Illinc

Update 1/2/2011

Happy new year

I've been working on some basic things but made little actual progress as I had to run through a good deal of documentation concerning the networking library - I've also been trying to improve the look of the terrain and the prototype weapon - since I don't have anything particularly interesting to report I thought I'd post a few pics




I may still redesign the terrain as the size of it makes editing small details difficult - I'm still trying to get bump maps working for the terrain but I'm having a bit of trouble at it

 

Update - 1/8/11

Been doing some more work on the guns - to be honest I don't really like the FarReaches design so I might change it up a bit - I'm currently working on the Clockwork Pistol - the gun the player will start with (all players will start human but will have the option to change races during the tutorial missions ). This gun might take me awhile as I hope to have different barrels, firing mechanisms, and chassis types so I'll be ready to set up the modification and crafting systems after the first test - The code is still proving to be a challenge but I think I may be getting to work on it soon - I've been working on the terrain - mainly testing the bump mapping and I think it might be usefull for roacky terrain but overkill for grassy areas. February might be a bit hopful for the testing at this point but I'm going as fast as I can - more updates soon.

 

Putting up another gun prototype today - I'm still not sure if I'm finished with this one - I've been trying to make it look as good as I could. I'm still working on the various modifications to this one so for now I'll just be showing you the base gun. I'm also using thumbnails now to save some space in posts. When finished this gun will look as if it's nickel plated to resemble a pocket-watch. It's also the first gun the player will use in the game.


edit - new image with the gun on a "wooden" stand

Name: Clockwork Repeater
Manufacturer: Vicis Watchmakers
Type: Energy Amplification, 1 shot per winding
Base Damage: 5
Description: When the first companies began setting up factories on Altus a particular watchmaker found himself sitting on top of a large mine of a previously unknown element - a metal that had the ability to create a powerful burst of energy from electric current. The company had no use of it so they simply let it be. After the first civilian settlements began to encounter a great deal of trouble from the rather violent natural fauna of the planet it became clear that the real money was in artillery. The company decided that the best way to begin manufacturing something that had never even been associated with their products before was to make the cheapest gun possible and market it as such. They also decided to use a practically ancient technology to set the gun apart from many of the other entry-level and intermediate weapons - a spring winding mechanism designed to eliminate ammunition. The gun was quite a success for a while, so much so that the company began to make them by the hundreds, but as time went on technologies adapted and the human race began to encounter much stronger inhabitants of the planet. The gun declines and is now only used by the citizen who has nothing else. As of 59L (59 years after landfall) guns are supplied to every citizen on Altus via a contract with the old watch company.

 

Got one of the guns animated and ready for network scripting - note that the gun in the picture is not the final gun as it looks a bit too shiny. The first guns that the players will have will be of the same build but will look a bit cheaper and somewhat plastic. I'm also thinking about putting Illinc on hold for a bit to create a sort of prequel FPS style game to enter a contest that Unity and Kongregate that could definatly help fund Illinc. Only thing is - I only have one month to make it. Anyway wish me luck.

Note: this is a test scene not anywhere in the actual Landfall Region (first area) in the game

 

Well the kongregate plan didn't really get anywhere so I'm going back to Illinc. Right now I'm getting back to work on guns and starting database setup

Edit - a few pics of the progress made on the guns - there are two in-game right now - the Clockwork Repeater and the Clockwork Finale. The first is the default gun, the second is going to be a rare gun with a higher range and more power.

edit - they took my pics down - I'll reup them in a bit

http://Illinc.cz.cc - a very basic pistol demo - nothing but boxes to shoot at - the terrain in this demo wont be in the final game - it will be used in the PvP combat demo that I'm working on now that the gun scripts are ready. The left bar is ammo - use R to reload

The combat system may preform much differently after the synchronization method has been applied - hopefully better

 

The Altus Development Team now consists of four members, meaning better quality and faster development. I'm also making some real progress with the networking now - I'll have the PvP up soon. So far I've coded in First/Third Person view points, network sync for simple characters (though this still needs some work to be sure it will work over the internet and not just through LAN), also I've got a simple name display system running. Also I may be working on a site (again).

 

I'm currently working on getting the simple gun coding working with the network and I'm doing research into what database would be best for Illinc. I'm also opening up first registration for this forum for the demonstration our team is working on. The first demonstration session is for potential investors and press, the second is for potential team members, the final session is for players who are interested in the game and would be willing to spread the word. To this end I plan to open up a number of spots on a few of the popular MMO forums around the net, the number of spots depending on popularity.

Since I've been posting on GameOgre for quite some time now I'll be opening up registration first here - I'll begin posting about Illinc on other forums when the team gets closer to the completion of the demo.

Julein already has the first spot there are four more open to this site. The demo is currently planned to land somewhere in the early summer.

 

I've made a bit more progress with the guns but I still have a ways to go - I've also decided that in the interest of presenting the best demo possible we'll be reversing the sessions, invited players first, interested developers second, and investors third.

 

I've gotten basic combat working but it still needs some work to polish it up. I've begun work on a database connector that will add persistent data to the game (and it'll have a nice layer of security too)

I've finished typing up a document that outlines most of the games current design, but still lacks many of the gameplay features the end game is planned to have. If you would like to see it please send a request to (zephir (@) thegame.com), I'd post a link but since it contains sensitive information I'd like to know who exactly has it. Also feel free to e-mail me if you have any ideas or questions about the game of the Proof Of Concept Demonstration.

 

I've gotten a basic database manager working - it took me forever to figure out and thats why i haven't posted in a while. Now I'm working on a rather simple log-in system - I'll also be getting the character creation screen working soon - but until I get a 3d artist working with me I won't have any character's to show off.

 

We're now working on the character designs for the first race - in a week or two I'll post some renders. I've gotten the log-in system working - inventory is next.

 

Well the character model for the Positron race is coming along nicely. After finishing the log-in I decided to go back and put in character management before going on to inventory. I've almost got that done. There are quite a few options for customization that I think will work out quite well.