Comments for VectorStorm

Comment on Updates by The Advisor

The Advisor — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:47:22 +0000

Glad to see more coming from you!

On the topic of the ugly top down view, perhaps you could transition into a different style. Maybe a topographic style? I have no idea if it would look good, but you never know. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult to figure out a solution.

Comment on Zooming out by trevor

trevor — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 05:04:00 +0000

I did basically that in MMORPG Tycoon 1.1, where individual monsters and players had little animated sprites if you zoomed way in, but they turned into dots as you zoomed further out, and I’m expecting to do something similar here. It’s a good solution. But it won’t be practical for use when fully zoomed out; it’d be difficult to make out your map under all the dots. :)

I really enjoyed Shamus Young’s series at the time it was published, and I should read it again; thanks for reminding me about it! As I recall, the key problem with using most of his techniques is that he’s mostly trying to create a natural island by simulating natural processes, while I’m trying to make something that looks like an MMO, where natural processes don’t really apply. Or to put it differently, his system is designed to make wide open spaces, while I need to make lots of tiny self-contained themed areas. But that’s not to say that some of his techniques wouldn’t be of use! (The creation of trees, especially!)

Comment on Zooming out by The Advisor

The Advisor — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:45:08 +0000

On the matter of how to show players and monsters when zoomed out, I think you should try rendering them as a small coloured dot a few pixels large (or however large is practical in the end). This would let you visually see how things are distributed on a grand scale.

You could also pass off the terrain generation as an in universe process, perhaps having a small icon/text message to let you know that the world is updating.

I can’t really help you with the actual generation, but this might help you. http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=11874 (it’s a 20 post series, he also later made the source available http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=15808)
If nothing else it should be an interesting read as is the rest of his stuff.

Sorry for responding to your points backwards. =-P

Comment on Shapes and shots by trevor

trevor — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:12:29 +0000

For the record, I do most of my development and testing on a laptop, using the built-in track pad, and a keyboard which doesn’t even have arrow keys. The game will definitely be playable in that configuration.

With that said though, I agree that customisable controls will be necessary. I’ve been bad about providing an interface to control customisation on my last few games, just due to lack of development time. I need to be much better about that in future!

Comment on Shapes and shots by trevor

trevor — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:45:51 +0000

That’s my fallback position, if I can’t find something better. I’m also planning to try making mousewheel change brush size when you have a tool which uses a brush, or change zoom level otherwise. Which might be intensely confusing (changing what controls do based on a “mode” is usually a very bad idea), but I want to try it anyway, just to confirm for myself. Will also perhaps try middle-click-drag, which seems to be popularly used in 3D Tycoon games (although I find it awkward, mechanically, since most mice use the scroll wheel as the middle-click, and it often doesn’t work too reliably)

Comment on Shapes and shots by idontfeellikeenteringaname

idontfeellikeenteringaname — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:24:59 +0000

Forgot to mention: customizable controls are especially desirable for those with laptops (limited keyboards) and who don’t or can’t use a mouse when they want to play.

Comment on Shapes and shots by idontfeellikeenteringaname

idontfeellikeenteringaname — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:22:32 +0000

Customizable controls would be nice

Comment on Shapes and shots by The Advisor

The Advisor — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Hey, I’m still here.

What about using ctrl/shift/some modifier key + mousewheel to control the brush size?

Comment on What I’m up to these days by gmirror

gmirror — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:59:06 +0000

Wow, this is getting really complex. Looking forward to playing this.

Comment on Raspberries by trevor

trevor — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:29:46 +0000

I ordered from Element14′s local distributor here in Australia. Took about a week for delivery. (The website warned that it might take up to 3 weeks)