITS on the coco 2
http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/timebandit.html

it´s like gauntlet and so on... I actually finished it if any soul could possibly believe it.
There is just a lot of stuff you can pull out of the current engine.

let us know how the plan is going.



Darmakwolf

We'll see! :)
Perhaps once it's a little more developed I could use some help making large dungeons or forests (not randomly generated.)
Also - anyone got any pointers on removing tearing? Running it on OS X or XP, it often tears when scrolling directly vertical or horizontal. Changing Vsync options does nothing helpful. It's drawing the whole map at 1:1, then grab-sprite-ing around the player, and stretching the grabbed image over the screen.

Moru

vsync usually only works in fullscreen, don't know about GLBasic but I would assume the same.

Darmakwolf

Beta Test #2 is here! What's new?
Networked exploring!
Just edit "server.properties" in the Media folder to reflect what IP/Port you want to host on or join.
Note: the port must be open and using TCP. <google Port Forwarding if you're unsure about it.>

At the title, press 3 to host a game. This will wait for one other person to connect.
To join, edit server.properties to reflect the actual IP and port you wish to connect to, and then press 4 at the title screen.

When the server and client are able to connect to each other, the game will begin. It takes ~10 seconds to sync up so you both see each other on the screen, and then it's a miniscule delay even over long distances. (Played it over the 'net with my friend from 1200 miles away with a 0.2 second delay :P)

All that is possible right now is walking around and chatting. Chat is pretty... lacking... so to speak. but it does work. Press "C" to get a text prompt, type and hit enter. Characters have a text bubble over their head for 5 seconds when they speak. Both players can speak individually and at any time, but only characters in-range can be heard. Escape or "i" opens the menu. All that is available right now is save and quit - but the other options are there. I will add other options in the future, such as trading, dueling, and forming a party. Currently only two players are possible. I may consider making up to 30 a possibility (as in MMORPG style,) but I really think just a 2 player game is suitable. Single player is still possible, but nothing is really new there. Remember F2 = debug mode, F3 = mini map.
Collision detection is also enabled in multiplayer! Give it a shot and let me know what you think - remember to open a port which is forwarded to the correct local IP, and to find your actual IP for someone to connect to!

Download from Zshare:
http://www.zshare.net/download/90106723ea282098/

<.exe only for now, others if requested. I may release the source when it's nearly complete, but it is unavailable at the time. and messy anyway... who wants to dig through so much code.  :P>

Moebius

Looking good overall.  Look's like you've set up the framework for levels nicely.  The networking is a bit laggy (testing running two exes on my PC), but that's not really avoidable and doesn't matter.
One slight problem is that sometimes you can get the other player to be briefly facing the wrong direction while walking.  I don't know how you've implemented directions and networking and what's going wrong, but it must be possible to just set the orientation based on the current movement and avoid this.
Endless Loop: n., see Loop, Endless.
Loop, Endless: n., see Endless Loop.
- Random Shack Data Processing Dictionary

Darmakwolf

Thanks for testing it! You're right though - there is no way to avoid internet delay. It's "natural" - when it's on two PCs and you aren't watching both screens, it's alright. And I just made the fix for the direction problem - thanks for pointing it out. Basically, there's an old and new coordinate for the "other player." Along with that was the direction they were facing. Guess it's unnecessary to send that information - so I simply had it check what direction the other character will be moving in, and draw the appropriate sprite animation, rather than sending the dir and getting the dir - it was slow. All fixed! Next update should include the ability to move to other maps (entering houses, moving to another field, etc.) as well as treasures, and POSSIBLY a basic battle system. (and improved chat.)