Doing 3D games on the Oric ?

Want to talks about games you like, would like to see developed on the Oric, it's here.
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

ibisum wrote:Well as soon as its released you can count on me to run it on real Atmos hardware for a few days at least .. I'm going to kick the wife and kid out of the house, load up on beer and pizza, and spend a weekend playing Elite - FINALLY - on the Oric .. ;)

(I used to loathe the fact there was no Elite for the Oric while the Amstrad got it pretty much straight away ..)
Well I am starting to be afraid and imagine people wanting to hang me as soon as they test 1337... This game Is Not Elite. In fact that is why the project was named TINE.

I started with a 3D engine as a proof of concept, then added Elite ship models, as I suck at designing, then started importing the universe generator as it would be nice to have something like that working... the market came along as a freebie... and a game started shaping up.

I kept entering a lot of stuff I would like for a space combat/trading game which is not present in Elite, power redirection, full 3D controll, extended AIs and any idea from any game I saw or that people told... but as I cannot design ships of my own and don't have the energy to change the universe, I cannot help this keeps on looking like Elite.

Just so nobody is disappointed when seing things are a bit different here.. ;)

Cheers

EDIT: Just noticed this post appeared in a new page (at least for me) so anybody interested should see my previous post about profiling... thanks :)
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thrust26
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Post by thrust26 »

Chema wrote: One adder:

Code: Select all

5x32 01D72E MoveOthers (18.19%) - 2412 cycles per ship (three rotations)
6x32 0116E1 CalcView (10.77%) - 1428 cycles per ship
The percentages are too high by a factor of 10.
Last edited by thrust26 on Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Have fun!
thrust26
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Post by thrust26 »

Code: Select all

1x32 0D2832 ROTPROJ (13%) - 958 cycles per vertex
Does that mean that you rotate and project each vertex (line) seperately? Start and endpoint?

This would mean that you rotate and project each point at least two times (on average maybe 3-4 times).

I don't think this is the case, but I want to make sure.
Have fun!
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

thrust26 wrote:The percentages are too high by a factor of 10.
Yes, sorry, my fault when writting them down.
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

thrust26 wrote: I don't think this is the case, but I want to make sure.
No, of course. All the vertices are rotated just once. Did I make another mistake? I did the calculations quite quickly...
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ibisum
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Post by ibisum »

Okay .. so its not ELITE .. EVEN BETTER! This is a game thats in the genre of Elite, but will *never* exist on an Amstrad! Muahahahahah! :)

Wish I could pitch in on the technical side of this thread, but I can't so I'll just pipe down now and watch you guys sort it out, eagerly awaiting the day when this thing is CLOAD'ing on my real Atmos ..

(I have an idea - what about a multiplayer mode where you can join two Atmos' up with each other over audio or something, and play against each other? Just an idea..)
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Post by Chema »

Hehe that is the spirit :)

BTW do you have a Microdisc? It is needed, and it will be nice to test the thing on real hardware... and maybe have some photos or videos :)

I fixed more minor issues and tested combat with Thargoid ships. Argh, they are really deadly... I only won 3 combats out of a dozen or so... When they launch the automaton ships, they blow you up in seconds!

Cheers
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ibisum
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Post by ibisum »

Oh darn I do not have a Microdisc.. :( If someone would tell me where to buy one, I've been ready for it for 20 years! :) I wish I'd won the last one on EBay but it seems like they're really being scouted by collectors/people who aren't using them.

I yearn for a Microdisc!
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

Greetings.

I am still working on this, and made some advances with missions. I started with a system that could be used to load mission data from disk (one active mission at a time), resulting in a new level for this game.

Only at the first stages at the moment. I have a kind of event map with entry points to mission code such as:

Code: Select all

OnPlayerLaunch
OnPlayerDock
OnPlayerHyper
OnExplodeShip
OnDockedShip
OnHyperShip
OnEnteringSystem
OnNewEncounter


All of them either return or actualy do something by jmping to the correct routine. If they return with carry set, then a new text is to be printed in screen, resulting in briefings/debriefings and other messages to be printed.

A mission currently has 3 possible states. Either waiting for conditions for being activated (e.g waiting for the player to get enough points), or already activated (e.g. debrief shown and waiting for the player to reach a certain system) or already launched (e.g. enemies and things created, as the player has arrived).

Mission number and state is stored in the player's data (which is saved to disk) in a byte. The last two bits represent the state. Mission 1 will therefore, be either 0, 1 or 2, and Mission 2 will start with this variable set to 4.

This gives up a total of 63 possible missions, reserving $ff for none activated, for instance.

Whenever a mission is finished, the next one is activated and its data will be loaded from disk.

Text messages are indicated through pointers, so the actual mission code may change them as needed.

There exists also a pointer to a small description that will be plotted in the status screen, so you allways have a summary of what you are supposed to do.

I have implemented a dummy mission for testing all this and it works quite well. A help message appears when you launch (if you are ready to take the mission) asking you to help a man at a given system. Whenever you arrive you see him attacked by 3 pirates. You have to manage to protect him so he can safely land. If destroyed a text shows that he has been eliminated (mission failed), if he lands a text shows this (mission successful). You also have texts indicating what happened when you dock or jump to hyperspace. All of them can be different, so I guess that it is a pretty flexible method.

Need to beautify all this and also make missions load from disk. This mission uses less than 800 bytes, but it is quite ugly code, that could use much less space. Anyway I guess that 1K or 1.5K will be enough for even the most complex missions with large texts.

For making missions load from disk I will need to set jump tables for the routines I need to use from within the mission code, so they are in fixed locations.

Stay tuned :)
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

A small log...

Now missions load from disk correctly :) that is indeed good news. I have two dummy test missions that are correctly loaded, the first as default, the second when you finish the first successfuly.

Everything seems to work :)

Need to add at least one more event and tidy up some matters (display of text messages is quite ugly now), but I think this is a good advance!

Cheers
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Iapetus
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Post by Iapetus »

Chema wrote:A small log...

Now missions load from disk correctly :) that is indeed good news. I have two dummy test missions that are correctly loaded, the first as default, the second when you finish the first successfuly.

Everything seems to work :)

Need to add at least one more event and tidy up some matters (display of text messages is quite ugly now), but I think this is a good advance!

Cheers
Super! :)
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

Have been quite busy lately, so little advances. But I am still working on missions. I have tested escort missions (saving someone from pirate attacks until he docks in a planet safely) and cargo shipping missions (go somewhere, pick a cargo, carry it somewhere else). Tried to sort all the possibilities and completing the system.

For instance I could get the cargo and sell it somewhere else, which make the one that hired me angry :)

I also added an event for scooping cargo, so missions based on that will also be added.

Finaly I have 90% of the first version of the plot that will be unfolded through the missions.

So this is moving...!
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ibisum
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Post by ibisum »

So this is moving...!
Faster!! FASTER! I wanna play!
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

Greetings again.

Little time for developing lately, but anyway did something :)

I compiled a new version for the main tune removing almost all the EG effects from the song, as they were giving problems when ran on emulators (sounded differently on Oricutron and Euphoric). Maybe sounds more naive, but I, however, still like it.

Also I solved (I hope) a bug where distant ships firing at even more distant targets (not visible due to distance) resulted in lasers incorrectly drawn (as the vertex of the target was not being projected).

I addition I checked that saved games with ongoing missions worked correctly (they do) and loaded the correct mission from disk. Still working on the main scheme, trying to add missions where the player is supposed to scoop something. Need to prepare a test mission for this.

I have decided I *might* release an alpha version (missions not included, or included but still buggy) to anyone really wanting to spend some time in testing the game. Be warned that you might encounter bugs in the process and it might spoil some of the fun of playing.

Just let know (via priv message) including an email address to send the program and manual to.

Cheers
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Chema
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Post by Chema »

Greetings again.

Very very little time lately for oric things :(

I have not done any advance in the game itself for that reason, but have been thinking about the plot and the missions and tested a few things.

It could even be possible to have alternate "paths" within the solving tree, depending on your actions (that means, different missions would be fired depending on what you do). I am not sure how far I will go with this idea, maybe just a couple of alternatives, but not more, as this could get really complex and delay the release of the game too much.

I have also been thinking on the possibility of having "mission packs". It is indeed possible, though not likely that anybody would release them; however a very nice idea.

Anyway I have setup the first group of missions (defining the conditions to be fired, planets to start, planets to visit...). This is quite tedious, as I need to look into maps, economy, possible travel paths, getting IDs of those systems.. But anyway it needs to be done.

Also I designed the main missions for the plot and a couple of alternatives and played with some new interesting ideas.

As you can see, mostly work on paper and a bit of testing. I suppose I need to start coding them to see the time it takes and how far I will be able to go with this. But expect to have missions from very early stages of the game that could make you travel through the galaxy and between galaxies. This might end up in something more similar to Privateer, than to Elite in this sense, with the additional interest of having alternate ways of finishing the plot.

In the meantime I am waiting for reports from the Alpha testers :twisted: which could bring new work to do...

BTW I am leaving on Easter vacations on friday... and until April, 6th. No computer most probably... time to be with family.

Stay tuned...
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