The Shining Source

It’s been a while, but Ken Hilf recently updated Shining Force PC, a promising looking Shining style PC game. Although there are no new maps to play with, there are some big changes behind the scenes. The map editor is much improved and now supports maps up to 255×255 tiles, as well as brush sizes and other tweaks. It also sports a new Quake style console that makes it easier to perform some common tasks. such as filling an area with tiles or creating a new map.

From the site:

So, it’s been a while since I’ve done any updates on SFPC. I’ll admit, things definitely slowed down for a while, what can I say, I needed a break (or two)! Despite the lack of posts, I have gotten a lot of work done over the past few months, though the bulk of it was not really video or blog post worthy. This release represents the sum of the year’s changes so far, which includes lots of bug fixes, a major revamp of the movement code for performance reasons, and some new editor features and engine enhancements.

There’s no new gameplay map to try, hence the lack of a video. The main draw of this release is the enhanced editor, which includes several features which should be a big deal to anyone interested in making maps. Press the Home key to toggle between Play and Edit modes.

It’s great to see updates from a really promising project, and it’s well worth downloading the updated demo and trying things out.

Read More: SFPC – August 2011 Update

Shining Force Centra’s Mandrew posted some information about his new Shining-Style MMO project:

The goal is to create a browser based tactical RPG in the style of the shining force games for the Sega Genesis. As the leader of a powerful army, called a force, you’ll travel the world fighting enemy hoards, discovering lost treasures, and fighting epic boss battles. You’ll be able play the game with your friends by chatting, trading in the auction house, and fighting both with or against their forces.

You can read more about the project at the SF MMO homepage. There’s information about the game world, as well as how the class Shining Force mechanics (such as gold and resurrection) will work in an MMO setting. There are also some shots of the WIP map editor. Definitely worth a look!

Source: Shining Force Central – SF MMO site/blog launched

Hi all, even though the worklog is empty BABS 3 development is progressing at full speed. Just head over to the Shiny Sword/BABS forum to find out about the latest advancements. These include vast improvements to the tile editor and the introduction of arbitrary tile sizes, among many many other things ;)

I already spread some stuff on the forums, but now I feel I’ve been working on this sufficiently seriously to put this officially on the map.

BABS 3 is officially in development. It will be a heavily re-engineered and refactored version of the BABS 2.5 engine, which should allow people to make much more interesting games without a lot of additional effort.

Things BABS 3 will support for sure include:

– A vastly improved SMEE editor, with a more intuitive interface (I might throw in a resolution increase too).

– Support for arbitrary tile sizes and resolutions (so finally you can use those neat 42×42 tiles for your Hitchhiker’s Guide fangame ;)).

– Improved performance and responsiveness of the overall toolkit.

– Severe enhancements in the roleplaying department. This will evolve as I work on it, but for sure I’m going to add interactive dialogues and a personality engine. The latter will ensure that the responses of NPCs  will match the way you roleplay (so no more mr. NPC Nice Guys when you start behaving like a murderous idiot :)).

What it will for sure NOT include:

– Kickass graphics (there are other games for that).

However, I might write out a graphics contest or two to improve the visuals of BABS 3 and its corresponding game. These contests will include some kickass prizes and I’ll let you know more about it in due time.

BABS 3 will also get its own game, which actually is the main reason why I’m working on BABS 3. Also, it will remain open source and supported by the lads here at the Source (yes, that includes me too, despite my near-decadal hiatus :P).

If there are any things you’d like to see, or you’d like to help in the graphics department, feel free to let me know by posting on one of the forums!

Back in April of 2010, we mentioned a very promising looking Shining project by Ken Hilf. Since then, the game has made some major progress, and there’s now a demo available and some great videos too.

From Ken’s site:

Over the past 11 months, new additions to the engine have included:

• Music and sound effects via the Audiere sound library
• A custom scripting language used both to control game events and logic and construct game assets such as characters and equipment
• A turn-based strategy RPG combat system with basic enemy AI
• Animated battle cutscenes that show the results of each engagement playing out on the battlefield
• A more robust system of windows and menus that tie the game together
• Some slides (.pdf) discussing some of these features in more detail are available here.

The download is available in this post, so give it a try!

Read More: 2010 Year in Review