GearHead-2 Release Checklist

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Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

I'm hoping to make an initial release of GearHead-2 this summer. Since
it's already August, that means I better get working.

Three things must be completed before I'll be comfortable making a
release. First, the game must be playable in both ASCII and graphical
modes. The OpenGL interface is already working, but I've only just
started on the ASCII mode. I've decided to switch from FPC's crt unit
to its video and keyboard units, which I belive are the same ones used
by Kornel's ValkyrieCRT library.

Second, I need a reasonably complete single city for the game to take
place in. GH1 started in Hogye, a small town in the Federated
Territories on Earth. The demo city for GH2 will be Maquise Spinner, a
space colony in the L5 orbital position. So far it's got a shopping
mall, a hospital, and a corporate office. Several more buildings must
be added before the city will seem complete.

Third, I need enough components for the core story generator to create
a random first episode to be set in Maquise Spinner. In GH2, the
central story will be constructed as a series of episodes. Each episode
will usually take place in a single city. I'm going to need enough
different components to show off the new component linking system, and
a dramatic episode conclusion which should probably involve a space
battle.

There are many things that just won't be finished in time for this
initial release. That's okay; I am a firm believer in the philosophy of
"release early, release often". I'm not going to have the character
generator done in time, although as a standby I will probably allow
players to select their character from a list of archetypes (soldier,
pilot, scientist, thief, celebrity). There will not yet be any faction
stories or random plots other than the core story.

Here's the list of proposed features for GH2:

- The play area will be greatly increased to include
not only Earth but Luna, Mars, Venus, and the Spinner
Colonies as well
- Mecha combat in space, underwater, and other new
environments
- Hostile environments will be able to harm your PC,
unless he has the right protective equipment
- Mecha for encounters selected by faction affiliation
and terrain type
- The PC will be able to purchase a spaceship to serve
as home base and transport between worlds
- Improved core story, with new random generator and
multiple endings
- Random content has been added to cities, dungeons,
and other game locations
- Unique content that will not be repeated
- Conversations can be randomly generated
- Nonlethal combat will be added
- Ammunition caliber and energy weapon power has been
reworked
- Shopkeepers now have more well-defined inventories
- Pet and robot stores
- Intrinsics will be added
- PC rescue system changed
- Chaotic reputation renamed to Criminal
- More opportunities for criminal PCs to steal things
- Improved character generator, allowing player to
select history, faction, home town and personal goals
- ASCII interface now handled by FPC video, graphic
interface handled by OpenGL/SDL
- Computers and software to be added
- Other new gear and weapon types
- Skill roll history
- Bones files to record winning PCs, who may later be
encountered by new PCs
- Source code has been extensively cleaned :)

Looking over this list, it seems that in many ways GH2 is going to be
more of a roguelike than GH1 was. There's more randomness in
everything, PC death is going to get tougher, and I'm adding bones
files.

I think I should also mention that while the core story in GH1 was a
basic "save the world" deal, the stories in GH2 are (for the most part)
going to be smaller and more personal. GH1 was "Gundam Zeta", GH2 will
be "Gundam: The 08th MS Team". There will also be no single conclusion
towards which all stories are led.

- Joseph Hewitt
--
DeadCold>
http://www.geocities.com/pyrrho12/programming/deadcold/index.html
GearHead>
http://www.geocities.com/pyrrho12/programming/gearhead/index.html
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Good luck,

might I suggest that if you work with data files
and ask nicely, some people might want to
help on fleshing out character/quest generators.

T.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Kornel Kisielewicz wrote:
> Joe Hewitt wrote:
> > Three things must be completed before I'll be comfortable making a
> > release. First, the game must be playable in both ASCII and graphical
> > modes.
>
> Why do you insist on the ASCII mode? I'm not against it, just curious.

A sizable number of GearHead players use ASCII exclusively, so this is
for them. It's also much easier to compile the ASCII version than the
graphical version on Linux and various other OSes.

> > There are many things that just won't be finished in time for this
> > initial release. That's okay; I am a firm believer in the philosophy of
> > "release early, release often".
>
> Maybe I should take an example :-/

Maybe, maybe not. I think it works for GearHead because mecha combat is
fun, and player goals aren't all that important. So, people don't mind
playing the same game over and over again.

> > - The play area will be greatly increased to include
> > not only Earth but Luna, Mars, Venus, and the Spinner
> > Colonies as well
>
> OMG. Talk about a lot of work, even with good generators...

It's definitely going to be another few years of work. The L5 colonies
and Earth will be the first areas detailed. The way I'm now
constructing locations with random scene content should make the task
much easier, but I still have to add localized content and flavor
elements to prevent every city from being a carbon copy of every other
city. One thing I might do is to start with an entire universe of
carbon copy locations, then differentiate them individually.

> > - The PC will be able to purchase a spaceship to serve
> > as home base and transport between worlds
>
> Something I always wanted to see in a game... ever played Whale's Voyage?

No I haven't. What's it like?

- Joseph Hewitt
--
DeadCold>http://www.geocities.com/pyrrho12/programming/deadcold/index.html
GearHead>http://www.geocities.com/pyrrho12/programming/gearhead/index.html
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Joe Hewitt wrote:
> I'm hoping to make an initial release of GearHead-2 this summer. Since
> it's already August, that means I better get working.

Great news!

> Three things must be completed before I'll be comfortable making a
> release. First, the game must be playable in both ASCII and graphical
> modes.

Why do you insist on the ASCII mode? I'm not against it, just curious.

> The OpenGL interface is already working, but I've only just
> started on the ASCII mode. I've decided to switch from FPC's crt unit
> to its video and keyboard units, which I belive are the same ones used
> by Kornel's ValkyrieCRT library.

Yup. Seems as I'm not needed anymore ;-).

> There are many things that just won't be finished in time for this
> initial release. That's okay; I am a firm believer in the philosophy of
> "release early, release often".

Maybe I should take an example :-/

> - The play area will be greatly increased to include
> not only Earth but Luna, Mars, Venus, and the Spinner
> Colonies as well

OMG. Talk about a lot of work, even with good generators...

> - Mecha combat in space, underwater, and other new
> environments

Oh my ;-).

> - Hostile environments will be able to harm your PC,
> unless he has the right protective equipment
> - Mecha for encounters selected by faction affiliation
> and terrain type
> - The PC will be able to purchase a spaceship to serve
> as home base and transport between worlds

Something I always wanted to see in a game... ever played Whale's Voyage?
--
At your service,
Kornel Kisielewicz (charonATmagma-net.pl) [http://chaos.magma-net.pl]
"A random group of people is useless for anything except
statistics" -- Anubis
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Kornel Kisielewicz wrote:
> Joe Hewitt wrote:
> > Kornel Kisielewicz wrote:
> >>Joe Hewitt wrote:
> Well, but I guess that those who use ASCII use it because they don't
> like the graphics. Better graphics (which I see you plan for GH2) would
> convince more people to play the Graphics version...

I know that's true of some of them, but others are hardcore ASCII fans
who don't play the graphical version of anything. The problem is that
the OpenGL version of GH2 is currently uglier than the SDL version of
GH1. Because of camera rotating and zooming the interface is much nicer
to use, though, and that was my main concern.

I'm definitely going to need some help from an OpenGL guru at some
point in the future. My initial attempts to add lighting were
migraine-inducingly bad. I also need to do a lot more work on the
interface, since right now most of it is blindly copied from the SDL
version and it looks terrible.


> I ask because recently I made a earth-shattering decision (my earth, not
> global ;-D) -- I decided that GenRogue will have no ASCII mode --
> because the work needed to make a 3D game be playable also with ASCII is
> not worth the time (and code ugliness)...

Wow. That is earth-shattering. I think it's probably a good design
idea, though. GH is semi-3D, but is limited to a DOOM-style heightfield
instead of honest to goodness three dimensional maps because that's all
the ASCII display is capable of showing. I thought about real 3D levels
for GH2 but decided against using them because of ASCII mode. That and
it'd mean rewriting the map generator, NPC pathfinder, movement checker
and lord knows what else.


> > [about "release early, release often"]
> > Maybe, maybe not. I think it works for GearHead because mecha combat is
> > fun, and player goals aren't all that important. So, people don't mind
> > playing the same game over and over again.
>
> Hmm.

It could work for GenRogue because you'll be using a random plot
generator that should keep the story different each time. On the other
hand, it might not work for GenRogue because it'll be difficult to
create the requisite mood when the world is obviously incomplete.
That's the great thing about giant robots... Give them something to
blow up, and they'll create their own mood. :)


> I think that the bottom-up approach is better -- add new locations when
> you got flavour for them -- it makes the job of flavouring easier, and
> the game is focused all the time.

I'll probably do what I usually do: work on whatever interests me at
the time, then go back and fill in the cracks later.

- JH.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Joe Hewitt wrote:
> Kornel Kisielewicz wrote:
>
>>Joe Hewitt wrote:
>>
>>>Three things must be completed before I'll be comfortable making a
>>>release. First, the game must be playable in both ASCII and graphical
>>>modes.
>>
>>Why do you insist on the ASCII mode? I'm not against it, just curious.
>
> A sizable number of GearHead players use ASCII exclusively, so this is
> for them. It's also much easier to compile the ASCII version than the
> graphical version on Linux and various other OSes.

Well, but I guess that those who use ASCII use it because they don't
like the graphics. Better graphics (which I see you plan for GH2) would
convince more people to play the Graphics version...

I ask because recently I made a earth-shattering decision (my earth, not
global ;-D) -- I decided that GenRogue will have no ASCII mode --
because the work needed to make a 3D game be playable also with ASCII is
not worth the time (and code ugliness)...

>>>There are many things that just won't be finished in time for this
>>>initial release. That's okay; I am a firm believer in the philosophy of
>>>"release early, release often".
>>
>>Maybe I should take an example :-/
>
> Maybe, maybe not. I think it works for GearHead because mecha combat is
> fun, and player goals aren't all that important. So, people don't mind
> playing the same game over and over again.

Hmm.

>>>- The play area will be greatly increased to include
>>>not only Earth but Luna, Mars, Venus, and the Spinner
>>>Colonies as well
>>
>>OMG. Talk about a lot of work, even with good generators...
>
> It's definitely going to be another few years of work.

That's not bad ... Working on roguelikes is fun, at least for me :-D.

> The L5 colonies
> and Earth will be the first areas detailed. The way I'm now
> constructing locations with random scene content should make the task
> much easier, but I still have to add localized content and flavor
> elements to prevent every city from being a carbon copy of every other
> city. One thing I might do is to start with an entire universe of
> carbon copy locations, then differentiate them individually.

I think that the bottom-up approach is better -- add new locations when
you got flavour for them -- it makes the job of flavouring easier, and
the game is focused all the time.

>>>- The PC will be able to purchase a spaceship to serve
>>>as home base and transport between worlds
>>
>>Something I always wanted to see in a game... ever played Whale's Voyage?
>
> No I haven't. What's it like?

See for yourself, it's hard to describe:
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=1258

--
At your service,
Kornel Kisielewicz (charonATmagma-net.pl) [http://chaos.magma-net.pl]
"Gott weiss, Ich will kein Engel sein..." -- Rammstein /Engel/
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Joe Hewitt wrote:
> Kornel Kisielewicz wrote:
>
>>Joe Hewitt wrote:
>>
>>>Kornel Kisielewicz wrote:
>>>
>>>>Joe Hewitt wrote:
>>
>>Well, but I guess that those who use ASCII use it because they don't
>>like the graphics. Better graphics (which I see you plan for GH2) would
>>convince more people to play the Graphics version...
>
> I know that's true of some of them, but others are hardcore ASCII fans
> who don't play the graphical version of anything.

Praise them ;-D

> The problem is that
> the OpenGL version of GH2 is currently uglier than the SDL version of
> GH1. Because of camera rotating and zooming the interface is much nicer
> to use, though, and that was my main concern.

I agree. I really like the new OpenGL interface. It could benefit from
some OpenGL effects tough. For example, ever tough of fog? I mean black
coloured fog, very distant.

> I'm definitely going to need some help from an OpenGL guru at some
> point in the future.

Unfortunately I'm not a OpenGL guru... yet ;-).

> Wow. That is earth-shattering. I think it's probably a good design
> idea, though. GH is semi-3D, but is limited to a DOOM-style heightfield
> instead of honest to goodness three dimensional maps because that's all
> the ASCII display is capable of showing. I thought about real 3D levels
> for GH2 but decided against using them because of ASCII mode. That and
> it'd mean rewriting the map generator, NPC pathfinder, movement checker
> and lord knows what else.

I know I'll rewrite those for GenRogue anyway. Although Carceri
introduces some routines that will surely make it to the GenRogue source
code.

>>>[about "release early, release often"]
>>>Maybe, maybe not. I think it works for GearHead because mecha combat is
>>>fun, and player goals aren't all that important. So, people don't mind
>>>playing the same game over and over again.
>>
>>Hmm.
>
> It could work for GenRogue because you'll be using a random plot
> generator that should keep the story different each time. On the other
> hand, it might not work for GenRogue because it'll be difficult to
> create the requisite mood when the world is obviously incomplete.

I think I'm more of a fan of the second explanation. I will produce
tech-demos tough in the near future anyway. As for Carceri, there's a
devgroup where I will post my results, so I think it is following the
release early/release ofter paradigm.

> That's the great thing about giant robots... Give them something to
> blow up, and they'll create their own mood. :)

Kheh, I think another GH session for me is in order in the near future
;-D (I especialy got into the GH mood after seeing Neon Genesis
Evangelion ;-D).
--
At your service,
Kornel Kisielewicz (charonATmagma-net.pl) [http://chaos.magma-net.pl]
My Princess has returned to me...
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.development (More info?)

Your ideas sound great!

For a classic example of ships between fractally-generated worlds,
check out Starflight (an exploration/combat/mining/trade simulation
from the 80's, that has still never been equaled in its depth and
immersiveness.)

Here's one more guy looking forward to GearHead2


Kornel Kisielewicz <kisielewicz@gazeta.pl> writes:

>> - The play area will be greatly increased to include
>> not only Earth but Luna, Mars, Venus, and the Spinner
>> Colonies as well
>
> OMG. Talk about a lot of work, even with good generators...
>
>> - Mecha combat in space, underwater, and other new
>> environments
>
> Oh my ;-).
>
>> - Hostile environments will be able to harm your PC,
>> unless he has the right protective equipment
>> - Mecha for encounters selected by faction affiliation
>> and terrain type
>> - The PC will be able to purchase a spaceship to serve
>> as home base and transport between worlds
>
> Something I always wanted to see in a game... ever played Whale's Voyage?

--
Dave O'Toole
dto@twu.net
 
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