19-08-2001 19:59									#1
	civiliza demo 1 Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

The first demo for my project, temporarily called "civiliza", is ready. The demo has been stripped down to less than 1 mb, and with compression it is less than 100KB. If you have problems with the ZIP file, PLEASE let me know. Also, if you have any problems/comments with the demo itself, let me know.

I will attach the file to this post until a website is finished.

Please read the readme.txt file included in the zip for important information regarding this release.

Attachment: civiliza_d1.zip
This has been downloaded 748 time(s).

	20-08-2001 00:26									#2
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Pretty good, Dex.

I played a 'game'. I lost Interesting idea about the timer. You need some kind of function to chose a particular unit if ready, but I'm sure that's coming. I take it the city isn't functional yet.

What sort of AI are you using? I'm doing the combat AI for our game right now, so I'm always interested in how other people are handling their systems.

Might I suggest that you decouple the graphics from the exe in the near future? That way, when you do updates, you don't force the players to d/l a monster sized exe. They can just update the files that need it. Plus, it makes it easier to plug in new graphics if they're kept seperate.

So what's on the agenda for the next update?

Ron

	20-08-2001 03:01									#3
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quote: Originally posted by RonHiler I played a 'game'. I lost Interesting idea about the timer. You need some kind of function to chose a particular unit if ready, but I'm sure that's coming. I take it the city isn't functional yet.

The timer is my answer for real-time play, and fortunately all the timer values can be set to any amount, so maybe the values will be higher later in the game when there's more units, or maybe individual units will have shorter countdown timers. I agree with you about having some way to choose a particular unit, but how can I do this without implementing mouse support? Perhaps a key to switch to the unit that is closest to opposing units, and another key that will simply switch to another unit. I don't know, I'm very open to suggestions on this. As for the city, yes it is not functional yet.

quote: What sort of AI are you using? I'm doing the combat AI for our game right now, so I'm always interested in how other people are handling their systems.

I wanted to get the most basic system in place as soon as possible, so right now all the AI does is check adjacent squares for opposing units, and if a unit is found then combat is initiated. If not, then the AI randomly moves. I have done more complicated routines in the past, but never in this language (C++). I will have much more to discuss with you when I get further along with this project.

quote: Might I suggest that you decouple the graphics from the exe in the near future? That way, when you do updates, you don't force the players to d/l a monster sized exe. They can just update the files that need it. Plus, it makes it easier to plug in new graphics if they're kept seperate.

Definately.

quote: So what's on the agenda for the next update?

Well, I was thinking about having the first update consist
of a larger playing field with more units to toy with, and then making the second update be something that actually adds new things to the game - possibly basic city support. It will be interesting seeing city screens with production bars running in real-time

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

btw, what game are you working on?

-dex

	20-08-2001 08:07									#4
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quote: Originally posted by dexter4dxm I agree with you about having some way to choose a particular unit, but how can I do this without implementing mouse support?

Why on earth would you not implement mouse support? Chosing an item on the screen is what the mouse was made to do. Doing anything else is a kludge, IMO.

quote: I will have much more to discuss with you when I get further along with this project.

Cool, I look forward to it. If, at any point, you want to talk about Neural Nets, let me know. I'm struggling to get ours to work now

quote: Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. btw, what game are you working on?

Sure, no problem. I will be watching with interest the development of your game.

I'm the lead programmer and designer for Manifest Destiny. If you want to take a look, the front page is here

Ron

	20-08-2001 08:24									#5
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Here's a quote from me, from my original post in the complexity thread.

quote: There's way too much micromanagement, game interruption, and tedius clicking on buttons. One of my key design goals for my civ game is an efficient keyboard input layout. If I can, I'll remove mouse capabilities completely. I want the game to be played with all your fingers already sitting where they need to be. Most of the game will be playable from the keypad alone. Of course, this design method wouldn't fit well in many of the projects i've read about here, but I think it will be perfect for my game engine which stresses the importance of time.

I hope that somewhat explains what i'm trying to do here.

-dex

	21-08-2001 03:15									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

Well I played and one but I did find the countdown timer confusing until I figured out what it was counting down to The game is good some graphical glitches with the crossover beaches but when you get your own graphics you can change that. The battle was a bit frantic and When attacking you either won or lost I assume you haven't finished the health bar yet.
I wouldn't mind helping with Some of the graphics but I won't have time to do too much.

	21-08-2001 04:38									#7
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

quote: Originally posted by Darkknight When attacking you either won or lost I assume you haven't finished the health bar yet.

Correct. Expect it in the next release.

quote: I wouldn't mind helping with Some of the graphics but I won't have time to do too much.

I would appreciate any help u can give, and dont worry there's plenty of time

btw, demo 2 will be out within a day i think. not a huge difference from demo 1, but it will have:
-fully functional roads
-bigger map
-more units/more unit types
-fully functional health bars
-more terrain
-misc small bug fixes

-dex

	22-08-2001 04:42									#8
	Tired of ads?

Yeah great work I'll keep in touch mail me at Gondhi_dm@hotmail.com if you need help.

	22-08-2001 22:50									#9
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

sugestion
have either a turn for cities, eg everyone moves # times them it stops to change city stuff as that would be slow in real time to do
...or have a pause button for planning gotos and citys
nice game sofar, when you work out the timers