In the beginning......

The game will have a turn based combat system, much like Final Fantasy or Pokemon. Im writing the engine in Visual Basic 6, a bit archaic i know but im good with it and it can yeild wicked results.
So far, i have basic game concepts such as the combat and magic system and charcter stats and such all penned and ready waiting for an engine to run on, and i have some overall story and key storyline points as notes, so i've started the long process of learning the bits and pieces I'll need (such as networking and multithreading connections and a few little graphical bits and bobs) whilst simultaneously trying to build the game engine from the ground up.

So far i have a basic chat program with buggy multiplayer code that has a character window that you can run around in. it doesnt sound lke much when you consider its taken me 3 or 4 weeks to make, but the reason its taken so long is that im having to plan ahead lots, and make the code more complex than it needs to be at the moment, to ensure its easier to adapt later when i need it more dynamic. Also, i spent a lot of time writing the debug log system which ill need when others help me test the program.


SO this is what it looks like at the moment, although these are just demo graphics, and nothing like the graphics for the final game i promise you . i have graphical nametags on the players avatar, they will be customizable by the player to a certain degree. Yesterday i rearranged the code to make the client player always central in screen and have the map scroll around you. so hopefully today i may get to work out some of those miltiplayer bugs i was talking about. then ill have to clean up and comment all my code, and repackage the program for the next part, which will probably be map/room implementation, so making the game know what room you are in and making the code for rooms to even happen. lol.


Ok, i got the multiplayer working properly (for now), and i've added code to enable the use of map referencing, so the game knows which map youre on and only sends you player data for people in the same room. some of it still needs developing though, ive had to start creating the game values database for the client, this enables me to update game values outside of code, so if in testing some values need altering it can be done easily without changing the program. and i'm just starting to adapt the interface to "log in" and register new accounts/characters etc.

I would have done more, but i been goofing off on forums and playing Diddy Kong Racing

Going forward, i am going to need a LOT of help with this project. The majority of it will be graphical, im going to need tonnes of concept art prtraits and sprites for hundreds of monsters and such, im going to need 3d designers and the occasional coder wouldnt hinder either. but more than anything at the moment, i need someone drawing/designing/making monsters.

Things currently on my "Dont be lazy you hippy scumbag, get something done" list

1) complete account login/register at startup.
2) create Gamestrings database
3) create first 2 map files, and create capacity for movement between maps
4) Create character sprite customisation system, and adapt engine for new sprites
5) test, review, revise, continue

anyhoo, i'll update this blog as things progress. Thank you, Drive thru