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Messages - HamishTPB

#1
This is such a good thread, I think perhaps it would be good to put it in the tutorials section for posterity as well.  :nw:
#2
Erico: I hope you don't think I am trying to put you down or be unnecessarily negative, I am just trying to keep myself in check and not get too excited or too far ahead of myself.  :whip:

I want to avoid starting projects that just become vapourware  :puke:

Hugs for Erico :)
#3
I will try to get a look at the Android version soon, great job mate  :nw:
#4
The idea is not confined to here of course: http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/16251-a-pyra-game-in-development/

Perhaps, especially given the size of such a project, a collaboration would be more fruitful. I suppose that is why erico made this topic.

EDIT: The thought also occurs that there may be some suitable engine(s) already ported to the hand-helds to make adventures for, also making better use of time and ideas but none of the ones I have looked at have been of the flavour I wanted (that Dungeon Master/Xenomorph style). There are a lot of projects out there and open-source means that something abandoned or unfinished can be picked up too. One way or another I will get my adventures to the GP2X/Wiz/Caanoo and Pandora communities :-)
#5
The ideas I had for a modular system would basically have an engine with resources to handle every possible game resource (characters, enemies, NPCs, hand-hand weapons, ranged weapons, spells/technology, locations, objects(treasure chest/computer terminal/old west piano) and every possible action (how resource x affects resource y) to allow the freedom for one system to be a dungeon crawler or a space epic. Updates to the engine would add more resources as a game required them, this would probably lead to a bloated system.  :puke:

This is only if it is to be completely end-user modular. Like I say, having a similar system to what I envisaged but with a build-time optimisation would still allow savvy users to make their own adventures.  :good:

Given the target market, making an end-user modular system will probably not be worth it compared to the effort of making it. If something gets a bit of notice and it seems to be worthwhile to make a commercial version then that would change things but as it is, the time is probably best spent making the actual games and reusing the code where possible for the next adventure.

The RPG idea is not "next on the list" of things to make anyway - I want to walk before I start running and do some simpler games to get myself back into the swing of coding and get used to what I need to do to optimise and adjust for different target platforms. Most of my ideas live for a long time before becoming active projects - there are notebooks full of stuff and I just add to them when I have an idea for that project, even if it is not immediately feasible to work on it. There are a lot of games to get out of my system on the pages of those books  :P
#6
It seems that my idea for a modular system would be doomed to fail on the hand held systems because of wasted resources. Having said that there is no harm in building a modular source-based RPG where the maker of the individual adventure could optimise the built game for final play.
#7
More than happy to pay for a linux build :-)
#8
Excellent resources, thanks!  :nw:
#9
Want to get a Pandora when I can afford one, maybe the second hand market will be a bit cheaper when the Pyra is out. I am supposed to be getting a new board for my caanoo within a couple of weeks from ED  :nw:

I admit my poor wee GP2X will wonder why it isn't getting much love after the caanoo is back :-)

For now back into Nicholas' GLB books and get some work done!

EDIT: Your comments have been greatly received (as have everyone's here and on GP32X.COM) and I think my past experience with 8 and 16 bit computers and the limited resources and resolutions is one of the reasons I am keen to try coding for the handhelds.

Thanks again chaps!
#10
Yeah - this is the proper NVIDIA drivers, going to put this issue to one side for now.  :shit:

As long as things run on the handheld and android targets that's fine for now and I have a windows computer with GLB / JAVA /Android SDK etc installed for the coding/compiling.  :whip:
#11
 :offtopic:

Back on to the original topic - even on totally different PC with different distro I have the same issue. Now that i think about it more I seem to recall it is an issue with NVIDIA drivers and SDL around the bit depths. I will need to try on my laptop (pretty sure that has Intel GFX). Nvidia hate me.
#12
Some communities would have just said "fine, bye" -  not you guys.  :-[

Thanks for the encouragement and counter-balancing the other stuff   :)

You are right, of course, GLB *is* the right tool for the job I actually want to do, I got waylaid and distracted by discussions with people with different needs and desires from myself.

EDIT: Not having a computer shop any more means not having virtually unlimited upgrades and spare parts. Back after computer breakdowns and salvage and rebuild operations.
#13
I still have enthusiasm for the game ideas I have but I am not sure about which IDE / language is best for me now. I can't see a faster and easier way to dev for GP2X/Pandora targets though. I have started looking at the other cross platform tools but they are all either very pricey (like Unity) or don't support the platforms I want. I know GLB nominally supports Linux but if I have hassle getting stuff to work then "normal users" just won't bother with my games. If the GLB compiler worked under wine as well as the editor then I would be happy to use GLB for the handhelds and maybe PyGame for the desktops but having to have a windows system for compiling is a total pain. I think there just isn't an ideal solution, GLB could have been if I had time when I first discovered it but some of the SDL stuff is out of date and causing problems. It is a real pity but I can only imagine the vast amount of work needed to keep something like this truly cross-platform over time.

EDIT: Of course I realise the OS and libs on GP2X platform series is still the same so GLB has no out of date problem there.

I will sleep on things and regroup tomorrow. I just don't want to start on a project then have to switch dev kits / language etc to achieve things later.  :bed:
#14
Between this problem and some disheartening chat on the GP2X forums I think I am on a losing streak for cross-platform utopia. Perhaps I will have to look at desktops as my target and and pygame or similar as my dev kit. I think I missed the boat between discovering the GP2X series platform and GLB and then not having the time I had hoped to use them and now having a lot of time on my hands.  :giveup:

My ideas are still good and I am enthusiastic about them but the indie dev scene seems to have shifted a lot in the past couple of years.

Sorry to be a downer - reality is biting the past couple of days  >:D
#15
glxgears is fine, yes. I remember this problem in the past now with some games and the solution was usually to set the config for specific resolutions and bitdepths.

Is there a way to specify bitdepth in GLB?