RPGDX > Forums > Projects / Screenshots > ARC Legacy Demo released! (topic edited)

XMark · Last edited by XMark on Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

I'm in crunch mode right now trying to get the next ARC Legacy demo out real soon (beginning of October at the very latest), basically just because I decided that it's been vaporware for way too long. It'll only be about the first 20 minutes of gameplay but it will introduce all of the main characters and demonstrate a lot of the backstory.

I'm hoping that this demo will accurately portray how much I've deepened the storyline of the original with a more detailed backstory, and more complex 3-dimensional characters (especially Prince Damien, who is going to be a realistic villain with human motivations instead of the homicidal psycho from the original)
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Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!

Terry · Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 7:10 pm Post subject:

Heh - you've got a way with suspense :) I loved the original, so I can't wait for the remake.

XMark · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:21 am Post subject:

It's out!
http://abstract-productions.net
Go there!
(might have to repost this if this gets lost, heh)
_________________
Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!

js71 · Wandering DJ Joined: 22 Nov 2002 Posts: 815

One word: SLOW.
On this computer, at least. Which is still odd, as it's fairly recent-- I'm not sure of its exact specs, but I'm sure it's around the 1.4 ghz mark, and I believe it has 192 ram.
Anyway, the first time I started the program it went straight to the game, skipping the title screen completely-- And it ran horribly skippy.
So I restarted, and this time it displayed the title screen (nice job by the way) and ran a little bit better. But after playing for awhile it started skipping again, and in the (empty) bar/tavern it was nearly unplayable for some reason. If I tried to exit onto the map once I was allowed, it played the music but froze on the town screen until I pressed up, at which point it showed the map for a second before re-entering the town. Seems like the overworld was technically 'there', but it didn't display it.
Apart from this, it's really looking great so far!
Most of the graphics are exellent, with the exception of a few tiles... And the characters' up/down walk animations bug me a bit, but then again I'm just a picky artist.
Being a fan of the original, I'm really enjoying this new version and I'll be looking forward to the full game!

Rainer Deyke · Demon Hunter Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Posts: 672

What he said. Very jerky, and the overland map doesn't display.

XMark · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:58 am Post subject:

That's strange, it plays smooth as peanut butter on my old 700 Mhz computer running windows 98, and works well also on my 3.1 Ghz Athlon on Windows 2000, and I haven't seen any of those problems on any computers that I've tested it on. Could you tell me what OS you're running?

EDIT:
As for the overworld not showing up, maybe you can try going into gfx.ini and disabling the screen wipe effect.

Other than that, I suspect the frame rate calculation routine might be to blame (it's the one in the Allegro docs)
_________________
Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!

js71 · Wandering DJ Joined: 22 Nov 2002 Posts: 815

I'm running Windows XP Home.
Might have something to do with that...
I'll try disabling the screen wipe after I finish listening to some justice for all... =P

Rainer Deyke · Demon Hunter Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Posts: 672

I'm running Windows 2000 on a 500MHz K6-3.

LeoDraco · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:26 pm Post subject:

Runs smooth on my 2.4ghz P4 XP setup.

I've not played all the way through the demo, yet, but a few points:

I like the music; it seems rather professional sounding.

I'm not entirely sure I like the whole mixture of the mouse in some of the interfaces (such as the menu); while I realize that menus may be traversed sans mouse, I did not test map movement with mouse (so I'm not sure if that exists). Either way, relatively funky.

Also, the practice battle with Damien suddenly ended for me upon clicking the mouse on a random location on the screen
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"...LeoDraco is a pompus git..." -- Mandrake

js71 · Wandering DJ Joined: 22 Nov 2002 Posts: 815

Well, I tried turning the wipe effect off, same problem.
Hmm...

XMark · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:23 pm Post subject:

I was suspecting windows XP but if it's like that on Windows 2000 as well then I'm not sure what it could be. Even if it's just a performance issue, the overworld map should still show even on a 486 :)

I remember Mandrake had a similar problem with an early build, until the problem mysteriously disappeared on its own a couple builds later. About the only thing I can think of is that the timer interrupt is getting mixed up with something else running in the background. I know that FMOD uses interrupts as well (since I don't have to poll it) so maybe there's a conflict on some systems.

Have you had much luck with other Allegro games? Particularly Blorp Zingwag, since it's an earlier version of the same engine (the only big difference being the music library change)
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Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!

janus · Mage Joined: 29 Jun 2002 Posts: 464 Location: Issaquah, WA

XMark · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:42 am Post subject:

That's basically the same thing, isn't it?
_________________
Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!

janus · Mage Joined: 29 Jun 2002 Posts: 464 Location: Issaquah, WA

XMark · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 1:33 am Post subject:

I mean basically the same, as in it's a thingy that does stuff while another thingy is doing other stuff too.
_________________
Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!