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Mandrake
elementry school minded asshole
Joined: 28 May 2002
Posts: 1341
Location: GNARR!
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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:19 pm Post subject: Looking for a coder to help me with the Changeling |
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I've been looking back into the game the Changeling. I've been thinking about getting back into it- but I really don't want to program it. I'd be willing to do everything but any programming- anyone want to join in on the fun?
If not- meh, s'cool.
who'd a thunk they'd ever see me post a thread like this?
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"Well, last time I flicked on a lighter, I'm pretty sure I didn't create a black hole."-
Xmark
http://pauljessup.com
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Rainer Deyke
Demon Hunter
Joined: 05 Jun 2002
Posts: 672
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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How much programming is required? Do you just need engine programming, or also scripting? What is the current state of the project?
At this point in my life I have have too many projects of my own to be interested in volunteering a huge amount of time on someone else's personal project. I might be willing to help if (1) only a couple of hours of work are involved or (2) I get some sort of financial compensation.
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janus
Mage
Joined: 29 Jun 2002
Posts: 464
Location: Issaquah, WA
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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I'm interested, but I don't know anything about what I would actually be doing, so...
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Mandrake
elementry school minded asshole
Joined: 28 May 2002
Posts: 1341
Location: GNARR!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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Heh, I didn't actually expect any interest- so I'll elaborate. I'd need an engine- but I could do the level design and scripting as well. Engine would need to be done from scratch, since all the other engines up until this point have been flops. Basically what I would need would be an engine that emulates FF4/5 (16x16 sprites, 2 frames of animation per direction, NPC's and dialogues as well as scripted story animations) in terms of world, and combat would probably be more like Lufia/DW (turn based, rather than active time). World map would be null- since most of the game would be a plot that moves from point to point. SHould be able to do a chapter by chapter approach for the game. Each chapter starts witha story animation and ends with a boss combat (and a story animation). Combat fighting should be fairly simple- level up and get better at what your class is. Different classes gain different abilities at higher levels. Magic users learn spells, etc.
Very old skool. Pretty simplistic in some aspects. But this game is all about the story- soooooo
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"Well, last time I flicked on a lighter, I'm pretty sure I didn't create a black hole."-
Xmark
http://pauljessup.com
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tcaudilllg
Dragonmaster
Joined: 20 Jun 2002
Posts: 1731
Location: Cedar Bluff, VA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:09 am Post subject: |
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Why not use Freya?
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janus
Mage
Joined: 29 Jun 2002
Posts: 464
Location: Issaquah, WA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:39 am Post subject: |
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| Mandrake wrote: | Heh, I didn't actually expect any interest- so I'll elaborate. I'd need an engine- but I could do the level design and scripting as well. Engine would need to be done from scratch, since all the other engines up until this point have been flops. Basically what I would need would be an engine that emulates FF4/5 (16x16 sprites, 2 frames of animation per direction, NPC's and dialogues as well as scripted story animations) in terms of world, and combat would probably be more like Lufia/DW (turn based, rather than active time). World map would be null- since most of the game would be a plot that moves from point to point. SHould be able to do a chapter by chapter approach for the game. Each chapter starts witha story animation and ends with a boss combat (and a story animation). Combat fighting should be fairly simple- level up and get better at what your class is. Different classes gain different abilities at higher levels. Magic users learn spells, etc.
Very old skool. Pretty simplistic in some aspects. But this game is all about the story- soooooo |
Any technology requirements on the engine? Platform independence, hardware requirements, etc?
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Mandrake
elementry school minded asshole
Joined: 28 May 2002
Posts: 1341
Location: GNARR!
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:06 pm Post subject: |
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Why not use Freya?
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I would still have to program the game engine, that's why. Freya is a low-level wrapper for Lua and Allegro. It's not a full game engine in itself. I want an engine were the only scripting I have to do is for animations/events/weapons/items, and not build a whole engine myself.
Janus->
platform independance would be nice, but not necassary (running on windows is necassary). Also- resoultion should be 640x480x16bpp with a 320x240x16bpp offscreen layer being stretched up to it (to give it a fake 320x240x16bpp fullscreen). Music format....well, ask Xmark :). Right now the music is mostly in xm/mod, but I have a few he had redone in MP3 and they sound amazing. So MP3/Ogg-Vorbis would be nice.
Also, a map editor would be a must. Espicially one with multiple layers, capable of having parallax scrolling and opacity levels I can set. Tiles should also be 16x16. Combat (other than boss combat) would be random, and I would like to be able (for each map) to be able to determine the frequency of each random-encounter.
Scripting- I would perfer Lua or Python, but if it's simplistic enough for me to pick up I can do anything.
Later tonight I'll create a mockup shot for combat and the game menu, to give you an idea of what I'm looking for there. Also, text-balloons for NPC's would be nice. Another niciety (but not necassity) would be to have the party follow the main character ala Lunar, Breath of Fire or Chrono Trigger. Saving would take place ala save points during the game.
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"Well, last time I flicked on a lighter, I'm pretty sure I didn't create a black hole."-
Xmark
http://pauljessup.com
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DrunkenCoder
Demon Hunter
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Mandrake wrote: | | Also- resoultion should be 640x480x16bpp with a 320x240x16bpp offscreen layer being stretched up to it (to give it a fake 320x240x16bpp fullscreen). |
Isn't this a assbackwards requirement? Specifying both resolution and actual backbuffer size. If you need 320x240 truecolor say that don't go specifying that i must be stretched. Figuring out how to achive your artistic vision technically is a programmers job not yours.
If it wouldn't have been for my less than stellar track-record of 0 completed rpgs this is actually a project I would have considred working on.
Wish you the best of luck with it.
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Hajo
Demon Hunter
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Posts: 779
Location: Between chair and keyboard.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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I don't understand why you use such low resolutions?
I mean 1024x768 is considered low today, and 1280x1024 is common. Why not use the fine details of the high resolutions?
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DrunkenCoder
Demon Hunter
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Hajo wrote: | I don't understand why you use such low resolutions?
I mean 1024x768 is considered low today, and 1280x1024 is common. Why not use the fine details of the high resolutions? |
I could think of multiple reasons but content creation and feel are the biggest ones. Creating good looking high-reselution graphics takes more time than going low res also it would give the game a completly diffrent "feel" If he's doing something that would feel like a old-school FF game mimicing the resultion of the era is a very sane thing todo.
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Hajo
Demon Hunter
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Posts: 779
Location: Between chair and keyboard.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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I agree that high-res content needs more work. I know since my own project used resolution of 800x600 minimum and a tile is 128x128 pixels. So I needed very detailed images.
But we don't want to live in the past forever do we? We create new things and we should use the new options!
(Says me who has stopped all projects because of burnout)
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DrunkenCoder
Demon Hunter
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Hajo wrote: |
But we don't want to live in the past forever do we? We create new things and we should use the new options!
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Using a limited enviorment and having to make it that way simply becuase there isn't an option is living in the past, taking a modern platform and deliberatly going for a retro feel using all the convinence of modern hardware to speed up development is a design choice.
I think there's a vast diffrent between those two options don't you?
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Hajo
Demon Hunter
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Posts: 779
Location: Between chair and keyboard.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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If it's an artistic choice, I can't argue.
From the projects I've seen here most seem to favour 320x200.
All exercise the same art of retro-feel?
(Sorry, don't want to flame, even if this reads so. Just say 'yes we all want to do it this way' and I'll be silent).
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DrunkenCoder
Demon Hunter
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Hajo wrote: | If it's an artistic choice, I can't argue.
From the projects I've seen here most seem to favour 320x200.
All exercise the same art of retro-feel?
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Well most also use a platform I would call highly inaduqate for the task at hand (QB anyone?) and simply have to live with the limitations of that platform.
But I also think indie-rpg developers tend to want to make games that plays like the classics that made us want to create games to begin with.
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Hajo
Demon Hunter
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Posts: 779
Location: Between chair and keyboard.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:22 pm Post subject: |
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I feel myself as indie-developer, too, even if quite unsuccessful in the area of RPGs. Maybe this is because I don't want to copy other games.
Artwork turned out to be a problem for my H-World project.
Creating animations at high resolutions is very time consuming. In addition H-World supports an image overlay system (clothes/equipment drawn over the basic player image) and this together with animations multiplies to many hundreds of images to draw or create.
I can't do it :(
I tried still images with overlays, but players don't want it.
I was about to check if I can buy such artwork somewhere, but I don't have the money.
So I know what you mean.
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