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Fenwar
Admiral Ackbar
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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 Posted: Jul 22, 2008 21:20 Post subject: |
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I'm sold. 
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And what makes the HoF levels great? Is it just the graphics and features? I don't think so... its the gameplay, story, level balance, texturing and so on. I don't think new features will make these levels look bad or even outdated, because they are great in the ways that matter, just like Dark Forces.
I will make mention here of Nar Shaddaa Water Treatment Plant by Michael Messer, which owes its 5 star rating* in part to some ingenious internal work - including a another double-adjoin-type effect, as well as numerous bits of true 3D level design.
(Actually, once you come to mod compatibility, that will be a good one to test DarkXL's .lev parser on. IIRC it leaves out a lot of "unnecessary" data, and if you open it up in WDFUSE it looks like walls are missing...)
[* Note that most of the ratings here were given by me, and this particular one was certainly from an editor's perspective.]
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Jul 22, 2008 21:28 Post subject: |
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Fenwar wrote:
I'm sold.
Quote:
And what makes the HoF levels great? Is it just the graphics and features? I don't think so... its the gameplay, story, level balance, texturing and so on. I don't think new features will make these levels look bad or even outdated, because they are great in the ways that matter, just like Dark Forces.
I will make mention here of Nar Shaddaa Water Treatment Plant by Michael Messer, which owes its 5 star rating* in part to some ingenious internal work - including a another double-adjoin-type effect, as well as numerous bits of true 3D level design.
(Actually, once you come to mod compatibility, that will be a good one to test DarkXL's .lev parser on. IIRC it leaves out a lot of "unnecessary" data, and if you open it up in WDFUSE it looks like walls are missing...)
[* Note that most of the ratings here were given by me, and this particular one was certainly from an editor's perspective.]
Thanks for bringing up this level, I'll have to make sure it works correctly down the road.
Anyway I'm glad I was able to explain my point of view well enough and thanks for supporting this project.
_________________
DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Jul 22, 2008 22:35 Post subject: |
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lucius wrote:
Fenwar wrote:
I'm sold.
Quote:
And what makes the HoF levels great? Is it just the graphics and features? I don't think so... its the gameplay, story, level balance, texturing and so on. I don't think new features will make these levels look bad or even outdated, because they are great in the ways that matter, just like Dark Forces.
I will make mention here of Nar Shaddaa Water Treatment Plant by Michael Messer, which owes its 5 star rating* in part to some ingenious internal work - including a another double-adjoin-type effect, as well as numerous bits of true 3D level design.
(Actually, once you come to mod compatibility, that will be a good one to test DarkXL's .lev parser on. IIRC it leaves out a lot of "unnecessary" data, and if you open it up in WDFUSE it looks like walls are missing...)
[* Note that most of the ratings here were given by me, and this particular one was certainly from an editor's perspective.]
Thanks for bringing up this level, I'll have to make sure it works correctly down the road.
Anyway I'm glad I was able to explain my point of view well enough and thanks for supporting this project.
Point taken and you bring up an excellent argument, it opened up my eyes much more than I had orignally thought.
Kudos!!! 
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I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Jul 28, 2008 20:37 Post subject: Update time again. |
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Just stopping by to let everyone know that progress is still being made. The sewer bugs are working (good enough for now anyway) and ReeYees are mostly done, I just have to work out the proper thermal detonator trajectory - or rather the initial velocity - so that they can hit players. After that the AI will be pretty much complete.
Once that is done I have to wrap up some rendering issues and then start the build wrap up process. Which basically means fixing some small bugs and doing some pre-testing.
I will coordinate the release with a website update, using Magic_Al's new art - thanks Magic_Al. In addition I'm thinking of announcing the project at various websites, if you have any ideas let me know. Now that its more polished - title screen, integrated options, cutscenes, saves, etc. - I think it'll be better recieved.
Anyway Build 8 will be followed by another build shortly that'll incorporate Test Base (level 4) and various other features. The time to next build will be much smaller after Build 8.
Thanks for waiting.
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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Jul 28, 2008 21:10 Post subject: |
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No problem
_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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Magic_Al
Gamorrean
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Jul 28, 2008 21:28 Post subject: |
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The anticipation is building!
_________________
----- MagicAl`s DARK FORCES Niche -----
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://homepage.mac.com/anewmanagn/magic_al/
Armed only with a blaster pistol and an intimate knowledge of
Imperial methods, MagicAl prepares to go to lunch.... |
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Jul 28, 2008 23:28 Post subject: |
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So just to be clear, there will be minimal mod support in the coming build?
_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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BlazingPhoenix
Ree-Yees
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Jul 28, 2008 23:29 Post subject: |
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Awesome, can't wait for build 8.
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Jul 28, 2008 23:53 Post subject: |
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Burning Gundam wrote:
So just to be clear, there will be minimal mod support in the coming build?
You'll be able to load user levels from gobs. For example I made a small ai test level in WDFUSE, for me to load it I use DarkXL.exe -uai_test.gob on the command line (or setup a shortcut). Level names, custom cutscenes and stuff like that don't work yet though. This is how I've been doing the "Guess that Level" thread, you'll get the same functionality. Basically the way it works is that it'll load content from the user gob first, if its not found in there then it'll load it from the core DF gobs (such as DARK.GOB or whatever is appropriate).
The only other difference is that right now, because not everything in all the mods works correctly, I've enabled some "cheats" when using a custom level. Basically a key to cause Kyle to float upwards in the air and another key that allows Kyle to pass through any adjoin, whether the door is closed, it has a large height difference or whatever.
Does that answer your question? Mod support will get much better in the future, see previous discussions about loading files directly, multiple mods at once and so on, but its not "unofficially" supported right now - meaning I won't be fixing mod specific bugs yet (unless they affect an existing supported level).
_________________
DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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sheepandshepherd
Trandoshan
Joined: 01 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Jul 29, 2008 16:34 Post subject: |
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Good job, lucius
This build has obviously made tons of progress, it will certainly be worth the wait. Oooh, the integrated options screen sounds interesting . . . that'll be the first thing I check out when you release it 
Question - you mentioned saves, what do you mean by that? It just saves what levels you've completed, or actual in-game saving?
About announcing DarkXL on other websites, sounds like a good idea to me. More beta-testers means quicker bug discovery and fixes. But I think you should keep the discussions and DarkXL forums inside DF-21 only, I wouldn't want to go check multiple websites all the time for the project. It'll cause confusion.
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Jul 29, 2008 17:57 Post subject: |
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sheepandshepherd wrote:
Good job, lucius
This build has obviously made tons of progress, it will certainly be worth the wait. Oooh, the integrated options screen sounds interesting . . . that'll be the first thing I check out when you release it
Question - you mentioned saves, what do you mean by that? It just saves what levels you've completed, or actual in-game saving?
About announcing DarkXL on other websites, sounds like a good idea to me. More beta-testers means quicker bug discovery and fixes. But I think you should keep the discussions and DarkXL forums inside DF-21 only, I wouldn't want to go check multiple websites all the time for the project. It'll cause confusion.
By saves I mean you create an agent and it saves which levels you've beaten at what difficulty. It also saves your equipment at the end of each level so you have the proper stuff when you go on to the next one. Basically DF's system.
As for forums - this will remain the main forums for DarkXL. When I mention the project in other forums, it just means telling people about it, showing some screenshots and then giving links to the website and these forums. Also CodePlex links to these forums as well. So there's one website for discussions (these forums), one project website http://www.darkxl.df-21.net and CodePlex for Issue Tracking.
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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Jul 29, 2008 23:13 Post subject: |
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Good call. We need to bring more people back to this community anyway
_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Aug 01, 2008 08:48 Post subject: VUE System |
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Another update about the build. The VUE system is almost finished. It works pretty much like in DF except that the orientation, scale and translation are interpolated between frames - so the movement will look smooth rather then a little clicky like DF. Its not bad in DF, but under higher framerates would be even more noticable.
I forgot that I hadn't actually coded the VUE system yet so I coded it up tonight (I'm Pacific time) - it didn't take too long. The AI is pretty much done, all the generators work now (including Wandering) so now I just have some rendering issues and bug fixes to deal with.
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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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sheepandshepherd
Trandoshan
Joined: 01 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Aug 01, 2008 12:08 Post subject: |
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Ummm . . . this is probably a stupid question, but what do you mean by "Wandering"?
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Aug 01, 2008 15:25 Post subject: Re: VUE System |
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lucius wrote:
Another update about the build. The VUE system is almost finished. It works pretty much like in DF except that the orientation, scale and translation are interpolated between frames - so the movement will look smooth rather then a little clicky like DF. Its not bad in DF, but under higher framerates would be even more noticable.
I forgot that I hadn't actually coded the VUE system yet so I coded it up tonight (I'm Pacific time) - it didn't take too long. The AI is pretty much done, all the generators work now (including Wandering) so now I just have some rendering issues and bug fixes to deal with.
Sweet
Keep it up man! And pacific time huh? Where are you out of, Lucius? I also happen to live on the west coast
_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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The MAZZTer
Death Star
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Aug 01, 2008 15:25 Post subject: |
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I think that's where generated enemies start moving around immediately?
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http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig. |
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sheepandshepherd
Trandoshan
Joined: 01 Apr 2008
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Aug 01, 2008 17:21 Post subject: |
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Yes Wandering is where the enemies start wandering around as soon as they are generated rather then standing still in their idle pose.
As for as my location - Southern California (OC).
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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Aug 01, 2008 21:56 Post subject: |
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Osnap! Santa Cruz County for me
_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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DF4GL4ever
Gamorrean
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Aug 02, 2008 04:38 Post subject: |
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Oh cool, OC. I'm from Huntington Beach although now I've been up in Berkeley/Oakland last 5 years...
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Weregoose
Gamorrean
Joined: 05 May 2008
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| Posted: Aug 02, 2008 06:26 Post subject: |
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Been through Oakland many times myself...
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Aug 06, 2008 10:17 Post subject: The final stretch... |
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I'm in the bug fixing, final phase for this release. The new titlescreen has been implemented, the save system is done, the system font is done (used for the agent menu and text entry). If I didn't mention it before, VUEs are done (for now atleast). I've been fixing some sound issues with the cutscenes and have some rendering issues to fix.
So the release should happen later this week.
_________________
DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Marley
Gamorrean
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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Magic_Al
Gamorrean
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Aug 06, 2008 14:31 Post subject: |
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I knew the quiet around here was just the calm before the storm. 
_________________
----- MagicAl`s DARK FORCES Niche -----
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://homepage.mac.com/anewmanagn/magic_al/
Armed only with a blaster pistol and an intimate knowledge of
Imperial methods, MagicAl prepares to go to lunch.... |
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BlazingPhoenix
Ree-Yees
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2008 01:13 Post subject: |
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Awesome! I've been waiting for a long time.
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lucius
DarkXL Developer
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Aug 09, 2008 09:48 Post subject: Last few items... |
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I'm on the last few items of my list, the release is mere days away.
Here is a new screenshot from the cutscenes to tide you over:
Thanks for waiting, the build is coming real soon...
_________________
DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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The MAZZTer
Death Star
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Aug 09, 2008 12:58 Post subject: |
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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, text flies through space and no one finds it odd in the least!
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http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig. |
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sheepandshepherd
Trandoshan
Joined: 01 Apr 2008
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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Aug 09, 2008 20:46 Post subject: |
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Looking great! Can't wait until the build is released
_________________
I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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Magic_Al
Gamorrean
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Aug 10, 2008 01:55 Post subject: |
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It's neat seeing the crawl in high res. Dark Forces DOS resolution is so low the text is illegible by the time it gets halfway up the screen.
_________________
----- MagicAl`s DARK FORCES Niche -----
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://homepage.mac.com/anewmanagn/magic_al/
Armed only with a blaster pistol and an intimate knowledge of
Imperial methods, MagicAl prepares to go to lunch.... |
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