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CRPG on iPad / iPhone... do-it-yourself is exhausting

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:36 am
by icetear
There ain't no good news for Bards Tale Fans who are using an apple device.
I am still looking for a long lasting fun CRPG... so in all my desperation... here are the results of my efforts in coding my own one so far:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mU5SUq_Mj0

The biggest problem isn't the programming... up to now, 15.000 LOC written and everything runs as expected. But the graphics kill me.

So if you want to support this project and know some artist or some artworks that could be used... you could make me very happy - and many other players in the future (hopefully ;-)).

Cheers from Germany
Mario

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:28 am
by dragonbait
Hey, that's super cool, especially that it is party based. I like it. Though I will probably never own an i-pad or anything "i". But for those that do, it looks like a very good bards' tale clone. 8)

As for artists, perhaps you could contact Rob Thomas (the guy who did allot of the art for the Devil Whiskey). His site is at the link below.
http://www.mindsiphon.com/

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:43 pm
by Growler
Looks awesome! Ready to play it! :P

Like Dragon, I don't have any i-devices nor plans for any, so sure hope you'll port it to Windows &/or Linux if possible.

What language did you code in?
15k LOC! :shock:

Yeah, Rob Thomas is superb.. but if he doesn't work out, you might try checking the art dept at some local schools, universities.. may find a student who is very talented, into RPG's, & willing to whip up some artwork free or cheap--that's the route I'm going.. will give my artist a portion of any profits and allow him/her to retain full rights to the artwork.

Could also google for 'free fantasy art' or similar.

Please keep us posted with any updates!

Still much to do

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:05 pm
by icetear
Thank you very much for your anticipation.

Actually, it is written in Objective C, a C++ derived language to suit Apples iOS needs. I have no knowledge of portability yet - aiming for a finished product first... then porting ;-)

I have started to search in different networks now, and hopefully I will find someone soon.

Today, a first website came to live (http://silversword-rpg.com) and a facebook site also exists now. But I will surely post updates in this forum, too :-)

Greetings
Mario

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:25 am
by Growler
Mario,
Cool.. think C++ is generally considered a portable language, so there may be hope for us non-i-ers yet! ;)

What is the hardest part of the game to program?

Your site looks good!
Keep it all cranking. :P

Hard is relative

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:04 pm
by icetear
Hello Growler,

thank you very much!

Well... surprisingly all programming goes pretty well. At times, I stumble upon a problem when I want to insert a new feature - then I realize that the concept I used in the related part of the program is weak and I have to refactor some code. But at the moment I really see no obstacle I can't handle. The "framework" looks good and now I can quickly insert the missing features.
What makes me nervous is the graphics. I use Blender to render the tiles needed for the floor and walls, but they don't fit exactly after cutting them out of the rendered picture. In addition - as you know - I still need someone to do the artwork (don't talk about animations at this time, but I know they have to be coming).
I will continue practicing my drawing skills and correct all pictures as needed if I won't find someone to help me - this game will be released for sure ;-) Anyway... there are still enough things to do.

Today for example I implemented...

- animated tiles (now you have water, and it moves :-))
- a loadMap action (now you can connect maps via simple script commands)
- better sound effect management
- new tiles (water, grass, ruins)
- new sounds (3 different birds, and a horse ;-))

some more teasing exclusively recorded for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZJ3hubqxc

Greetings
Mario

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:38 pm
by Growler
Hey, that animated water looks really great!
Looks like you've even got it synchronized to flow in a particular direction..

And the environmental sounds add a lot to the immersion/experience.
Cool new tiles ta booty.

How long do you estimate before your game is ready to be played?

Also, have you programmed much before this?

Passion

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:22 am
by icetear
I plan on releasing a first teaser demo for free in about 3-4 weeks.
I hope the game will be finished at the end of the year. Sounds like a fairly long time, but there is much work to do and once the beta testers are involved... the real hard work starts :-P

As for myself, I am a project manager in a software development company. This project is the result of my effort to get into coding again. When you are dealing with customers everyday and your schedule is filled with meetings, there ain't much time for doing the basics. And what is a better way of learning a new language (Objective C) than by coding a game? ;-)

Cheers
Mario

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:06 am
by Growler
Alright, folks--we've got less than a month to get--or get access to--iPads!
Hey, mebe there's some iPad emulator for Win PC's??

End of the year... hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say. 8)

Well, hurray for your re-entry into coding!

Any thoughts about making the game mod-able, similar to Devil Whiskey?

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 4:39 am
by icetear
Growler wrote: Any thoughts about making the game mod-able, similar to Devil Whiskey?
Not really. But as you speak of it... I do implement some kind of script engine at the moment, to help me define the maps.
The Bards Tale Construction Set is my guide for this.

it works like:

010:OUTPUT|A magic force draws you nearer... what do you do?
020:CHOICE|Resist|50
030:CHOICE|Follow the force|70
040:STOP
050:OUTPUT|That was close...
060:STOP
070:OUTPUT|You are overwhelmed by magic and in a flash of light, you are gone.
080:LOAD_MAP|dungeon.txt

etc.

This should make modding very easy. But it has no priority on my ToDo-List yet ;-)

Cheers
Mario

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:19 am
by Archie Stanton
liking the looks of this

great stuff mario

some1 will have to keep me upto speed with emulator type stuff

got all the time in the world at work to betatest this

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:44 am
by icetear
Just a little teaser...

Image

:D

Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 1:42 am
by Growler
Ah, very nice!
Tho ye be an RPGee Tease! 8)

Yeah, that code looks pretty easy to maketh mods.
Cool.

new demo video

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 am
by icetear
Hello friends,

it seems that finding an artist is the hardest part.
Sorry to say that the demo has a delay.

But for another tease, here is a video that could please...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RADpxhXEexA

8)

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:09 pm
by Growler
Way cool..
Looking better all the time! :P

Have you looked around for free/public domain fantasy artwork?

Think one problem is trying to find enough that fit the game & share a similar style..