Progress on SBG.

I`m now back at work on SBG. Currently working on building the inventory and equipment system. Inventory is basically working, with the server sending inventory data to the client, and the player can move items in the inventory window. I have the equipment windows built for all 3 classes .
Yes there are only 3 classes in SBG, but with a great deal of customization options within each class. Having only 3 classes in SBG makes content creation much easier, as items and gear only have to fit the 3 classes. Many items in SBG are usable by all classes, depending on the build choices made by the player.
Later.

Entity is Gold.

Well Entity is finally released to the public and is available as a digital download at www.smallbiggames.com Enjoy.
It takes a lot of work to get even a small game out the door! So I will be taking a small break before commencing work on SBG. Time for a little Age of Conan I think...cya soon.

Other work

Well SBG has been on the back burner the last few weeks, mostly due to me getting the flu, but also because I have been working to finish an earlier project called "Entity".
This is a game I originally coded on the Amiga 15 years ago. In late 2005 I began work on a new version, but never did get it finished enough for release. Recently my brother sent me a copy of the original he found online . This sparked my drive to finish the remake.
It is almost finished and should be ready for release in a week or so, after which I`ll be back on SBG.

Update on progress

Well the final version (1.2) of the spell maker tool is finished, and zipped off to bro for more testing. Unless he comes back with a bug list, its ready to be used to make spells for SBG.

While making this tool I added a few extra functions to spells, (I use the word 'spell' as a generic term as they arn`t actually spells in the game setting), so I will have to add these feature to the server code.

Here is a brief run down of features in-Game as of today:

"Spell" system, HoTs,DoTs,procs,chance,transfer,ect all supported.
Skill system. "Better with use" on combat skills. All skills can be (de)buffed
Hit-Point and "mana" system. Both can be healed , (de)buffed
Basic auto fire combat. AC resistance to damage. Working crits.
XP and leveling system.
Targeting system , with fully working "pass-thru" assisting.
Mob generation and spawning . Number of mobs and type can be adjusted.
Mob AI for attacking players , with variable aggro ranges for behind and front
Mob Hate list.
Working "con-color" system and tag-name overlay.
Saving of character - upon login character will be in same state as at logout.

Interface:
Login screen with basic account creation and character select
Fully functioning UI with up to 10 resizable,movable chat windows.
Chat channels, Combat damage, combat info, vacinity, tell, system (more coming)
Up to 10 Hotbars, draggable icons for spells.
Skills window.
"Spell" book.
Maintained spell window (Hostiles window to be added)
XP,HP,Mana,Target bars , all movable.
Radar -Shows Mobs (con,aggro states), players , selected target. Moveable.

Servers:
Login Server - Handles all logins and account creation / character selection.
Game Server - handles all player and mob actions/ movement/ combat.
Chat Server - Handles all chat channels except combat messages.

Other systems still to be developed in the short/mid term:

Items system, including "buffs" on items
Inventory
Equipment slot window
Improved combat with combat moves/specials
Team/Group system
Friends list (atm you are informed of anybody logging in/out)

Systems for Long term:

Quests/mission system
Tradeskills (Tradeskills are in game, but the mechanics need to be added)
Broker,market system.
Banking/mail.
Zoneing system.
Particle system.
3D models for all equipment/ items
Sound FX

Long, long term:

Everything i`ve not thought of yet...

Distractions

Well I spent most of last week playing Age of Conan with my wife. I have to say we`ve been having a blast - it really is a lot of fun so far. Good job Funcom.

SBG update : Almost done coding the dev-tool to make spells, should have it finished in next couple of days and ship it off to bro for testing and feedback.

Content creation

Now that I have a working spell system, I have started work on a tool to make spells files. This will make spell creation much easier and faster than coding the files by hand. Also I can then hand the content creation duties over to my brother, and let me get on with coding.

Two years later.

Jump to present. Wow, coding an mmo is HARD. After two years of part-time coding , with lots of research and reading, I now have a game server with full player/mob cord-update system,basic mob AI for pve combat, with chase code and hate-list. Mobs and players use the same skill-set with a fully functioning "spell" system in place.

I also have a login server and chat server, both seperate from game server.

Client-side is 3D with placeholders for mobs and players, with very basic particle Fx for explosions and combat hits. Fully functioning GUI with multiple chat windows and hotbars, skill window, "spell book" and radar.

So after 2 years i can now run around a 3d space (as a square block) and auto-attack mobs (also square blocks),cast buffs,heals and hostile spells.You get xp for kills and skills level up as you play. Multiple people can all fight mobs at the same time, and buff/heal each other. So far i`ve had 4 people in-game at once.

We have a story outline and pretty fleshed out game setting (sci-fi), and lots of cool ideas yet to make it into the game, some of which have never been seen in an mmo before. My Brother has done a lot of item concepts and back story, and soon will be working on actually making content ( hint hint, if he`s reading this)

Okay, enough for now. much work to be done on a small big game...

In the beginning...

I read a lot about games. Articles,blogs,and forums. The creation of computer games has been a fasination of mine for the past 25 years, since I got my first computer at the age of 16.

Over the years I`ve made various little games on all types of home computers, always in BASIC, (except for the c-64, which I learned how to program in machine code),with a couple on the Amiga making it to shareware, still floating around out there somewhere..

So life went on untill one day, my wife of all people discovers Everquest. Life changed that day. She started playing this game, with other REAL people ! Wow this is amazing to me, actually being able to play in another world with real people from anywhere in the world. I checked it out, but didn`t get into the everquest setting - I wanted science-fiction!

Enter Anarchy Online. August 2001 to present. For me the best game ever made. Yes it is showing a little age today,( with a new graphic engine coming late '08), but it held me for many years ,being the only game I played. I still play today, even though I also play EQ2 and soon Conan.

So over the years I`ve been fasinated by how mmos are designed and made, which one day brought me to the idea of going back to designing and coding my own small mpo (Multi-Player-Online game). Many people have stated that one person creating an mmo is impossible and I aggree, but I believe a very small team ( in this case 2 people) can make a small scale client-server persistant world game.

In 2006 it began as a small tech-test, to see if I could get multiple people in a single game-space. The client was simple, you moved a small circle around the screen, and it sent the cords to the server, which would relay them to other clients also connected to the server.
I loaded up my client here in the US, as did my brother in England, and a friend in Switzerland. Three of us all on the same server seeing each other move around the screen. Simple for a pro-coder to do, but for me, with my little knowledge of server-client coding - it was just way cool.

and so it begins...