Tankz screenshot 1

Sunday 16 December 2012

Good riddance to one of the most irritating bugs ever!

Perhaps you remember that 'last bug' I wanted to squash before I start work on the game's last 'core' system? Well I nailed it down this morning. What a relief! Lasers (the pew pew kind) now correctly damage armor and hull. I know that probably sounds trivial but it was a hideous combination of both client and server bugs/inconsistancies. So it's gone now, and the combat/armor damage model is now bug free and robust.

All that's left now is to finish the Tank Shop(this is where tank customization will happen) and I will finally be recording that hilariously overdue video.

Stay tuned!

Saturday 15 December 2012

We have synchronization.

After bashing my head on my desk for about 3 hours this morning, I've finally nailed down a very long standing and irritating bug to do with loadout synchronization. All is well now. One more bug to squash and one minor system to implement and I'l get started on the video.

Saturday 15 September 2012

More UI Progress

Made some more usefull progress on the Tank Shop today, as well as some handy UI functionality. Windows are now modular, which is awesome. My overall vision for the Tank Shop is getting more ambitious every day - I have a really cool idea that I'm hoping to be able to include in the eventual video. For the time being, here's a shot of what Tankz' front end looks like:

It's a work in progress, but it does the job for now.
(EDIT: had to scale the image down a bit to fit in the blog.. kinda hard to make out, but oh well)

 

Friday 24 August 2012

GUI Under development

I'm currently working on the interface for the tank shop - the module where you'l be able to design your own tanks in. There are several UI elements that I'm putting into place here - scrollbars, flowing text, etc. Once this is done, my plan is to polish a few more things and release a video. Stay tuned!

Saturday 4 August 2012

Development "drags" on

Today I've successfully implemented my own "drag-n-drop" logic, which will help with a few key systems. Not a huge deal to most programmers, but I'm not most programmers - im a n00b. So it makes me happy.
=)

Sunday 15 July 2012

Chat system added. Be nice.

Today chatting was added to Tankz. Press "T" to enter chat mode. Don't be too harsh after you pwn someone, now.. ;)

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Hell freezes over, Tankz receives "kill list"

So I've been playing Diablo 3 lately. Well, I suppose I should say I've been trying to play Diablo 3. Every time they patch, it screws up and I have to reinstall the entire game. None of the online solutions help, nothing works(of course). Unfortunately this latest time, even reinstalling doesn't work because now it won't even let me reinstall. Nice. So yeah, Blizzard... hell... heh heh.. yeah. Sorry.

I'l be installing a new OS in the near future so hopefully that fixes it but in the meantime, the whole mess has given me a chance to work on Tankz. I've added a nifty little 'Kill list' in the top left, just like you'd expect in an FPS game. "Bob killed Jim!" and so on. Not a huge addition, but it's a small touch that when combined with many other small touches, make a big difference.

More updates as they develop.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Shakin' Things Up

A fairly productive morning for Tankz. I've managed to detach the camera from the player's tank, which will allow for some cool effects later on... but for now, it's allowed me to add a sweet screen-shake effect to the game. Right now it's used when a tank explodes nearby - it actually works pretty well, I'm happy with it. The forthcoming video will show it off.

One more thing checked off the "list". Stay tuned for more!

Saturday 5 May 2012

It's been a while

Havent updated in a while. I was in Cuba for a week on vacation. Wow was it ever nice! The most beautifull beaches you could possibly imagine. Unlimited food, unlimited booze, and hot girls everywhere you look! The people of Cuba have got to be the nicest, most generous and giving people I've ever met. They have so little and give so much so that our vacations can be nice. Can't wait to go back!

Getting back to Tankz, my "video list" is unfortunately growing all the time. I've added a couple more systems that I'd like in place before I record any footage. No big deal, really. They aren't huge it's just that I want to make a video worth recording.

Now that I'm back and all rested up, Tankz development is back in full swing. I just finished debugging a few things and It's looking good. I have a particular system in mind that I'd like to have put in place by the end of the weekend. Check back soon for more updates!

Monday 9 April 2012

Tankz now has... power!

Continuing to check off the infamous "list", the capacitor system is live! Everything you do in Tankz (shooting, using equipment, subsystems.. even driving) draws power from your Tank's capacitor. It recharges over time at a speed dependant on which capacitor is installed in the tank. If you run out of power, you're quite literally helpless.. though that's a fairly unlikely scenario in a well designed tank ;) The whole system has a nifty little "battery" readout graphic that actually went together quite nicely.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Saturday 31 March 2012

Can I get a 'hell yeah' ?

After a very long while of dreading it, conceptualizing it, coding and debugging it... the armor damage model appears to be working correctly. That is probably the single biggest relief to me, perhaps aside from getting the game working in multiplayer.

This is a key victory because the armor damage model is extremely central to the game, and so having it in place frees me up to work on other less complicated systems. The specifics of armor damage will be revealed in screenshots/videos at a later date. Stay tuned!

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Well done, BioWare

This isn't a game review blog, but after spending the last 3 weeks of my entertainment time on Mass Effect 3 I feel the need to express my thoughts about it.

All in all, it was pretty epic. The storytelling was amazing as usual, though it wasn't without it's flaws. Once in a while something would happen that contradicted something else that had just happened, or plot holes would open up, etc.. but for the most part, it was solid. The gameplay was fast paced and exciting. The graphics/sound/music were all top knotch. Even the multiplayer delivered alot more than I would have expected.


The sexiest action hero alive.
 I've seen solid storylines in games before (Homeworld series, World in Conflict to name a few) but even those didn't seem to quite measure up to the Mass Effect series. More importantly, I actually caught myself caring about the characters and what was happening to them. Even watching the nameless soldiers who you don't even meet get killed stirred up emotion. The series(Mass Effect 3 in particular) was very good at gripping your emotions and pulling in any which way.

The topic on everyone's mind - the ending. Everyone has a different opinon on it, and I'l try to express mine without any spoilers. All in all, I didn't like the ending. It was a combination of factors:
  • I wasn't expecting a rosy ending, but itt was surprisingly depressing. Make no mistake, Mass Effect 3 does not end well no matter how you played the series.
  • It made no sense whatsoever. It's hard to describe without dropping a spoiler, but it's as though for the final sequence of the game, the writers decided to allow Mrs. Smith's grade 5 class to write the ending. It was completely nonsensical, and one of the things that happened is actually impossible given what was going on at the time.
  • It robs you of every desicion you've made throughout the series. The "readiness" rating does have a marginal effect on the outcome, but it's basically the same regardless. No matter how you've played, what decicions you've made, it ends the same.
There's alot of controversy surrounding the ending, and apparently BioWare is actually going to be releasing a DLC which will "clarify" the ending, all the while "preserving the game's artistic merit". Or something like that. While I wasn't happy with the ending, I hope they don't change it outright. Adding content to give us more info/closure? Sure, why not. But to alter it entirely would A) change Mass Effect from a work of art into a product and B) set a very disturbing precedent for video games in general. I'd love a more fleshed out ending, but I do hope they stick to their guns.

All in all, the game is a masterpeice and I have no problems giving it full marks. (It's at 75 perfect scores for a reason)

Anyway, what this also means is that I'm ready to get back into Tankz development. I have a checklist of systems to put in place before I release any more screenshots/videos, but I'l be working on that checklist feverishly. Check back for updates as there likely will be some soon!

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Error: Galaxy under attack, please wait.

Tankz is progressing nicely, I'm currently working on a fairly complex algorithm to power a system that will arguably be the centerpeice of the game. After it's finished, a few more systems are put in place, I'l resume stability testing and will open the servers up to 8 players. Once im happy with 8 player performance, i may provide a vid or 2 more and perhaps some open testing.

In the meantime, however.. general production on Tankz will halt for a few days while I live, breathe and eat Mass Effect 3. I will return to my regularly scheduled programming (haha) once the galaxy has been saved.

Stay tuned.

Saturday 25 February 2012

The improvements continue...

A few minor additions/improvements have been made recently:
  • Tankz now has sound! You can hear the cannon blasts, and the explosions. More to follow.
  • Explosions are now prettier! See the banner at the top.
  • Tanks are no longer ethereal! They bump into eachother as they should.
  • Minor UI bug fixes
  • Weapons are now modular! I've added a pulse laser. (pew pew) Many more weapons to follow.
Now for a rest. It's been a long day of coding.

Sunday 19 February 2012

TankNet is ONLINE!

After a week or so of off and on development, the Tankz master server (which for now is called "TankNet") is online! Servers are published to TankNet, and the client successfully queries TankNet for a list of active servers. The client can then select the desired server, click "Join" and he is connected to the server! Woohoo! Oubviously I'l be refining the UI and polishing things, but the core functionality is live.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

Woohoo! After who knows how many months of wrestling with the infamous collision dection bug, it's finally been squashed. Good riddance, beeyotch! Now, it's a bandaid fix, mind you.. but at this point, I don't care. It works, and it was a game-halting bug so Tankz could not have progressed any further with it around. Collision detection is now accurate and robust. I can finally get on with the rest of the game.

Time for a drink to celebrate!

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Rapidly losing hair

Haven't updated the blog in a little while, been working feverishly on the collision detection. I'm very close. This bug has been, no pun intended, bugging me ever since the inception of Tankz. It's the game's oldest bug, and I'm one small peice of the puzzle away from solving it. Tank vs Tank collision works perfectly, but for some reason Projectile Vs Tank collision is completely borked even though it uses the exact same math.

Arg.

I'l be drinking in celebration when this one is squashed. Stay tuned!

Sunday 22 January 2012

Lighting update

Well after a grueling night/morning of banging my head on the wall, I've managed to produce some basic multiplicative lighting effects. Looks pretty sweet! Got a nifty little muzzle flash on the gun when it fires. Doesn't look too bad.

Saturday 21 January 2012

Yay for recoil and cheesy additive lighting!

Today I added a little bit of production value to Tankz. I've paved the way for weapon customization, and added a 'recoil' effect on the main cannon. It looks pretty cool. I've also added some non-HLSL lighting for the time being. Once I can figure it out, it will be slick looking multiply-style lighting(maybe even dynamic shadows!), but for now its just cheesy additive. Oh well. All in time!

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Tankz receives multiple improvements

Another productive night.

Functionality has been added to the main menu - rather than searching in some file, you can now enter your name in a "player profile" section. Additionally, when you choose 'Join Game' from the main menu, you are prompted for the host's IP address.

On the networking side of things, the game now elegantly handles disconnects and so the server truly is persistant. Players can now come and go as they please, and will correctly download the current score.

HLSL also makes its debut in the game tonight - Tankz now has full pixel shader(2.0) support. Should be interesting to see what kinds of effects I can come up with.


..wow that's an ugly tank.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Tankz Front End is born

Tonight was fairly productive - Tankz now has a Main Menu that greets you upon startup. There are several options, only 2 of which are functional at the moment - Join Game and Exit. The whole thing went together smoothly and without error. All in all a good night!

Saturday 7 January 2012

I pulled a Homer

To "pull a Homer": To succeed despite idiocy

Today was a bizzare day for coding. I was trying to work on the collision detection (Rectangular, server-side) as it was a bit shifty. The harder i tried, the more the code got screwed up and farther the results were from what I wanted. I got to the point where I was frustrated and I actually lost track of what I was doing and what changes I was making. At this point id given up, thought i'd wrecked my game irreperably when i clicked 'debug' just out of habit.. and it worked. Not only did the collision detection suddenly work perfectly, but a glitch to do with bullet positioning worked itself out at the same time. I have no idea what change I made or how. It was as though the gods of coding decided to give me a break. Very wierd experience.

Anyway - update: collision detection is now more accurate ;) Also, dramatically reduced network packet size which has resulted in a noticable performance boost.

Features

Here's a list of basic features of the game as of right now:
  • Realistic tank control; turret moves independant of chassis
  • Shadow effects
  • Fancy bitmapped fonts
  • Huge maps, scrolling backgrounds.
  • Map decals (Trees, roads, etc)
  • Collision detection, damage, explosions
  • Upto 4 player(this will steadily increase) deathmatch(more modes later) over the internet via Lidgren networking library
  • Dedicated server support
  • Scoreboard
  • XBOX 360 Controller for Windows support - including rumble support
The next update will include network optomizations, possibly prediction, a FrontEnd that will accept input for user's name and host IP to join, and some improved hit detection.



EDIT: This video is old and outdated. The game looks better now. Might be a while before a new video is uploaded, so this is just a basic idea of a very early multiplayer alpha. Theres more polish and depth now. ;)

Friday 6 January 2012

Tankz Blog Test

Hi! Post is a test. Eventually this will be filled with info about my project in progress, which for the time being is titled, "Tankz". Top down, 2D tank shootemup. (MULTIPLAYER!)

Programmed in C#/XNA using the Lidgren networking library. As of the time of this writing, theres a functional deathmatch mode where you can log into a persistant server, blast the hell out of whoever's online, check the current score.. etc.

Eventually there will be deep customization, more game modes, more production value (once i learn HLSL). Best of all? The target pricepoint! Free! As of the time of this writing, I do not plan to charge for Tankz. DISCLAIMER - THIS MAY CHANGE! If it does, it wont be much. A buck or 2 at the ABSOLUTE most. But in all likelyhood from where I'm sittin' right now, it'l probably be free.