DF-21 Forums

[lucius]

The previous thread (DarkXL Update 10) has become unwieldy, so I want to start a new topic about the current state and future of DarkXL.

As I'm sure you noticed, the project has stagnated for too long for a variety of reasons. It began when I had to stop working on everything completely, due to time constraints (the non-hobby stuff I had to commit too, if you remember). However I found it hard to get back into DarkXL after that, due to a variety of issues and the big build I was trying to get out. I was probably a bit burned out from my previous work as well. So I started DaggerXL, which is a project I've wanted to do for a long time - in fact I remember discussing both DarkXL and DaggerXL with a friend when I first began - trying to figure out which one to do first.

Anyway long story short, I started work on that project in order to avoid burning out on DarkXL - fortunately I've been pushed to the limits in the past so I have a pretty good idea of what they are. The idea was to work on both projects to keep them fresh for me. So did it work? Actually it did, I'm excited about DarkXL again. I just got caught up in the momentum of DaggerXL, so that combined with some unexpected scheduling caused me to neglect DarkXL for much longer then I wanted. I still worked on it a little, which is why I kept promising builds, just not enough.

So what about the future - a new beginning and its already begun. I found that there are some choices I made with DaggerXL that worked very well for me. The wordpress blog is one of those choices. It allows me to keep an updated site and to keep readers coming back with regular posts. So I've been building a new DarkXL site, here, which I will keep updated and with new content like the DaggerXL blog. In addition I'm going to change the next build plans a little, one of the problems is that it was too big - which made it harder to get back into after the previously mentioned hiatus (due to non-hobby projects, lack of time, etc.).

This means that I'm going to stop working on the issues for the next build, refocus the build into something smaller and fix only those issues related to this smaller build. Then once that is complete I will go back and finish what I originally planned. This means that the next build will not have the editor enabled and may have other things disabled as well, since there were a lot of small issues I need to fix before people can use it. The focus will now be to make sure all the levels render 100% correctly (or atleast very close), including the user made levels. I'm almost there already. Once that is complete and out the door I'll go back to the editor build and add back any features that I had disabled.

This means I will go back to smaller, more frequent builds. In fact I may synchronize new builds between projects just to keep myself honest. But this also means that my stance on open sourcing the project has not changed. The project is not dead just delayed.

As usual, any comments are welcome.

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[The MAZZTer]

Yes, small, frequent releases, please.

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http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig.

[lucius]

[The MAZZTer]

It took me a whole bunch of scrapped programming projects to realize I need to have first releases have a very restricted feature set and be small projects, otherwise I lose interest halfway into it.

I also tended to code superfluous stuff first instead of core code. Coding the more important parts first so I can get a working prototype up helps keep my interest longer.

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http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig.

[Ryuichi91]

Nice to hear your plans on DarkXL, Lucius. I checked out the site and the screenshots, they look AWESOME! Also correct me if I'm wrong but some of the textures with lights on them seem to be showing a little bloom effect.

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[lucius]

[sheepandshepherd]

Wow, those development screenshots are so tantalizing

Glad to hear you've refocused the plans for DXL. Even though I was eager to test out the editor, I've also been itching to replay the original 14 levels, and I got pretty frustrated with Dosbox after the first two levels.

Will this also fix (most of) the rendering issues in mod levels, or is that for a future build?

[Burning Gundam]

Just now checked out the site, it is MUCH more organized. Nice work

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I don't think outside the box... I customize it.

[The MAZZTer]

BTW, there's no reason why you can't set up wordpress on your "old" site instead. I imagine you get greater control anyway (only downside is you have to update it yourself when a new version is released). It's not too hard to set up, it walks you through it.

It's something you could try, at least.

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http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig.

[lucius]